What happened in Vegas: Didn't Stay In Vegas! (15 page)

“Are you
okay?
”
He asked.

I laid my head
on his chest and told him,
“
Aria
doesn
’
t know what she
’
s
missing.
”

He looked at me
and stroked my cheek,
“
Either does
Bradley.
”

~27~

We
lay in bed snuggling for at least an hour before one of us decided
to get up and shower. Nick beat me to it. I closed my eyes
listening to the noises he made in the bathroom and pretended it
was Bradley. I wondered what it would be like if he was here
instead of Nick.

When the water shut off my daydream ended
and I stepped into the bathroom naked to take my shower.

His eyes
scanned the entire length of my body and in a husky voice he
asked,
“
Have dinner with me tonight, we need to
talk.
”
He was bare chested and only wearing a towel around
his waist. I hadn
’
t noticed how
muscular his back was until I saw him blow drying his hair. It was
hot.

“Sure, Where
and when do you want to meet?
”

“The Prime
Steakhouse, my treat. I
’
ll make reservations
and text you.
”

“Sure.
”

I stepped into
the luxurious multi-jet shower enclosed completely in glass. Except
for a tiny bit of condensation, Nick had a perfect view of me
showering and I could see I had his undivided attention. He had
laid his brush and blow dryer down on the counter and
didn
’
t move. He liked the visual. When I stepped out he was
kind enough to wrap a long towel around my body.

“Don
’
t sulk over Bradley.
Have fun today and forget about him.
”

I fingered
Nick
’
s spikes,
“
I
can
’
t forget about him. He had every right to get mad
after we did what we did.
”

“I still
don
’
t like him. He
’
s
arrogant.
”

“You
’
re not the one who
has to like him. Do you think he
’
ll get back with
me?
”

Nick looked
frustrated,
“
He would be stupid
not to. He did ask about you when I was standing in line at
Tim
’
s. I hate it when you talk about
Prick!
”

“You mean
Throb,
”
I corrected.

“No
Chanel,
”
and Nick gave me this look he always gives when
he thinks he knows better,
“
he graduated,
remember?
”

Nick dressed
quickly and then grabbed his wallet and phone, he started out the
door,
“
I
’
ll text you what time
to meet for dinner, so have your phone with you.
”

Nick was acting
moody. I had no clue why talking about Bradley bothered him so
much. Nick was acting like Bradley was as a threat to him, but he
shouldn
’
t be because all Nick and I were, were friends.
Whenever I talked about Bradley now, Nick would get all menstrual
on me.

I put my bathing suit on packed my bag to
head for the pool making sure my phone was on and the volume turned
up. My phone was powered down so when I put it back on it started
flashing. I waited for it to load and then checked my answering
machine before I left the room. I typed the code into my phone to
hear my messages. There were three:

1: Nick,
“
Coco, I bumped into Bradley at Tim
’
s and he asked
where you were. Where are you?
”

2:
Bradley:
“
It
’
s Bradley, give me a
call.
”
(His voice was deep, sexy, and sweet all at the
same time!) I wasn
’
t sure what I would
say and if I should call from here or wait until I get back to
Toronto. I would have to talk to Nick about it. (If he would let
me.)

3: Aria:
“
Hi Chanel, its Aria. I just wanted to give you a heads up;
it didn
’
t work out between Nick and me. We totally have
to get together when you get back and have a girl
talk!
”
(I couldn
’
t wait to hear her
side of the story. I just hope I could keep myself together and not
laugh.)

The pool was
almost deserted today because Nevada people think 82 degrees is
cold. I took the same lawn chair I laid in yesterday and did my
routine of the oil and the sunglasses. I closed my eyes and thought
of Bradley. I tormented myself over the big question, should I call
him or shouldn
’
t I? I decided to
call. I was scared about what he was going to say, but I decided to
get it over with.

I looked for my
contacts icon on my phone but it was too bright to make out the
names, so I had to move to a shaded area. I scanned my contacts and
found Bradley
’
s name and
dialled.

My heart was pounding; I tasted vile from
nerves rise up my throat. I knew if he picked on my fear, I would
be tempted to just to hang up. I scolded myself for thinking that
way; I was thirty-five and way too old to crank call.

One ring. I
told myself to breath, this was going to be okay. I started
mimicking Lamaze. Two rings. I panicked, what if it goes to voice
mail, I hadn
’
t thought of that,
I
’
ll probably say something retarded and have no way of
deleting it, and then I
’
ll have to face him
in a couple of days, totally embarrassed over what I said. Three
rings, Omg voice mail is next and then I heard a click noise, I
stopped breathing thinking did he pick up the phone? Does Bradley
have call display? Did he pick it up and then hang it up because he
didn
’
t want to talk to me? Then I realized, it was his
recording coming on, I took a deep breath and decided against
leaving a message. Now I had to speak to him, so I called the
hospital.

