Her High-Stakes Affair

“I Dare You….”

Scott’s dark brown eyes met hers in a nonverbal challenge. “I dare you to go out with me, to see past the flashbulbs and gossip-sheet rumors about me.”

Raine wanted to accept. It would give her a chance to put her idea of making him fall for her into action. But was she willing to risk her job just so she could one-up him? And she definitely was going to one-up this man.

“What’s the matter? Scared you can’t handle me off the set, where you’re not in charge?” he asked in that silky tone of his.

She raised her chin. “I’m not scared of any man.”

Scott stepped closer, his body a mere whisper away from hers. “Then I’ll pick you up in your suite at eight.” His breath tingled on her skin. “Be prepared for the night of your life.”

Her High-Stakes Affair

Katherine Garbera

www.millsandboon.co.uk

KATHERINE GARBERA

took one brief trip to Las Vegas and was hooked with endless story ideas and a fascination with that playground known as Sin City. She’s written more than twenty books and has been nominated for Romantic Times BOOKClub’s career achievement awards in Series Fantasy and Series Adventure. Katherine recently moved to the Dallas area where she lives with her husband and their two children. Visit Katherine on the Web at www.katherinegarbera.com.

This book is dedicated to my kids, Courtney and Lucas, who keep me on my toes and make every day an adventure!

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

One

“Hey, sexy lady. Where do you want me today?”

Raine Montgomery bit the inside of her cheek not to respond to Scott Rivers. Every morning it was the same line or some variation of it. It should have sounded like a pickup line but didn’t. Instead he made her want to believe she was a sexy lady, even though she’d had enough experience with gamblers to know they never told the truth.

“Can’t decide?” he asked, slipping an arm around her waist.

She stepped away from him. “In your chair at the table.”

“Honey, when are you going to loosen up with me?”

“When you stop flirting with every woman who walks by.”

“Is it making you jealous?”

“No.”

Scott laughed and walked away from her as the other players trickled in.

She’d gotten into the film business for one reason and one reason only. She’d dreamed of the moment when she’d be called onstage at the Academy Awards to accept her Oscar for best director. She even had her speech rehearsed:

“I’d like to thank the Academy for recognizing my accomplishments, and I’d like the rest of the world to know that Missy Talbot is a spoiled bitch and my dad isn’t a loser.”

Okay, so it was a little melodramatic, but she’d been in junior high at the time and it had seemed like the perfect solution to her dismal and dreary life in New Jersey.

But her dream hadn’t gotten her to the Oscars; in fact, she wasn’t even close to winning a People’s Choice Award or even an MTV one. She doubted anyone was going to be giving her an award for World Champion Celebrity Poker Showdown.

The taping ran for four weeks, with three celebrities and three champions from across the country who competed. In each week’s episode two games were played and at the end of the show two players were eliminated. When just two players remained, they played two high-stakes games to determine the celebrity poker champ.

The show was essentially a high-stakes Texas hold ’em poker game where viewers could log on to a Web site and win prizes by correctly guessing if the celebrity winner had been bluffing or really held the cards needed to win.

Spawned in part by the reality craze that was sweeping through the television industry, the show tapped into the public’s desire to watch celebrities spend their money and their free time. Every four weeks a new group of celebrities and champs were brought in. Then at the end of the season they had a winners-only play-off.

Their show taped a month’s worth of episodes in one week. Each person on the show signed a waiver promising not to reveal the results, because viewers had the chance to vote on who they thought was the best and win a myriad of prizes that had been donated by sponsors. The celebrities were playing for charities as were the champions.

Raine had given all the players a wide berth because her producer, Joel Tanner, didn’t like her or any of the crew mingling with the players. In fact there was a clear no-fraternization clause in the contracts signed by everyone on the set, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Joel wanted to make sure they didn’t end up with any kind of lawsuit because of the way the players were shown.

Prizes were given to viewers who chose the winner each week. So how Raine shot and edited the show could influence them. They’d had to fire a cameraman last season because he’d been involved with one of the players and had been giving her more camera time than the other players.

This set of shows was being taped in the exclusive Chimera Casino on the strip in Las Vegas. Still, it was hard work, and Raine rubbed the back of her neck as she headed toward the director’s booth. Some people called it the God booth because her voice could be heard but she couldn’t be seen. Yet Raine knew she was as far from God as any person could be.

Especially since right now she was having impure thoughts about actor Scott Rivers. She entered the booth and put on her headphones. Since all of the players were miked, she could hear their small talk. The deep sexy tones of Scott’s voice came over her headphones and she paused to listen. He was the first guy she’d ever been tempted to break her contract for, and she really struggled to keep resisting him every day. She wished he’d lose…. No, that wasn’t true. She knew enough about men to realize that sooner or later he’d stop asking her out, and she honestly wanted to enjoy flirting with him until that happened.

