Up in Flames(14)

Had I ever had a relationship with a guy who actually made me happy? I couldn’t think of one. Even the one I had with Major hurt more than anything else. This was a guy I’d met in Vegas and might never see again. He could be married or engaged. And he was making me happy.

“You’re thinking deep thoughts.” He didn’t miss anything. Not one change in my expression.

“Are you married?” I asked, needing to know.

He grinned. “No.”

“Engaged?” I continued.

“No.”

“Wanted for a felony?”

This time, he chuckled. “For future reference, it’s a little too late to question a guy if he is wanted for a felony when you have him in your suite and trust him enough to stay there while you sleep.”

Good point. I nodded and took another bite of pizza.

“That all you wondering?” he asked.

I finished chewing, then took a sip of my drink. “What do you do for work?”

He thought about that for a moment and then replied, “Construction.”

Construction? How was he in Vegas for business if he was a construction worker? And how could he afford the Bellagio? “Really?”

“Really. I own a construction company that builds casinos.”

Well, that made a lot more sense. “Is that your book? It looks like it’s been read a lot,” I said.

He glanced over at the book, and a smile touched his lips. “I’ve had it more than twenty years. It’s my favorite. I’ve read it thirty-five times.”

Wow. The layers on this man just got deeper and deeper.

Major

My Texas charm wasn’t totally lost on the Bellagio receptionist. She gave me the name of the tower Nan was staying in, but she wouldn’t give me a room number. That was all she would do for me. At least I knew Nan was here.

Which meant I’d been sitting at the bar beside the elevator bank, drinking and watching for any sign of her. Cope had probably already spotted me and was making sure she didn’t come this way. Either that, or he was playing games with my head.

The waitress with the tiny halter top and the paid-for tits that I’d like to get my hands on kept flashing me a flirty smile. As tempting as that was, I didn’t have time for that. Girls like her were why I was in this fucking mess in the first place.

Focusing on one girl, especially one as shallow as Nan, was hard to do. I liked variety, but I sure as hell didn’t like the idea of Nan having variety, so what did that mean? That I was being a bastard? Yeah, that’s what it meant. I was calling her shallow, but I was pretty damn shallow myself.

The waitress walked over to me and slid a new napkin my way. This one had writing on it. I saw a phone number and a name. She was making it pretty easy for me to fuck her. How was I supposed to work with shit like this? Jesus, if I was like Cope, I wouldn’t have this problem.

I glanced up at her and winked. She was sexy as hell but not the sexy I needed tonight. I had another girl to win back. If I could find her first. By ten, she would be heading to a club, I figured. Only thirty minutes until ten. I needed some food, but leaving this spot wasn’t possible.

“Y’all got anything to eat back there?” I asked.

“Nuts and pretzels,” she offered, with a hopeful smile.

Not exactly food, but it would help. “That’d be great.”

She quickly fixed me a large bowl and put it in front of me.

“Thanks, sugar,” I replied, and watched her beam. Yeah, she thought we were getting it on tonight. That was a shame.

I looked at my phone to see if by some chance Nan had texted me back and I’d missed it. Nothing.