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  “Well, I thought I could hold the interviews here. I’ve got everything set up and operating. And my current staff will be available to help me.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “I will need those keys, though. I’ve got office equipment to purchase. And supplies. And furniture—tables and chairs, all that. I’ll need to be able to get in and out of the facility.”

  He said, “I’ll have the keys waiting for you. Check the concierge desk at the hotel. Just show them ID.”

  “Hotel Impresario, you mean?”

  “That’s right.”

  He’d have them waiting….

  He wasn’t offering lunch, wasn’t inventing excuses for them to get together. Apparently he’d gotten her message loud and clear: keep away.

  Good. He was the wrong kind of guy for her and she was glad he’d realized the two of them weren’t going anywhere.

  He said, his tone all business, “Since you signed the contract without asking for any changes, I’m taking it that you agree to the opening day we proposed. You’ll be ready to open the doors on February fourteenth?”

  The fourteenth was two and a half weeks away. It was also Valentine’s Day, as luck would have it. For some reason, that struck Cleo as terribly ironic.

  “I’ll do my best,” she told him. “It’s cutting it pretty tight.”

  “You signed the contract.” He said it gently.

  Annoyance prickled through her. Did he have to rub it in? But then she reminded herself that he was only stating a fact. “I know. I’m a little worried about the background checks, though. I run background checks on everyone I hire, even the ones who are already licensed. But the checks can take time….”

  “Are the checks really necessary? If they’re licensed already, I would think that would do it.”

  She wasn’t backing down on this one. “There are a lot of reasons KinderWay is the best. We go the extra mile. All of our teachers and care providers are not only highly skilled and well trained, they’ve also been thoroughly vetted. We can say that we’ve done everything humanly possible to be certain no predator or abuser gets near any of the children in our care.”

  He must have been convinced; he didn’t argue further. “Let me speed that up for you, then.”

  “That would help. How?”

  “Call Klimas Investigators. They’re the best. Talk to Brian Klimas himself. Give him the names of all your prospective hires and tell him what kind of check you want done on them. Tell him that you need a rush on it. And tell him to bill the Bravo Group.”

  She wondered if he’d hired this Brian person to check her out. But she didn’t ask. “All right. I’ll call him.”

  “Anything you need, just let me know.”

  “I’ll do that. Thanks.”

  “We’ll want a progress report midway—say Friday, the fourth?”

  “Certainly.”

  “Just to see that we’re on track.”

  “Yes. Of course. No problem.”

  “You won’t have to report to me. Talk to Darlene Archer in Human Resources. I’ll see she’s up to speed on what we’re doing. She’ll call you at the beginning of next week and set up a time the two of you can meet.”

  “That will be fine.”

  “Also, I’ll see that Darlene has a check ready for you tomorrow, to cover any early expenses you incur. Set up accounts with any stores or suppliers you’ll be using regularly. They can bill the Bravo Group. Again, talk to Darlene. She’ll tell you what you need to know and answer any questions that come up.”

  “I will. Don’t worry….”

  He actually laughed then. It was a warm, wry sound and it made her wish she could…

  But no. Nothing was going to happen between them. She was happy with Danny, with her life as it was.

  He said, “I’m not worried, Cleopatra. Not worried in the least.”

  “Well, okay, then. Good.”

  “One more thing and I’ll let you go.”

  She clutched the phone a little tighter, realized she was doing it and consciously relaxed her grip. “Sure.”

  “Ashlyn’s birthday party is on Saturday, the fifth. From noon to five at Circus Circus, the Adventuredome.” He added drily, “No one can ever say I don’t support the competition.”

  Ashlyn’s birthday. She’d almost forgotten. Or, to be honest, she’d let herself forget. Because contact with Ashlyn meant contact with Fletcher, and she was seriously conflicted about that.

  And yet, she had promised the solemn-eyed little girl….

  And come on. Really. She was essentially in business with Fletcher now. She would be running into him now and then. There was no avoiding it.

