The next morning, after breakfast Hannah went across the hall with her new husband.

“Hannah, this is Garrett.” Justin stopped in front of the desk in the first room, the room with the leather chairs that had been empty when he’d shown her around a couple days before. “Garrett, this is my wife, Hannah. If you’ll show her what you have done for the party on the sixteenth, she’ll take over. I’ll need you to help her get up to speed on how things work around here, but it will free up some of your time for other things.”

“Yes, sir.” The man behind the desk stood, he couldn’t be any younger than her and was probably a year or two older. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Scarborough. I’m in the middle of a couple things here, but if you’ll give me ten or twenty minutes, I’ll be happy to get you up to speed on what I’ve got set so far.”

“Sounds wonderful. I want to help not make things harder.” She turned and glanced around the room, planning to have a seat until he had time for her.

“Come on in here while you wait.”

Justin’s voice stopped her, he caught his assistant’s eye and Garrett nodded to let them know he’d be in when he was ready. Hannah turned instead and followed him into the office.

“Have a seat.” He motioned toward the seating area on the far side of the room from his desk and went to the glass wall while she made herself comfortable. They’d gotten to know each other well enough that for the most part she was comfortable in his presence. He stared out at the city below for a moment then turned to look at her. “I told you about the party last night, but I didn’t tell you all of it.”

“All right.” She sat on the edge of the sofa with her hands folded neatly in her lap, she’d suspected there was more than he was telling her the night before, but she’d sensed he wasn’t ready to tell her so she hadn’t pushed. Besides there had been other things on her mind.

“It’s more an introduction. I’ve told Garrett to invite all the influential people here in Vegas, but I also told him to invite the who’s who of American Society.”

“I see,” she said slowly, but she really didn’t. She wasn’t sure why he would invite people he didn’t know.

“My plan was to use the party as a reception of sorts. To announce our marriage.”

“We can do that.” She didn’t want to tell him how she’d been abandoned when she needed it most by these people. Just thinking about it hurt enough. Instead she would do her best to give him what he wanted. She did after all, know what kind of thing they expected and how to host an event. “Anything else?”

“Not that I can think of.” He went to the desk. “Come here a minute.”

She stood as he sat in the swiveling chair and turned it to face the window. As she got closer she wondered what he was thinking. She had almost reached him when he swiveled around.

“Oh, almost right. Step in here.” He lifted her up until she sat on the edge of the desk in front of him.

Hannah frowned and wondered what he was up to, it made no sense.

“Perfect.”

She shook her head not seeing it.

“Well, almost.”

“Almost what?”

“I spent most of my meeting yesterday imagining this.”

“Me sitting on your desk?”

“Yes. Though it wasn’t quite the same.”

“How was it different?”

He looked up and met her gaze. “You were naked.”

Her face heated and she knew she’d turned bright red.

“If you’re ready.” Garrett’s voice in the doorway saved her from having to say anything.

She slid off the edge of the desk and sidled away from Justin, giving him one last look before following his assistant from the room.

“I am.”

She sat at the conference room table, her head cradled in her hands. This was a huge job and a ton of work to do in less than a week. Garrett had made a good start of it, but there was still a lot to be done. She’d spent the morning consulting with the kitchens, discussing what would be served and when, food as well as drinks. She’d talked with housekeeping about what was available in the way of decorations and linens and what would need to be acquired.

“You hungry?” Justin’s voice made her look up.

She blinked, his words taking a moment to register, then realized she was hungry, starving actually.

“I had food brought up, care to join me?”

She stared at him a moment, her mind sluggish as she pushed through the things she’d been doing and struggled to let it change gears. “I would.” A chance to get away from this would be a great relief. It wasn’t that she minded it, in fact she usually enjoyed it, but a party the size of this one usually took several weeks to plan, to get all the details taken care of and she just didn’t have that kind of time. She closed the notebook she had been making notes in and stood. She stared down at the large table with books and notes scattered across it, trying to decide how much she needed to pick up and take with her.

“Just leave it. No one will bother it and it will be here later,” Justin said from the doorway.

“But it’s a mess.” Hannah turned to join him, and with one last look toward the table, pulled the door closed just in case. She trusted him that no one would bother it but they didn’t need to see her mess either.

“Just close the door. How are things going?” he asked as they made their way down the short hall back to Garrett’s office, and into Justin’s.

“Good. There’s a lot to do, so I’m keeping busy. It’s going surprisingly well for the number of things to arrange so quickly.”

“Good, good.” He waved a hand toward a round table with chairs nearby that she hadn’t noticed before. There were several covered trays on top. “Have a seat.”

“Thank you.” Hannah went to the table and took a seat, looking up at her husband of less than forty-eight hours. “I could get used to this.”

“Used to what?” He lifted covers off trays and setting them aside, the food smelled amazing.

“Not having to think about what to eat, or shopping, or preparing it.” She picked up a French fry and took a bite. “Though I’m going to have to find a gym if I keep eating like this.”

“End of the hall.” Justin took his seat. “There’s an endless pool in there, too.”

“An endless pool?” She frowned not sure what he meant.

“You know, the kind where the water moves and you can swim, like you’re doing laps, but never hit the end or have to turn.”

“Oh.” She’d heard about those, but had never seen one. She wasn’t used to people having outdoor pools. It was just too cold most of the time. Some may have had these endless pools he was talking about, but she wouldn’t know. It’s not something she would have been invited to use. “I’ll have to check it out, but I’m afraid I don’t have a suit with me.”

“How long until they send the rest of your things?” Justin frowned as he picked up his fork.

