Vegas Virgin (Nevada Bad Boys 1)

“We call him Mr. Mistake, those of us that let him in. We fell for his charm, fell for his good looks, and of course the fact he’s filthy rich doesn’t hurt. You can follow him and join our club tomorrow morning—he won’t be there when you wake up. Or, you can go back inside with your friends where you’re safe.” Veronica pointed towards the door.

“Abby...” I let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry, I should go.” Abby looked down at the ground as she ran back towards the door.

“This place really needs more bouncers.” I sighed angrily. “Are you still that pissed off at me? It’s been what, two years?”

“That’s the problem, Mr. Mistake—you’re unforgettable. Now that she’s gone, why don’t you take me home and I can make that mistake again.” Veronica walked closer and took my hand as the crowd finally stopped staring.

“We’ve had this talk before. It’s not happening.” I turned and motioned towards

my driver who was waiting on the other side of the street.

He did a u-turn out of his parking space and pulled up to the curb. I climbed into the passenger door and slammed it shut, watching Veronica stomp her high heel before she walked back towards the line.

Veronica was a bit of an anomaly. I thought she was a sweet, innocent young woman when I first met her, but she turned out to be a freak. It was a fun night but it was never going to be forever. Veronica seemed to have other ideas and she stalked me for a bit, posting shit about me on social media. She coined the term, Mr. Mistake, and even used it as a hashtag for some of her friends. Occasionally, I would run into her and she would try to get me to take her home. It was the first time she had ruined a date for me, and I was angry I had to go home alone because of her interference.

Chapter 4: Abby

Mr. Mistake.

No. There was no way I would have went home with him. That wasn’t even feasible. We would have gone to the coffee shop, had a cup of coffee, and then I would have been in bed regretting my decision to end my evening with a steaming cup of caffeine. There was electricity when he touched me, fire when his lips got close to my ear, and I was lost in those dark brown eyes. He seemed like such a nice guy when we talked. The night was perfect, the moon was hanging in the sky like it was there to perfectly illuminate the moment, and then what I thought was beginning of my life’s romance novel ended with those fateful words.

Mr. Mistake.

I stretched out on the couch and stared at the ceiling. Sebastian curled up next to me and tried to share my grief with his gentle purring. It wasn’t the first time I had come close to tumbling head over heels in a matter of minutes. When I was in high school, a hot guy said I was the one, led me on, and seconds before his lips descended to mine he started laughing. He wasn’t the only one. Everyone joined him in the ridicule. It was a prank. I was the butt of the joke, stupid enough to believe someone like Chad Dawson wanted me. I spent months hearing those cackles behind my back from those that retold the story over and over until someone else became a better victim.

“It looks like we’re going to grow old together, Sebastian.” I rubbed his head. “That isn’t a bad thing, right?”

After a few hours of wallowing in self-pity, I started to think of work. I was supposed to prepare for the meeting. I didn’t know a whole lot about the company we were meeting with. I picked up the portfolio and started flipping through it. When I got into advertising and marketing, I thought life would be filled with creativity, but before the creativity ever got started, we had to convince them we deserved to pitch them ideas. The company sold energy drinks and catered to a higher-class crowd, mixing various vitamins into their overdose of caffeine. As I dug through their catalog, I noticed that they were losing ground to the more popular brands with their target audience, but gaining ground with the college crowd. I felt like I could use that to my advantage at the meeting, so I closed the portfolio and rubbed Sebastian’s head.

I WALKED INTO THE OFFICE on Monday morning with a coffee in my hand and a fresh idea in my head. I was ready to dazzle everyone in the room with my new business strategy. I stood by my desk and sipped my coffee while the cliques formed around me. I hadn’t yet found my place in the company. They used me as a Jill-of-all-trades. That was going to change when I completely revolutionized our client’s business model, won the account, and secured the admiration of everyone in the office. I tried to forget Mr. Mistake and the moment we shared, but every time the room got silent, the what-if scenarios ran through my head. I sipped my coffee and tried to shake off the thoughts.

“Hey, Abby.” I heard a nervous giggle and turned to see one of our tech guys behind me.

“How’s it going, Paul?” I turned to him with a smile.

“Is the software update working well for you?” He pushed his thin-framed glasses up his nose and smiled.

“Yeah...” I nodded with a raised eyebrow. “It’s working great; is there something I should be concerned about?”

“No, I just wanted to check in with you.” He stared at the floor. “So, I had a question...”

Before Paul could ask his question—I already knew what it was—the boss walked in and motioned for everyone to join him in the conference room. I quickly said my goodbye to Paul, saving him the embarrassment of being declined for a date. I was impressed he had found the courage to finally ask me since I had known for a while that he was interested, but he just wasn’t my type. He was thin, nerdy, and awkward—his genetics were not his fault, but I couldn’t help it if I didn’t have any attraction to him at all. I was glad the meeting had started before I had to break his heart. I hoped it would take him a few more months to work up the courage again—it would be better for us both if he never did.

“Okay, I’d like to welcome the representatives from Energy Enhanced.” My boss, Mr. Hawthorne, turned to them. “Gentlemen, I hope you’ll like what you hear.”

“Before we begin.” One of the men from Energy Enhanced held up his phone. “We have an investor that wanted to join us for the meeting. He’s in the elevator, if you don’t mind waiting...”

“No, not at all.” Mr. Hawthorne nodded.

The doors opened and in walked Max—Mr. Mistake. He was the freaking investor. He walked in like he owned the damn room, oozing charisma when he scanned the audience. I could see Mr. Hawthorne swallow a lump in his throat and several of the people from Energy Enhanced started muttering to each other. It seemed I was the only one in the room that didn’t really know him, yet I knew things about him I was sure none of the people around the table had a clue about. I felt my throat drying out and my tongue going numb as I stared at him. He pulled up a chair and took a seat. When his eyes met mine, I had to immediately look down at the floor.

Chaos.

“My time is limited. Pitch it to me.” He folded his hands on the table.

“Mr. Martin owns eighty-five percent of the company.” The representative from Energy Enhanced presented Max like he was the living embodiment of Jesus Christ sitting in our conference room.