Vegas Love (14 page)

“I told you I’m tired. You should go.”

“No. You can cry first if you need to, but you’re going to talk to me.”

“How do you know I want to cry?”

“I have a twin sister. I can see the signs.”

She covers her face with her hands. “I don’t know why I’m so emotional about this. Maybe it’s all just hitting me. The sex tape. Zach breaking up with me.”

I wrap my arms around her. “I think you’re upset you didn’t find a house.”

She sniffles and wipes away the few tears that have dared to fall. “Maybe,” she says quietly.
 

“You shouldn’t be. It’s the first time you’ve ever looked at houses. It was a bit overwhelming. It’s a big investment and you don’t want to make a mistake,” I say, letting her off the emotional hook, even though I suspect it’s more than that.

“I think you’re right.”

I lead her into her living room, sit on the couch and pull her onto my lap. She straddles me and takes my face in her hands.
 

“Are you really as sweet as you seem, Cash?”

Other than at my brother’s house, when we were supposedly introduced, this is the first time she’s called me Cash. I know she’s being serious.
 

 
“I’m not sweet, I’m just sweet on you.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’re too perfect.” She runs her hands across my biceps causing me to instantly become aroused. And it doesn’t help that she keeps squirming around on my lap. Does she not realize what that does to me? I try to think about anything. Anything but the way her hips are smashed against mine. Mom. Think about Mom. Mom is in the kitchen. Mom is baking food. Baking her specialty. Warm, homemade fudge with—

Shit. Wrong thing to think of. Way wrong. Now all I can think about is the warmth inside her.
 

And I’m trying to be sensitive here. I want her to take me seriously.

But she knows.
 

She has to be able to feel me. I’m as hard as freaking granite.

“I’m sorry,” I say, attempting to move her off me. But she doesn’t freaking budge. And, truth be told, I’m not trying that hard. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. I want to talk to you about the house. I know it’s important to you. But you can’t seem to sit still and it’s driving me nuts.”

She pulls her shirt off in response.

“Fuck,” I say as she kisses me.
 

At some point, after desecrating the couch, we made our way to the bedroom.
 

And apparently, I have succeeded in fucking her silly, because she’s giggling and playing with my hair.
 

“You’re in a better mood now,” I say, thrilled that I made her this way.

“Hard not to be happy when a guy does that to you.”

And although I was feeling pretty damn content, her comment grates me the wrong way.
 

Fuck being sensitive.
 

I roll out of bed and find my pants. When did I become
just
a guy?

“I’ve got to head home. See you later.”

“But, wait—” I hear as I slam the door behind me.

I storm down the beach, seriously pissed off. I’m pissed at her. Pissed at myself.
 

What the fuck was I thinking? Why would I ever think a one-night stand could mean more? And how the hell did I let her turn me into a fucking emotional girl?

I’m pounding up the stairs, my thoughts on the bottle of premium tequila
I know is waiting for me on my brother’s bar.
 

“What’s your problem?” Cade asks, pulling me from my haze of rage.
 

I walk straight past them, go inside, and pound a double shot, calming myself down. I pour another then join my brothers on the deck.
 

“You been down at Ashlyn’s?” Carter asks.

“Yeah.”

“Why are you pissed? She turn you down?” Carter jokes.

“She fucking better not have turned him down,” Cade chastises.

“Oh, so now it’s okay if they do it?” Carter asks.

“What? No. I meant he better not do anything for her to turn down.”

Carter laughs. “Just fuckin’ with ya, bro.”

Their banter makes me laugh.
 

“That’s better,” Carter says. “Now, tell us what’s up.”

“Ashlyn can be—difficult,” I say, hoping maybe they will help me. I fucking need help. I am in way over my head with this chick.
 

“How so?” Carter asks with a smirk, hitting Cade on the arm. “I love when they’re difficult. Makes it much more satisfying when they finally go down.”

“She better not have
gone down
,” Cade says to me, his eyes all squinty and big brotherly.
 

If he only knew.

“I heard Carter took her to Vegas not that long ago. Why was that okay?” I ask, because I really need to know.
 

“I asked him to cheer her up,” Cade admits.
 

“He told me I couldn’t fuck around with her either. Too bad. She’s freaking hot. If it weren’t for Cade, it would have had the makings of a fun weekend.”

The fire I felt before is raging inside me again. I want to pick my brother up and pound him for even thinking about her like that.
 

Fuckkkkkkkk.

