Vegas, Baby - Volume 2

“Aww, c’mon,” Ariel cried. “You can’t blame us for wanting to eavesdrop on you guys.”

“Maybe not,” I agreed. “But I can make it harder for you to get away with it.”

“Okay. Okay.” Belle held her hands up in a gesture of surrender. “We’re really going this time.”

I watched them walk down the hall and around the corner. I waited another minute to make sure they didn’t just turn around and come back, and then I shut the door again. Turning toward Will, I said, “I’m not sure how you did it, but you somehow got my sisters on your side. Which means I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t have dinner with you.”

“I’ll take a yes from you any way I can get it.” He flashed me a panty-melting grin and ran his hand through his blond hair. The action brought my attention to his arms, and I finally noticed the bunched-up sleeves of his dress shirt and the black ink they’d been hiding. Between those and the muscle tone he was rocking, I was getting a bad boy vibe under the good guy exterior. If he kept getting exponentially hotter every time I saw him, I was going to be screwed—most likely, literally and figuratively.

Going over to my desk, I pulled open the bottom drawer and grabbed my purse. A quick glance at the desktop confirmed that everything was in order so I could dive straight into my to-do list tomorrow morning. After powering down my computer, I turned to Will and said, “Let’s go.”

Will took my hand to lead me outside and down the street to the small restaurant inside the hotel and casino that Becket Parker, who I knew from when he worked as a dealer for shits and giggles at the Lennox, owned with his brother. The hostess balked at the idea of seating us since they were usually booked months in advance until I said, “You should have my name down on the list for the owner’s table. Lia added me to it a while back in case I ever wanted to come over for dinner. Look for Aurora Dawson.”

“And Will Scott should be on there, too.” He flashed the girl a grin that made her blush before she ducked her head and tapped on the screen of the tablet she used to check reservations. Then he turned to me and explained, “Becket told me that I’d earned a spot on the list since I lasted the longest in a round of poker against his wife about two weeks ago.”

Holding your own with Lia was quite an accomplishment since she was one of the best professional poker players in the country. The hostess must’ve agreed that his hotness factor was off the charts because she was looking at him with goo-goo eyes when she said, “Your name is on the list, Mr. Scott. Sorry about the mix-up. Please follow me to your table.”

“How much do you want to bet she didn’t even bother to look for my name?” I mumbled as Will placed his palm against my lower back to guide me through the restaurant.

Will chuckled, not bothering to answer since he knew I was right. The hostess left us after a long, lingering glance at Will, and I asked, “How do you know Becket?”

“Drew Lennox and I went to college together, and he introduced me to Becket shortly after I moved to Vegas.”

“Huh.” I smiled at the waiter as he set a couple of glasses of ice water on the table. Will and I gave him our drink orders, and I finished the thought after he walked away. “I’m surprised we haven’t met since you’re friends with Drew and Becket. Our circle is kind of close-knit.”

“I just moved here about a month ago.” His dark green eyes twinkled with humor as he added, “I’m sure we would’ve met through them eventually...if you hadn’t already come storming into my office this morning.”

At the verbal reminder of what he did for a living, I leaned back and crossed my arms. “Yeah, you mentioned something about wanting to explain some things to me. Now’s your chance.”

“You want me to dive right into it, huh? No wasting time on any more small talk.”

I nodded. “Yup.”

Will waited until after the waiter dropped off our drinks and took our food order to say, “I used to work in mediation and specifically divorces involving children. I loved being able to help kids when they needed it, but some of the cases I had were rough.”

“Oh, wow,” I murmured. “Yeah, I can see how that would be a lot.”

His eyes were haunted as he continued, “After a while, the bad started to outweigh the good. A few months ago, I took a case”—he ran his hand through his hair again before scrubbing it down his face—“that was flat-out awful. From beginning to end. I felt like I failed that child as much as the system did, and I just couldn’t do it anymore. So I walked away from my firm without knowing where I was headed or what I was going to do next.”