  And even if she never had a reason to talk shop with him again, even if she always went through Darlene in HR from here on out, he’d be showing up at KinderWay every day to drop off his daughter, for crying out loud.

  Fletcher said, “I hope we’ll see you there.”

  “Of course I’ll be at Ashlyn’s party,” she replied. “Please thank her for inviting me and tell her I’ll see her at the Adventuredome.”

  “I’ll do that. Goodbye, then.”

  “Goodbye, Fletcher.”

  The line went dead. Cleo hung up and told herself she didn’t feel the least bit sad or at all let down.

  When Fletcher finished the unsatisfying call to Cleo, he had another call waiting. He took it without checking to see who it was.

  “Fletcher? There you are, at last.”

  “Andrea.” Andrea Raye was a featured dancer in the erotic revue, Cancan du Bal, which had been playing at Impresario to sell-out audiences for the past six months.

  Andrea laughed, a charming sound, one that was only a little bit forced. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

  He supposed he should have a talk with her. “How about lunch tomorrow?”

  “I would love lunch. Or you could just come by after the show tonight.” She pitched her voice lower and suggested seductively, “We’ll have breakfast—eventually.”

  He spoke gently. “Thanks, but that’s not going to work.”

  “Ah,” she said after a lengthy pause. “I get it.” There was a deep sigh. “So this is it, huh?”

  “Andrea…” He never knew what to say at this point.

  She laughed again, the sound more brittle than before. “Oh, please. We’re both adults, now aren’t we?”

  He knew that whatever he said next was bound to sound lame. And it did. “Yes. We are.”

  “I’m thinking that lunch will be a little too…after the fact, if you know what I mean.”

  “I understand.”

  “Will you send me something pretty, to remember you by?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Diamonds. I really like diamonds….”

  Andrea’s out-front request didn’t surprise him in the least. When his half brother Aaron had been single, before Celia had turned him into a die-hard family man, there had been a lot of women. The story went that Aaron would always give them diamonds when he said goodbye. Word had probably gotten around. Vegas, in a lot of ways, was a very small town.

  Hell. He could almost hear the women whispering, I got diamonds from Aaron. What did Fletcher give you?

  “Fletcher? Is…that okay?”

  “Diamonds it is.”

  “Oh, thank you—and Fletcher?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I have to tell you. I’m gonna miss you….”

  He wished her well and said goodbye.

  Then he buzzed Marla and told her to see that Andrea got her diamonds. After that, he called Darlene in HR and briefed her on her new responsibilities with the KinderWay project.

  He didn’t like having to do that—didn’t like giving up the various opportunities for contact with Cleo that holding on to the KinderWay connection would provide.

  But Fletcher Bravo knew when to fold ’em. He knew that a better hand would come his way eventually. Cleo had been as much attracted to him a
s he was to her. There was no denying heat like that.

  Not forever.

  All he had to do right now was wait. Lady Luck would find him in her own good time.

  She always did.

  Chapter Five

  Danny took Cleo to Black Angus that night. Right after the waitress served their prime rib dinners, he asked if something was wrong.

  For a moment she couldn’t quite meet his eyes. She stared down at her huge baked potato and the mound of sour cream exploding from it. “Good thing I’m not dancing anymore. After a dinner like this one, I’d get kicked off the show at the next weigh-in.”

  Danny refused to let her change the subject. He asked softly, “You gonna answer my question, Cleo?”

  She made herself look at him. “Oh, really. Nothing’s wrong. Nothing at all. Why?”

  “You seem…I don’t know. Kind of sad.”

  “But I’m not sad. Not in the least.” It came out sounding way too vehement. She smiled to show him it was no big deal.

  He shrugged. “Maybe just distracted, then?”

  “Well, okay. A little…”

  “Over the deal with Impresario, right?”

  She answered lamely, “It’s a big step.”

  “Cleo?”

  “What?”

  “Relax. You’re going to do just fine.”