I drain my glass instead.
 

“So we need to talk business,” Cade says. “I had one of my guys do some research. Turns out that Ashlyn’s lease is up. It’s been up for almost five months. She’s strictly month to month.”

“But her manager told her that she can’t move because of a lease.”

“He’s lying to her. I also found out that it’s owned by a friend of his, she’s paying way over market value, and more than likely he’s getting that overage as a kickback each month.”

“Are you kidding me? Can he do that?”

“Legally, he absolutely can collect a finder’s fee. Is it ethical in my opinion? Hell, no. I also found out why he keeps pushing her toward that Sci-Fi movie. He’s got a side deal. If she takes the role, they are going to name him as a producer. She didn’t love the script, but was leaning toward it over the other deal because her manager is so passionate about it.”

Carter has been sitting back and listening. “Ashlyn is a good person and she doesn’t deserve the publicity she’s been getting,” he says. “She needs to get rid of the entourage. They are dragging her down and taking advantage of her.” He turns to me. “Cash, you need to talk to her about this.”

“I don’t want to tell her. That Cade’s job.”

Cade leans back and studies me. “No, I think Carter is right. This will be a good learning experience for you.”

“And what the hell am I supposed to learn? How to piss off a client? You know this will affect her. Maybe we should wait until she’s done with the movie. Tell her then.” Not to mention the fact that this will devastate her emotionally. Again. And I’m not sure she can take it.

Or, maybe I’m afraid
we
can’t take it.

“No,” Carter says. “What you’re learning is that not everyone is ethical. Your job is to help protect your client, so they can do their job. If the manager is doing this, there’s a pretty good chance he’s not being ethical in other ways. And if I remember right, she told me her manager handles all her money.”

“Yes, he does,” Cade says. “She needs to close her accounts, so he has no access. If he finds out we know, he may become desperate. And no one wants a desperate person having access to their money.”

“Okay. Shit. Do you think I should go tell her tonight?”

“Why don’t you wait until morning. Think about how best to tell her then call me as soon as you do.” Cade polishes off his drink, sets his glass down and says, “On that note. I better get going.”

After he leaves, Carter comes back out on the deck. “Okay, tell me what’s going on.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you look like you wanted to kill me when I mentioned having fun with her in Vegas?”

I shake my head and lie. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. How much have you had to drink tonight?”

“Cash, are you falling for her?”

I run my hand through my hair and sigh. “Don’t be silly.”

He stares at me.
 

“Fuck. Fine. There’s something about her. I just feel bad for her.” Yes, that’s it. Focus on the girly shit. Not the sex. “She’s been through a lot and she’s really a nice girl. She kind of reminds me of sis.” Oh god, did I just say that?
Nothing
about Ashlyn reminds me of my sister. At all. “I tried to do something nice for her tonight and it backfired.”

“Cade said you went house hunting.”

“Yeah, she was sad she didn’t find one she loved.”

“The right one will come along. The question is: why are you being so nice to her?”

“Because it’s my job.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” he says. “I’m gonna hit the hay.”

“Wait! Why did you say that?”

“Because when you came in the house after meeting her for the first time on the beach, if I hadn’t known better, I would have guessed you’d already fucked her.”

I lower my eyes to hide my surprise. How the hell does he know that?
 

When I regain my composure, I say, “Chloe told me you said we had off-the-charts chemistry.”

“You do. That’s why I think you came up here so pissed off. Not being able to sleep with her is driving you nuts. Maybe I need to take you out on the town. Get you laid.”

“Uh, no. I, uh, have to be on set early.”

“Shit, it’s worse than I thought. You’ve got it bad.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I reply, flipping him off as I head to bed.

The first thing I do when I shut my door is grab my computer and look up something. Something I didn’t even think about when I drunkenly threw down my fake ID in Vegas. Something I hope won’t get me disbarred.
 

I enjoyed almost all of my law school classes, except for the ones relating to family law. I knew it was something I would never practice, so I memorized it and tried to forget it. Little did I know that I would actually need it.
 

I search a database about legal marriages, wondering if we committed fraud because we lied about who we are. I’m also wondering if lying about our names means our marriage isn’t legal.
 

What I find isn’t good. There is a Nevada statute that states, “Any person who shall make a false statement in procuring a marriage license with reference to any matter required by NRS 122.040 and 122.050 to be stated under oath shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.”

I close my computer.
 

I don’t want to read any more.