Vegas Vacation (Destination Desire) (12 page)

His cell beeped with a text, and he picked it up. It was from Meg. His gut churned a bit at having to deal with her again so soon. He was still pissed. Tapping an icon on the screen, he brought up the message
.

Meet me in the lobby in 15 minutes?

His mouth tightened, and he shot a quick text back.
Why?

There was a pause, and then her response popped up.
For some off-Strip fun, and so I can apologize again. Please?

Sighing, he had to think hard before he decided what to do. For the first time since he’d met her, he didn’t really want to be around her, but holding a grudge wasn’t his style. He’d be cutting his nose to spite his face if he did it now. He replied with an affirmative and then went to dig a pair of sandals out of the closet.

He found her in the lobby standing near the white stone statue of three women in togas which dominated the middle of the space. He paused for a moment to watch her. She fidgeted, checked her watch, played with the strap of her purse. Checked her watch again. Her gaze met his when he started forward, and he could see the hesitation on her face.

“Hi,” she said, her voice quavering a little. “I…”

“You?” he prompted, not giving an inch.

She blew out a breath. “I really am sorry, Finn. I shouldn’t have ditched you last night. That was awful of me.”

“Yeah, it really was.”

Tears brightened her eyes, but she blinked them back. “I want to see this week through, if you’re still interested. And I would understand if you don’t want to. But you should know it’s important to me to keep my own room. It is stupid, I realize that, but maybe some of the nights you could share my room with me instead of me always coming to you. Though, the bed is smaller because there were two doubles for when Anne was here.”

It was a compromise, a peace offering, and as much as he’d like to demand all or nothing, he knew it would be foolish. He’d be left with nothing. As exasperating as it was, he needed to remember this was a marathon, not a sprint. “I think I can handle that, but if you want sex, it comes with spending the whole night together, no matter whose room we’re in.”

Her two braids bounced when she nodded. “I accept that.” The grip she had on her purse strap turned white-knuckled. “And you were right. I am scared. Of myself, not of you. You’re wonderful. Too much so.”

“You don’t have to be scared with me.”

“I can’t date a coworker, Finn. I have a hard enough time depending on guys after watching my mom deal with my dad’s infidelity.” Her lips compressed. “My job is important to me. I don’t want to dread teaching because I have to see an ex when I go into school. That probably played a role in what happened with the last couple who dated at our school. You can’t have a clean break from someone who works with you every day. I saw that so plainly with them.”

“My job is important to me too, but I don’t go into a relationship with a woman assuming it will fail. I also know you can have an amicable breakup. Not all of them are like your parents’ or those other teachers’. You have to know that.” Crooking his finger under her chin, he made her meet his gaze. “There’s something more to this coworker thing than just having watched that couple’s relationship melt down.”

He was taking a stab in the dark, going with a gut feeling.

Her eyes deepened to a stormy gray, but she nodded. “That couple…the woman accused the man of cheating on her. Like my dad did with my mom. It just made me see how those two situations could combine into my worst nightmare.”

“Oh, damn, sweetheart.” He cupped her cheeks between his palms, his heart aching for what she’d been through, wishing he could erase it for her. “I am so sorry. Not every man cheats. I don’t cheat.”

“I know that, logically.” She wrinkled her nose. “But fear isn’t logical. I just don’t want to end up like my mom, and I don’t want to end up with a bad relationship I can’t escape. I’d have that if I dated a teacher and we broke up.”

“We aren’t your parents and we aren’t those other teachers. Give me a chance to show you how unfounded your fears are with us.” He pressed a finger to her lips to stop her from responding. “I don’t want you to answer that now. Just be with me this week, that’s all I ask. Don’t run and hide from this.”

He wanted her trust, all of it, but it was easy to see she wasn’t ready for that. The quick, deep connection they shared was something he celebrated and she feared. He only hoped he had enough time to convince her he was right, but pushing too hard wouldn’t get him anywhere, so he backed off the heavy emotional stuff. “You said you wanted some off-Strip fun. I know of a local history museum you might like. About atomic testing in Nevada.”

