Her Sexy Vegas Cowboy(24)
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THE NEXT MORNING, Aaron relaxed on the bed and watched Jessica sleep. She was so beautiful sleeping, but he felt the urge to wake her up so he could see her green eyes looking into his, hear her talk about anything that came into her mind. He wanted to hear whatever she might say.
He hadn’t realized how much he missed conversations like theirs from the night before, but if he was honest with himself, he’d had precious few of them since leaving college. He’d been starving for them without knowing it. For the past six years, he kept every thought about literature and world events pretty much to himself. Jeremiah and his other friends back home were great, but they didn’t have any interest in those topics of discussion.
If he let himself think about it, he was dreading saying goodbye and going home. Now that he’d had so much, how could he be content with less? He didn’t want to ruin his last full day with those kinds of thoughts, though, so he refocused his attention on her, memorizing her face and the way her hair spilled across the pillow.
She moved, stretching her long figure, and opened her eyes. She looked over and smiled at him. He smiled back. “Good morning, Jessica.”
“Good morning. Last night was fun. Best movie I’ve seen in a long time.”
He laughed. They’d gotten so distracted that they never actually made it through even a small part of a movie. He didn’t think they’d even managed to turn one on. “Yeah, it was amazing.”
They got up and put back on the robes from the night before, and set about ordering breakfast. Once that was done, Jessica began to pry once again into Aaron’s plans for the day.
“I need to know what we’re doing so I can go back to the room and get dressed. I only have jeans and a T-shirt.”
“I helped you take off your jacket yesterday, remember? Definitely no shirt. I remember it vividly.”
“It’s in my purse. But if we’re going somewhere, I’ll need to get something to wear. So you have to tell me.”
He shook his head. “Nope. I’m not going to tell you. You’ll have to see for yourself. The things you have with you will be perfect.”
“Are we going downtown? Someplace on the Strip? Those are the only places I know of here, so I’m out of guesses.”
“It’s neither of those. You’re never going to be able to figure it out, so just relax. We’ll leave in a couple hours. Until then, let’s enjoy the morning.”
She looked as if she was considering guessing some more, but she either thought better of it or couldn’t think of anything, so instead she came over to the couch where he was sitting and curled herself onto his lap. “Fine, don’t tell me.”
He put his arms around her, pulling her warm body close to him, enjoying the weight of her on his legs and chest. “You’ll find out soon enough. It’s not some giant amazing surprise or anything. It’s just hard to explain.”
“Okay, just get me back by five or so. I’ve got to spend time with Cindy or she’ll kill me.”
“Deal.” He kissed her forehead and rested his head against hers.
He knew he was getting himself in way too deep with her, but he didn’t want to stop. As he sat there holding her, he decided that he was going to get everything he could out of that day, even if it meant a little misery later on. He’d just have to get over it. There was no point trying to keep his distance and missing out on this amazing moment in his life.
He was absolutely addicted to her. Her eyes, her hair, her smell, her body, her brain were all mind-blowingly fantastic, and he was never going to see her again? That made no sense.
When the food arrived and Jessica uncurled herself and padded to the door on bare feet, he watched her. He didn’t want to let her disappear out of his life completely. He needed to find a way to make it work, and before she got on her plane, he was going to have some assurance that he’d see her again.
With that positive thought, he hopped up and helped her, and soon they were eating at the table. After, they enjoyed another long shower together. He loved running his soapy hands along her smooth skin, down her back and along the sides of her stomach to her ticklish spot that made her wriggle away. Every inch was magnificent.
When they were finally rinsed and dried and dressed, he called the driver and arranged for them to be picked up at the front of the hotel. He grabbed his coat out of the closet and draped it over his arm. “It’s good you brought your jacket. It could get cold out there.”
He could see her mind using this clue to try to figure out exactly where they were going. “Dammit, I don’t know this area well enough. Are you going to take me out in the middle of the desert? Because that’s what serial killers and mobster hit men do.”
“You must have been such an obnoxious kid around Christmastime. Did you ever make it to the twenty-fifth without guessing every present?”
“Oh, I was the worst. It drove my parents crazy. We had to have all sorts of rules about not touching the presents, and they never answered any of my questions. My dad—”
She stopped talking and looked embarrassed for a moment. He almost asked what was wrong, but she looked as if she didn’t want to talk about it, and he decided not to push for details.
They left the room and made it down the elevator, through the casino and into the car before she said anything more, but she didn’t act as though she was upset or anything. Just quiet. He noted that she chose to sit in the middle seat, despite the large empty area available to her, and his stomach warmed. She wanted to sit closer to him. As he sat beside her and buckled his seat belt, she turned back to the topic of the surprise. “So, not the middle of the desert, right?”
“No, we’re not going to the middle of a barren wasteland where people bury dead bodies. Satisfied?”
“Well, at least then I would’ve known where we’re going. Okay, I’ll wait. How long until we get there? How are you going to let the driver know where to take us if it’s such a secret?”
“He already knows, and about forty minutes. No more questions, okay?”
She nodded and sat back, seemingly content. “Right. No more questions. I’m going to sit back and relax. I’ll just text Cindy to let her know that I’ll be at dinner.”
It took him about fifteen seconds to realize she wasn’t texting and leaned over to see a map of Las Vegas on her phone. “Oh my God. Seriously, you have a problem.”
He snagged the phone out of her hand and held it away from her, amused at her complete refusal to be surprised. When she tried to grab it back, he tucked it underneath himself and caught her up in his arms, pressing his mouth against hers to distract her.
She stopped struggling for the phone and allowed him to hold her close, and the kiss soon became hungry and urgent. By the time they split apart, both were panting and he wished they were back in his room. They leaned away from each other without breaking eye contact, taking in deep breaths to regain composure.
Once he had calmed himself enough, he pulled the phone out from under him and said, “We’ve built this surprise thing up way too much, and you’re going to be disappointed now. I’m just taking you to a place that’s near Vegas and happens to be kind of cool. You can keep searching if you want.”
He passed the small device over to her, and she glanced at it for a moment before throwing it back in her purse. “If you’re not going to try to stop me, what’s the fun in that? Let me know when we get there.”
With that, she closed her eyes and leaned against him. He wrapped his arm around her, and she settled deeper into the nook, her head against his shoulder. He could tell when she fell asleep, her breathing slow and deep, and he felt contentedness seeping through him.
Neither of them had gotten much sleep the past couple of nights, but instead of allowing himself to nod off as well, he spent the rest of the trip enjoying the feeling of her body against his, his mind quiet except for the question of how to get her to agree to see him again, which simmered lightly in the back of his brain.
One of the first steps, he realized, was to let Olivia know he wasn’t interested anymore. If he was going to be worthy of Jessica, he couldn’t leave that tie unsevered. He pulled his phone out of his pocket with his one free hand, careful not to move much, letting her sleep. He turned it on with a swipe, considering his options.
He couldn’t just say it over a text, though. That was cowardly, and besides, she probably wouldn’t get the hint, if the last time he talked to her was any indication. He’d have to talk to her in person. Finally he settled on meeting her when Jessica was with her friends. That way, he wouldn’t have to waste any of his last few hours with Jessica on anything but being with her.
He composed the text carefully, trying to be polite but distant. It took some time to decide exactly what to say and then type it one-handed, but he finally sent, Hey, Olivia, if you have time this evening, I’d like to meet up and talk for a few minutes. Are you free at all between seven and nine tonight? You don’t have to worry about coming over. I’ll drive wherever.
He was sure he could have come up with something better, but under the circumstances he hoped it would be enough to give her a small clue so their conversation wouldn’t be a total shock. He put his phone back in his pocket and looked out the window.