  She beamed him an even bigger smile. “Somehow you always manage to say just the right thing.”

  He came in for coffee when they got back to her house. As she was filling the drip basket with fresh-ground decaf, he came up behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her.

  She jumped in surprise.

  “Hey,” he whispered, smoothing her hair out of the way and pressing his lips to the side of her neck. “It’s only me….”

  “No kidding.” She turned in the circle of his arms and rested her hands on his chest.

  He whispered, “You’re so beautiful. And I’m crazy for you….” His mouth touched hers.

  Cleo kissed him back. But her heart wasn’t really in it.

  Danny knew it. He pulled away and gave her a rueful smile. “Not in the mood, huh?” He was too much of a gentleman to mention that she hadn’t been in the mood since a little over a week ago. Since the day she’d met—

  She cut that thought off before it went any further. This had nothing to do with any other man. A whole lot had happened in the past week. She was taking on a huge new project. It was only natural that she would be a little bit distracted….

  “Danny, I’m sorry. I—”

  He laid a light finger against her lips. “Shh. It’s okay.” He stepped back. “Go on, make that coffee.”

  She felt as though she ought to say something, to explain herself somehow. But she didn’t want to make a big deal about this. Because it wasn’t a big deal. She was busy and preoccupied and, well, Danny had said it himself: just not in the mood.

  Turning back to the coffeemaker, she finished loading the basket.

  In the days that followed, Cleo hit the floor running every morning and collapsed into bed exhausted every night.

  She bought equipment and supplies, reworked the program guidelines for each of the classes, tweaking and improving so she could start out with the best study blueprint possible at the new location—and keep things fresh and exciting at the original school, as well. She called a big meeting with her current staff, explained her plans for expansion and asked for volunteers to move to the new location. The idea was to take at least a few experienced people over to Impresario so that the new facility wouldn’t be starting with all new hires. It worked. Two teachers—she had six teachers in various capacities at the original location—and three aides said they’d be happy to make the move.

  Cleo knew that to expand effectively, she was going to need a really good associate director, someone who could step in and hold down the fort at one location whenever Cleo was needed at the other. Fortunately she found just the right woman for the job on the first day of interviews. A former elementary school assistant principal, Megan Helsberg had the right education and training, the right experience and excellent references. She was also available to start immediately.

  Brian Klimas’s security check on Megan came back clean, so Cleo had Megan work with her to hire the rest of the new staff. Megan caught on quickly, but her job duties were varied and complex; there was a lot for her to learn. Cleo trained her as they worked—all while continuing her director’s duties at the first KinderWay and preparing the Impresario facility for its grand opening on Valentine’s Day.

  Cleo and Danny hardly saw each other. There was simply no time. Once she finished a day’s work on the new facility, she had to play catch-up at the old one. She was at her desk every night until after ten, determined to keep up her standards at the existing KinderWay and also to honor her contract with the Bravo Group to deliver a top-quality service and to open the doors to the new facility on time.

  Cleo and Megan met with Darlene Archer on Friday, the fourth, in the HR offices at Impresario. Darlene was impressed with the progress they’d made. Cleo promised they’d be ready to open on the fourteenth— and realized as she made that promise that they had a very good chance of making it.

  Darlene gave them the access code to the student list. It contained all the basic information on the students who would be showing up for preschool on Valentine’s Day, including emergency phone numbers and a health profile for each child. With that code, she already had all the information usually gleaned from the endless forms that parents filled out at enrollment. The new KinderWay would be operating at capacity from the first day it opened its doors.

  Saturday, Cleo went to Ashlyn’s birthday party at the Adventuredome.

  Fletcher, looking heartbreaker-handsome in a light cashmere sweater and dark slacks, greeted her with a cool smile. “I’m glad you could come.”

  “I’m so pleased Ashlyn invited me.”

  They traded a few more generic pleasantries. As she made the obligatory small talk, she felt…desperate, somehow, just at the sight of him, at the sound of his deep, tempting voice.

