Lucky In Love by Deborah Coonts Page B

side of his face. A stain—looking like a darkening red tie—marred the front of his beautifully tailored white shirt with his initials in blue on his right cuff.
    “Looks like you two put more than your heads together.”
    That cracked Walker’s reserve. “What?” He lowered the ice pack, revealing the start of a nice shiner plus a long red gash across his temple that disappeared into his hairline.
    “That’s what you told me you were going to do, the last time I saw you.” I moved in to get a closer look at him, squinting my eyes in the darkness. “Shouldn’t you get that sewn up or something?”
    “It’ll be fine,” he growled.
    “I wouldn’t want to explain it either.” I stood and looked him straight in the eye.
    “A bit messy, I admit.” To his credit, a little bit of color rose in his cheeks.
    “A wee bit,” I agreed.
    Vera stepped into the abyss. “We’ve always enjoyed each other’s company—we do have so much in common, a shared value system. We’d just been denying the obvious.”
    “Interesting attestation in a sex toy store, but hey, common ground is a wonderful thing.”
    Vera eased closer to Walker and clutched his arm.
    “Your timing sucks, but I’m happy for you, truly I am.” I fought with myself—I really wanted to shoot them and put them out of my misery. But idiots were probably out of season, and justifiable homicide was so tricky to prove. “I hate to throw a blanket on the fire, but we have the little issue of a televised contest tonight... with your respective betrotheds. Remember?”
    Reality dumped on their heads like a bucket of ice water.
    “What exactly do you propose we do about that?” Walker asked.
    “Well.” I looked at Vera. “I’ve saved your stones once today already.” I expanded my gaze to encompass both of them. “I’d say I’ve done my job. How you two play it from here is up to you.”
     
    * * *
     
    A s darkness settled over the valley and the lights of Vegas worked their magic, I actually felt fairly happy with how the day had turned out—I hadn’t killed anybody, and all the couples had been delivered to Trey Gold for pre–prime time primping. We’d patched up Walker as best we could; the make-up artist would have to do the rest.
    As luck would have it, the final show was to be broadcast live from Siegfried & Roy’s Secret Garden, behind the Mirage. Yes, the moveable feast had decamped; the Babylon’s responsibilities were officially over.
    Ella found me standing in the lobby. I must’ve looked a bit the worse-for-wear as she said, without preamble, “Those contests folks are nutcases .”
    “Is that a technical term?”
    “A professional diagnosis, dumbed-down for you lay people.” Once again, she used her inside voice—the second time in as many days. She must be coming down with something. “The whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth.”
    “Dysfunction on display.”
    Ella gave me a slight smile. “Welcome to my world.”
    “You and I occupy different sides of the same street. On my side, we just pretend everything is fine.”
    “You can’t hide there forever, Lucky.”
    “Watch me.” I spied Teddie as he rounded the corner and waved.
    “Hope it doesn’t bite you on the butt.”
    Teddie grabbed me, pulling me close. “If anyone’s biting you on the butt, it’s going to be me,” he murmured, before he covered my lips with his.
    The man took my breath away. When he righted me, my thoughts had tumbled. I knew there was a witty response in there somewhere, but I’d be damned if I could find it.
    “How’re you getting to the Mirage?” he asked. “As one of the judges, I have to get going. Want to head over with me, ladies?”
    Ella grabbed one arm; I grabbed the other. “Safety in numbers,” I said. “It’s a beautiful evening. Feel like a stroll?”
    The Mirage wasn’t far, but we enjoyed the intervening stretch of the Strip—perhaps me more than the other two. Wandering with the revelers recharged