“Shot down again, eh, stud?”

Scott glanced over at Stevie Taylor, the notoriously debauched lead singer for Viper, a heavy-metal band that had been on the cutting edge of music fifteen years ago. Instead of being a has-been, Stevie had the kind of talent and energy that had kept him in the mainstream. He simply changed his style to fit the younger audiences’ tastes.

That being said, the man was an ass sometimes, and Scott suspected Stevie was still pissed off about losing to him at the PGA celebrity golf tournament last month in Hawaii. Or maybe it was the fact that Scott had unwittingly been the object of Stevie’s third wife’s affection.

“Some women take more time than others,” Scott said. Especially women like Raine Montgomery. Not that Raine fit into a box or a category. In fact, he knew she’d be ticked off that he’d even thought of putting her in one. “They aren’t all impressed with long hair and fast cars.”

“I guess that means you have to try harder,” Stevie said.

There was an edge to his voice that Scott chose to ignore. Every day was work for Scott. He’d grown up on a soundstage and had learned early on to act the way others found acceptable. With Stevie he acted like a babe magnet always on the prowl, because that was what the legendary rock front-man understood. With Raine he acted…hell, he wasn’t doing such a great job of acting with Raine. She made him forget he was playing a role.

“Sure. Everything worth having takes some effort.” And Raine was definitely worth the effort. Worth even this job. Not that he was too concerned about getting fired. The producer was a good friend of his, and they went back a long way. He wondered how Raine felt about the no-fraternization clause they’d both signed.

Scott was honest enough to admit that the gambler in him wanted to take a chance on it. The added risk increased the odds that she wouldn’t go out with him unless she really wanted to. He couldn’t explain it beyond that but knew himself well enough by now to know that there was something appealing about the idea.

“You’re working up a sweat and she’s barely noticing you, Rivers. What would your fan club say?”

Scott didn’t respond to the goad. He didn’t have a fan club and Stevie knew it. His child stardom had translated into cult-classic films in his early twenties and two one-offs that had turned into blockbusters. He acted when he felt like it, preferring to spend most of his time working with the charitable trust he had set up with his own money. “I’m not worried, Stevie.”

“Some boys aren’t meant to play in the big leagues,” the other man said.

“Whatever. You know she can’t really show that she’s attracted to me.”

“Because she isn’t?” Stevie said with a snicker.

“Because we work together.” A man like Stevie would never understand the distinction, but Scott knew that Raine would. That her job and her reputation would be important to her. He understood why.

“I wouldn’t let that stop me.”

He wasn’t going to defend himself like some teenage boy with his first woman. Scott was thirty-eight, and he couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to get drawn into this conversation.

He’d arrived early on the set hoping for some alone time with Raine, and he’d gotten it. He just hadn’t expected Stevie to show up.

“What, no glib remark?”

“You’re an ass, you know that?”

Stevie laughed. “You’re not the first to say it. But that doesn’t change the fact that Ms. Montgomery isn’t exactly falling for you.”

Stevie wasn’t going to let this go. No matter what Scott said or did, Stevie was always going to bring up Raine. And Scott didn’t want that.

“What would it take for you to drop this?”

“Prove me wrong. Prove you’re not out of your element with Raine.”

“How am I supposed to do that?”

“How about a little wager?”

“On a woman? Have you been living under a rock for the past twenty years?”

“There’s no reason anyone other than the two of us has to know about it.”

Famous last words. He glanced around the set. They appeared to be all alone, and so he thought they had the kind of privacy that was something of a luxury on a busy television or movie set.

“What’d you have in mind?”

“A simple bet…you get her in bed before the show wraps.”

Scott had that tingling at the back of his neck that he always got before he did something risky. Like sky surfing or kayaking down dangerous rapids. Something that all of his self-preservation instincts said not to do. But he wanted Raine, and he suspected she wanted him, too.

He knew he’d never tell Stevie a single detail of his time with her, but if it got Stevie off his back, then it might be worth it.

“What’s the wager?”

“Fifty thousand.”

“You’re on.”

Raine couldn’t believe she’d just overheard Scott making a bet about her with Stevie Taylor. The rocker was as legendary for his kinky sex-capades as he was for his wicked guitar licks.

Why had she activated the microphones when she’d gotten into her booth? Because she was an idiot. This is what happens when you eavesdrop, she told herself.

Raine’s hands shook, and she wanted to smack Scott right between the eyes. What the hell was he thinking making a bet about taking her to bed? That was low and mean. And it hurt so much because she’d thought he was different.

She leaned toward the booth’s tinted window and glanced down at the floor where the two men stood away from everyone else.

Raine watched both men take their seats at the table and went back to her monitor to watch the screen. But all she saw was red. Having been the pawn in a gambler’s game before, she refused to let it happen again.

