A blush crept up her neck. Good. She should know what she did to people just by existing.
“You said dress up,” she explained, smoothing the dress nervously. “I wasn’t sure if this was?—”
Shoot me with an arrow to the heart. How can one woman be this sexy?
“You look perfect.” I offered my arm like a gentleman instead of the idiot currently shorting his own brain. “Shall we?”
She hesitated, then slipped her hand into the crook of my elbow. The touch sent heat through the expensive fabric of my suit, which seemed cosmically unfair given I had worked hard to keep this professional—somewhat.
“Where are we going?” she asked as I guided her toward the private elevator.
“I promised to show you Vegas. You’ll see it in a novel way. Trust me.”
The elevator climbed silently, just the two of us in a confined space that smelled like her shampoo—something citrus and floral that made me want to lean closer and figure out exactly which notes the perfumer had used.
“Leo,” she said carefully. “You’re standing a little too close?”
“Am I? I hadn’t noticed. Sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize. You are my boss. Well, one of them.”
Oh, damn. Not the “you’re my boss” speech.
“Don’t worry, Tashi. We’re having a dinner between colleagues in a completely professional capacity.”
“That’s a lot of qualifiers.”
“I’m a man who believes in clarity.”
“You’re a man who’s full of shit.”
I laughed, surprised and delighted. “That too.”
The elevator doors opened onto the rooftop, and I watched her face as she took it in.
The rooftop terrace stretched out like something from a movie—which made sense, given I’d basically copied the setup from three different rom-coms that Ares had mocked me with his dry, dark humor for watching. The white linen tablecloth, fine china from the restaurant’s private collection, and candles in hurricane glasses to protect them from the desert breeze. Fairy lights were strung overhead, because apparently I’d become that guy.
And God, the view.
Vegas spread out below us like a circuit board come to life, the Strip a river of neon cutting through the desert dark. Mountains ringed the valley in shadow, and above it all, stars fought to be seen against the city’s glow.
“Leo,” Tashi breathed. “This is?—”
“Too much?” I supplied.
“Incredible.” She moved toward the table, fingers trailing over the white linen. “You did this?”
“I figured you deserve to see Vegas the way it’s meant to be seen. Not from a hospital bed or a hotel suite. The real thing.”
She turned to face me, and the candlelight caught her eyes in a way that made my chest tighten. “This doesn’t feel professional, Leo.”
“This, Tashi, is the Vegas I see. I wanted you to see it too, and maybe you can translate it into your marketing work. We used to say, ‘Experience the magic of Vegas.’ I think that’s the directionwe should go, but I haven’t been able to translate it for a modern audience. It’s one of the reasons I pushed for you to come work here.”
“Because of my age?”
“Yes.”
Tashi swallowed hard. “Wow, I didn’t realize.” She bit into her lips and wrapped her arms around herself.
