When she’d gone, Wyatt glared at his friend.
Joe’s eyes widened. “What?”
“I meant to have dinner with her. Alone.”
A chuckle rumbled in Joe’s chest and then grew into a full-bellied laugh. “I loved the look on her face when you announced you were having dinner with her.” He rubbed tears from his eyes. “There is no secret to getting a woman to go out with you. You do have to ask, not assume she’ll agree. You’re lucky she didn’t throw it back in your face.”
“Seems as though she did. And I would have asked, but I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
“If you want to make points with Fiona, you’d better have her as your main focus.”
Oh, he did. That was the problem.
“Look, if you want me to back off, say the word.” Joe held his hands out, palms up. “I’ll tell her I have a sick dog and can’t make dinner.”
“No. Preston will be there and I’ll be damned if I have to make conversation with him. He’s pretty tight-lipped.”
“I noticed. Should be an interesting evening.” Joe continued to smile. “That Fiona is one hot cookie.”
“She’s not a cookie.” Although she was very hot.
“I know, but it’s really fun pushing your buttons.”
Wyatt crossed his arms. “If we’re done here, I’d like you to check out the hotel where most of the dignitaries are staying, including me. If anyone is going to target a building, it’ll be the hotel or the convention center.” He didn’t add that he’d be staying in the same room with Fiona. Joe didn’t need to know that.
“You really think someone will try something big?”
“In this day, when terrorists bomb marathons and fly planes into buildings, I wouldn’t be surprised by anything.” He started toward the parking lot and turned back to his friend. “You coming?”
“Yeah.” Joe hurried to catch up, Bacchus trotting at his side.
Wyatt spent the rest of the afternoon going over every entrance to the hotel, the security that was in place, and reviewing the camera angles and identifying blind spots in both the electronic surveillance and the personnel assigned as security guards. The hotel had only token security. Wyatt made a note to talk to Fiona and Preston about his plans to beef up the security staff. At least he’d have something to talk about at the dinner table with Joe, Arthur, Preston and Fiona.
The only thing keeping him going all day was the thought of sharing a room with Fiona that night. He’d have to bone up on his seduction skills. Fiona would suffer no fools. If he wanted to get inside her panties, he’d have only one shot at it. He was damned if he’d blow it.
Fiona was a spitfire with attitude and determination. She’d let nothing stand in the way of making the convention a success. Even him.
After meeting the Mexican delegate at the airport, and a long afternoon of drinking cocktails in the barroom of the hotel, Fiona was counting the minutes until she could escape to her room and take a long, hot bubble bath. By the time she could get away, it was nearing six o’clock.
Hurrying to the elevator, she passed Wyatt with a towel slung around his neck, wearing shorts and flip-flops, probably on his way to the pool or sauna.
Perfect.
She hustled up to the room, showered and changed in record time, half expecting Wyatt to walk in naked like he had before. Her heart rattled in her chest, leaping at every sound.
Rather than get caught nude again, she’d brought all her clothing into the bathroom and dressed there. Every noise, every bump or thump, she jumped and peeked out the door.
Wyatt had yet to return.
By the time she was dressed, her nerves were hopping and she could barely catch her breath. What was wrong with her?
Her hair in place, her makeup just right and having spent as long as she could in the room before heading for the lobby, Fiona finally gave up at a quarter to the hour. Dressed in a slim-fitting pastel green tank-dress that hugged every inch of her body like a glove, she slipped into high-heeled strappy sandals that emphasized her tight calves. She looked more confident than she felt as she headed for the elevator.
When the lift car arrived at her floor, her breath caught and she waited. The door slid open to an empty car. The air left her lungs in a whoosh.
Where the hell was Wyatt? He’d be late if he didn’t get a move on. Then again, good. She wouldn’t wait, if he didn’t show up by seven then she wouldn’t have to sit across from him, wondering what it would be like sleeping in the same room with him later that night.
Yeah, right. That thought had been on her mind all day to the exclusion of all else. She didn’t have time to daydream about a man. She needed focus.
Fiona checked at the front desk to see which of the delegates had arrived, marking them off the list she kept on her cell phone. So far everyone who was supposed to arrive by now had.
With five minutes to spare, she stepped into the lobby.
It was D minus twenty-four. The kickoff started at seven o’clock the following evening with all the major players for this convention milling around, meeting, greeting and networking. Everything had to go exactly as planned. No hiccups. No distractions. No security issues and no thinking about Wyatt Magnus sleeping in the nude.
There she went again. Fiona closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Thinking about me?” a warm deep voice whispered against her ear, melting her like chocolate in the hot Texas sun.
For a moment Fiona leaned toward Wyatt until she realized what she was doing. She pulled herself together and faced him with her best, no-nonsense poker face. “Of course not.” She frowned. “Weren’t you just in the sauna?” Her gaze swept his length.
His hair was damp and his clothes were clean and dry. And he was as sexy in khaki slacks and a polo shirt as he was in shorts. Damn the man.
Wyatt grinned. “I brought my clothes and showered down there to give you some space.”
“Oh.” She blinked, pleased at his thoughtfulness and at the same time, a little disappointed. The latter emotion surprised her. She shook it off and got down to business. “I’m going over the itinerary of the next twenty-four hours.”
“Including who gets the bathroom first tonight?” A grin lifted the corners of his mouth. “I don’t even know if you snore.”
“That’s it.” She started toward the reception desk. “I can’t do this.”
“Wait.” He snagged her arm. “I checked before I hit the sauna. They were scrambling to figure out where they’re going to put the other double-booked guests. I promise, I’ll behave. You won’t even know I’m in the room. And as far as I know, I don’t snore. We’ll be okay. Scout’s honor.”
She gave him a narrow-eyes look. “Were you even a scout?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.” He grinned. “My father made me join to keep me off the streets. I was a very active child and he saw what kind of trouble I could be at an early age.”
“I can see that.” She sighed. “Very well. Looks like we’re stuck with each other. But understand this, I have too much riding on the convention. I don’t need any distractions.”
He raised his hands. “I wouldn’t dream of distracting you.”
Yeah well, you already are. Fiona bit down on her tongue to keep from saying it out loud.
“Fiona, there you are.” Maddie, dressed in a summery, floral dress in soft pink, yellow and green, hurried through the front door of the hotel. “I thought I was going to be late.” When she spied Wyatt, her eyes widened. “Well, well, who do we have here?”
Fiona’s teeth ground together as Maddie’s gaze swept Wyatt’s length from gorgeous brown eyes down to the tip of his cowboy boots.