Her Sexy Vegas Cowboy(25)

The city was behind them, and the car swept along a nearly empty highway surrounded by desert and dark, barren mountains. He didn’t know why he thought it was so beautiful. Most people would see it as some scrub brush and a few sad mountains devoid of trees, but the power of the desert and the number of plants that managed to still live in it had always impressed him. Except for the small pockets of a few run-down houses, nature was still in control.

When they were close to their destination, he shifted himself slightly, using his free hand to brush the hair out of Jessica’s face. He half whispered, “Jessica, we’re almost there.”

Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up with a yawn and looked at the desert spread out around them. “I never thought the desert would be beautiful. Now that I see it up close, there’s something about it that makes my soul jump. Did that make any sense at all?”

She looked at him for confirmation. “I love it,” he answered. “I can’t explain why, either. Every time I come to Vegas, I get out of the city for at least a few hours. There’s a big mountain out here that’s got some cool hiking trails, but I wasn’t sure you’d like that and it’s pretty cold. I think they’ve already opened the ski lifts.”

“There are ski lifts in Las Vegas?” she responded, surprised.

He nodded. “Yeah, but I wasn’t sure that would be fun for you, so we’re in the Valley of Fire. It’s named that because of all the red stone around here.”

He gestured out his window, drawing her attention toward the rock formations. He continued. “We can go out for a little bit and walk around. There’s one rock formation that looks like an elephant and stuff like that. As soon as you want to leave, though, we can head back.”

Before he’d finished, she was wiggling herself into her jacket and unbuckling her seat belt. “Let’s go! I haven’t climbed around on rocks since I was a kid. Not many opportunities in New York.”

He inhaled deeply as they left the car. The air was cool and fresh, and the desert stretched around them, vast and unforgiving. Vegas was a faint squiggle in the distance. Aaron loved getting away from the city and onto the land, and it seemed Jessica felt the same way despite living in one of the biggest cities in the world.

She turned full circle to take it all in, sun glinting in her hair and turning it a thousand shades of red and gold. Once she made her circuit and was facing him again, she grinned, her sparkling green eyes grabbing at him, pulling him in. “This is perfect.”

His heart hit so hard against his ribs he wanted to rub the spot. “Perfect,” he agreed.

But he wasn’t thinking about their surroundings.

They stared at each other for a long second, and the couple of feet of air between them felt absurd. Aaron wanted to pull her in to him, wrap his fingers in her hair, but they were so far from the hotel and their driver was sitting in the car less than twenty feet away. And he wanted her to experience this place.

Reluctantly he shifted and pointed up a small thin trail. She turned to face the direction he pointed, and the moment was gone. He would hold her close later, he promised himself. There would be other moments.

Not as many as he wanted, though. It hurt just thinking about getting on a plane and flying away from her.

He shoved the thought to the back of his mind and tried to focus on the here and now. “Up that way about a mile is the elephant. You want to see it?”

She started toward the trail in response, and he fell in step beside her. They walked quietly for a short time, and his mind wandered back to the airplane. Truth was, he wanted to see her again. Maybe even needed to see her again. This couldn’t be it. But if she said no again?

He opened his mouth to bring up the subject, but before he could say anything, she pointed to a large boulder ahead and asked, “See that rock?”

Nothing seemed particularly special about it. Just a big red rock. “Yeah.”

With that, she took off running, shouting, “Race you!” as she went.

He was so surprised it took him a second to realize what was happening. By the time he started running, she had a huge lead, and even though he ran as fast as he could, faster than he’d run since he was a kid, she still managed to beat him by a couple of yards.

She leaned against the rock, her arms crossed, her grin triumphant. He tried to look disapproving, but it was impossible not to smile. “You cheated. That absolutely doesn’t count.”

She only held her chin higher. “Sorry, what did you say? It’s hard to hear you over all the winning.”

He had to laugh. “Fine. Congratulations on winning by cheating. Cheater.”