She wasn’t sure how to get the upper hand on Scott. As a child star, he’d grown up in front of America and had charmed everyone by coming into their homes once a week for fifteen years. In the three days they’d been in Vegas, Raine had yet to see one person deny the man anything he asked for—except her.

He was good-looking. Well, only if you liked guys with unruly hair that fell to their shoulders and who wore a goatee. Which, of course, she did.

And she’d been thinking that maybe it was time to take a chance again on a guy before she’d heard his bet. A bet about her. She wanted to sink to the floor and wrap her arms around her waist. But she didn’t; instead she pressed the button so that the cast and crew could hear her.

“Places, please.”

She hated that she was attracted to a man who seemed to bluff his way through life. She’d been raised by the ultimate con man. A grifter, bar none, who’d blended perfectly into any situation much the same way Scott seemed to. She knew that was what Scott was doing because no one could predict when he was bluffing or really holding a winning hand.

“Action.”

She watched him playing his game, the ultimate con man in his environment. His words played over and over in her head. Fifty thousand dollars—that was what she was worth to him. She wished that she could get back at him, do something he wouldn’t expect. Maybe run a con on him. Convince him she was falling for him. No one knew how to run a scam like a Montgomery.

And though she’d vowed to never again lie or betray anyone’s confidence, it somehow seemed right to her that she do it now. With this man. The one she’d hoped might be different.

“Camera Two, you’re out of focus. Camera One, pan the entire table like we discussed.”

Raine stopped thinking about Scott and focused instead on her job. If she went through with this scam, there was a good chance she’d be putting her job on the line. Joel wouldn’t forgive her if she broke his rules.

“And cut,” she said, as the hand was dealt to everyone.

“No one move. Latesha, there’s a shine coming off Stevie’s forehead. Move Camera One to the left of the table and get ready to resume play.”

The East Coast champ, Laurie Andrews, lifted her free hand. “I need a drink of water.”

One of the production assistants got her a bottle of Evian and then disappeared out of scene. Raine called action and finished shooting the hand.

So far Scott had fooled them every time. He didn’t have any of the “tells,” the little signs that the other players had.

She left her booth and went back on the floor to find Andy, her assistant director. He was talking to the NASCAR driver—probably about cars. Andy had a thing about fast cars that bordered on obsession.

She signaled to him that she needed a word and stood a little to the side of everyone else. Scott glanced up from the food table and caught her staring at him. He arched one eyebrow at her in a very arrogant way that made her want to do something really immature like kick his shins.

Her nature was contrary, so she couldn’t budge even when he pushed to his feet and sauntered over to her.

“Hey, honey.”

“Stop it right now. You’re not as charming as you think you are.”

“I know that,” Scott said with a grin that invited her to share his self-deprecating humor.

She tried to put herself in his shoes. If she’d had people of the opposite sex literally throwing themselves at her, she’d be the same way, right?

She shook her head and turned to walk away. But he stopped her with a hand on her wrist. His hand was big and strong, rough against her skin and totally at odds with his spoiled-rich-boy image.

“Wait. I think we got off on the wrong foot and I’d like to change that.”

She still faced away, but glanced at him over her shoulder. There was something in his dark-brown gaze that held her captive and wouldn’t let her walk away. Something that made her forget everything except him.

In an instant she realized she’d been using her disdain for the wealthy as a barrier against her attraction to him. Why did she have to pick today to let it drop?

She remembered what her father always said. You can’t con an honest man. If Scott wasn’t trying to manipulate her, then he wouldn’t allow himself to be manipulated.

They only had three and a half more weeks of shooting. She should have made it that long. “Since we’re on a break, let’s get out of here and talk,” he said.

“Talk?”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “Unless you had something else in mind.”

She shook her head. Maybe before she’d heard him with Stevie, but not now. Honestly, not ever. Think of a con, she thought. Make it about that. But she didn’t have a plan. She’d never been good at planning the actions even when she’d been a part of the game. She’d always been the honest one. Her father had said that with her eyes, no one ever expected a lie. “No. I…”

“Listen, I know there’s something about me that rubs you the wrong way.”

“It’s not that.” It wasn’t fair that he’d be so perceptive when she couldn’t get a handle on who he was. But it made an odd kind of sense. Only a man who knew what everyone else wanted would be able to effortlessly change into what they wanted.

“Then what? Because every other player on this tour has seen your smile except me.”

“I didn’t realize that,” she said.

“Sure you did. You didn’t care. Why is that, Raine?” he asked her. His voice dropped an octave.

She shivered at the sound of her name on his lips. She tried to remind herself that he was a trained actor, that this was all smoke and mirrors, but the finger rubbing her wrist made it feel like something more. And she remembered the other promise she’d made herself in high school other than getting the Oscar. No gamblers—ever.

