Stealing Cupid's Bow Read Free Page B

attendant reappeared with her tea. As she walked back down the aisle Raine noticed the long look she gave Alexander. She was glad to see she wasn’t the only one who responded to him. Women probably fawned over him all the time.
    “What is it?” he asked.
    Darn, her thought must have shown in her expression! “I was just noticing the flight attendant seems rather taken with you,” she said casually.
    He chuckled. “Although that’s a flattering observation, I think her boyfriend might get a little upset if I asked her for her phone number.”
    “Boyfriend?” Raine’s eyebrows rose.
    He pointed and she followed the direction his finger led in time to see a pair of hands wrap around the flight attendant’s waist from behind the curtain in the back. A light giggle reached Raine’s ears as she disappeared behind it.
    “Oh.” She lifted the tea and sipped at it, feeling embarrassed. She should have just kept her big mouth shut.
    “People seem to have a certain glow to them when they think they’re in love, don’t they?”
    She nodded in agreement, certain her glow was gone.
    They sat in comfortable silence for a while and she distracted herself with the in-flight shopping magazine. It was better than nothing. As the minutes ticked by her physical attraction to him grew. Despite her less-than-perky mood, she could feel her body warm with an awareness of him. The light, clean scent of him tickled her nose awakening a chain of reactions beneath her skin. It was like inhaling a fresh breeze mixed with the creamy smell of shaving cream and a hint of cologne warmed just right by the heat of his skin. What was wrong with her? It was as if he were a magnet. She would have loved to run her fingers up his arm. The fabric of his shirt looked fine and soft and very promising of a large, firm biceps. She tried harder to focus on the pages of the airline magazine she’d pulled from the pocket.
    A while later he touched his fingertips to her arm lightly.
    A jolt of electricity shot up through her from the contact. Thankfully, he was gazing out the window.
    “Look, you can see the Strip.”
    She leaned in closer. Below, the pyramid of the Luxor Hotel, the Eiffel Tower of the Paris Hotel, and the glimmering gold of the Palazzo Hotel, were in view.
    “So, where are you headed when we land? Are you here for fun?” she asked.
    “No, I live here,” he said. “The Palazzo is my home.”
    “It is?”
    “Can you think of anywhere better?” he said with a grin.
    “Actually I can’t.” Did the hotels really have permanent residents in them? It would be like living in a giant mansion complete with round-the-clock fine dining and entertainment. She wondered what line of work he was in that enabled him to live in one of the most luxurious hotels on the Strip. “How long have you lived there?”
    “Quite a while now. Have you ever been?”
    “Just for dinner once or twice with my parents. It’s a beautiful place.”
    “Sin City….” he said quietly. “It’s how most of the world will be soon.”
    He continued to gaze out the window, a distant look in his eye.
    She huffed out a breath but decided to ignore his cynicism. It wasn’t her business to change his thinking.
    “What’s it like living there?” she asked.
    “It’s great. I have everything I could need just seconds away from my rooms.”
    “It doesn’t get lonely?”
    He shook his head. “Quite the opposite. I know everyone that works there by name. It’s like being surrounded by family. In addition to that, new guests arrive at the hotel every day. I find it interesting to see the variety of people that come through and chatting with them at the bar on occasion.”
    “I never thought of it that way.” The way he described it made it sound wonderful.
    Together they continued to look out the window. Alexander pointed out sites where new hotels were in progress or others were planned.
    Before she knew it, they had landed and were walking off the plane. He