Free Vegas Knights by Marina Maddix

her throat. It continued at the more sedate pace for a minute or so before stopping, and dinging open. "Home sweet home," Rick mumbled as he guided her into a tiny landing with one door on either side. Turning left, he punched a keypad and swung the oak-paneled door inward.  
    " Après vous ." He swept arm toward the apartment in what would have been a funny gesture if his handsome face hadn't been wearing a grim expression. Lines she didn't remember seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
    Without a word, she moved carefully into the room, her gaze flying from one corner to the another, taking it all in. The place was immense, and beautifully decorated, but it felt cold, uninhabited.  
    Rick swept past her, talking as he walked, and disappeared into a room. "Listen, I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of having my assistant order you a selection of clothes."  
    Peeking around the door, Kelly saw him drop her bag on a decadently wide bed covered in silk pillows. He pressed a button on an elegant glass side table and the black-out curtains spanning the wall-sized windows slowly buzzed to life, drawing back and allowing the desert sun to brighten the room. Kelly's jaw dropped
    He glanced at her as he passed, pointing toward one side of the room. "They're in the closet. Don't feel obligated to wear them. I just knew you wouldn't have anything."  
    Kelly was touched at the gesture, but also confused by his constant motion. It was strange that this man who had been content to sit all day without moving for the last several days now couldn't stand still for a moment. He moved around the penthouse with the ease of an owner but it seemed as if he couldn't wait to leave. She hoped it was only the apartment he was in a hurry to leave.
    "I have to run to the office for awhile but I'd like to take you out to a nice dinner tonight at Genoa." He was gathering up papers from a locked desk and stuffing them into a well-worn leather messenger bag. "Say eight?"
    He didn't wait for a reply before brushing past her once again, this time heading for the door. "Sorry I can't stay. I wrote the key code to the door down by the computer. Make yourself at home, help yourself to anything you want and be sure to call Peter downstairs if you need anything, okay?"
    With a small wave, he slammed the door behind him and was gone.
    "Bye," Kelly whispered to the empty room.
    ~ * ~ * ~
    She stood in the middle of the enormous living room, dejected. She'd had the idea that they would spend the day together and get settled in before he rushed off to work. Now she was faced with spending the day alone in a city she didn't know.  
    Shaking herself, she resolved to not wallow in self-pity. Rick had made it clear that he would be busy once he got to Vegas, and if she'd fantasized that things would be different that that, she had no one to blame but herself. She could spend her time feeling sorry for herself, or she could look at this as a grand adventure.  
    "And feeling sorry for myself isn't nearly as much fun," she said with conviction.
    She couldn't quite talk herself into being happy at the turn of events, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying to find the joy in this trip. And the first thing that would add a little happiness to her day was a nice long shower. She had an idea whatever was going to greet her in the bathroom would be of a magnitude that would make all other showers she'd ever experienced seem like lawn sprinklers.  
    Passing through the bedroom, she couldn't help but sneak a peek into the closet to see what kind of taste Rick — or, rather, his assistant — had. What she saw left her breathless. First, it wasn't a closet so much as a small room, one that was about the size of her bathroom back home. Both sides were lined with two rows, top and bottom, of clothes of all styles. Facing the door was a full-length row of dresses and what looked like designer evening gowns. Shelves between each row housed at least a dozen