Scott had spent the majority of his life on display, and he’d worked hard at projecting an image that said it didn’t bother him. Truthfully, he hated it. Part of the reason he disappeared for months at a time was that he just couldn’t stand to be social anymore. He got to the point where he couldn’t tolerate anyone around him.

So why, then, was he standing here next to Raine Montgomery, who’d made it perfectly clear she didn’t want to have anything to do with him? It wasn’t the bet with Stevie. He’d wanted her since the moment he’d set eyes on her in Joel’s office.

And she’d looked right through him. Maybe he was a closet masochist. Yeah, right. More likely, the lusty demon in his pants was making decisions for him again.

He wanted her. It didn’t help that Vegas was his personal playground. The place that he came when he needed to blow off steam. And they were in the Chimera, the one hotel that he thought of as his home away from home.

The bet was nothing to him. An added bonus to something he’d already decided he wanted.

And there was nothing he liked more than a challenge. Especially one that came in a tempting package like Raine. She was petite but she packed a punch. Gaffers, lighting techs and stage hands all bent to her will.

Everyone joked that her God voice when she was in the booth was straight out of the Old Testament. She was firm and polite but unforgiving of mistakes. She was also lavish in her praise, and he’d seen how well respected she was.

He tucked his hand under her elbow and drew her away from the set through an open door that led to the casino floor. For the television show they were using a high-stakes poker room off the main casino.

“Where are you taking me?”

“To my lair,” he said.

She laughed. “Okay, so you’re not the big bad wolf.”

“Who said that?”

“Stop trying to scare me. It won’t work.”

“I’m not trying to scare you. I’m attempting to find some common ground.”

She pulled to a stop in a small alcove well out of the way of the foot traffic. “I’m not sure there is any.”

“I know there is,” he said, curving his body in front of hers to block them from the view of passersby.

She stared up at him, and he realized her eyes were a beautiful shade of deep blue. He’d never seen them up close before. Her eyes weren’t what he’d expected. With her thick, dark, curly hair they should have been brown.

What else was she hiding?

“Why is this so important to you? I’m sorry I don’t smile at you but I’ll try to do it from now on.”

Scott rubbed the back of his neck. “I want more than a smile.”

“I don’t date…” She lowered her head, staring at her feet. This woman was different from the director he’d seen on the set. Which was the real Raine?

“Actors? Gamblers? Rich men?” But he knew she meant him in particular. He’d bet half his fortune that she was like most women, who thought if they found some palatable word he wouldn’t take it personally. But he knew from the way she watched him that it was Scott Rivers who made her nervous. Not his profession or his money.

“All of the above,” she said, glancing up at him.

He stared into her eyes, losing himself there. He’d never admit it out loud but there was something in her eyes that called to his lonely soul. He wanted to explore that, find out exactly what it was. “I don’t act anymore.”

“That’s right, you haven’t since…when?” she asked.

“A lifetime ago.” He remembered the day with a kind of fondness now. He’d been acting since he was nine months old. To say he’d chosen that profession was a huge exaggeration. He’d learned to act the same way he’d learned to walk and talk. Sometimes he wasn’t sure that he knew how to really live.

“What about gambling? Can’t deny that. You are being paid to play right now.”

“Ah, but that’s not really gambling, is it? I’m out there playing for charity and trying to outbluff the other contestants.”

“And you always do it.”

“Winning’s important to me.”

“Why?”

“Because losing sucks. Surely you’ve found that to be true.”

“I have. That’s why I play by the rules.”

“What rules?”

“My rules for safe living. It’s not that I’m not attracted to you. Who wouldn’t be? But you’re not worth the risk.”

“Risk? Honey, you’re safe with me.”

“Don’t call me honey. You call everyone that.”

“Okay, but don’t treat me like I’m nothing more than a list of professions or money. I want a chance to get to know the real Raine.”

She shook her head. “I don’t have time. And we both signed a waiver saying no fraternization with the cast or crew.”

“Live a little, Raine. Take a chance. We both have some free time.”

She bit her lower lip, and he realized that he was pushing her. He analyzed Raine and the situation. If he backed down now, she’d never let him get her alone again. But maybe… “I dare you.”

“What?”

“I dare you to go out with me. I dare you to see past the flashbulbs and the gossip-sheet rumors about me.”

Two

Damn him. That was all she could think as she stood there contemplating the dare.

She wanted to accept it. Not only to get back at him—because it would give her a chance to put her half-formed idea of making him fall for her into action—but also because she liked him. She was attracted to him.

But she wasn’t sure what was motivating Scott. Was it just the money he’d wagered with the rocker or did he want more? And was she really willing to risk her job just so she could one-up him? And she definitely was going to one-up this man. Did she really want to take a chance on another man hurting her?

A dare.

Still, it was hard to change her habits. She was a risk taker by nature, and every instinct in her wanted to take him up on his dare. To prove to him he wasn’t the hot stuff he thought he was.