I dialled the
hospital number from heart. Locating answered and I requested to
speak to Dr. Hart, the cardiologist not the CEO. The lady asked who
I was. I told her it was Dr. St. Clare. She asked me to hold,
telling me she was paging him. She came back on the line and
said,
“
Here he is.
”

There was a
second pause. I was so nervous,
“
Bradley?
”

“Chanel? Where
are you?
”

“Hi Bradley, I
tried your house,
”
explaining why I had called the
hospital to speak to him. I ignored his question and waited for him
to control of the conversation.

“I
’
m glad you called here. We need to talk, can I
see you?
”
Alpha male wants to see me. I was feeling like
there was a glimmer of hope!

“Sure, I would
love to but I
’
m not
home.
”
Did he notice me missing from the hospital? Had Chase
spoken with him about me asking for a leave of absence?

“Where are
you?
”

“I needed to
get away. I
’
ll be back soon. Can
it wait or did you want to talk now?
”
If it was hospital
related then he would have spoken to me now, so I could narrow it
down that he called for personal reasons.

“It will have
to wait.
”
Woo hoot, personal!

Now, I was thinking he wanted to do this to
my face, so it had to be serious, but what could be worse than
breaking up with me or going to his brother and making it so I
never work with him again. Shit, even the thought of what he did
got me into a bad mood.

“Did you want
me to call you when I land?
”
He needed to know
that he drove me away. My destination wasn
’
t important,
just that I left. Switching me over to another cardiologist really
hurt my feelings and eventually I was going to let him
know.

“Please call,
and Chanel.
”
His voice sounded so hot when he
whispered my name into the receiver.

“Yes,
Bradley
”

“Thanks for
calling back.
”
There was a pause where neither of us
hanged up and I listened to him breath. In a low voice he ordered
me to,
“
Hang up first.
”

I liked hearing
him, even if it was just breathing,
“
No
you,
”
I challenged.

“I
’
m going to need to discipline you when I see
you,
”
he threatened. It was getting me hot.

“Discipline me
how?
”
I whispered, wanting all the details.

It sounded like
he was going to say something else and then he changed his
mind,
“
I
’
m getting another
page, I have to let you go.
”

We both said good-bye.

I resumed my
worship of the sun, but now, I was happier. I had something to look
forward to when I got home. I thought that if we stayed on the
phone any longer and he was anywhere else but at the hospital, we
probably would have resorted to phone sex to tide us over. I
couldn
’
t call him back later, because it would have been too
weird talking to Bradley right in front of Nick, which reminded me,
I wonder if he made the reservations yet.

I texted Nick:

Chanel: Did u make the reservations yet?

Nick: I did, they r 4 6:30.

Chanel:
That
’
s great. I
’
m just going to pick
up a sandwich 4 lunch. Do u want me 2 get u 1 & leave it in the
room 4 u?

Nick: No thxs,
I had a buffet at Circus Circus, I
’
m good until I c
u.

I went back to
the room at 5:30 after I treated myself to a new dress from a
little boutique in Caesars Palace. I chose a red evening gown and
the most gorgeous 4 inch patent leather Gucci pumps
I
’
d ever seen in my life, and for $700 I was going to
wear them any chance I could get. Snowball would be so proud! By
the time I was finished dressing, I took my own breath
away.

I went down to the restaurant and Nick was
waiting for me out front. He was wearing a black suit I saw him in
once before, and he had his haircut very short. His olive skin had
a glow to it and he looked amazing.

We air kissed
each other. He stood in front of the restaurant spinning his finger
encouraging me to do a twirl so he could get a better look at me. I
did as he requested and his eyes zoned in on the shoes
immediately,
“
Red patent leather
Gucci
’
s? You must have borrowed them!
”

“Bought.
”

“All these
years you struck me as a Payless girl!
”

He kissed me on the lips and cloaked his arm
around me leading me into the restaurant. The restaurant was
decorated with Tiffany blue decor, and chocolate brown velvet
chairs with gold ringed handles on the back of them. The tables had
the cutest white glass lamps with a Tiffany blue ring and little
frilly gems dangling from each of them on the table. It was
fancy.

Nick pulled my
chair out and then his own. A waiter came to take our order for
drinks, and shortly after a different waiter brought our dinner
menus. I studied the menu and ordered what they were famous for,
Prime Rib. Nick chose the same and began our dinner
conversation,
“
All jokes aside, you
look gorgeous Coco.
”

“You too Nick.
I love the cut. I think it
’
s the shortest
you
’
ve ever worn it. Aria left a message on my machine by
the way. I think she wants to tell me what happened between the two
of you.
”

“You
can
’
t be serious,
”
he rolled his eyes
in distaste.

“I am. I think
if you give me a chance, I might be able to help you smooth things
over with her.
”