Page 2 of Dirty Fortune

"It's rare that I get a message so clear. It's a gift, so I won't charge you for the reading. Just remember the most important part. Stay true to yourself."

I jump from my chair and go back through the maze tarot card and incense burner stands. Madame whatever is cray-cray, and I need fresh air because I'm suffocating. Once I'm outside, I can breathe more easily, and I look up and down the street. There's a lot of movement. It's Las Vegas, after all. I search for a restaurant or bar where I can sit down and just think for a minute.

My mind is spinning with thoughts of the fortune teller's words. Why did those words shake my core so much? I was there to have fun, not to be told about doom and gloom before a glorious dawn. And why couldn't she say something about my job or my future in general? Why does my happiness have to depend on some jerk that apparently I know and probably dumped because he was a major hole?

There's one bar that's not too crowded – Lucky's – and I start walking towards it. I look at myself in the window reflection to make sure I look okay before going inside. I straighten up my shirt, pull down my skirt a bit, and feel ready to enter the premises. The place looks nice, a lot classier than I would have thought, and I wonder if I should get a table. But then it'd be too evident that I'm alone.

There's a well-built man next to an empty seat, and I shiver as he reminds me of the man of my dreams. I sigh and hop onto the bar stool. I won't check him out. I'm here for a drink and a think. I don't care how gorgeous he is… I signal the bartender for a glass of wine and wait, looking straight ahead.

Keith

I sip my beer and look at my watch. She's been over there for 30 minutes already. What's taking so long? I know Julie is fascinated with fortune tellers, so I wasn't surprised when their limo dropped her off on this street. If anyone asks me, I'm here in Vegas for business. Not because a delicious curvy blond that is completely forbidden to me is here having the time of her life with her best friends.

Mike and I have been friends forever. His sister was a surprise baby well into his parents' marriage, and she brought much happiness to the household. She was always there in the periphery, but we were young boys up to no good. Once I left for college and started my own business, I put her out of my mind. She was just Mike's little sister.

When she turned 20, I went back home for a visit and was blown away by her beauty. Then, I crossed the line one night, and it changed me forever. My life has literally not been the same since I took her virginity nine years ago, and I am a man obsessed. A sad, sad man because I know she doesn't belong to me and never will. Mike would never forgive me, and I'd lose my best friend.

I've stayed away because of my obsession with Julie, always giving Mike one bogus reason after another of why I can't move back to New York. But I've been keeping tabs on both of them from afar. Julie has worked her way up at the magazine where she works, and now, she's chosen to write the more in-depth articles the magazine – Your Best Life - has to offer.

The truth is ugly. I've been stalking her for years, but it's gotten worse in the past six months. She'll be turning thirty soon, and I'm tempted to approach her. It's a risk, but my life is in shambles without her in it. I hide behind a bad boy facade that everyone, including Mike, believes wholeheartedly. But there's only one soul for me, and that is Julie Johnson.

I hear the bells of the bar door ring, and the hair on the back of my neck shoots up in warning. I don't dare look because I know she's here and she's coming closer. My head is still down, looking at my drink, when I feel her sit next to me in the bar. She smells of peaches and something else I can't decipher, and I want to drown in her scent.

Should I make myself known to her? What are the chances I'd be in Las Vegas when she is? One in a million? She has no reason to think it's anything more than a coincidence, and I'm dying to get a closer look at her—her angelic face and her plush, curvaceous body. I can't take it any longer, so I glance to my left and see her focusing tightly on the drink the bartender just put in front of her.

"Fancy meeting you here, Jules."

She looks sharply to the side and looks at me with surprise in her eyes.

Chapter 2

Julie

Adeep, husky voice says my name and a shiver runs through me. It can't be, can it? I look at the tall, attractive man beside me, and of course, it's him. It's like my mind conjured him up with the dream and just now with the fortune teller saying those things about love and happiness.

"Keith, is that really you?" I ask in almost a whisper.

"Yes, princess. It's me."

He lifts his beer as if saluting me and takes a sip. I watch as the liquid passes his lips, and he swallows with a slow bob down his throat. There's a jolt straight down to my sex, making me cross my legs, searching for relief. But there can't be any relief, not with this man, anyway. I look back down at my drink, and the desire to flee overwhelms me. If I don't leave, I will do a very bad thing.

I down my wine in one go and get up to leave. He grabs me by the arm before I can make my escape.

"Wait, where are you going, princess?"

"Anywhere. Away from here." I mutter without looking at him. He's too tan, too beautiful. I can't look, or I'll be blinded and convinced of doing something forbidden.

"I haven't seen you in years, Julie. Stay with me. Let's get a table."

He gets up, signals something to the bartender, and pulls me toward an empty table. I know it was the wrong move because now I'm facing him in all his glory. I can tell he's aged, but it looks good on him, damn it. Can't a girl catch a break? A server approaches our table and puts down another beer for him, and what looks like a strawberry daiquiri is in front of me.

"How did…"

"I think you told me once that was your favorite drink."

I frown as I don't remember having that conversation with him. I take a sip and let the sweet and tart flavor into my mouth. I let out a little moan of pleasure and briefly close my eyes. I take one more sip and let my eyes open. Keith seems to be studying me, and it makes my throat constrict just a bit. I decide to be stubborn about our situation and keep on sipping my drink.

"Why are you in Vegas, Jules?"

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