“I heard they were coming to town. Congratulations on landing it.”
“Thanks. I usually do my own legwork, but this one sort of landed on me. My boss made the initial contact.” She made a face. “They want to stay at Vice.”
“Awesome. Consider it done.”
“You’d be okay with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I? I’m glad you told me. I’ll make sure we treat them well.”
“I can’t be seen giving Vice preferential treatment. I work with every major hotel on the Strip. They all pay hefty membership fees to belong to the convention and visitors’ association. I have to be careful about conflicts of interest.”
“You said yourself they want to stay at Vice. You would have booked it, whether you knew me or not, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I see no conflict here.”
“Thanks, Alex. I didn’t want to impose, you know, after everything.”
“It’s not an imposition. We’ll give them the VIP treatment, I promise.”
Another smile. Everything inside him lightened and soared.
“On one condition. I want you to talk to someone.”
Her smile drifted away.
Alex placed a hand on hers. “I know it won’t fix things, Dana, but it might help. Please.”
“Okay.”
Alex turned on some soft music and they sat together. They didn’t talk, just basked in each other’s presence. She cuddled next to him, her head on his shoulder, and he put his arm around her. It felt so good just to rub her shoulder and offer some comfort.
Her head grew heavy and bobbed a couple of times. He loved that she was comfortable enough to fall asleep with him. He started to doze next to her when she startled awake.
She shook her head. “I should go. I have a lot of work to do.”
“But you’re exhausted.”
“I know but I have no choice.”
“You’ll be working from home?”
“Yeah. I have to update our online delegate website before I send the link to the mystery writers. We have a few new member restaurants and I need to get them added to the site. They’ve paid for the privilege so they get more exposure with convention delegates.”
“I was hoping to hang out with you today, you know, in a platonic way.”
“I would like that, but—”
“How would you feel about getting away from the Strip altogether and doing your work in a nice, peaceful environment?”
“Sounds great. Where is this haven?”
“My home.”
“But you live here.”
“I have another home. When I first arrived in Vegas, I rented a house in Summerlin. I decided to keep it, you know, so I have a quiet place to clear my head.”
