Chapter Two

OUR FIRST OUTING

 

IT WAS THE SAME AS the day before—rinse and then repeat. It wasn’t even ten and Mom was already in the casino, while I was in the lobby reading. We only had one more night left before heading home, and there was still so much I wanted to see.

Sadly, it looked like I would be going home unfulfilled. It was a complete waste of a trip for me.

“Did she leave you alone again?” a familiar, smooth voice called, coaxing me to look up from my book.

I quirked my brow. “That obvious?”

My jaw wanted to drop at that sight of him, but that would be too conspicuous. If I thought he looked good in the suit from the day before, it was nothing compared to how sexy he was standing in from of me in the low-rise jeans and fitted button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up that he was sporting.

What God did I need to thank for seeing him again?

“Fairly.” He chuckled and took the seat next to me.

“Dang, and here I was trying to look all important and above it all, instead of the lonely girl waiting to be rescued from her boredom,” I said and let out a high-pitched sigh for emphasis.

It got him to smile and let out a little laugh, so I found my attempt at humor successful.

“Did you get to see all the sights you wanted to see yesterday?”

“A few,” I said with a real sigh this time. “But everywhere we went, she spent time in the casino. Overall, we didn’t see nearly as much as I’d hoped.”

“Is she spending all day in the casino again?” He looked toward the entrance.

“Possibly.” My gaze also moved toward the entrance. There was no sign of her.

“Could you leave her behind?” he asked, turning his attention back to me.

I shrugged. “I don’t think she’d notice either way.” Where is he going with that?

“Then why not go out with me?”

I stared at him in shock. So much so, it took my brain a second to light up and compute his questions. “W-what?”

He turned to face me and began his explanation. “You want to see the sights, and I want to see the sights. I’ve spent the last three days in meetings, and I only get one day off. I want to go out, but it’s boring on my own.”

“You could be a serial killer.” I narrowed my gaze on him in a teasing fashion.

He pursed his lips. “This is true. I suppose you wouldn’t go traipsing about with a strange serial killer. No, that just won’t do.”

Turning off my screen, I stuffed my phone back in my purse and stood up. “So, where are we going first before you kill me?”

He smirked and let out a laugh. “Well, we could start across the street and work our way down the strip.”

“The wax museum?” I asked, my lips curling up into a smile and my widening eyes giving away my excitement. It was near the top of my list, I’d always been curious how the celebrities looked in person.

“Perfect.”

“You won’t turn me into a wax doll or anything, will you?” I joked as we headed out of Starbucks and toward the casino front door.

He laughed. “No. You’re much better looking when you move than when you’re standing still.”

“But if I was still, you could do all sorts of sordid things to me,” I said. Did I just flirt? I think I did.

He stopped, and I turned to look at him. He was smirking and I swallowed hard, my body heating up. What was I doing going around Vegas with a guy that attractive?

“I’m fairly confident I wouldn’t need to dip you in wax to accomplish that.”

“So sure of yourself?” I tried to sound confident, but my voice wavered. Yeah, I’d probably let him do anything to me. Virgin or not. What I lacked in experience, he was helping me make up in desire.

“Yes. Now, I want to check out some creepy, realistic looking bits of wax.” He slid his fingers around my hand and pulled us out the door and across the street.

I was going to have some stories to tell my best friend when I got home.

Weston paid for the tickets, and while he was doing that I sent a text to my mom, which included an on-the-sly picture of Weston.

Met a tourist buddy and we’re checking out the museum across the street.

It took less time to peel her vision away from the spinning wheels than I thought.

Have fun! Don’t get in too much trouble. Keep me updated. xo

I think she was happy not to have to entertain me, and was all for it, even though I’d told her I was going out with a stranger. At least I sent her a photo in case I went missing. My mom wasn’t irresponsible or anything, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it as long as I had, but she did have an open mind. Plus, she knew I was smart, and at the first sign of trouble she knew my ass would be running and screaming bloody murder.

“Ready?” he asked, his hand outstretched.

The sight of him like that basically told me that I had nothing to worry about. He looked excited, happy to have an adventurer at his side as excited to see the sights as he was.

The wax museum was a trip. We moved through each room, looking at some of the biggest stars in my lifetime and before. Weston kept saying how so-and-so didn’t really look that good without her makeup, or how another actress we’d stopped to admire was a bitch, or how an actor that I ogled was a poser. He seemed to speak from experience, though, not as a hater.

“Where do you get all this knowledge? Or are you just spiteful?”

His head tipped back in laughter. “It’s experience. I live in L.A. and I’ve met a lot of them.”

Once we’d left the wax museum, we decided to grab a quick bite to eat and figure out where we wanted to go next.

An hour later, I was gawking out of the taxi window as we made our way down the strip to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay.

“Oooh, the High Roller!” I pointed, my arm stretching in front of Weston as I leaned into him.

“I bet the view is best at night when the strip is lit up,” he said, his breath blowing against my neck.

I turned my head up to look at him and noticed just how close we were. How close his lips were to mine. There was a shift, the mood getting heavier than the lightness of the day.

My lips pulled up into a smile as I sat back in my seat, suddenly very conscious of the beautiful man next to me whose thumb was making light circles against my own.

The aquarium was fun, watching the sea life swim all around us. Next on our tour was the Luxor; we stopped not only to see the inside of the pyramid, but to also hit the artifact tour.

He held my hand in his the entire time. When I shivered from the cold of the air conditioning, he pulled me to him and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I didn’t know what to think about his actions, but I liked it. It felt . . . natural. It was as if we’d known each other for years, instead of being two complete strangers who’d only met twice.

I even overheard people talking about us, saying how cute we looked together. Some called us newlyweds, others were jealous that I was wrapped up in him. I smiled, because for one day, I felt special, loved, and taken care of. It was a day lived in a fantasy land where princes really did exist.

We continued down the strip to New York New York and boarded the Manhattan Express. I wrapped my arm around his as the roller coaster climbed the hill, clicking and clacking as we moved, our anticipation rising.

Screams erupted from both of us as we crested the hill and dropped back to the earth. With each twist and turn, my grip tightened and I was frozen, glued to him, as we pulled back into the hotel.

We took it easy after that, both of us a bit queasy after riding. Walking down to the Bellagio, more people whispered about us and pointed, but I dismissed it. We stood in front of the fountains, listening to the music and watching the water dance in time.

I’d never had as much fun as I did with Weston. We’d done nearly everything on my mental list of things to do in Vegas. And I hated that with every passing minute our time together was growing shorter.

“It’s even better when it’s dark and the lights are on,” he said as he leaned farther into me.

“Maybe we should come back after dark, then.” My comment was a bit forward, but the sun was starting to set and I really wasn’t ready for our day to end.

He looked down at his watch. “Do you have a dress with you?”

I scrunched my brow and thought about it. The only nice dress I owned sat in my hotel room, never worn. My mom made me bring it so we could have a semi-elegant night out, but that hadn’t happened, so it was still hanging in the hotel closet. It was sleeveless with a white top, black sash, and black lace over a white skirt. Not as nice or formal as his suits, but it was all I had.

“Sorta. It’s nothing special, but it’s a decent dress.” It felt like a thousand butterflies suddenly erupted in my stomach when I answered him. Anticipation filling me that maybe he also didn’t want to leave me.

“Wren, would you join me for dinner tonight?” He brushed a lock of hair from my face. “May I take you on a date?”

I stared up at him, stunned.

A date? With him? I’d never been on a date before.

“Yes,” I said. As if there would be any other answer.