She tipped her head toward the exit. “Sounds interesting, but we have other plans today.”

“We do?”

“Yep.” A genuine smile touched her lips and reached her eyes. She checked her watch. “Uh-oh, we’re running a bit late.”

Spontaneity wasn’t exactly her forte, so he was more than a little curious. “Late for what?”

“The bus. Come on.” She jogged outside and he had no choice but to follow or be left behind. They crossed one of the walking bridges and ended up in a small crowd waiting for public transportation. “Oh, good. This one’s ours.”

A two-story bus pulled up, and they joined the line shuffling forward to get on. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise. You’ll see.” She fished a few bills out of her pocket and bought them both day passes. Handing one to him, she led the way through the packed lower level and up to the second floor, which was far less congested. They found two seats together and grabbed them.

He laid an arm across the back of her chair, scanning her features for a moment. “I don’t even get a hint?”

Looking excited and more than a little pleased with herself, she shook her head. “Nope. We’re going where I say, and you just get to wonder.”

“I do, huh?” He leaned over and kissed the side of her neck, just because he liked to make her react. “You’re suddenly all bossy and take charge.”

“Yep.” She tipped her head, giving him as much access to her neck as he wanted. No shrinking away because they were in public. Good.

“That’s kind of hot,” he whispered in her ear, then nipped at the lobe.

“Shut up, Walsh.” She bumped him with her shoulder, and he watched a blush creep up her neck, but he also saw her cheeks crease in a little grin.

He rested his head against hers and closed his eyes for a minute. The light scent of her perfume filled his nostrils. He had no idea what the hell he was doing anymore. There was no doubt he wanted her on every level. More with every second that passed, but the emotional roller coaster was faster and wilder than he’d ever imagined. He was going to do his best to hang on for the ride, but his confidence in how well this week-long gamble would pay off was dwindling. It was wrenchingly painful to realize how much he was coming to care for her—so much so that her not wanting to spend the night had been a knife to the chest. This could end in a serious disaster, and he wasn’t sure he could do anything to stop it.

The only thing he was sure about was he didn’t want to walk away.

The only thing she was sure about was she didn’t want to walk away. Not now. Not yet. Meg wanted her week with him. It had been awful to have him confront her about her behavior, but she couldn’t say she blamed him. She’d been terrible. Something else to add to her less-than-stellar history with men. But the truth was, Finn was right. She’d been scared and she ran from her fears. They were two days into this affair and already her resolve was wavering far too much. Where would her resolve be by day seven?

She didn’t know and that scared her. But being nasty to Finn to save herself wasn’t the answer. He didn’t deserve that. Hell, he deserved far better than she could offer, and that was the sad truth. She wished it weren’t, but there was nothing she could do to change it. Still, she’d agreed to the week, given herself permission to be a little reckless for seven whole days, and she was selfish enough to want all of them. Even if it was scary. Even if she had to give a little ground not to hurt Finn any more than she feared she was going to. The way he looked at her…she knew he liked her, knew he cared, and she both loved and hated knowing that. It wasn’t just sex for him. It never had been, and treating him like a sex toy was a slap in the face to a good man.

She’d do better in the future.

The bus rocked around a corner, and being on the upper floor just exaggerated the ungainly sway of the massive vehicle. She pulled herself out of her morose thoughts and looked around to see what intersection they were at. Missing their stop would be a bad thing.

“Here we are.” She bounced out of their seat, grabbed Finn’s hand, and dragged him along behind her.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere,” he stated. “Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see. Come on.”

They made it to the ground floor and just managed to catch the door before it closed. She hopped out onto the sidewalk, flinching a bit as the heat slammed into her full force.

“Okay. There’s where we’re going.” She pointed to a nondescript building, and his gaze followed the direction of her finger.

The big sign over the building made his jaw drop.
Gold & Silver Pawn Shop
. “No way.”

“Yes way.”

“It’s the shop from
Pawn Stars
.” A huge grin split his face.

