ace in the hole, but he’d used that lifeline sparingly.
“Hang on, where are we gonna stay in Vegas? I ain’t staying in no fleabag motel off the strip.”
“Can you spot us a nice room and I’ll pay you back?” He tested her.
“I thought ye dun’t let women pay?”
Damn, she was good.
“Is that a no? I said I’d pay you back. With interest?”
She shrugged. “That’s fine. I always wanted to stay at that Luxor hotel. I heard the elevators go up on an angle.” She even folded her hands like an Egyptian.
“I was just curious to see if you’d pay for the room. I have a place to stay there. Although, you’re free to get a room at the Luxor.” He grinned at her.
“Nice try. Are ye gonna attempt to give me the slip again? Have I not proved to ye yet that I’m hard to get rid of?”
Hard? The more time he spent with her, the harder he got, making his jeans damn uncomfortable. “I’m not making any promises. Other than you staying in a hotel, and it doesn’t look like you’ll go out for coffee again anytime soon.” He laid a cheesy grin on her.
“No.” She shook her head, smiling. “Whose place are we staying at? Yer brothers’?”
“No.” He considered telling her, but then a thought shot into his head. “You said you spoke to Luke and then Lexi emailed you. So, they know I’m alive?”
Well, they knew he was alive. His little bird told them. They’d just wanted to hear from him. Hear his voice or see his face on a video chat. Answer an email at the very least. It’d all been too painful because they were going to bring up the movie. Even try to console him. He couldn’t handle that. The pity in their eyes would destroy him.
“Aye, I told them ye were fine. That ye spent yer days at the gym. Riding yer bike down by the water.”
“You watched me ride my bike?”
“Aye. All bare chested, golden skin, and glistening with sweat. Do ye know how many lasses tripped after ye rode by?”
He narrowed his eyes behind his shades. “This is L.A. You just described every guy.” The strain in his throat felt uncomfortable.
Sabine didn’t answer him and the banter died out. Had she been some other kind of serious bounty hunter, like a pumped-up dude, this could have been a damn uncomfortable experience.
Luke.
Luke hired a woman on purpose. He wondered if she planned to seduce him and if so... His heart flipped. To...go all the way. At least get him naked, again.
Then tie him up.
He shook his head, happy that fantasy didn’t get too far out ahead of him. “So, are you actually engaged? As in, you’re getting married?”
“It’s complicated.”
Complicated didn’t sound like love. Christ, if her family was steeped in the kind of traditions where they didn’t even allow her to go to college and didn’t want her working, he wouldn’t put it past them to arrange a marriage for her. “Who’s the guy? Talk to me.”
“All I will say is that I won’t marry him. But...”
“But what?”
She exhaled. “My sister died three years ago.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said, but didn’t understand the connection.
“She was so lovely. Her hair was this beautiful mixture of honey with bright blonde highlights.”
Looking at Sabine, he believed she’d have a beautiful sister. Her brothers’ pictures on their website looked like a GQ cover. Square jaws as far as the eye could see.
“It shook my family up when she died.”
“I bet.” He couldn’t really imagine. Except, in Sabine’s sad voice he sensed more and more what his brothers were feeling. Missing him. Feeling empty without him.
“My da never recovered. They think he had some kind of stroke. He just sits in a rocking chair in his bedroom. Looking out the window.”
“Sabine, I’m so sorry.” Damn, the loss on her face shattered him.
“I felt like I’d been put in lockdown. They doted on me a lot more. My brothers. Especially Shane.”
“Shane?” The A/V specialist, he remembered from the website.
“We’re twins.”
Why did that grab at his heart? It pained him to not be with his brothers. The ache of not having her twin close by must be gutting her. God, how strong she was.
“Norah was my father’s angel. Then after she died...” She bit her lip.
“What?”
He saw her swallow and take a deep breath. “They became very protective of me.” Not adoration. Protection, and she was wise enough to understand the difference.
“Finish your thought from before. You said you