  Yes, desperate. And sad.

  My God. I’ve missed him.

  As quickly as the thought took form, she banished it. He turned to greet another guest, and Cleo moved away, into the group of kids and parents that had formed nearby while they waited for everyone to arrive.

  For the rest of the afternoon she kept her distance from the father of the birthday girl. It wasn’t all that difficult; he made no effort to get close to her. She watched Ashlyn and her friends take on the junior rides—the Frog Jump and the Miner Mike roller coaster and the miniature airplane ride. She enjoyed the magic show and the clowns. There were also “family” rides, where the kids needed an adult to ride with them.

  For one of those, a Ferris wheel called Drifters where the cars looked like hot-air balloons, Ashlyn ran up and slipped a small hand into hers. “Cleo. Ride on the big balloons with me, please?”

  Cleo looked down into those serious eyes and all at once her chest was too tight to contain her heart. There was just something about Fletcher’s little girl, something so sweet and honest and special….

  Ashlyn was frowning. “Cleo? Are you sad?”

  Was she sad? It was the question Danny had asked her more than once—and also the way she had felt when she’d faced Fletcher again today for the first time in over a week.

  Cleo smiled. “Right now I’m just…happy for you.” She squeezed the little hand tucked so trustingly into her own. “Congratulations on being five years old.”

  Ashlyn’s frown faded. “Thank you.” A few feet away Fletcher boosted a little boy onto his shoulders—a little boy with blue eyes and the cutest kid-size cleft in his chin. “That’s my cousin, Davey,” Ashlyn explained. “He’s three. Sometimes he makes me crazy, but mostly he’s all right. Daddy has to take care of him because Aunt Celia couldn’t come to my party after all. She had to have a baby yesterday.”

  So Celia
had delivered her baby at last. “Wow. That’s exciting. Boy or girl?”

  “A girl. She’s my new cousin and her name is Jillian Jane. She got her name from Aunt Celia’s two best friends in the whole wide world, my aunt Jillian and my aunt Jane. But my great-aunt Caitlin said the baby looked like a J.J. That made everybody laugh, though I don’t really understand why it was funny. After that, they all called her little J.J. It’s her Nick name, Daddy told me. That’s kind of funny, huh? You get another name and it’s called your Nick name even though you don’t even know anybody named Nick?” Ashlyn frowned again. “I don’t have one.”

  “A nickname, you mean?”

  “That’s right. I don’t. Do you?”

  “Yep. My nickname is Cleo.”

  Ashlyn’s big eyes got even wider. “Then what’s your real name?”

  “Cleopatra.”

  Ashlyn tested the word. “Clee-o-pat-ra. It’s very long.”

  “Cleopatra was once the queen of a country called Egypt.”

  Ashlyn considered. “A queen? Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “I like Cleo better.”

  “Good. Because that’s what everyone calls me.”

  “Did you know that I’m going to go to your school?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “My daddy told me. Livvy’s leaving next week and I will go to your school when she’s gone. I’ll miss Livvy lots, but I think I’m getting old enough that I should be going to school.”

  “I’m very pleased that you’ll be one of our students—and I think we just missed our balloon ride.”

  “Oh, that’s all right.” Ashlyn tugged on Cleo’s hand. “Come on. We can get in line and ride the next time….”

  They ended up riding with Fletcher and Davey. The kids laughed and cried out in delight as they rose toward the pink Adventuredome sky—and Cleo tried not to let her gaze collide with Fletcher’s.

  Later, before the cake and ice cream, Ashlyn opened her presents. Cleo had given her a stack of books— some by Dr. Seuss and some by Shel Silverstein and one of Cleo’s personal favorites called Goodnight, Moon. Ashlyn tore off the bright birthday paper, let out a glad cry and then jumped down from her chair. She rushed over to Cleo and held out her arms. Cleo bent down and Ashlyn grabbed her around the neck in a tight hug.