Smugness filled her at the disbelief and pleasure on his face. He’d been so focused on doing whatever she wanted while they were here, she was glad she could offer him a little of that in return. It didn’t make up for her being a complete ass to him the night before, but it was a start.

She tried for a modest shrug. “You said you wanted to come here, so I did a bit of research.”

He yanked her into his arms. Then he kissed her very thoroughly, bending her backward so she had to grab his shoulders to keep her balance. Heat exploded through her and it had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with her unquenchable lust for Finn Walsh. His tongue slid between her lips and he feasted on her mouth. They didn’t come back up for air until a loud wolf-whistle pierced the air and she heard applause.

Looking around, she saw a couple of bikers mounted on Harleys parked next to the shop. Cracking up, she covered her face and burrowed into Finn’s chest. Being turned on in public was more than a little awkward. From the corner of her eye, she saw him give the bikers a wave before he drew her into the pawn shop.

A few of the people from the television show were behind the counter, but Meg and Finn just wandered around looking at everything. He dragged her over to a display of baseball collectables, and she squealed, then clamped a hand over her mouth when people turned to stare at her.

“You’re so cute when you blush.” He ran his finger down her cheek and neck.

She pursed her lips. “There’s nothing wrong with blushing. Or being cute. I think going with one’s natural talents is a good thing.”

“If it’s not broken”—he swooped in and kissed her lightly—“don’t fix it.”

“Exactly.” She fanned her face to cool her flushed cheeks.

His smile was easy, and gratitude expanded in her chest. She was so glad he wasn’t staying mad at her, and she knew she shouldn’t care what he thought of her, but she did. She pushed the thought away. She was tired of beating herself up over how she felt. This week was supposed to be fun. There was plenty of time to overanalyze every little thing she’d done when she got home. So she let Finn take her hand and lead her toward a display with a medieval jousting helmet.

“I think you might like this, Meg.”

She thought she might too, if she could let herself.

Chapter Ten

It was going too well, and for some reason, that worried Finn.

He pushed himself to greater speed on the stationary bike he rode in the hotel gym while he considered. Meg hadn’t tried to pull back since the night they’d gone to the Cirque du Soleil, though they now split their time between her room and his. But…it was too perfect. It fit just right, and he had no fucking clue what he was going to do if she decided to end it after this week. They only had two days left, and he didn’t know where they stood.

But he was falling for her. Hard.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen it coming. He’d known the possibility was there when he’d gotten Anne to talk Meg into this trip. Sensing it was possible and having it become a reality were different things, and the reality was much more complicated than he’d imagined. He was hanging on to his sanity by a thread, trying not to let himself fall all the way. Loving her and losing her would be…catastrophic. The thought was gut-wrenching, and he shoved it out of his mind.

A cloud of dread hung over him, growing darker and heavier as the days slid by. Tomorrow, he had to deal with dinner at his dad’s. It would also be his last night with Meg before they left town.

“Hey, Walsh! Spot me, would you?”

The voice yanked him back to the here and now, and he turned to see Frank lying on a bench, ready to lift some free weights. Using his shirt to swipe the sweat from his face, Finn hopped off the stationary bike. The display said he’d gone nearly twenty miles, but he’d been so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn’t remember much of it. He’d just peddled.

He hadn’t even seen Frank come in, and from the sweat rings on his shirt, the other man had been working out for a while. Finn stepped over to the bench and kept his hands on the bar while Frank began pumping the weights up and down. His face went red, and beads of sweat formed on his brow as the rep count got higher.

“Do you know where everyone else is today?” The words were a bit breathless as Frank spoke.

Finn watched the veins pop out on his colleague’s forehead, wondering if he should warn him to take it easy. “The ladies are meeting for brunch right now at some kind of frilly tearoom, and I think we’re all doing dinner at the Paris. A place called Mon Ami Gabi that has a patio looking over the Bellagio fountains. Then anyone who’s interested is taking the ride up the fake Eiffel Tower.”