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handful of nights in my own bed. The rest of the time, I was in Vegas, converting a major casino to our software. I owned a condo in Vegas, which was a little more personal than a motel room. But it still wasn’t home.
    It was almost a month before I heard from him. It was seven o’clock in the morning, and I was just headed out the door of my condo for another long work day when he called.
    “Hello, muffin. How have you been?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “ Muffin ?”
He ignored me. “I’d like to see you. Are you free any time this week?”
    I sighed. “No. I’m stuck in Vegas.”
“You’re working? Isn’t it the weekend?”
“There are no weekends in the hotel industry.”
“You’re such a killjoy. How long will you be there?” “Several days, at least. Are you back in Phoenix?”
“I am, actually. But it will be terribly boring here without you.” “It’s pretty boring here, too.”
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He was silent for a moment, and then he said, “I could change that, you know.”
     
“You could make transitioning accounting data more interesting?”
     
“Goodness, no. I’m fairly certain that’s not even possible. But I could at least make your evenings worthwhile.”
     
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
    “I’m sure I don’t know, muffin. I dare say I can’t read your mind when we’re in the same room, let alone when you’re two hundred miles away.”
    “Are you offering to come to Vegas?”
“Yes, if I won’t be in the way.”
“I’ll be working during the day.”
“I believe that’s already been established. I assure you, I’m quite capable of entertaining myself until you’re free.”
    I found myself smiling again. The idea of a few more days in Vegas suddenly seemed infinitely less dreary. “I would love to have some company.”
“Good,” he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll be there in time for dinner.”
    He called me a few hours later, when his flight got in, and I gave him the address to my place and the key code to get in. I wasn’t able to get away from the casino until after six. When I arrived back at the condo, I found him waiting. He was barefoot, wearing slim dark pants and some type of loose-fitting white shirt that accentuated the rich tone of his skin. He was setting plates of food on the table.
“I didn’t have time to cook, so I ordered sushi.”
     
It was an enormous relief to not have to fight the crowds at a restaurant again. “I think I love you,” I said lightly.
     
He winked at me. “What’s not to love?”
     
“I didn’t even know it was possible to have sushi delivered.” 37
    “Well this is Vegas, honey. Anyway, when you’re as rich as I am, you can have anything brought to your door.” He finished putting the food on the table and looked up at me. And then he stopped. His eyes slowly moved up my body, and his smile turned from casual to lecherous.
“What?” I asked.
     
He shook his head at me, still smiling. “There’s just something about a man in a suit, isn’t there?”
     
“Don’t get too attached to it. The first thing I’m going to do is take it off.”
     
His eyes narrowed, and he winked at me through the fall of his bangs. “My thoughts exactly.”
    It was after eight by the time we got around to eating. We were great together in bed, but once we were out of it, he kept his distance. He flirted with me incessantly, but there were no random caresses or spontaneous kisses. It was a casual companionship that was friendly, sometimes awkward, but not at all intimate.
    After dinner, we sat on the couch. I sat at one end with my laptop, watching the news and catching up on work. He wrapped himself in a blanket and curled into a ball on the other end, reading a book. I couldn’t see what it was, but I was pretty sure it was in French. By the time I turned off the TV, he was sound asleep. I nudged him awake, and he followed me into the bedroom, but like before, he didn’t curl against me