What Happens In Vegas...: His Wedding-Night Wager

Now she was starting to know him, to know that he was constantly going. A moving ball of energy. And that he liked to bet on anything and everything.

She tunneled her fingers through his chest hair, caressing his warm, bare skin. She wanted to snuggle closer. To sink into him until they were just one person and then didn’t have to face the day apart.

He lifted his head. “We have to get back. I can’t believe I left the casino this long without checking in.”

He propped himself up on the headboard and she blushed as she remembered how he’d made her hold on to it until she came in his arms.

He saw her color and shook his head, tugging her into his arms. “Thank you.”

“For…?”

“Last night. It was…incredible, Shel. I wish our first time had been like that.”

“I don’t.”

“Really? I’ve always regretted that I took you too quickly that first time.”

“I don’t. You were perfect, Hayden. And I don’t think we could have handled last night before. We were both…”

“Both what?”

“I can’t speak for you but I was pretending to be someone else. Hoping you wouldn’t notice.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why were you pretending?”

“Because I wanted a rich boy to marry me and normally you wouldn’t have looked twice at the real me.”

“Yes, I would have,” he said.

“You might have looked but you wouldn’t have proposed. I know that firsthand.”

“Because of your mom?”

“Yeah. She’s never been married.”

“Where is she now?”

“Arizona.”

“Do you keep in touch?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“She’s part of what I was running from when I left, Hayden.”

“Aren’t you ready to stop running?” he asked.

She couldn’t answer that. She thought about her mom a lot. Her mother wrote her a letter once a month and Shelby never wrote her back, but she read those letters over and over and regretted that she’d been so ashamed of herself and the woman who raised her that…sometimes she didn’t like herself very much.

Hayden was right, but Shelby didn’t know how to bridge the gap she’d forced between herself and her mom. He hugged her closer, his hand coming to rest over hers. He twined their fingers together and then brought her hand to his lips and kissed her.

“Yes, it is time to stop running,” she answered finally. “That’s part of why I came back here.”

“I know you didn’t come back because of money.”

“Well, I kind of did. The Chimera location is going to make Bêcheur d’Or a lot of money.”

“That’s business.”

“Yes, it is.”

The covers slipped lower on his hips. God, she could stare at him all day. She noticed a tattoo on the top of his left thigh. “What’s this?”

He covered the tattoo with his hand. “Nothing.”

“No secrets, remember?”

He sighed and she realized that though she thought she was coming to know Hayden, he was still a mystery.

He slid his hand away. She bent closer looking at his tattoo. It was a knight’s fist, gripping a bloody heart.

Instantly she knew that he’d gotten it after she’d left. She realized that she’d made a huge mistake. But she couldn’t decide if sleeping with Hayden last night had been a bigger one than leaving him all those years ago.

Seven

Hayden strode through the main casino two nights later feeling like a gambler riding a streak of luck that just wouldn’t quit. Shelby had shown up at the children’s facility yesterday afternoon and had given him a run for his money on the rock wall. They’d had a lot of fun and she’d gotten the girls together to compete against the boys.

Last night he’d taken her up in his old Cessna, the same one he’d had when they were dating. They’d flown out over Hoover Dam and Shelby had mentioned that she’d been thinking about going to Arizona to see her mom. Hayden felt as if this time he was really getting to know Shelby.

The sounds of the bells and whistles of the slots and the rolling of the roulette wheel always excited him, but seeing Shelby standing at a blackjack table, holding one of those small Bêcheur d’Or gold bags, excited him even more.

She still wouldn’t move into his penthouse but he contented himself with the fact that she denied him little else. Like tonight. He wanted to show her his world. Wanted her to experience what life was like in the casino and though she said she wasn’t much on gambling, here she was. Waiting for him.

She glanced up as he approached, smiling sweetly at him, and it was the sweetness that wrapped around him, stopping him in his tracks mentally. This thing with Shelby was the kind of risk he never took outside of gambling. But he couldn’t stop it.

