Page 20 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

“San Gallicano. It’s an archipelago in the Caribbean.”

“West of Saint Vincent, right?”

“I’m impressed. Most people can’t find it on the map.”

“I think I saw it on a travel show recently. Do you live on the main island?”

“No, a smaller one. Emerald Shores. It’s a little slice of paradise and about as different from Vegas as you can get.”

My phone buzzed.

Echo

Is this who I think it is?

There was a bird’s-eye view of Cole and me, his hand on the small of my back as he opened the passenger door for me. Echo could be a real pain in the ass sometimes. How long until that satellite was out of range?

Sin

Could be? I only saw the rear view.

Me

No comment.

Marcel

OMG, OMG, OMG!

“You’re popular,” Cole remarked.

“Oh, it’s just a chat with my writing group. One of the girls is having man trouble.”

That girl was me.

Iwas having the man trouble.

CHAPTER 8

COLE

Vegas was hell.

Vegas was heaven.

Schrödinger’s city.

Cole had spent half the morning arguing with Edna Lassiter from Iowa, who’d complained long and loud that her room didn’t have a coveted view of the Strip. It didn’t have a view of the Strip because she’d booked a budget double that overlooked the hotel next door, and she didn’t want to pay the upgrade fee. In the end, he’d given her the upgrade for free because he was getting a headache, only for her to return twenty minutes later to complain the new room was “too beige.”

A half hour after that, when housekeeping had found her four red cushions and two pink ones, she’d announced she was allergic to velvet.

Once he’d upgraded her for the second time, Cole had left the hotel so he didn’t end up getting arrested, but now it seemed he owed Mrs. Lassiter a big thank you.

Because Bella was fucking fascinating.

Confident, adventurous, breathtakingly beautiful… And now he could add fierce to the list. Cole tended to prefer diplomacy over force, but that prick had deserved a bruised rib. Did he treat all women that way?

“If you want, I could pick up your dog treats while you wait in the car,” he offered.

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