Unveiling the Bridesmaid Read online

  She might panic—if she were the type to panic—if he didn’t smell so good. No fancy cologne for him. He smelled of soap and man. And he made her mouth water.

  Rein it in, girl, you’re on a mission here.

  As a distraction, she focused on his generous gesture. It gave her a sense of hope. He’d stated in more than one article that he didn’t want kids or a family, that he didn’t have the patience or skill set for a long-term relationship so why set himself up for failure. Her plan rested on the fact he meant what he said, but it helped to know he wasn’t totally dispassionate about kids. She needed him to care enough to act.

  “How do you know Miguel?”

  Jethro ground his teeth, annoyed he let the question slip out.

  How she knew the other man didn’t matter as long as she was a pretty armpiece and was able to intercede when required to redirect the conversation.

  A task she should have no problem with since she’d been chattering ever since they met.

  “Just from working at the Pinnacle. I’ve been at the spa now for a month. I like to talk to people so I’ve met a lot of the Pinnacle employees.”

  Yes, he could see her as a people person. Where he was not.

  “Miguel treated his wife to a day at the spa after Saralynn was born. I thought it was a wonderful gesture and suggested to the owner that she put together a package just for new mothers and publicize it throughout the casino and hotel. She agreed to give it a try. We’ve had quite a few women come in.”

  “So you’re in marketing?”

  “Oh, goodness, no. I’m a dan—a hairdresser.”

  His head swung around and he rolled his gaze over her, accessing every curve. The escorts at Excursions were a mix of entertainers and professional businesswomen. He’d made it clear he preferred the latter. He had more in common with a businesswoman. And the one time he took a date to the next level had been with a dancer. He’d regretted the slip.

  He preferred to keep his social and sexual encounters separate. He prized the discretion and privacy Excursions’ services provided. He liked that sex wasn’t part of the arrangement. The last thing he wanted was for the line between social and private to blur. That could only lead to complications and expectations he had no desire to deal with.

  He never lacked for partners when he needed sexual release.

  Casual dates with no promise of a follow-up were harder to come by until a friend recommended Excursions.

  Having a new woman on his arm on a regular basis gave him the image of a player. He didn’t care. He wasn’t out to impress anyone and it gave warning to those who would expect more from him, all the better.

  He’d made the mistake of sleeping with a date only once. She’d been a stunning woman of mixed race and he’d been out with her several times. Her intelligence and grace made him the envy of every man at the foundation dinner they’d attended. He’d been receiving an award and drank more than usual to offset the attention. Being in the limelight tore at his nerves but his date thrived on it. She’d been the perfect person to have on his arm that night and the high of the event had carried them upstairs when she made her interest clear.

  Alliyah was gone in the morning and the next time he contacted Excursions he asked for a professional woman so he hadn’t seen her again.

  Excursions’ quality control was slipping if they’d sent him a dancer. And he didn’t even have her name beyond Miguel’s addressing her as Lexi. He usually got notice and a new profile when he was getting a replacement date. He liked to know something about the women he spent time with even when he paid for the pleasure. He sent off a text.

  “A dancer.” He repeated.

  “No. I told you, I work at Modern Goddess. I used to be a dancer.” She licked her lips drawing his attention to the sultry lines of her mouth, the perfect bow over a plump bottom lip. “Now I do hair at the spa. I just thought pampering a new mother totally made sense. I remembered how tired and stressed my roommate was after having my goddaughter, Jasmine.”

  “Hmm. What’s your name?”

  “Oh, goodness.” She laughed—an infectious sound that filled the back of the car. “We kind of skipped that part, didn’t we? I’m Alexa Malone, but you can call me Lexi. And of course you’re Jethro Calder. I read the article in the Pinnacle newsletter where it showed you and the other executives holding up the lifetime award of excellence for the Pinnacle game. That must have been exciting.”

  “Yes, it was a nice acknowledgment for the success of the game.”

  “I should say so. A top ten seller for ten years, that’s awesome.”

  “It’s actually been for fifteen years and more than half those years it was in the top three, but they wanted to have wiggle room for future awards.”

  “What’s it like working with Jackson Hawke?”

  He frowned. He got that question a lot, mostly from people trying to angle through him to Jackson. But there was nothing in her tone or demeanor to indicate anything other than simple interest.

  “He’s a brilliant programmer, but he leaves the finances to me.”

  “Of course.” She nodded and pointed at him.

  She used her hands a lot when she talked. He couldn’t decide if he found it charming or annoying. Whether he found her charming or was just attracted to that luscious mouth.

  “We all have our talents, don’t we? Mine is music. So, Jethro, where are we going?”

  Music, he noticed, not dance.

  “We’re going to an event at Caesar’s Palace.” His phone buzzed and he read the text. “At least I am. I’m not sure what you’ll be doing.” He held up his phone. “Excursions doesn’t have your name on file. Who are you?”

  Copyright © 2016 by Teresa Carpenter

  ISBN-13: 9781488003202

  Unveiling the Bridesmaid

  Copyright © 2016 by Jessica Gilmore

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.

  www.Harlequin.com