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Adele sailed back into the dressing room with a pair of shiny, blood red, spiked heels. “These aren’t comfortable, but they’re worth the pain,” she said, setting them in front of me.

She was right about both.

Javier got one look at me and grinned. “Perfect,” he said, then whisked me off to the next stop.

At the resort’s posh salon he’d set me up with two quick, simultaneous services. A stylist blew out my hair while a makeup artist gave me a quick, glam makeup job.

We were behind Stephan and Carter getting to the restaurant but not by much.

All the effort was well worth it when I saw Carter’s reaction to my express makeover.

His eyes ran over me like a caress, and I read something there, some new piece of approval that made me think he’d noticed what I did, that I looked more like an adult and less like a teenager like this, and he very much approved.

Which was good considering he’d spent a small fortune for it all.

For his part, he looked so good in light gray slacks, shiny matching shoes, and a crisp white dress shirt that I wanted to drop to my knees and show him how much I liked it right there. Of course, I felt that way when he was wearing sweats.

I had it so bad.

The dinner reservations were at an expensive French restaurant next to Stephan and Javier’s bar.

I ordered something I could barely pronounce, not wanting to ask what anything was since no one else seemed to be having trouble. I’d suffer through a lot before illustrating how unsophisticated I was in front of Carter, though of course he already knew.

Stephan and Javier made good company for dinner and in general. I really liked them both, and especially appreciated how Javier had taken the time to befriend and hang out with me.

“So you’re James Cavendish’s wife’s best friend?” I asked Stephan, referring to the billionaire that this very casino was named after.

“Closer to family,” Javier corrected. “We’re their children’s godparents. We’re family,” he reiterated. “Close family.”

“That’s cool,” I said, smiling. “What’s he like?”

I thought it was a pretty easy question but both men thought it over for several moments before I got an answer.

“He’s a good man,” Stephan finally said. “A family man. I couldn’t ask for someone better for my best friend to be married to.”

“Is he fun though?” I asked. I’d never met a billionaire before and James Cavendish was a particularly interesting one.

“In a way,” Javier mused, a twist to his mouth. “He can be rather serious, but he has a good sense of humor. He’s great with his kids, as well.”

Carter laughed, stroking a hand over my hair. When I wore it down he couldn’t stop touching it so of course I wore it down all the time now. “I don’t think you’ll get an answer from them that James’s PR wouldn’t come up with personally, pet.”

“What about his wife?” I tried. I’d seen pictures of her. The impression I’d gotten was that she was beautiful, blond but sort of aloof looking. “Is she nice?”

Stephan didn’t have to think about it. “She’s the nicest. I’m sure you’ll meet her sometime. People are intimidated by her, because of how she looks and because she’s quiet, but don’t be. You won’t meet a kinder soul.”

Carter laughed again, his hand gripping my nape now. I loved his hand there. It felt like he was claiming me when he grabbed me just like that. “I don’t think you’ll get anything but a best friend answer to that. But I’ve met them too. James comes to poker occasionally. They’re both very nice.”

We were eating dessert by that point, a crème brûlée that Javier insisted we had to try, and I was pushing the last bit of it around in the dish, too full to take another bite.

“On that note,” Stephan said, sitting up straight, “we’re calling it a night. But we have a surprise for you, if you want it.” He glanced at Carter, then back at me. “Have you heard of Tristan Vega?”

I stared at him. “The rock star? Of course I’ve heard of him. He has a residency in this casino. He’s on the billboard out front.”

“He alternates shows every six months,” Stephan explained. “He performs with his band for half the year, and then he also has a magic show that he likes to constantly switch up for the other half. Anyway, he’s in the rock star phase of his year.”

“He’s sold out for months ahead of time,” Carter pointed out. “He’s been harassing James to build him a larger theatre.”

I glanced at him.