Free Notorious by Vicki Lewis Thompson

decadence. The huge canopied bed was draped with gauzy fabric and deep in pillows. Two overstuffed lounges, both slip-covered in white, sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that repeated the view from the living area.
    The simple elegance of the setting was a perfect contrast to the lusty mating of bodies she had planned. Seduction was going to be so sweet in this room.
    Through another arch she glimpsed a large bathroom that gleamed with white marble and gold fixtures. Oh, yes. Noah was so dead.
    But where was he, anyway? Maybe he was standing transfixed in the middle of the living area, unable to believe his eyes. Crossing over the bridge again, she found the room empty. Apparently he’d bogged down in the hall for some reason.
    â€œNoah?” she called. “What are you doing?”
    â€œTrying to figure out how this wall-of-water thing works,” he called back. “Do you think we have to turn it off at night? I’ve been looking for a switch, but I can’t seem to find—”
    â€œI don’t think you have to worry about how to turn it off.” She swallowed her laughter as she headed back toward the entry. He sounded so adorably earnest. Staying in a place like this with a man who’d never experienced luxuries would be a real kick. But she’d do well to remember how different their preferences were when it came to living arrangements.
    Sure enough, he wore a frown of concentration as he surveyed the entryway walls, looking for the on/off switch. “All this water running with no way to control it makes me nervous,” he said.
    â€œThat’s because you live in the desert.” She also thought anything unrestrained at the moment, water or lust, would get to him. “I’m sure they don’t want us fiddling with their waterfall,” she said. “And this is only the beginning, anyway. If running water makes you nervous, wait until you see the rest. Come on.”
    â€œWell, okay.” He walked toward the arched doorway. “But I’d still feel better if I knew how to control the—” His eyes widened at his first glimpse of the suite’s interior. “Oh…my…God.”
    She stood there with a silly grin as his startled gaze traveled from the waterfalls to the miniature creek to the glass wall looking out on the terrace with its exotic hot tub. Beyond the terrace lay the jeweled fantasy hotels along the Strip and the powerful thrust of the mountain range flanking the town. By day the view was impressive. By night it would beggar description.
    And they were here because she’d spoken up. She wasquite proud of herself. “A wee bit better than looking at the parking lot, wouldn’t you say?”
    He was obviously dumbstruck as he surveyed the room again, his attention lingering on the array of pillows and the footbridge leading into the bedroom.
    She loved looking at him standing there, an Arizona cowpoke so delightfully out of place in the lush tropical setting. But get him out of those clothes and he’d fit in much better, at least for the weekend. Under those worn jeans and that faded chambray shirt was a body to die for, and soon it would be all hers to command. This unbelievable hotel suite would clinch her victory. A cowboy in paradise. What more could a girl ask for?
    â€œI take it the bedroom’s in there,” he said.
    Oh, yes . “Yes. It’s a different style from this room, but it’s still wonderful. And there’s also an incredible bathroom, from what I could see. I didn’t go all the way into the bedroom.”
    â€œAnd is that…all?”
    She laughed in disbelief. “That isn’t enough?”
    â€œDon’t get me wrong. I’ve never seen a place like this. It blows me away. But somehow I thought there would be more…space.”
    â€œThe rooms are huge.”
    â€œI mean, more rooms.”
    â€œAh.” Now she understood. The more