“I’m not sure. They said it wouldn’t be long. I hope they show up soon. I think I have something I can wear to the party.”

“You can buy something new.” He watched her as she took her first bite. “I’m not saying spend like I’m made of money, but it’s a special event, there’s no reason you can’t have a new dress.”

Hannah looked down at her plate and didn’t tell him in the last six months she’d gotten used to making due with as little as possible. “What do you plan to wear?” She shifted the attention off her clothes and onto his.

“I have several suits, even a tux. I thought I’d let you choose what would be most appropriate.”

She was quiet for several moments, eating and thinking. He wanted to throw a big party to announce their marriage, she had no problem with that. But it needed a little more, something to make the two of them look spectacular. Not that Justin wasn’t heart-stoppingly gorgeous to begin with, but she wanted to at least measure up. Let’s face it, if she’d been as stunningly beautiful as she felt in his arms, then she wouldn’t have needed to turn to the Diamond Bridal Agency to find a husband.

“Let me think about that.” The idea of buying a dress for the party hadn’t crossed her mind, but now that he’d brought it up, all she could think about was how much time it would take to shop for something appropriate and there was no way she could have anything custom made, much less designed for the event. Not in only a few days. Unless… “I’ll see what I can come up with.” She wasn’t going to say anything, not until she made a few calls, but she might be able to arrange for someone to come to her, or at least to the casino with dresses, instead of her having to go out searching for them. That would help with her limited time. Now what could she do to make them coordinate, but not look like a cake topper come to life. “Shit,” she muttered in between bites.

“What?”

“I just realized that if this is supposed to be a wedding reception then we need wedding cake. I don’t know where I can get something appropriate so quickly.”

“Check with the kitchens, they do cakes for the chapel here, they may be able to help. If not, we have several well-known bakers and decorators in town.”

Hannah shook her head, trying to figure out exactly how much time and how she would work around the kind of lead time most bakeries needed for a cake on that scale. She went to his desk and looked at the almost empty surface, then glanced up at him.

“Where will I find a pen and paper? I want to make some notes before I forget them.”

“Top right-hand drawer.”

She opened the drawer, found what she was after and took them back to the table. Justin watched her without a word as she took notes while she continued to eat.

“I’m sorry,” she said after a little while. “I just have so much to do, and I don’t want to forget anything.”

“That’s all right. I’m glad to see you involved.”

She looked at him a moment and wondered if she should ask him to shave for the reception but decided not to. She liked the neatly trimmed scruff of a beard he wore. Not only did the look seem to fit him, she loved what it felt like when he rubbed it along her skin. Especially the insides of her thighs. Her face heated.

“What’s that about?” Justin tilted his head to one side and a curious light filled his eyes.

“I was just thinking.” She didn’t want to admit what exactly she’d been thinking about.

“About?”

“Whether or not I should ask you to shave.” She tried to get him to drop it by telling him as little as possible. It didn’t seem to be working.

“Why do I think that wasn’t all you that was on your mind?”

Her face got even hotter. She wasn’t used to talking about these things. Why did he have to push? Why did he have to know?

“Um.” She looked out the big glass window at the replica of the Eiffel Tower and wondered for a moment what the next thing they’d recreate in Vegas would be. “Maybe because it wasn’t.” Her gaze fell to her plate, which was a little under half full. She wasn’t hungry anymore, but it tasted so good she took another bite, then pushed it away so she wouldn’t keep eating. When she looked up she found Justin still watching her an amused smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.

“I bet I can guess what you’ve been thinking about?”

“You probably can, but I’m not sure this is the place to talk about it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s you’re office.” She motioned to the desk and then the sofa and chairs. “Anyone could come in at any time.”

“They could, but Garrett is good, he won’t let anyone in without warning us.” He gave a little shake of his head. “Besides, the risk of being caught adds to it. Trust me.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it because I will not be testing that theory.”

“If you insist.” He held his hands up as if proving he was unarmed. “I won’t force you, I just thought you might be interested in a quickie.”

“That I wouldn’t say no to.” She glanced around the room, but couldn’t shake the fear someone would walk in and catch them in the act. A fine shudder passed through her. “But not here.”

Justin’s smile faded. “I’d take you across the hall, but I’m short on time and if I take you home, I’m going to take my time with you.” The look on his face made her squirm in her seat as heat pooled low in her belly. She wished he had the time, and she didn’t have so much to do.

The phone on the desk rang, startling her. It stopped after a single ring and a voice was amplified through the room. It only took Hannah a few seconds to realize it was Garrett.

“Sir, your next appointment is here. Also, you have that conference call in twenty-five minutes.”

“Thank you,” Justin said in the direction of the desk. The phone beeped then went silent.

“That’s my cue.” Hannah folded the napkin she’d spread across her lap and set it on the table. “I should let you get to your meeting. I have plenty that needs my attention.” She stood. Before she could take even a single step, Justin stood as well.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I do have things to do.” He moved close and hooked one arm around her waist. “I’ll should finish about five-thirty. How about dinner in the steakhouse downstairs?”

Hannah liked the feel of his body against hers, the heat of him seeping through their clothes. “I’d like that.” She glanced down at the table and seeing the notebook she’d been making notes on, picked it up. “Dinner then?”

“Dinner.” Justin leaned close and Hannah’s heart sped. He brushed a soft kiss against her lips. “That’s a promise for later. I intend to make good on it when we have time.”

“I’ll take it.” She glanced down at the table again, then took the notebook in her hand as she went to the door. She stopped and looked back at him a moment, wondering what he was thinking, then opened the door and went back down the hall to the conference room to get back to work.