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Chapter One

Dresses like this lead to fantasy sex in a Vegas hotel room

Lucia stood in front of the hotel rooth mirror and repeated her new mantra, determined to erase the what ifs that had followed her around for the past feeeks What if she arrived in Vegas and the designer creation no longer fit like a second skin? What if she looked in the hotel rooht Afraid…

She forced herself to look at her reflection in the mirror She was still e-style cocktail dress would disguise any reaze stopped just short of her face, the one thing no aht’s party had a Venetian Carnival theme—masks required Identities secret Flaws hidden Anyone she ht wouldn’t have to knoho she was Who she used to be

She placed her ain

The dress offered prolances across a crowded restaurant And later, strong male hands determined to peel the fabric off her body One look at this dress and the ive her an orgasm that she would remember for the rest of her life

This would work This had to work

Of course, she first had to leave her hotel suite and find Mr Fantasy She picked up her clutch and headed for the door, armed with her wallet, a strip of condoht she’d decided to attend the restaurant opening Her top four fantasies If—no, when—she found the right man, she would check off the items on her list one by one

Navigating the hotel’s e, but she as’s newest and hottest Italian restaurant And then she froze

It looked as if everyone had juh the crowd, offering bubbly and bite-size samples from the chef’s menu Hundreds of beautiful people milled about the space

She reached up and touched her ed with them For the first time in ten years, she could blend in with a crowd

Her fingers found the place where the hand-painted creation fro her skin The died scars on her right cheek that senthow she’d look in their bed Even now, she couldn’t believe what had possessed her foster father to take a knife to her face But tonight, she would escape that dark past and the fear that no one wanted her No one desired her

This was her chance to step outside the box she’d built around her sheltered life Tonight, all her o-to coht, it would all pay off

Tonight, someone would race toward her

Tonight, she would live her life

She stepped into Glitterati, accepted a glass from a waiter, and headed for the back, where the series of abstract paintings hung on the walls She’d never met the artist, but she’d been a fan of his work since she started painting

Vibrant colors streaked across the canvas in a layered chaos The paintings spoke to the type of life she drea The kind of person she wished she could be—bold and daring

“Don’t tell me you came for the artwork,” a deep, masculine voice said fro in a sharp breath at the sound that see male attention

Wow, that was fast Good job, dress

“What else would I co to face him

“I don’t know about you, but my eye’s been on a table filled with chocolate five feet away,” the mystery man said