He approached the table and noticed that Rodney, one of his best dealers and longest employees, was the dealer. “Evening, Rodney. You treating my lady nicely?”

“I am, sir, but the cards…not so much.”

Shelby laughed a tinkling sound that lit the dark places of his soul and made him want to keep her happy always. “I am the worst player ever. Isn’t that right, Rodney?”

He shook his head. “I’ve seen worse.”

“I think he’s just being nice.”

“Maybe you need some expert help,” Hayden said. He took some chips from his pocket and placed them on the table in front of Shelby. She sat perched on the high stool but was still shorter than his six-two frame. Two other players joined the game, but Hayden scarcely noticed them.

He wrapped his arms around Shelby and looked over her shoulder as she picked up her cards. She had the queen of diamonds and a two of spades.

Hayden signaled Rodney for one card, which he dealt faceup. The card was a nine of diamonds. Shelby won.

She squealed and turned in his arms to kiss him. She won the following three hands, still with Hayden standing behind her. “Thank you. I think you’re my good-luck charm.”

“Ready to try it on your own?” he asked. He wanted to be more than her good-luck charm. He wanted her to move into his house. To sleep with her every night in his bed and wake up with her every morning. He doubted winning a few hands of blackjack was going to sway her.

“Yes. I think I’ve got it now.”

Hayden grabbed an empty stool from a nearby table and joined the play. Shelby lost the first and second hands. Finally she tossed her cards on the table and picked up her winnings.

“Giving up?”

“I don’t want to lose all your money,” she said, handing the chips back to him.

“They’re just chips.”

“No, they aren’t. I know that you’re going to think—I just can’t take money from you.” She picked up her big leather bag and the small gold lingerie shopping bag.

Hayden pocketed the chips and nodded goodbye to Rodney. This wasn’t what he’d planned. He wasn’t the most sensitive guy in the world, but he knew that Shelby was telling him something that had to do with more than gambling.

Suddenly all the pieces came together. He realized that while he was dealing with the fact that she’d taken the money and left, she was dealing with the fact that his money, any of it, represented paying her off again.

“Come on.” He took her hand and led her out of the casino.

“Where are we going?”

“I wanted to take you to see Roxy’s show tonight. We never do anything that’s really Vegas.”

“Everything with you is Vegas, Hayden.”

He tucked his hand under her arm and led her to the theater where Roxy performed. Hayden had a private box where they sat and watched the show. Shelby seemed to really enjoy it, but afterward she was still quiet and he knew that money was still an issue between them. That he’d been insensitive earlier. He still had no idea how to fix it.

“What’s next?” she asked.

He had nothing else planned. But he knew that he had to get her away from the casino and taking her back to his penthouse didn’t seem right. He needed to get her out of here, to find a way to take that melancholy from her. Somehow he was responsible for it and didn’t really know why.

“Let’s go someplace a little quieter so we can talk.”

“About what?” she asked, but stood and grabbed her shoulder bag once again. He handed her the small gold lingerie bag, not willing to let her leave that behind.

“Luck and Vegas.”

“Well, I think we’ve established I’m not lucky.”

“Not at cards,” he said, draping his arm around her waist and pulling her into the curve of his body. He shortened his stride to match her shorter one and used his body to protect her from the throng rushing to get to shows or casinos.

He led her out of the casino into the night. The pool and waterfalls were off to the left, but to the right was a small box-hedge maze, and nestled in the far back corner was a padded bench and gazebo.

“Where are we going?” she asked. Her eyes were weary and he knew he didn’t want to stare into them anymore.

“It’s a surprise,” he said, taking from his pocket the black silk mask she’d used on him days earlier. He’d been carrying that damn thing around, tormenting himself with the different ways he wanted to use it with her.

She laughed as he slid the mask over her eyes, fastening it in the back. Leaning down, he brushed his lips over hers. She sighed and opened her mouth for him. She snaked her arms around his waist and laid her head on his chest right over his heart. And he could do nothing but hold her. To make this moment an oasis in two lives that had seen too much chaos and hurt.

