KING: Las Vegas Bad Boys(67)

“Ohmigod,” Tess moans. “My feet are killing me. I need a man to carry me home. That would be the best.”

“I know, right?” Emmy laughs. “I would love to have a red carpet under my feet right now, and just have someone waiting to pamper me.”

“And by someone, you mean a man, right?” Tess asks.

“No way, I have my man,” Emmy says, cracking up.

“Damn straight, you do,” Ace says, grabbing her ass, making her squeal.

“True, we may have men,” I say, looking at Landon and smiling. “But I hear you, Tess. Especially home in Vegas, it is all about catering to men. What about the women?”

“I know,” Tess moans. “I’d love to just show up at a club and be, like, given the royal treatment.”

“Makes sense,” Fiona says. “Every club in London is set up to serve the men, too. I want to go somewhere and feel like a queen. Feel completely gorgeous.”

“Right?” Tess says. “Have it be about the ladies, and what they want, instead of us in our fishnets and bustiers, just being eye candy for the men. What about a club that was full of eye candy for the women, with cock waiters? Get it? Instead of cocktail waitresses?”

Emmy laughs. “Tess is officially drunk, folks.”

And then the joking passes, and it’s as if we’ve all looked around at the same moment, with our arms slung around one another’s shoulders, smiles written across our faces and our hearts, the bright moon heavy in the dark sky, the grass and the trees and the air so fresh, so alive. It’s like we all notice that, and feel more alive for seeing it. More grateful. More aware.

Aware of how freaking precious this is. To have found love. To have found one another. And I squeeze Emmy and Tess tighter, just full of freaking gratitude.

And then I look over my shoulder, and see Landon and Ace—Geoffrey’s there too—laughing about something and they’re just beaming, so drunk and happy. And all at once my feelings bubble to the surface.

Not in an obnoxious way ... in an I’m finally seen my life for what it is way.

I’ve been fighting against letting anyone in for years, because I was scared of getting hurt—but the moment I said yes to love and Landon and Emmy and Tess, the moment I let down my guard, I can finally see my life for what it is.

Pretty freaking great.

“Thanks for coming,” I tell Emmy and Tess.

“Of course,” Tess says. “We should come back to England in the summer. I bet it’s so pretty then.”

“Oh, it is,” Fiona says. And for some bizarre reason I don’t even care that she’s here, chiming in. In fact, nothing could sour my mood. “We usually go to the summer house in August; it’s on the coast and just lovely.”

“I bet Sophia would like that,” Emmy says.

“She would. She’s never been to the beach.”

“I can’t wait to meet her,” Tess says. “I’m gonna be the best Auntie.”

“Well, you have some competition,” Emmy says, laughing.

“Yeah, she does,” Fiona adds. And then Fiona looks at me, and I feel something pass between us ... something like understanding. Something that only passes between family.

And that’s when I lose it. Not in a dramatic way. In a silent tears down my face way. In a how did I get this lucky? sort of way.

In an I don’t want to fuck this up with my past sort of way.

“Hey, love,” Landon says, pulling me from the pack. “I want to walk you back.”

I let him pull me into his arms, my arms wrapping around his back as we stop, letting the rest off the group walk ahead.

I let myself be here, in this moment, and I know there’s nowhere I’d rather be.

He kisses me under the moon. He kisses me as I fall into him. He kisses me, and I’m a goner.

He kisses me, and I’m his.





Landon


The next morning I get moving at the crack of dawn.

Earlier, even. It’s four-thirty in the morning and I’ve been up all night planning my next move. On the walk home from the pub last night, the girls gave me the idea—though they would never remember their words. They were all so drunk.

But I remember, and I know how to capitalize on it.

I need a job, and I already have the property—now I just need to speak with my investors.

Ace first, but then Jack and McQueen, too.

I pull back the drapes around the bed where Claire is sleeping, wanting to see her one last time before I go. She lays there undressed, sheets wrapped around her, smiling in her sleep from the drunk-sex we had last night after we stumbled up the stairs to our room.

How the fuck did I get so damn lucky?

I dress quickly and then pack a small bag.