Vegas Virgin (Nevada Bad Boys 1)

“You’re an asshole.” She exhaled sharply. “My whole life was on that camera. I don’t give a crap about my tablet, but I really want my camera back.”

“Maybe you should have made a backup.” I shrugged again.

“This was supposed to be my dream vacation.” Her face relaxed a bit and her anger turned to sadness. “I have been planning this since I was a little girl. You ruined it for me!”

“I’ll tell you what...” My eyes scanned her beautiful body, which looked a lot better in person than it did in pictures. “Maybe we could work something out. The pawn shop probably hasn’t sold your camera yet—I could give you the name of the place.”

“Please!” She nodded quickly.

“Of course, nothing in Vegas is free, sweetheart. I’d need a little compensation.” I put my hand to my chin and nodded.

“I’ve got some money.” Her hand went to her purse.

“Yeah, that would be a good place to start.” I held out my hand and she put a twenty in it. I shook my head and motioned for more.

“I’m paying for the stuff you stole—greedy asshole.” She put another twenty on top of the first one.

“Life ain’t fair.” I walked over and picked up my cell phone. “Before I give you anything, I’m going to need a bit of insurance here—something to guarantee you won’t call the cops.”

“If I can get my camera back, I won’t call the cops.” She shook her head back and forth. “I promise.”

“Promises aren’t good for shit.” I turned back towards her. “I think a few pictures of that sexy body should do the trick though. I doubt you want to be all over the Internet with your tits hanging out.”

“What the hell?” Her whole head snapped back in surprise.

“Just take off that shirt, let me get a few good pictures.”

I ran my tongue across my lips.

“Forget this.” She shook her head and turned to the door.

She left my apartment and slammed the door hard. I blinked in surprise as I heard her footsteps slamming into each step as she walked down the stairs. A surge of guilt made my stomach turn.

I never wanted to be involved in Floyd’s stupid luggage scheme to begin with. I had accomplished my goal of getting her out of my apartment, but I didn’t get to send her away with a lead and insurance she wouldn’t call the cops. With her stuff in my closet, all it would take was a search warrant to put me back behind bars. I quickly walked into my bedroom and leaned against the window. I saw her walk outside the apartment and my breath got trapped in my throat when she pulled out her cell phone. She stared at it for a moment and then I saw tears start running down her face. She sat down on the front steps of the apartment complex and put her head against her arm. I couldn’t hear her, but I could tell from the way her body shook that she was crying. The guilt started to come up in my throat and I shook my head.

Fucking hell. I can’t let this shit rest on my conscience.

I walked to the closet and grabbed her camera from the top of the luggage bag. I slung it around my neck and pulled her bag out of the closet. Floyd would be pissed at me for giving it back to her when we could make some money off of the camera, but I couldn’t risk her calling the cops once she got over her grief. I also couldn’t handle being the asshole that ruined her vacation. There were times when I was heartless, but she didn’t deserve what we did to her. It was nothing more than a few bones for us, but it was her dream vacation that we were destroying with our greed. There was a time when my eyes were as bright as her ocean-blue orbs and I didn’t want to be the one that extinguished that glimmer.

I wheeled the luggage bag across my apartment and walked it down the stairs. I was risking everything by revealing that I had her stuff, but I hoped having it back would be enough to keep her fingers away from her cell phone. Once I got close to the exit I could hear the sound of her crying. I left the luggage inside the door, but walked outside with her camera. She didn’t even look up at me.

“Here.” I sat down on the steps next to her and pulled the camera off my neck.

“You had it all along.” She lifted her head and took it from me, immediately turning it on. “They’re still here.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I’m sorry. I have your luggage inside and you can have that back too. I don’t have your tablet or any of the other valuable stuff, but at least I can give you this back.”

“Maybe you aren’t such an asshole after all.” She pulled the camera close to her chest.

“No, I’m definitely an asshole.” I sighed and shook my head back and forth. “This whole thing was stupid anyway. What kind of person steals luggage?”

“An asshole?” A smile actually crossed her face.

“Yeah...” I nodded with a sigh of remorse. “Let me get your bag.”

“I won’t call the cops.” She looked up at me. “I probably should, but I’m just grateful to have my stuff back.”

“Hopefully I didn’t ruin your vacation too bad.” I opened the door and rolled her bag outside.