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see the intelligence gleaming in her gaze. Thoughts seemed to bounce off her; energy sparked. Besides being a good businesswoman, he'd bet she was rarely anyone's fool. Kinky home movies aside, probably another reason a lot of the losers she'd known in the past had picked Paris over her. Some guys just couldn't handle a woman with brains. After Tiffany's airhead act, Nicki's sharp mind turned him on.
    Except this wasn't about him. It was about earning her trust. He really needed to keep his mind on the conversation ... and out of her panties.
    "You didn't insult me, but I knew your charm was an act. I didn't try to get you to connect with me, true. But you side-stepped every one of my questions a bit too well."
    Mark rubbed his chin and smiled. "I hoped you hadn't noticed."
    Nicki snorted. "In this business, I've dealt with every charmer, loser, playboy, mama's boy--you name it. Believe me, I've learned to notice when my questions are being avoided."
    "Sorry I didn't answer you. It's ... complicated."
    "Try me," she challenged.
    Now what? Making up a background was too risky. Best to stay close to the truth.
    "I'm here because I need a new start. I had to get away from my old life. Las Vegas is the most different place I could think of, compared to the Florida gulf coast. Exotic dancing is the farthest occupation from working in a bank that I could dream up."
    Hopefully, that would satisfy Nicki's curiosity--at least about his past. Now if she was interested in knowing exactly how he'd like to kiss her, rake his tongue through her wet slit, and make her beg ...
    "A bank?" Surprise lit her features. "I visit my bank a lot, and I've never seen anyone like you work there."
    "I was a branch manager, the expert in deposits and withdrawals." He winked.
    Nicki rolled her eyes. "So you worked at a bank. What happened ? "
    "I quit, drifted to Manhattan. My sister and her husband live there." He shrugged. "But it didn't fit me. The place feels too dirty and rude. My thin Florida blood can't take the winters. Rent that amounts annually to a Third World country's GNP made me choke every time I wrote a check to my landlord. I loathed the subway, thought the Rockettes were overrated. And I got so damn tired of hearing about the Yankees."
    He was one of the few who didn't love New York, but had never shared that with a soul. Mark frowned, wondering why he'd told her.
    "As a native New Yorker, I have to say, I think that's harsh."
    "Yeah? If you love it so much, why aren't you still there?"
    "My uncle. I had to get away before he started trying to dress me every morning and cut my food into little bites. The man thinks he needs to control every part of my life, like he does his five-year-old grandson. At least two thousand miles away, it's a little harder for him."
    "You miss New York?"
    Nicki grimaced. "Not as much as I should. But this isn't about me, and you're trying to change the subject. No more crap. If I hire you, what makes you think you'll like Vegas any better than the Big Apple? It's loud and chaotic here, too."
    "Yeah, but there's excitement, too. I like the hot desert wind. You can feel Lady Luck hovering in the air. Frankly, I could use a little of her magic."
    Nicki hesitated. "Why? What was so bad about your life in Florida?"
    "You don't want all the gory details."
    After placing her shoes on the table beside her, Nicki turned back to him and anchored a hand on her hip. "I've asked twice, so obviously I do."
    He sighed, mentally editing all the shit that had happened in his life in the last few years. "One of my ... coworkers at the bank, who was embezzling money, framed me. Finally, my sister and brother-in-law helped prove the claims false, while I formed an intimate acquaintance with the county jail."
    "That sucks. But if everyone eventually realized that you were innocent, why not stay?"
    "It just wasn't the same, working with people who had believed me guilty once."
    "Smart people don't leave good jobs because of a