Page 7 of Vegas Heat

I laugh. “You staying here tonight?”

She nods. “The seven of us are sharing a suite upstairs. You?”

“I’m staying here, too. Just tonight and tomorrow night.”

“Where are you heading to after that?” she asks.

“Home in San Diego.”

She presses her lips together and nods, and I can’t help but think I detect a little disappointment there. Maybe I’m projecting. Maybe I want her to be disappointed I’m not sticking around longer.

“Are you in town on vacation?” she asks.

I shake my head, wondering how to word the complicated situation that brought me to town. “A buddy invited me to town to talk about a job offer,” I say, minimizing the extent of what really went down tonight.

Her wide eyes flutter up toward mine. “Are you going to take it?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. What do you think I should do?” I don’t know why I ask her. She doesn’t know anything about my situation or what the job even is.

She chuckles. “Do you like what you’re doing now?”

I nod.

“Then ask yourself whether you’d like the new job more.” She shrugs. “Do whatever will bring you the most joy.”

The way she says it so simply makes me think this is a conversation I’ll revisit time and time again over the rest of my life. Honestly, it’s solid advice foranymajor decision.Do whatever will bring you the most joy.

I think tonight…this girl is what will bring me the most joy.

“What about you?” I ask. “What do you do?”

“I’m in marketing,” she says. “I also occasionally substitute teach dance classes for a friend whose sister owns a studio.” She glances up and waves to her friends across the way, and it’s clear they’re waiting for her to join them.

“Stay with me.” I’m not sure why I’m not quite ready to let her go yet. She should go celebrate with her friends. She should make memories with them…not with me, a dude passing through town.

Her brows dip. “Where?”

I lift a shoulder, not sure whether I mean in my hotel room with me or here at this blackjack table, but I just came from a sex club owned by a good friend of mine who offered me a job playing ball again, and I’m still a little fired up from that, if I’m being honest. Add in some beer and the high of winning at the blackjack tables plus a gorgeous woman who has definitely caught my attention, and I feel more than a little out of sorts at the moment.

I just told myself I want to jump back into both games, right?

It's been too long since I’ve had sex, an even longer time since I’ve spent the night with a stranger, and it might be just what I need to kickstart my dating life back into gear.

I lean in a little closer to her. “With me,” I say, and I press a soft kiss just below her ear.

She shivers, and I know she feels it too. How can she not? It’s too powerful to be one-sided, and she’s been giving me the nonverbal cues since the second she sat down.

The way she scrambled to sit beside me when I told her I’d teach her how to play.

The way her nostrils flared when I addressed her friend.

The way she leans in a little closer to me with every glass of champagne she finishes.

The way she sticks her chest out when I glance over at her, like she’s trying to make those tits look even more appealing than they already do.

The way her knee keeps bumping mine, and I’m pretty sure it’s on purpose.

The way she gasps softy every time I find some excuse to touch her.

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