“He left you here with us,” Mike cajoles in his joyful bright-red voice. “Let us show you a good time.”

Flirty Ashley kicks in then, and I smile. “What kind of a good time?”

“How about drinks in our suite?” Carlos offers.

Yeah, that’s the good time they have in mind. Not that I’m slightly surprised.

“Sorry, guys. I’m taken.”

“By a guy who left you here with us,” Mike says again.

I breathe in. Funny. If not for Dale, I’d totally be into these two, despite the fact that they tried to convince me they were blackjack experts who were buying me drinks. Sex was always about what I could gain, and if the guys got what they wanted as well, where was the harm?

No more, though.

I’m now a one-man woman.

Even if that man is being a jackass.

He came for me, though. He came here after he nearly died in a fire and lost half his Syrah crop. He made the effort.

“It was great meeting you guys,” I say. “Look around. This place is flooded with eligible women. You won’t be alone tonight. I guarantee it.”

I flounce away, smiling to myself.

They’re both incredibly good-looking. They won’t be alone for long. I never labored under any delusion that I was special to them. I was just having fun. I had no intention of going to bed with Carlos or Mike or both. But I did flirt with them audaciously. Maybe it’s time I stop doing that.

I love Dale. I only want Dale.

Even when he’s an ass.

I walk through the casino, but it’s nearly impossible to find anyone in this haystack of people. It’s a miracle he found me at the blackjack table.

To the lobby, then. I wait in a short line to ask whether Dale has registered. He hasn’t.

I sigh. Up to my room, then. It’s nearly two a.m., and my mom and Dennis arrive tomorrow morning. I need to get some sleep.

After riding up the elevator, I walk to my room and tap the keycard to the door.

I open it, and—

“It’s about time.”

The cloak of red wine fills the room.

Dale’s voice.

Dale is here.

But I’m not letting him off the hook that easily.

“How did you get in here?” I demand.

“Steel privilege,” he snarks.

Of course. He paid someone off. Easy enough when you’re richer than God.

“This is my room,” I say. “You have no right—”

His lips are on mine, then. He’s kissing me, and this time it’s his trademark kiss of rage. He’s angry. Mad as a hornet because I dared to spend the evening with two men who taught me some stuff about blackjack.

I didn’t abuse his trust. Neither of them touched me, other than the brushing of a finger when they handed me drinks.

But he doesn’t know that. He doesn’t think about that. He’s filled with rage.

As much as I love this kiss, want this kiss, I push him away, breaking it.

“This isn’t happening,” I say.

“Want to bet?” He chuckles at his own joke.

“Yeah, I’ll bet the house. I’ll bet the entire Steel fortune. Because I know you, Dale. I know you’re an honorable man, and you’ll do nothing without my consent. I hereby do not consent to anything. Not until you tell me what the hell that was about down there.”

“Fine,” he says. “I drove five hundred miles to see you and find you sandwiched between two Texans. That’s what this is about.”

My lips tremble. “I wasn’t sandwiched.”

“Flanked, then. Use whatever word you want. It’s all a euphemism for threesome, anyway.”

“That’s it, then. You’re bothered by the fact that I’ve had a threesome.”

He says nothing.

“What I did before I knew you has nothing to do with us. With how I feel about you.”

“Then what was tonight about?”

“I sat between them at a blackjack table,” I say defiantly. “I didn’t fuck them.”

“They wanted to.”

“So what? Lots of women want to fuck you too. That doesn’t mean they get to.”

“Maybe, but I don’t encourage them.”

“You think I encouraged Carlos and Mike?”

“For God’s sake, Ashley, of course you did. With all your experience, surely you know men by now. They’re always looking for a pretty girl to fuck. Show one spark of interest, and they think you’re game.”

“I was interested in learning blackjack, not in fucking them.” I shake my head. “This is crazy. I honestly thought you were different from most men. I honestly thought…”

“What?” he demands. “What did you think?”

“I thought we had a chance, Dale. Don’t you get it? I like sex, okay? I like it a lot, and I’ve had a lot of it. But I never got serious with anyone I had sex with because it was only sex on both sides. But you… It’s different with you. It means more. It’s not just physical. It’s… It’s…”

“What is it, exactly?”

“It’s emotional. I love you, Dale. I love you so much. And I… Damn! I just want things to be the way they were.”

I stop then. The way they were? Nothing has really changed. It’s never been perfect with Dale. Perfect would be a relationship without an end in sight, not one confined to two months.

“Things change, Ash,” he says finally. “The fire…”

“I know, babe, and I’m so sorry.” I walk toward him tentatively. “But—”

“Please.” He gestures with his hands as he interrupts me. “Don’t tell me how good I have it. Don’t lecture me on Steel privilege. Don’t tell me the Pikes got hit worse. And don’t tell me I’m self-absorbed. I can’t take it right now.”

I drop my mouth open. I have no words.

“There are things about me—things I hide deep inside—that will never change. That I’ll never heal from. Things that have nothing to do with the fire or the Syrah.”

I reach toward him, but he backs away, shaking his head.

“Don’t ask me to open up. I can’t.”

Jade’s voice haunts me from within. Don’t push.

What don’t I know? Something before the adoption. It has to be. But what?