Her Sexy Vegas Cowboy(18)

That was a lie, he thought. If she called him up, begging him to come back to her, he didn’t think he had it in him to say no. Since she had tossed his number, though, it seemed unlikely.

Jeremiah immediately perked up at his explanation. “Yeah? She was that hot, huh?”

Aaron looked into his friend’s gleaming eyes and told the truth. “Hotter.”

Jeremiah whistled a long, low whistle. “A girl hot enough to make you almost miss our bet. That’s a big deal. I’d like to meet her.”

As the elevator door dinged shut, Aaron admitted, “You did. She was the girl I talked to outside Sapphire. She was one of the bachelorette-party girls. And she was the one I saw at the airport.”

Jeremiah’s face showed his incredulity. “Seriously? Those were all the same girl? Some tall brunette, right?”

“More red than brunette, but yeah. The same girl.”

“Sounds like fate wants you two together. When’s the wedding? She better not wear heels, because as the best man, I shouldn’t be shorter than the bride.”

For some reason, Jeremiah’s teasing bothered Aaron more than it usually would have. A surge of annoyance flashed through him, but he managed to keep his voice steady. “You know it’s not like that. It’s just a weekend thing. I don’t even know where she lives.”

Jeremiah shrugged. “She’s from New York, probably, if she’s with the bachelorette party. They’re all from there. Marilyn wouldn’t stop talking about it. Apparently it’s the best city ever. It was worth listening to her, though.”

As Jeremiah continued talking about his date in more or less graphic detail, Aaron drifted into his own thoughts. Now he knew where she was from. Was that really so bad? He couldn’t expect them to keep everything about themselves quiet, and he had already mentioned Texas. He’d felt stupid after letting it slip, but she had to have guessed before he said anything. He was at the rodeo, after all.

He could see her walking around New York. She’d be able to handle that big city with her cool confidence and powerful stare.

In a way, it was good to know where she called home. She was from a huge city thousands of miles away from where he lived. There wasn’t even the slightest possibility they’d run into each other later. Good, because thinking he might bump into her one day would likely drive him crazy.

Aaron tried to refocus his mind, to listen to Jeremiah. He’d been a pretty lousy friend before, and didn’t want something as little as a weekend fling to get between them. Even if the woman in question was stunning. And interesting. And completely captivating. And it didn’t feel little.

He needed to pull himself together.

Finally Jeremiah stopped talking as they walked through the noisy casino and out into the fresh air. The rodeo was held at the Thomas and Mack Center on the university campus, just a couple of blocks away. They made their way along the sidewalks filled with people in cowboy hats and boots, all heading to the same destination.

He became lost in deliciously inappropriate thoughts about what he might do that evening to surprise Jessica. He wanted to make her smile. Jeremiah’s voice cut through his thoughts, startling him. “Is this all because of that girl, or is there something else going on?”

Aaron was bewildered. He knew he’d been a little distracted, but was he acting that strange? “Nothing’s going on. Why?”

“You’ve been acting really weird since you met her. Not in a good way. Have you spent more than five minutes since you saw her without thinking about her?”

Aaron paused for a minute, embarrassed.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so. That’s dangerous, man. You don’t want some girl taking over your life, especially if you live, like, three thousand miles away from her. You don’t want to do anything stupid.”

Aaron nodded. Jeremiah was right. “Yeah. I’ve been too distracted. It’s just a fun weekend thing. When we leave on Tuesday, I’ll be getting on the plane without a second glance. Sorry if I’ve been a jerk.”

Jeremiah slapped him on the back and grinned. “It’s no problem. I just don’t want you to abandon your life, sell the land and run off to New York or anything.” He laughed at his joke.

Aaron chuckled, too, a knot twisting in his gut. He’d never do something that stupid. Leaving his whole life for a girl could only end in disaster, and he knew that. He’d seen it happen before. His mom had been a wreck when his dad went running off after true love, and look how well that worked out for him.

