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on.”
    He got the real picture then. “You were going to sell him to me anyway.”
    Her smile was downright smug. “Yes, I was—and enough of all this.” She held out both hands, as though to indicate the whole of the world-famous casino complex. “Let’s go somewhere else.”
    An attendant showed them to a private office where Noah settled up and they collected what they’d won earlier in the evening. The attendant appeared again with Alice’s gold wrap and tiny jeweled handbag. A few minutes later they emerged into the glittering Montedoran night.
    “What now?” he asked, even though it was a risk; it gave her an out if she suddenly decided she should call it a night. He was betting she wouldn’t. She seemed to be having a great time. And he already knew how much she enjoyed calling the shots.
    “Somewhere private.” She glanced across the plaza where two men with cameras were snapping away. “Somewhere we can talk and not be disturbed.”
    Noah chuckled, pleased with himself that he’d read her mood correctly. “As though there’s anywhere in Montedoro they won’t follow us.”
    She took hold of his arm again and leaned close. He breathed in her scent. Exciting. So sweet. She said, “I have a plan.”
    “Uh-oh.”
    She laughed. “That’s exactly what my sister Rhia always says when I come up with a fabulous idea.” She faked a puzzled frown. “Why is that, do you think?”
    He played it safe. “Not a clue.”
    “Ha!” And then she leaned even closer. “I am having altogether too much fun.”
    Her words pleased him no end. “There’s no such thing as too much fun.”
    “Yes, there is. But it’s all right. It’s your last night in Montedoro after all. And we may never see each other again.”
    Wrong. “I just bought a horse from you, remember?”
    “Of course I remember. And you shall have Orion. But you know what I meant.”
    He decided to let that remark go, but if she thought this was the last evening they would spend together, she didn’t know who she was dealing with. “Tell me your plan.”
    “You’re sure? A moment ago you seemed reluctant to hear it.”
    “I’m sure.”
    “Well, all right, then.” She whispered her scheme in his ear.

Chapter Four
    “I t just might work,” he said, admiring the way the bright lights brought out hints of auburn and gold in her hair.
    “Of course it will work.”
    “All right, then. I’m game.” They turned together for his hotel, neither looking back to see if they were being followed. Why bother to look? Of course they were being followed. The paparazzi were relentless. As they entered the lobby, he got out his cell and called his driver.
    He led her straight through to the elevators. They got on and rode up to his floor—after which they changed elevators and went back down to the mezzanine level.
    They took the service stairway to the first floor again and slipped out the side door, where the car he’d called for was waiting, the engine running. The driver, Talbot, held the door for her. Noah jumped in on the other side.
    “Where to?” Talbot asked once they were safely hidden from prying eyes behind tinted windows. Alice rattled off a quick series of directions. The driver nodded and pulled the car away from the curb.
    Noah raised the panel between the front and rear seats.
    Alice glanced at him and grinned. “Alone at last.”
    He wrapped his arm around her and drew her closer. “If I kiss you, will you run away again?”
    She gazed at him steadily, eyes shining. Then she shook her head. “Not while the car is moving.”
    He bent closer and brushed his lips across the velvet flesh of her temple. “Remind me to tell Talbot never to stop....”
    “It’s a tempting idea, being here with you forever....” She tipped her face up to him.
    He brushed his mouth across hers, giving her a moment to accept him. When her lips parted slightly on a small tender sigh, he deepened the contact.
    She let him in. He tasted the wet, secret