MacGregor Grooms by Nora Roberts

Author:Nora Roberts [Roberts, Nora]
Language: eng
Format: epub

He dealt her a six, causing her sisters to applaud, then went on down the line, coaching each one.

He paid off two, raked in chips from the other pair, then dealt the next hand. Under usual circumstances, he'd have enjoyed nothing better than playing flirt-and-gamble with a quartet of attractive blondes. But his mind kept wandering… out of the casino and into the lounge beyond.

She'd be singing, standing center stage with the mike in her hand and some sexy little dress barely covering her. Her voice would be filling the room, radiating through it. Deep and rich and smooth.

He realized he didn't want to just see her, he wanted to hear her. He wanted to find a table in the back of the room, in the dark, and just listen.

"I've got twelve." The sister on the end batted enormous baby blues and demanded attention. "What should I do, Duncan?"

"Take a chance. I'm showing nine, so you have to figure nineteen."

"Okay, but be gentle with me."

He clobbered her with a king and smiled sympathetically.

"Oh, pooh." She pouted prettily. "Maybe I'm just better at other games."

Signal received, he thought. Loud and clear. And what the hell was wrong with him? He didn't feel the least bit tempted to bounce back with a signal of his own. And felt nothing but relief when Gloria stepped beside him.

"Changing dealers, ladies," she said cheerfully. Their responding chorus of awws had Gloria chuckling. "Say good-night, Duncan."

"Good night, ladies. You've got the floor from here," he murmured to his manager.

"Yeah, under control. Why don't you go on into the lounge and take in the rest of the show—since that's where your mind's been for the last hour, anyway."

"Might just." He gave her a quick flick on her nose. "Gloria will take good care of you," he said to the table, and four pairs of big blue eyes followed him out the door.

"So, is he taken?"

Gloria arched her brows at the blonde across from her, then grinned. "Yeah, he is. He just doesn't know it yet. Ladies, place your bets."

I have, she thought, and laughed to herself.

Duncan slipped quietly into the lounge, adjusting to the dim lights and the heat of Cat's voice. She was singing about loving the wrong man, but there was as much defiance as sorrow in the vocals.

He'd meant to ease down the side and toward the back, order a brandy and sit sipping while he listened to her. But he stayed where he was, in the shadows just to stage left.

She knew he was there, would have sworn there'd been a change in the air the moment he'd stepped in. Something charged and edgy that had her skin prickling. As if to test them both, she shifted her gaze, met his, held it. Let the song pour out of her, and into him.

It wasn't until the applause sounded that she realized she'd yet to break the connection. She lowered the mike so her shaky expulsion of breath wouldn't carry, then turned a sparkling smile to the audience.

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