Notorious by Vicki Lewis Thompson Read Free Book Online Page A

some interview time. “No problem,” she said. “I’m good at amusing myself. But could we stop by the desk and get me a key to the room?”
    â€œOh. Sure.” He sounded anything but sure.
    â€œWould that make you uncomfortable?”
    â€œNo, no, of course not.”
    â€œYou’re worried that the people at the desk will think you picked up a call girl, aren’t you? Just like Richard Gere picked up Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. ” She thought that was a good image to plant in his mind.
    He looked uneasy. “But I’m not—I mean, we’re not—”
    â€œTell you what. I’m going to help you out, here. In that movie, he told everybody the girl was his niece. So let’s say I’m your cousin.”
    â€œNobody will believe that.”
    â€œOf course they won’t, but they’ll pretend to believe it, and that’s good enough, right?”
    â€œI think if we say that you’re my cousin they’ll know we’re lying and be even more sure you’re a call girl.”
    Keely smiled at him. “Okay, then what do you want to say? That I’m a wayward woman and you’re trying to reform me? They’ll believe that even less. I’d better be your cousin.”
    He gazed at the cliff before looking back at her. “Maybe we could share a key.”
    â€œI don’t see how that would work, unless you want me to hang around outside the room waiting for you to come back tonight. I don’t think that would be too good for your image, either.”
    â€œI guess not.”
    â€œNoah, we’re in Vegas, Sin City. So what if you have your cousin staying in your room? That’s probably one of the tamest situations they’ve seen around here in ages. I’ll bet an hour ago they gave a guy two extra keys because he ran into his twin cousins. And remember that not a single person behind that desk is your neighbor. So you don’t have to give a care what they think.”
    He gave her a wry grin. “Point made. Let’s go get the key.” But as he started toward the large entrance doors decorated in brass bamboo, he suddenly turned back and grabbed her arm. “Come this way,” he said.
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œJust go with it. Head back the way we came.” He hustled her down the walk past the crowd of pedestrians.
    â€œNoah, I don’t understand what we’re doing.”
    â€œI’ll tell you in a minute. Come over here.” He stepped into the landscaping and pulled her in with him.
    Instantly she was spritzed from head to toe. “I don’t think we’re supposed to be walking on the—”
    â€œDown behind this rock.” He pulled her to a crouch behind a large lava rock.
    â€œNoah, I’m getting soaked from all those misters spraying down. What on earth is the matter?”
    â€œThe groom.” He took off his Stetson and peered up over the rock. “Brandon.”
    â€œAh.” She gazed at Noah’s tense profile. Despite her complaining, the mist felt kind of good after the warmth of their walk. “So you’re planning on keeping me a secret from the bridal party?”
    â€œI hadn’t thought about it until you started talking about the extra key, but then I began thinking that it could be kind of awkward, trying to explain everything.”
    â€œMaybe you’re right.” Far from being insulted, she was delighted. One of her most popular magazine articles had dealt with secrecy in a relationship and how tantalizing the forbidden could become. She would love to be Noah’s forbidden secret for the weekend. It would make her that much harder to resist.
    â€œHere comes Brandon. Can you get down lower?”
    â€œSure.” She got to her knees on the mossy ground and hunched down even more. The plants gave off a loamy, fertile scent that was quite exciting. And fortunately this wasn’t really the tropics, so she