Read Online Their Million-Dollar Night by Katherine Garbera - Free Book Online Page A

rest of the afternoon in the casino. Hayden and Deacon showed up during one of his winning hands and then enticed him to play with them. Deacon Prescott was one of Max’s oldest friends. A hell-raiser who’d grown up on Vegas’s mean streets and worked hard to make himself into the man he was today. The owner of the Golden Dream Casino was every inch the family man and casino owner. Since they were two of his oldest friends, they played a little dirty, deliberately distracting each other. It was fun, and Max relaxed around the men for the first time since Hayden’s marriage.
    He didn’t analyze it too closely and refused to answer any of Deacon’s and Hayden’s prying questions about Roxy. He took great pleasure in beating them both and walking away from the table with his friends’ money in his pockets.
    But as he fastened his tie in a classic Windsor knot, staring at himself in the mirror, he realized that he was doing what he always did. Trying to fix Roxy’s life.
    Since he’d been eight years old he’d always followed that pattern. As an adult he’d realized that part of the problem was his mother’s demand for perfection. She wasn’t an uncaring woman; she just had very high standards. And Max was very much her son. But he was also his father’s. And if he’d learned perfection at his mother’s knee, then he’d learned compassion at his father’s—and also how to move on.
    The course of his life had been set when he’d befriended Hayden at boarding school. When the two boys had met, they hadn’t hit it off at all. Hayden, in fact, hadn’t gotten on that well with anyone, spending all his time alone until one night Max had overheard a conversation between Hayden and Hayden’s father. The conversation reminded Max of the many he’d had with his mother. And he’d seen that the arrogant boy who no one had liked was really a lot like himself.
    Max blinked. Damn. He was still trying to fix people. Hayden had called him on it more thanonce, but Max couldn’t change. He knew that much about himself.
    But fixing Roxy in this instance could help him with business. There was no doubt that he wanted her, but he was thinking of her in terms of permanency, and he’d never thought of any woman that way before. Was it simply the effect of having his pals settle down? Did he want a wife because it would make his negotiations easier? Or did he want Roxy tied to him because of emotions he’d rather not acknowledge?
    When he arrived in the lobby Roxy was waiting with the two friends he’d seen her talking to the day before. As soon as she spotted him, she smiled and held up her hand, telling him she’d be right over.
    He didn’t wait for her to come to him. It was simply a power thing, but he didn’t want to lose control for a minute. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her back against him.
    â€œHello, Blondie.”
    â€œMax,” she said. “These are my friends, Tawny Patterson and Glenda MacIntosh. Tawny and Glenda, this is Max Williams.”
    Max shook hands with both women, who eyed him speculatively. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
    â€œRight back at ya,” Tawny said, winking at Roxy. “We’ve got to be going. We’ll talk to you later.”
    Roxy groaned as her friends walked off. “They arenot going to be happy until they’ve pumped me for information on you.”
    â€œWhat will you tell them?” he asked, leading her toward the escalator to the shopping and dining level. The resort was crowded. Now that night had fallen the casino was starting to really come alive.
    Max breathed in the sights and the sounds. The feel of the woman in his arms and the sound of her soft voice enhanced the night.
    â€œI’ll tell them…I’m not sure, Max. I think I want to keep what I’m feeling for you a secret.”
    Not, he