to him, knotting his tie after having just washed his hands in the men’s room. He had to make a flight back to Vegas with Shannon in a few minutes, but wanted to catch up with his old friend.
“You hiding out here in the hallway?”
Travis blinked, then shrugged. “No. Just trying to understand a woman.”
Brent clapped his buddy on the back. “Good luck with that. It’s like learning a whole new language, and no one gives you a dictionary for translation.”
“Exactly,” he said, gesturing in the direction where the woman had disappeared. “One second she’s all over you, and the next second she practically wants to slap you.”
“Been there, man. I have absolutely been there. If it’s any consolation, sometimes those slaps can turn into something a whole lot better.”
“I was hoping it was going to turn into something better tonight,” Travis said, shoving a hand through his hair, then turned to face Brent and pointed at him. “Hell¸ I was about ready to use your office.”
He laughed. “Afraid you would have found it occupied.”
Travis knocked fists with Brent. “Excellent news. At least one of us is figuring out women.”
“Took a long time. You’ll get there. You should talk to her though. Whoever she is.”
Travis scrubbed a hand across his chin and sighed. “She might be a little pissed off at me right now. I wasn’t completely honest about something.”
“Then let her know you were less than honest, say you’re sorry, and tell her what you want. Her, I presume. Women like honesty,” he said, speaking the simplest of truths. Weird, that after all that had transpired he was now in a position to give relationship advice. “By the way, thanks so much for coming by today. I really appreciate you doing a prelim for me.”
“Anytime. And incidentally, Shay is pretty crazy about you. Let me just say that. I chatted with her earlier, and I’m pretty sure she has it bad for you. She’s a keeper.”
A grin spread across Brent’s face. He was sure of that, too. Being certain of how they both felt was such a gift. One he’d cherish.
Fifteen minutes later, Shannon was on top of him, riding him hard in the limo on the way to the airport, and he thanked his lucky stars the flight home was short because he couldn’t wait much longer to have her again. He had a wild hunch they wouldn’t be sleeping much tonight. That they’d be wrapped up in each other all night long, making up for lost time. She told him she wanted him to come back to her place, and even though he had a ten a.m. meeting with James and his real estate guys, he figured that was what coffee was for.
That was all he’d need tomorrow. For tonight, he’d have her.
* * *
The stars twinkled against the inky black night as the driver pulled off the highway, and headed to her condo. Time marched closer to the moment. To the telling. Her stomach executed a fresh series of nosedives as the town car neared her home. She reminded herself that everything would be fine. Well, maybe not fine at first. But it would be fine soon enough.
She’d tell him, and it would be hard for them both, but they’d comfort each other.
This was not the sort of news that could break them up. The loss was simply another part of the past, one she’d share now that they were finally back in the town they called home. Even though so much had gone wrong for her in Las Vegas, so much had gone right there, too. Las Vegas was the place where her grandma and her brothers lived, and it was the town where she and Brent had fallen in love again, against the neon lights, and the blinking billboards, and the spectacle of the Strip. From the fountains at the Bellagio, to the Shops at Caesars, to the darkened theater at the Luxe—this was their place, and the city of sin had given them a second chance at love.
And at truth.
That was why she wanted to tell him the story there. At home. Not in a hotel room. Not in an office. Not in a cab, or a car, or a plane. But in her house, where she could tell the story the way she needed to.
As the car wedged itself next to the curb, Brent paid and tipped the driver, then grabbed their bags.
“A sleepover at last,” he teased as they walked up