Vegas Virgin (Nevada Bad Boys 1)

“Hmm.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I feel like you tricked me—I thought I was going to see bodies.”

“How about a casino?” He looked over at me.

“Can you really afford to gamble? You were stealing luggage for money.” I leaned against the window, but kept my eyes on him.

“I got forty dollars in my pocket—I’m a high roller.” He winked at me.

“I should have made you pay for lunch then, Mr. High Roller.” I scoffed at him but immediately smiled. “A casino does sound fun though.”

Fiona finally

replied once we got back to the strip, but all she sent was the word good in lower case letters. It seemed like a cold and callous response to my excited message about getting my stuff back. She didn’t even ask how I managed to get it.

Vincent parked his truck and we locked my luggage in the cab, but I still kept my camera with me. I snapped a few candid pictures of Vincent as we walked and then took some of the casino. It was bustling with activity and the noise was a roar. Vincent cashed in his forty dollars for some chips and I matched it with forty dollars of my own. I had never gambled before, so I didn’t expect to win anything.

Vincent quickly explained the rules to Blackjack as we approached a table. It sounded easy enough—nothing more than a math game. I took my seat beside him and a waitress immediately walked over to serve us drinks. I asked for a glass of red wine and Vincent got a beer. The stakes at the table were low, so it seemed like we could probably have fun while we lost all our money.

“Hit me.” Vincent tapped the felt table.

“Hit me too.” I smiled and nodded, imitating his tapping motion against the table.

“That’s a mistake.” Vincent shook his head. “You’re already at sixteen.”

“Shit.” I muttered under my breath when a Queen landed on my pile.

It was clear after a few hands that I had no idea what I was doing and Vincent had a very clear understanding of the strategy behind the game. He had explained it well, and the math made sense, but my faith in the cards seemed to be misplaced. Every time I believed I could somehow win, I either busted or ended up too low to actually win anything. When I thought it was a losing hand, people around me busted and I came out on top. I lost twenty dollars as he made money and before long he was up over a hundred dollars. He lost a few hands after that and I managed to get a few chips, but I was right back to losing money after that. The cycle seemed to continue until I didn’t have any chips left and he had a mediocre pile. I considered buying more chips, but Vincent handed me a few after we left the table.

“Here’s the forty I owe ya.” He grinned and closed my hand on the chips.

“Shouldn’t they all be mine? It was my money you were betting with.” I nudged him in the ribs.

“You’re lucky I’m even paying you back.” He looked at me and growled.

“Fine... Where can I lose this?” I looked around the casino.

We played a few more games and every one of them seemed to do nothing but steal my chips while Vincent somehow came out ahead. Gambling was definitely a losing endeavor. I checked my phone again after a couple of hours had passed, but didn’t have any new messages from Fiona. I wondered if she was going to stay mad at me the whole vacation. We were close enough to the hotel for me to walk back and try to fix things, but I was enjoying my time with Vincent. I had envisioned losing money with a smile on my face while Fiona did the same right next to me, but Vincent was a suitable replacement if she wasn’t going to respond.

I ran out of money again and we walked over to the window so Vincent could cash out his chips. I was already trying to figure out how much money I could afford to lose the next time I visited the casino when we walked outside.

“It’s getting dark.” I looked up at the sky.

“Let me show you one of my favorite places in Vegas.” Vincent reached for my hand as we walked towards his truck.

There was something about his touch that ignited a feeling I had never felt before. I liked it. I liked being around him and just feeding off of his energy. He was so different than anyone I knew back at home. His carefree attitude and general demeanor was exciting. He helped me into the truck again and his hand lingered on mine even longer than it had before. I watched as he walked around the truck and climbed into the passenger seat. I found it hard to take my eyes off him. He drove as the sun continued to go down, passing several landmarks we had already seen, but he still narrated them just as enthusiastically as he did the first time. The difference was that I was looking at him instead of the scenery outside the window. He finally pulled the truck to a stop on a hill and turned off the lights. I was instantly amazed as I saw a full view of the city spread out beneath the rocky landscape.

“Oh wow...” I opened my door, but before I could get out of the truck, he came around and helped me down.

“I used to come up here a lot when I was younger.” He held my hand and we walked to the edge of the hill. “There are plenty of places where you can see the city at night, but this one has the best view I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s beautiful.” I lifted my camera with my free hand and started snapping pictures.

“Not as beautiful as you are.” He turned me towards him and I let the camera hang down from my arm as he stared into my eyes.

“I bet you say that to all the girls you bring up here.” I tilted my head and smiled.

“Only if I plan to kiss them.” He put a hand around my waist and pulled me close.

His lips met mine and I felt fireworks going off in my head. It was my first real kiss and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. His hand moved up my back and held my neck as I felt his tongue start to slide into my mouth. My lips were crushed underneath his and he ravaged my mouth with the intensity of his passion. My heart raced so fast in my chest that I thought it would beat clean through and we were close enough that I could feel his matching mine. I did my best to match the fury of his kiss as I felt real desire for the first time in my life.