The sensation of being blindfolded was difficult to adjust to. Shelby already felt vulnerable from realizing that she was losing Hayden’s money in the casino. Sure, she knew it wasn’t a lot of money, but still it was the principle of the matter. She’d vowed before she left Atlanta that this time she wasn’t taking any money from Hayden. She meant to keep her word—even if it was only given to herself.

After trading herself so cheaply to Alan MacKenzie, Shelby had taken a hard look at herself and her life and she’d promised to never be in that position again. To never be vulnerable to any man. So how exactly had she ended up here—blindfolded with only Hayden’s warm hand in hers to guide her through an unfamiliar world?

Panic raced through her. She heard people moving around her and felt as if she was ten again at Meredith Nelson’s birthday party. Meredith and the other girls had all disappeared when Shelby had donned the pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey mask. When she’d pulled it off, she’d been left all alone. Standing there in the secondhand dress her mother had purchased on the way to the party. Tears burning her eyes, secure in the knowledge that she wasn’t like other kids and would never fit in.

She felt that way again. Being back in Vegas brought all the old insecurities to the surface. It had to be the money thing. Money always triggered that same gut reaction. The blindfold was too much. She reached for the mask.

He caught her fingers, holding both of her hands easily in his grip. “Shh, baby. Don’t panic. I’m right here.”

“I know I did this to you, but I don’t think I like it,” she said.

He leaned down and whispered into her ear, “You look so sweet and sexy. I like the fact that I’m responsible for you. I have to protect you. Will you let me do this?”

“I’m a grown woman, Hayden. I don’t need a man to protect me.”

“Do this for me, please.”

He never said please. She nodded her head. She’d try for him, because he’d done it for her without any complaints. But then she doubted he’d ever been in any situation where he wasn’t comfortable.

“Are you still upset from the blackjack table earlier?”

She had no response to that. No idea how to respond and still preserve what she now knew was her own illusion that she’d fooled him. The show had been nice but all she felt while she’d been sitting there in the dark was that once again she was in the land of make-believe. Surrounded by people who were pretending their real lives didn’t exist.

She felt the warmth of his fingers feathering up her arm, rubbing gently against her skin, wanting her to relax.

“What is going on tonight?” he asked, murmuring his words against the top of her head.

“I don’t want you to think I’m after your money,” she said, blurting out the words. Then she groaned. She’d never meant to say that.

“Honey…”

“Don’t. Let me continue. I’m never going to have as much money as you do. And we’ll never really be social equals. But—”

He stopped the wild flow of words with his mouth. His lips moved over hers with surety and strength, making her feel as if everything was irrelevant except him touching her.

He lifted his head but dropped several small nibbling kisses on her neck before taking her hand in his again. “Follow me.”

She bit her lip and let him tug her along. She realized that her panic with the mask wasn’t only due to the insecurity she’d felt earlier but also had to do with trust. She didn’t trust herself. Didn’t trust that the woman she’d become was real. Didn’t trust that she’d really left behind the young girl she’d been.

Did she trust Hayden? She hadn’t when she’d been twenty. But now…? She’d trusted him with her body; she’d set up her shop here based on the success of his casino. Obviously she was leaning that way, but to have the choice taken from her…To have to trust him to protect her while she couldn’t see wasn’t something she’d been prepared to do.

He stopped walking. She heard him pushing some buttons and then the release of a gate. She was surrounded by the scent of roses and night-blooming jasmine. Hayden wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back so that she was sitting on his lap. He nibbled at her neck and she surrendered to the feelings he always aroused in her.

“What’s in that little bag?” he asked.

“What little bag?” she asked, turning on his lap so that she rested her head on his shoulder. His aftershave was strong at his neck. She scraped her teeth across the nerve-rich area and felt him stir under her hips.

“You know very well which bag I’m referring to,” he said.

His hands roamed up her torso, settling over her breasts. He palmed both of them and she felt them swell and grow heavy under his touch. She reached for the buttons on his shirt, finding them and releasing the top three until she could slip her hand under the cloth and feel his strong, warm pecs. She scraped her fingernail in a random pattern over him and felt his muscle flex under her.

