Hardwired (The Hardwired Series 1)(9)

“Whoa, what is he doing here?”

“I don’t care. I just want to be as far away from that man as possible.”

“He’s looking right at you, Erica. Let’s just go say hi.”

Alli waved at him and dragged me toward the table where he was playing. By some miracle, he’d become more handsome than I remembered. In a black collared shirt and all black suit, he was flawless. Intimidating. Sexy as hell. I took a deep breath and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear nervously, praying he couldn’t sense the sexual tension that was palpable at this point.

We would make this quick and be on our way.

“Erica.” He greeted me with those penetrating eyes. “What a surprise.”

I did my best to appear unaffected but found myself holding my breath as his gaze traveled the length of me. I crossed my arms, immediately regretting my wardrobe choice, but the effort to conceal my cleavage only enhanced it.

His lips parted slightly when his stare fixed there a second too long. I straightened and broke away from his stare, noticing the almost equally gorgeous man next to him. He looked like Blake’s slightly shorter twin, his hair a few shades lighter and his eyes a darker hazel, almost brown. He gave us a little wave.

“Erica, I’m Heath, Blake’s brother.”

He shot Alli a heart-stopping smile. She squeezed my hand slightly.

“Nice to meet you, Heath. This is Alli Malloy, one of my co-founders,” I said, silently hoping the introduction went absolutely nowhere.

Alli tore her gaze away from Heath to greet Blake. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Mr. Landon.” She smiled at him, and then me, raising her eyebrow a hair.

Now that she’d seen him in the flesh, she knew what I was up against, but her expression held no hint of sympathy. I could tell she was already crushing on his brother, and any chance I had of her going to bat for me had just gone out the window.


“Place your bets!” The croupier released the ball onto the wheel.

“Do you play roulette?” Blake asked.

“I do, but I’m not gambling tonight.” Gambling was off limits on this trip. Not to mention the minimum bet at this table was $1,000.

“Well, I am. What numbers do you play?”

The ball slowed down on the wheel, and I felt an unnatural sense of urgency for him to bet while he still could. “Um, nine and one.” I blurted out my birthday, numbers that had served me well in the past.

Blake placed $10,000 chips on both numbers and a few others, seconds before the ball dropped into the number nine slot. Alli and I screamed in unison. My heart beat wildly as I tried to do the math.

“Number nine!” The croupier handed Blake five colorful chips.

Blake gave one back to the man as his tip and tossed the rest into his pocket. He caught my hand and the contact shot through me. Between his touch and the recent win, my body was buzzing with pent-up energy. I pulled back defensively, startled by how much I craved his touch.

My gaze fell to the $10,000 chip that sat in my palm, amounting to more than all my historical roulette winnings combined.

“What’s this for?”

“For being my lucky charm. I wouldn’t have won without you.”

He gave me a playful smile that, combined with the thrill of having seen him win, almost made me forget how angry I still was. This might work with other girls, but I wasn’t about to be paid off.

“I can’t keep this.” I handed it back to him.

“I insist. Come on, let’s get out of here before another number drops.”

    Reluctantly, I put the chip in my clutch, and we walked away without looking back.





* * *

“You look different. I barely recognized you.” Blake leaned in close so only I could hear him.

Alli and Heath were deciding what tapas to order while we waited for our tequila flights to arrive. We had wandered into a cantina with Vegas flair bordering the casino floor to celebrate, and Heath was already charming the hell out of Alli, leaving me to contend with Blake. His warm breath drifted over my neck, giving me instant chills. I tried not to imagine what his lips would feel like there instead. His proximity bordered on unacceptable, and he smelled amazing—like clean, spicy, sexy male. Someone could bottle that and make millions.

“Yeah, not exactly boardroom attire...” I consciously tugged down the hem of my dress, which barely covered the essentials now that I was sitting. If he looked me over one more time I might burst into flames right here.

“I prefer it.”

There were hundreds of beautiful women in the bar, and plenty of them were eyeing Blake. What luck, to not only run into him, but to also be trapped in his crosshairs while Alli flirted shamelessly with his brother.

“Are you here for the conference?” I asked, eager to change the subject.

“Mostly.”

“Blake’s here for business. I, however, am here for pleasure.” Heath winked at Alli.

He was laying it on thick, and Alli was eating it up. I couldn’t tell if she was genuinely interested or just doing really good PR. I hoped it was the latter.

“Actually, Heath is my VP of business development. Technically he’s here for the conference too.”

“Yes, whenever Blake’s work takes him to Vegas, my involvement in the company becomes suddenly very important,” Heath said. “We have very important titles, but most of us just sort of orbit around Blake here. He does all the real work.”