She smiled, apparently satisfied with his remark. God, he liked her. When was the last time he’d just had fun like this? Even counting time with Jeremiah, it had been years.

He pointed to another rock. “How about we do that again, but fair this time? I’ll race you to that one on the count of three.”

She shrugged and started sauntering down the path. “No, I don’t feel like it right now.”

He walked at her side, eyeing her. As he suspected, she bolted after a few steps. He was prepared this time and caught up almost instantly, beating her to the finish line with time to spare. He leaned against the rock, mimicking her pose from before. As she stopped beside him, he shook his head. “Even with you cheating, again, I won. What do you have to say about that, Miss ‘Let’s race’?”

Her expression was almost neutral, but the tilt to the corner of her lips and the brightness of her eyes made it clear she was holding back laughter. “Well, of course you beat me! You’re a guy. And you run. I’m a proper lazy American.”

Something about what she said struck him as odd. “Wait, I run? How do you know I run?”

She blushed a little, and it reminded him of the way her skin flushed as he touched her. He felt his own temperature rise.

She waved her hand in the vague direction of Las Vegas. “On Friday, I was standing outside the Venetian and you ran by.”

She was trying to say it as though it were a minor, throwaway event, but her flush told him it was more. He smiled and nodded. “Liked what you saw, huh?”

She rolled her eyes, but the red in her cheeks darkened. He couldn’t hold himself back any longer. In one lithe movement, he reached over and grabbed her hand, pulling her in toward him.

She fell into his arms and his lips planted onto hers. She seemed surprised for only a moment before pressing in against him, pushing him into the rock behind him. One of his hands wound into her hair, and the other curled around her waist, sliding down over her bottom.

Aaron was grateful for the privacy of the rocks that surrounded them. Then Jessica’s tongue slid across his teeth and all thinking stopped as desire mushroomed through him. In a manner of seconds she was pressed against the rock and he was on top of her, his fingers under blouse, teasing at her nipple through the fabric of her bra. He could feel the hard nub of it, and her breath became ragged against his mouth. One hand reached toward the buttons of her jeans.

And then she started chuckling. His fingers stopped the exploration and he leaned back a little. Her eyes were closed, her skin flushed, and she let her head fall against the rock. His mind finally caught up, realizing where they were and what they were doing.

She sighed, smiling at him, her eyes still closed. “This is the greatest weekend ever.”

He laughed and leaned next to her. “Yeah, it is. Should we go see the elephant thing?”

She nodded, but her look of disappointment sent a little wave of happiness through him. Her passionate side blew his mind. Brushing his lips against her shoulder, he said, “We can continue this back at the hotel after.”

She seemed pleased at the idea. As she began to move away from the rock, setting herself to rights and walking toward the trail, he grabbed her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. “Now you can’t cheat at any more races,” he explained.

It was probably obvious to her that he just wanted to keep touching her, but he didn’t care.

The next couple of hours flew by as they explored the area. Aaron loved how willing Jessica was to climb over anything, try any challenge. He couldn’t believe she was so excited to be there, and every passing minute he liked her more and more, which he’d been sure was impossible just a few hours ago. There were a few more kisses against the rocks, but he was able to keep himself in control. Mostly.

By the time they clambered back into the waiting car, her cheeks and nose were red from the cool air, her hair was a mess, her clothes were dusty and she was wearing a huge, cheerful grin. He loved how her eyes glittered when she was happy, and she was happy because of him. All she said, though, was a quiet “Good surprise” as she rested herself against him.

He leaned his cheek against her forehead. Maybe she’s just enjoying a fun weekend, he thought, but maybe this is more for her, too.

He knew that he’d have to talk to her about it before the next morning. But not yet. If he had misread things, he didn’t want to ruin this moment.

So instead he just enjoyed the drive.





10

SHE LEANED AGAINST HIM, happy and exhausted, but inside she felt a hint of fear. This was going too far, and she felt powerless to stop herself. She’d almost told him about her father, which was just insane. Why would she share the most difficult part of her life with a near stranger?