Prologue
Kasey ~ 3 months ago
The bright lights and rowdy crowds of Vegas are giving me a headache, which makes me feel damn old. Andie, who sits opposite me at our table in the hotels glitzy bar, doesn’t seem to be put off by anything. I do sense a sadness within her, and it’s annoying that I’m not having any luck in getting her to open up. She’s become like a sister to me and I really do want to help her, except she changes the subject every time I ask her what’s wrong.
Shaking my head, my eyes flicker from table to table, watching but not really noticing, until my eyes lock with those of a distressed woman. She looks sad and her innocent face makes her look slightly out of place in the busy Las Vegas bar. Her long dark hair is loose down her back and falls in silky waves when she shakes her head. There’s another woman standing next to her, and she appears to be angry, turning away and stomping over to a group of scantily clad women. I watch as she aggressively motions toward my girl…
Whoa, where the fuck did ‘my’ come from?
The women shoot her a glare before turning their backs to her and strutting away.
My eyes dart back to the girl who now looks like a lost child, too scared to approach anyone but too lost to know where to go. Her slim fingers clench tightly around the bottle of beer in her dainty hands. I’m not even sure she’s old enough to be drinking, but when she looks up, her big brown eyes meet my gaze, totally captivating me.
The spell is broken when a guy, who I don’t think she knows, suddenly drops into the seat opposite her. She shakes her head in response to whatever the tool is saying. Her startled gaze darts from him to me and back to him before she shakes her head no again. The man keeps trying to pass a drink to her, but she firmly refuses. She casts her eyes downward, but not before I catch the helpless look in them.
“Andie, are you okay if I split?” I ask her without moving my eyes away from the young woman.
“She looks young,” Andie comments without missing a beat, her tone of voice implying something that she should know better than to think I’d ever consider.
“I know, but I think she needs help. That guy won’t leave her alone.” I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to figure out where this need to protect her has come from so suddenly.
“Go then, I’m going to head up to my room now anyway.” Andie swiftly stands, and after a quick hug, she totters away.
Draining my bottle of beer, I slowly move toward her table and notice the look of confusion and then relief wash over her face when she sees me approaching. Her reaction causes heat to rush through me, to places that haven’t been all that awake for a long time.
The annoying asshole follows her line of sight, his eyes shooting daggers in my direction. Well tough shit.
Holding my hand out, I wink. “Hey, you ready, babe?”
She briefly pauses, then slides her delicate fingers into my palm as I pull her lithely to her feet—she has the softest hands. I don’t have time to prepare for how she affects me as she stands in front of me with her free hand flat against my chest. My breath catches in the back of my throat and all blood drains south at the pure innocence of the beautiful woman standing before me. Trusting me.
“I wondered were you’d gotten to,” she whispers, playing along.
“I’m sorry. I’m here now.” Unable to stop the momentum, my lips press against her forehead and I can’t pull away. Instead my free hand reaches up and cups the back of her head to keep her close. “Let’s get out of here,” I suggest, glaring at the asshole over the top of her head.
She nods her head softly as my grip around her hand tightens.
“Hey, who the hell are you?” the man who had made himself at home with her asks.
“Her boyfriend. You have a problem with that?”
“Um, no. No. Her friends said she wanted to have a good time with me.” He frowns, looking in the direction that her friends had disappeared.
Those bitches will get a piece of my mind if I ever see them again.
“She’s mine.” With those words, I release her fingers and instead, wrap one arm around her shoulders and softly grip her waist with the other, needing to keep her close.
The only place I can think of taking her is to my room, because I want to be alone with her. Sex hasn’t crossed my mind, although my body would say otherwise, I just want to talk to her, watch her, be there for her.
With that in mind, I move her toward the coffee shop and turn her to face me, my arm still around her waist and hers around mine as we stand as close as lovers. “I just want to spend time with you, okay. I know you don’t know me, but I promise you that I’m a good guy. I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do, but I really just want to continue holding you like this while we talk. That’s all, okay? I would like to take you up to my room so that we have some privacy, but it’s up to you.” I stare at her with hope shining in my eyes.
Her eyes search mine and I let her see the emotion swirling in my blue depths. At her nod of acceptance, my heart feels like it’s about to burst free from my chest. “I need to hear you say it out loud.”
Her small pause as she moistens her lips kills me. “Yes. I want to spend time with you.”
And just like that my legs weaken, and when s
he drops her forehead to my chest, I feel her deep breaths against me, and my dick tries to punch through my jeans.
Groaning, I quickly get us moving closer to the elevators for our quick ride up to my room. Once inside, I’m thankful that the maid didn’t skip my room because it’s tidy and all my shit isn’t laying where I’d carelessly tossed it earlier.