She blinked. Unless her nose was mistaken, and it never was, Luke was more than a little sexually aroused. She’d detected his interest from the moment they met, but it was far more pronounced now. How interesting. She should ignore that fact, because she had similar chemistry going on, although his human sense of smell wouldn’t be able to detect it, especially with the olfactory disaster going on in this elevator.
When they finally reached their floor, Luke guided her out. Her legs wobbled, but he supported her by keeping his arm firmly around her shoulders. “You okay? You’re almost the color of your shirt.”
How romantic. But then, she didn’t want romantic. She wanted someone to help her with the business at hand, which was locating her brother and his sister. “Sorry. I get a little overwhelmed in crowded spaces.”
“That’s okay. Take your time. If they’re here, they won’t get by us. Well, unless they take the fire stairs, and if they’re willing to hike down that many floors, then I say let ’em.”
She nodded as she drew in relatively fresh air, at least compared to the elevator. The hallway wasn’t so bad. The carpet was new and stank to high heaven, but she could deal with a single smell better than fifteen competing ones.
“I admit I’m not a fan of crowded elevators, myself.” He rubbed her upper arm with gentle strokes. “We probably should have skipped that one and taken the next. We don’t even know if they’re here.”
His touch, combined with his rich baritone, temporarily mesmerized her. In her vulnerable state, she had the strongest urge to turn in his arms and snuggle against his broad chest. She could verify for certain now his first instinct was to protect, a trait he shared with werewolves. She shouldn’t be looking for reasons to like him, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
Obviously his protective instinct could get out of hand and lead to controlling behavior. That’s when she remembered why they were standing in this hallway. Luke wanted to keep his little sister from getting involved with her big brother.
Exercising great willpower, she extracted herself from the support of his steady arm. “Thanks. I’m better now.”
“When we go back down, we’ll wait until there’s an empty elevator, or one with only a couple of people in it.”
“I’d appreciate that.” She allowed herself to look into those sexy blue eyes and smile at him. After all, that was the polite thing to do after he’d kept her from fainting in public.
“No worries. Of course, we may have your brother and my sister with us, but that won’t be the same as an elevator crammed with strangers.”
“You think they’ll just agree to leave with us?”
He shrugged. “Maybe not, but I can dream, can’t I? And after we all ride down in the elevator together, we’ll go somewhere quiet for a drink and talk everything out. Cynthia will agree she should finish school, and Landry will agree to do . . . whatever it is you want him to do.”
“He’s eventually supposed to take over as the CEO of my family’s business.” It was a close enough approximation of the truth.
“I’d think they’d rather have you do it.” He regarded her with open admiration. “You’re smart and obviously capable.”
“Thank you.” She was delighted to hear that he didn’t think all CEOs should be male. Maybe his attitudes weren’t quite as retro as she’d assumed. “It’s been discussed, but I don’t want to. I’m actually happier as the CFO. I like keeping track of the money.”
“Excuse me for saying so, but your brother doesn’t seem to want to do it, either.”
“I know it looks that way, but he’ll get over this. It was a bunch of things at once, and he doesn’t like to be railroaded.” She gazed at him. “Much like Cynthia.”
“And that’s why they’re not good for each other. Left to her own devices, Cynthia won’t leave Vegas. She’s bonded to the place. But I’m afraid they’ll whip each other into a frenzy of resentment and book a flight to New York so she can get a job on Broadway.”
“That wouldn’t be the end of the world, Luke.”
He just looked at her.
She didn’t need much imagination to read his mind. If Cynthia ended up on the other side of the country, in a big city where he had no “people” to keep an eye on her, he’d worry himself to death. He had to get over that kind of thinking, but he’d been in charge of the family for only a few months. He had a lot to learn.
In sympathy with his angst, Giselle tossed him a lifeline. “I might be more worried about her jetting off to New York if she hadn’t texted you a riddle. I doubt she’s going anywhere at the moment.”
He sighed. “Ah, yes. The riddle. I guess we might as well go find out if you solved it or not.”
“Might as well.” After they figured out which way the rooms were numbered, they turned to the right and started off down the hall. They didn’t speak, as if in silent agreement not to give themselves away as they approached the door.
Giselle didn’t know Cynthia at all, but she had a fair idea of what motivated her. She wanted to guide her own destiny instead of being controlled by the expectations of others. That was exactly what Bryce wanted, too.
Giselle hoped they both had the good sense not to text what room they were in and then proceed to get it on while they waited for Luke to solve the riddle. An embarrassing scene wasn’t going to help. Giselle knew that for sure, even though she didn’t know yet what would help, or whose side Bryce was on.
Giselle slowed down as they approached the room. Luke pointed to the security latch propping the door slightly ajar. If Cynthia and Bryce had rented the room, they’d deliberately left it open.
When Luke held up his hand like an infantry patrol leader signaling a halt, Giselle had the urge to giggle. She never giggled. She wasn’t the giggling type. But this was turning into a melodramatic cloak-and-dagger affair that she suddenly found hysterical.
She supposed all the drama was appropriate. They were in Vegas. In an arena somewhere below, knights jousted on horseback. Down the road at Treasure Island, two ships fired broadsides at each other, and across the street a gondola was gliding down a canal that looked astoundingly like one in Venice.
Luke put his ear to the crack in the door, and Giselle stood quietly listening. She heard nothing.
If her nose hadn’t recently been assaulted by all the human-induced fumes in the elevator, she might have been able to tell whether a Were was on the other side of the door. But between her nose overload and whatever glue was off-gassing from the new carpet, she was fairly useless for nose patrol.
Stepping back from the door, Luke let out a breath. “I don’t think we have to worry about being quiet. Nobody’s in there.”
“There’s one way to be sure.”
He glanced at her. “Maybe I should go in first, just in case.”
“Just in case what? That they’re lying there naked and asleep? Or worse yet, naked and quietly smiling at us?”
Luke’s expression became thunderous with disapproval. “I don’t care if they’re smiling, but they damned well better not be naked.”
“If Cynthia knew for certain that she’d get that reaction from you, she’d definitely be naked. You need to lighten up, Dalton.”
He rolled his eyes before stepping toward the door and knocking. “Cynthia? You in there?”
Silence.
“Okay, I’m going in.”
“I’ll cover you.”
He turned back to her with a grin.
“Just kidding.” She returned his smile. “I’ve always wanted to say that, but I’m not armed.”
“Didn’t think so.” Turning back to the door, he pushed it open, stepped inside, and was immediately soaked with water. “What the hell?”