No, Aaron knew that “love” meant giving up your happiness, your independence, your life. There was no way he was going to let anything like that happen to him. He was just having fun with Jessica. After he went back home, he would continue on his own as he’d been doing for years.

He liked his life just the way it was. It got a little lonely sometimes, eating dinner alone or with a few buddies, but there were enough women who knew his boundaries and were happy to keep him company for a while to break up the monotony.

The thought of those women left a weird taste in his mouth, and the “fun” he’d been having with them suddenly seemed less fun.

Aaron walked beside Jeremiah into the arena the city had prepared for the many competitions and events included in the annual rodeo. It felt like a football stadium, huge and crowded, but the smell was definitely rodeo. Hay and horses and dirt. That smell meant home to him.

Better to focus on the here and now, to enjoy the competitions, than to think about his choices. He didn’t like the way it felt to think about all that other stuff. It was better to just not worry about the future. Everything would go back to normal when he got out of Vegas.

It was impossible to feel normal in Vegas, he told himself.

As if to solidify that fact, a buxom fake blonde tapped him on the shoulder and smiled widely at him. The bad taste in his mouth intensified as he recognized Olivia, his semiregular rodeo companion. His mind went blank, and he couldn’t think of anything to say to her. Luckily she was the one to break the silence.

“Aaron! I can’t believe you haven’t even texted me. You have to have been in town for at least a day or two, right?” He didn’t answer, but evidently she wasn’t looking for a reply. “Let’s go find your seat and watch the fun. I can spend a little while with you before I have to get back to my group. Where’s Jeremiah?”

That was one he could answer. He pointed to his friend standing near the stairs that led to their seats. He was talking to a group of guys Aaron recognized from previous years, probably telling them how well his team would be doing this year. Olivia bounced over to Jeremiah and gave him a friendly hug. Aaron couldn’t hear what she was saying, but he could tell it was something bubbly and enthusiastic. He knew he should walk up to them, but he didn’t particularly want to.

Over her shoulder, Jeremiah looked at him and raised his eyebrows. It was a small gesture, but enough to let Aaron know what his friend was thinking. What was he going to do about her? Aaron shrugged in return. He just didn’t know. She wasn’t the kind of woman to get hurt feelings, but he didn’t want to have to explain anything about Jessica if he didn’t have to. It wouldn’t make any sense if he tried, anyway.

And there was no way Olivia would be coming back to his room that evening. After all, Jessica was going to be there. Well, was probably going to be there. He didn’t even have her phone number, so she could just not show up.

He felt a second of cold panic at the thought of her disappearing without a word, but it was gone in a flash. She was going to come back. He’d seen it in her eyes when he gave her the key card.

Even if she wasn’t, Olivia was really too fake for him. Her hair, her boobs, her laugh, even her personality were all fake. He wanted a real woman. One who wasn’t afraid to be seen without makeup, who said what she honestly thought, who actually thought things. He wasn’t sure why he’d spent so much time around Olivia in the past.

He watched as she hooked her arm through Jeremiah’s, allowing him to usher her toward their seats. Jeremy looked back at him and gestured with his head toward the stairs that led to the rows of seats. Apparently Aaron had hung back long enough.

He slowly walked toward them, following their progress without attempting to catch up. He didn’t want to be there. Back in his room, with Jessica resting her head on his lap, he’d felt relaxed and happy. Now he was dreading the next few hours of small talk and smiling as Olivia flung herself against him every time something happened in the arena.

He knew he couldn’t abandon Jeremiah there—he had some decency—but he’d have to come up with something to tell Olivia so she wouldn’t think she was going back to the hotel with him. By the time he got to his and Jeremiah’s seats, Olivia was already in a full-blown story about something exciting and amazing that had happened to her, and Aaron had to keep from rolling his eyes. She was also sitting in his seat, leaving him to sit in somebody else’s until they arrived or Olivia decided to leave. He hoped it was the latter, and soon.

He sat down. Olivia only noticed enough to flash him a smile and turn herself slightly so her story was directed at both of them, but she didn’t seem to notice his mood.