“Stop distracting me. I want to know what’s in that bag. I never did get to see you in the red leather.”

His thumbs were tracing her distended nipples through the material of her blouse. It felt so good that she couldn’t speak for a minute.

“I know. I figured since you were so big on competition, I’d provide you with your own leather.”

He groaned. “Damn, woman, I’m not wearing leather underwear.”

“Come on. I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Like you did with the stripping contest?” he asked. His hand was on her waist and then she felt him pulling her shirt slowly up.

She panicked, gripping his wrists. “Hayden, we’re in a public place, aren’t we?”

He stopped though she knew he was stronger than her and could have pushed her shirt up despite her protests.

“It’s time to decide if you trust me or not.”

She felt a million things at once—nervous, excited, aroused and a little bit upset that she was so aroused. She shifted on his lap, pressing her thighs together and wondering if she could pretend this was just about sex. But she knew it wasn’t. Hayden wanted her trust and if they had any chance of moving forward, she had to give it to him.

With a sigh, she dropped her hands, knowing that Hayden would always keep her safe. It was him trusting her that had always been the issue. She acknowledged she’d never given him a chance to really trust her because she’d been lying to him. But this time Shelby realized she needed to learn to trust herself and stop lying about what she’d been running from.

Hayden knew they were completely secluded here. The garden was his private place to escape from the busy casino. He’d deactivated the cameras to this section and opened the security gate earlier. They were now in a private section of the maze. She was perfectly safe.

He knew he was pushing her, but couldn’t help himself. He wanted—no, needed—to stake his claim on her and he wasn’t going to wait any longer. Making love to her two nights ago had made the fact that she didn’t trust him into a sharp ache. He knew he’d done little in the past to earn her trust, but this time…this time he was determined to do things right.

She let go of his wrists and he slipped his hands under her shirt. Her stomach clenched as he moved his hand over her. She turned to straddle him, draping her thighs over his, and held him with a fierceness that felt right in his soul.

Slowly, inch by inch, he peeled her shirt up and over her head. He let his hands trace down the center of her body, stopping to free the front clasp of her bra as they went. She wore a pale pink bra with lacy demi-cups.

“I love your underwear.”

She smiled at him and he couldn’t resist kissing her one more time. With the mask on, her skirt up around her thighs, her shirt gone and that bra open, she looked like a fantasy come to life.

“Offer your breasts to me,” he said.

She ran her hands up her stomach, slowly caressing her own skin, and he realized that Shelby was becoming more comfortable. She covered both of her breasts with her hands, then slowly peeled back the lace to reveal her pink nipples. She cupped her breasts, lifting them toward him. Her hand encircled the bottom and sides but left a small gap between each finger.

With his tongue he traced the gap and felt her hands tighten as he got closer to her nipple. He teased her by outlining the areola first then laved her entire nipple.

He attended to her other breast with the same care. He couldn’t stop touching her, needed to caress more of her skin. He loved the way she felt as arousal spread throughout her body. Her hips shifted on the bench. Her hands moved restlessly over her own body, reaching out to hold his head to her as he scraped his teeth down her side.

“Lift your skirt for me,” he said, his hands busy at her breasts.

The fabric of her skirt was gossamer light, as he’d noticed when they’d walked through the casino earlier. Ever since then he’d obsessed about it.

Slowly she brought her skirt upward to reveal her thighs and then the matching pink lace panties. Her tight auburn curls were visible under the light material.

He leaned back to study her. Awed that she was his. And she was his no matter how stubborn she was about living with him. Shelby belonged to him. A red haze settled over him and he was determined to prove it to her.

He set about arousing her using every bit of knowledge that he had but couldn’t remember where he’d gained it. All other women dropped away. The experiences he’d had with them were only to enhance what he had with Shelby now.

He tugged on her panties, and she obliged by removing them. When she came to him again, he parted her with his thumbs before lifting her to taste the engorged bud he’d uncovered. He suckled her gently, her hips bucking, her hands fluttering to his head to hold him closer.

