It Wasn't Me - Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,15

kids. They’re all good now, but there was a time there where I honestly couldn’t stand being around them.”

My lips twitched.

“I’m glad it’s not just me,” I said.

“It’s not,” he said as we finally exited into the Las Vegas airport.

I blinked at all the light that was streaming in through the copious amount of windows.

“I don’t remember it being this bright,” I mumbled.

“You’ve been here before?” he asked, dropping his arm from around my shoulder to once again take up my hand.

“Yes,” I said, swallowing hard, trying not to think about how nice it felt.

He no longer had a reason to hold my hand, yet he was doing it anyway.

“What for?” he asked.

“Barrett-Jackson car shows, mostly,” I said. “I used to go with my dad every year before I went into the Army.”

He stopped in the middle of the busy airport and stared down at me.

“Is that why you’re here today?” he asked in surprise.

I shrugged. “Yes?”

Was that a bad thing?

The smile that overtook his face was breathtaking.

“That’s why I’m here, too,” he said. “Marry me?”

I snorted.

“You’re nuts.” I pushed his chest, loving the hardness that I found underneath the palm of my hand.

“Nuts about you.”

I rolled my eyes so hard it caused me to go off balance.

He caught me before I could fall.

Then pulled me tight into his chest.

“This is going to be great.”

I frowned. “Why do you look like you just hit the jackpot?”

“Because,” he let me go and set me back down on my feet with a slight jolt. “I’ve never met a woman willing to go to a car auction with me before, and to think that I just found you, in Germany of all places, just makes me all giddy and shit.”

“All giddy and shit?” I couldn’t help myself from repeating his words. “You sound like a teenage girl.”

“I feel like one, too,” he teased. “Let’s go.”

So we went. Out into the Las Vegas heat, and straight to a waiting taxi cab.

It was sticky, and honestly, it grossed me out.

“I usually get an Uber when I come,” he said. “But that seemed like it’d take too long. Where are you staying while you’re here?”

“The Polynesian,” I answered effortlessly. “What about you?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t booked a hotel yet. Polynesian seems as good a place as any.”

I frowned. “You came all the way here without first having reservations somewhere?”

He nodded, looking amused.

“Yes,” he answered. “Is that bad?”

“But…what if the hotel you were originally going to stay at didn’t have any openings?” I asked, flabbergasted.

His lips tipped up at the corners as he smiled slightly.

“You do realize…” He turned to stare me directly in the eyes, partially taking my breath away. “That Vegas literally has hotels out the ass. There’s bound to be one open room in all of Vegas.”

I licked my lips.

“Yeah,” I said. “But what if the one you wanted didn’t have any openings, and you had to stay at one off the strip?”

He started laughing at that.

I wasn’t sure whether or not I should be offended that he was laughing at me, but I couldn’t find it in me to be too upset seeing as he looked absolutely gorgeous laughing. It really suited him.

The muscles in his throat bunched, and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

And Jesus, that sexy, rusty, rarely used part of his voice was downright vagina-tingle inducing.

I’d never been one to want to break my vow of waiting for marriage on anyone before…but Jonah Crew? Yeah, I’d definitely consider breaking it for him.

“What was that look for?” he asked, sobering quickly.

I swallowed hard and tried to come up with a plausible lie.

“I was thinking that you could stay with me,” I said softly. “The hotel room has two beds since I was supposed to come with my dad.”

He frowned. “That wasn’t what you were going to say.”

“That’s all you’re getting,” I shared.

He snorted. “Fair enough.”

Our taxi ride to the Polynesian took less than fifteen minutes.

“That’ll be sixty-two fifty,” the taxi driver called from the front as we arrived at the hotel drop off.

“Umm,” I hesitated.

That sounded high.

I’d been here quite a few times before, and the last time I’d done this exact same trip it only cost thirty, and that was because my father had made him stop by the tattoo parlor first to make sure that he could get an appointment later with his good buddy. We hadn’t taken any detours this time, and it’d only been two years since I’d last been. There was no way in hell