Page 17 of Vegas Heat

“Definitely,” I say against his.

“Insane.”

“Totally,” I agree, and we kiss for a beat before he pulls back.

“This doesn’t happen to me,” he says. “I want you to know that. I want you to know this is different. I don’t take twenty-one-year-olds back to my hotel room just to give them a birthday present.”

I giggle. “Well, it was my favorite of all the gifts I received today.” And my dad got me a new truck…something I fail to mention.

I don’t want him to know about my dad.

I don’t want to feel like he only wants to be with me because of my connections.

Maybe that’s what makes this even more special. Our connection developed first, and now we can get to know one another. First impressions mean a lot, and, well…he’s made a good one.

“It was pretty damn good,” he says, pressing a kiss into my hair. “God, you smell good.” He tightens his grip around me. “Youfeelgood.”

I run my hands along the cut ridges of those abs. “You’re all right, too.”

He bursts out a laugh, and it’s contagious. I laugh, too.

“So whenwasthe last time you were with somebody?” he asks.

“Going there already, huh?” I ask. He shrugs, and I plow forward. “That would be my ex, Jace. He was a year older than me, and when he graduated in May, he moved to Nashville for a job. I didn’t go with. It was as simple as that.” We’d only been together eight months, and while I did have feelings of love for him, I knew neither of us was willing to put in the work to make a long-distance relationship last.

Before him, there were a total of two other guys.

“You?” I ask.

He clears his throat. “My ex and I broke up about a year ago. A friend and I hooked up a few times, and I had some Tinder dates that went exactly as advertised.”

I make a face at the Tinder dates. “So you’re thirty-two?” I ask.

“Yep. Thirty-three next month.” His tone is flat, and I can’t get a read on how he feels about that.

“Damn, you’re old.”

He laughs. “Thanks.”

“How are you still single?”

“I always feel like that question is a backhanded compliment,” he says.

“I don’t mean for it to be. I just mean that you seem like you’re the total package. I don’t know how some little filly hasn’t snatched you up yet.”

His brows dip. “Some little filly?” I giggle, and he shrugs. “Some fillies have tried, I guess. I played the field a long time, and then I was with Stacy for five years. It took me a while tomove on from what happened between us, and I guess I haven’t met the right person.”

Yet.

Until now.

Until me.

I force the thought out of my brain. It’s dangerous. And yet, the longer we sit here talking about ourselves and getting to know each other beyond a physical attraction, the more that thought keeps sneaking back in.

CHAPTER 9: GABBY

At some point, we both fell asleep, and I wake when the sun starts to peek into the windows we never bothered to cover last night in our haste to have sex.

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