He brought her to the edge then backed off. He wanted to build a fury within her so that she’d feel the way he did. Out of control.

He kissed her stomach and dipped his tongue into her belly button. He skimmed his hands over her breasts, rubbing them in a circular motion.

Her hips lifted into his chest and he felt her moisture there, realizing he couldn’t wait any longer.

“Hayden?”

“Yes, baby?” he asked. Lowering his hands between their bodies, he unzipped his pants and released himself. He slipped on the condom he’d put in his pocket before joining Shelby earlier.

He pulled her forward so that her hips were fitted to his. Now her back was arched and her skirt was still between them.

He grasped her waist and lifted her up. “Hold on to me.”

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her legs around his waist. Hayden loved the feel of her soft skirt against his stomach and erection. He reached between them, parted her with one hand and guided himself to her entrance with the other.

He thrust upward, going as deep as he could. Shelby’s nails scored his shoulders. Her breasts rubbed against his chest. Nothing had ever felt better than the wet heat of her wrapped around him.

She rocked against him again and again and Hayden leaned down, wanting to demand answers from her. But he couldn’t. Emotions swamped him as he felt the telltale tingling at the base of his spine signaling that his release was imminent. He slowed his pace.

“Faster. I’m so close,” she whispered in his ear.

He put his hands on her hips and thrust up into her as he ground her down against him. He heard her breath catch once and then twice and then a long, low moan as her orgasm washed over her.

He came a second later. He cradled her close to his body, very aware that even if it wasn’t wise he was falling for Shelby Paxton, again.

Eight

Shelby spent the next few days in her store readying it for the grand opening tonight. She tried to ignore that more than sex had happened between her and Hayden. They were both busy with work but Hayden made time for her in his schedule. He’d shown up unexpectedly one afternoon after one of her staffers had to go home for a family emergency and helped her unbox the merchandise.

He’d also taken her for a ride on his prized custom West Coast Chopper. He was everything she wanted in a man and more, and she knew she was falling hard for him. Every day revealed another facet of the man and she had yet to see anything she didn’t like.

But she remembered Alan and what had brought her to Vegas and worried over that. Not to mention what she’d been forced to realize about herself that night in the private garden. That Hayden already owned her heart and soul. She could try to pretend she hadn’t completely given him her heart but she knew that wasn’t true.

A part of her rejoiced. After all, she’d returned to Vegas with just that goal in mind. But the other part of her worried. Alan had been out of touch since the night she and Hayden had spent on his yacht, and Shelby worried that Alan was going to show up before she had a chance to talk to Hayden.

She’d tried several times with Hayden to bring up the subject of her return to Vegas. Tried to find the words to make him understand that she hadn’t realized how much he’d changed, how much she had. But last night a letter from her mom had arrived and she’d been unable to deal with anything but that.

Hayden had taken her up to his penthouse and they’d sat on his balcony and talked until two in the morning. Talked about their single parents. She’d learned more about Alan than she’d expected to. Realized that once Hayden’s mom died when Hayden was quite young, Alan had focused on Hayden, making his son’s success the purpose of his life outside the casino.

When Shelby had talked about her own mother, she’d realized that it wasn’t her mother she was ashamed of. It was the way other people had always looked at them. She told Hayden about how her mother loved to crank up old Elvis Presley albums after dinner and they’d danced and sung while they’d cleaned the dishes.

She’d forgotten how much she’d loved her mom until that moment. She’d made the decision to call her and set up a time to visit only to have to leave a message on the answering machine when she followed through.

Shelby felt as if all the loose ends in her life were finally being straightened out. She was thirty-two and just starting to get it together.

Last night Hayden had pushed her hard to move in with him, even going so far as inviting his friends Kylie and Deacon Prescott to his penthouse for dinner. Shelby had enjoyed meeting the couple. But more than that she’d enjoyed the feeling that she and Hayden were a couple. A real couple. A happily-ever-after couple.