Page 5 of Four Weddings and a Baby Shower

Chapter Three

Silver

I walked out of that office building into the dry sunny Vegas day, just a little bit rattled. My feelings were all over the place. Happy, I was no longer unemployed. Not happy I’d be working with Liam. Well, not exactly unhappy, more like filled with apprehension. This was not going to be easy. And landing the Magnum account? An even bigger hurdle. Maybe. Working with Liam was going to be a big challenge. Maybe even more than landing the Magnum account and every other chain hotel in the West combined.

I did not do well with emotions. Emotions made me uncomfortable. Emotions compelled me into unwise decisions. Emotions made me feel things a woman like me had no right to feel. I wasn’t like most girls. I wasn’t cut out for relationships, much less marriage and babies. Those things were all great and fine for someone like Ray. Not for me. I liked to be in control, and kids and husbands were far too unpredictable. I’s sure Liam, like most men, eventually wanted a family one day. He was definitely a king-of-the-castle type of guy. And right now, he was looking to build his castle.

I thought of Ray in her domestic bliss with her rock star. I missed her so much. We didn’t talk as much anymore, but that was understandable. She was off in the Tennessee wilderness with her rock star fiancé making music, and I’m sure not just the kind with a guitar either. They had holed up in the mountains somewhere for a couple of weeks where she didn’t have good phone service. I really needed to talk to a girlfriend right now. I had to sort out all these confusing thoughts. Before my dinner with Liam tonight.

And I knew just the person. Lexy. She worked at the casino in one of the hotels my old company supplied. We used to do happy hours sometimes in my wealthier days. Really great friend, with her head on straight. Just the person I could run things by, to make sure I wasn’t making a bad decision. It’s be really nice to see her too. I slipped my phone from my purse and sent her an EGM text (that’s emergency girl meeting, in case you didn’t know). I hoped she was free.

My phone dinged two seconds later. She was about to eat an early dinner at one of the hotel restaurants before starting her shift. Excellent. I looked at the time on my phone. Almost five. I could spare an hour for a girl’s dinner, sans the dinner for me and get home by six. I’d still have time to freshen up and change.

I hailed a taxi. At this time of day, they weren’t too hard to come by. “The Venetian,” I told him.

I don’t think I’d been there since the night Ray and Tyler had finally got together at his concert. I smiled unconsciously. I was genuinely happy for my friend. And for Tyler too. I wasn’t lying to Liam; he really was a great guy. Sometimes it was hard to believe he was the same rocker I’d seen perform ballistic rock and roll concerts for so many years. People never ceased to surprise me.

It was just past five when I arrived at the restaurant. Lexy looked amazing, practically glowing. I sat down, suspicion raging in my mind. “You look great,” I said before laying a kiss on her rosy cheek. “What is going on? You are glowing. Love? Baby?”

She rolled her eyes. “As if,” she said. “Not unless it’s the immaculate conception. I haven't had a date, much less a man in months. I am talking the dry spell of all dry spells. It’s the Sahara Desert down there.”

“I can so relate to that. I’ve been on this self-imposed celibacy thing for the last few months,” I said.

“Really? Why is that?”

The waitress brought our coffee. The aroma awakened my senses. Or maybe it was the afternoon in Liam’s presence. “It was something Ray and I were going to do after her ex ditched her at the altar. Then she met Tyler, and that went out the door.” I laughed at the irony. “I decided to stick with it, hoping I’d be as lucky.”

Lexy stared at me expectantly. “And?”

“No such luck. Though I did run into Liam last night.”

“Liam? That’s great. I never could understand why you dumped him. I mean he’s a bit intense, but he always seemed like a nice guy. Why did you break with him?”

I studied my coffee mug with intensity. I added too much sugar to it then tried to thin it out with cream avoiding her question for as long as possible.

“Well?”

“Well, for one he backstabbed me by stealing my potential client,” I said.

Lexy’s expression was dubious. “All’s fair in love and war, right? I mean you knew you worked for competing companies.”

“We did. But it was underhanded, the way he did it. I was about to sign them,” I said, waving my hand in the air. “But it doesn’t matter. He never got paid for signing them, anyway. Karma’s a bitch.”

I could see Lexy wasn’t convinced of Liam’s bad behavior. “What happened when you saw him? Was he friendly?”

Friendly? That was the understatement. I blinked, remembering those full, sinfully sexy lips pouting at my dinner refusal. The scent of him, that gorgeous body, his skin against mine as we shook hands. I shook my head.Snap out of it, Silver.“Yes, he actually offered me a job. He’s started a new company.”

“Sounds like your luck is changing already. Count your blessings.”

“I know I should. And I do. But things with Liam are tricky. He still seems to harbor some affection for me.” Affection? Yeah, right. That was putting it in a prim way. Let’s face it, our chemistry had always been off the charts. It was still there, simmering below the surface, just waiting to explode. But so was our animosity. Or at least mine.

“And? You don’t have any for him?”

I shrugged. “I’m concerned about working with him. We’ll be bringing in accounts together, working closely on a daily basis, long nights...” I sighed. Just saying it aloud made my body hum. But I knew exactly where that would lead. “Liam and I are very competitive creatures. We were always competing, even in our relationship. It might be unhealthy to take this job with him.”

Lexy nodded. “I see. Well, you need a job, so you may not have a choice. But I get it. Those types of relationships can be toxic. Or they can lead to some mind-blowing sex, if you can keep your emotions out of it. Maybe decide now, which direction you want to go with it.” She gave me a wink.

“That’s so not helpful,” I chastised Lexy. “Celibacy pledge, remember?”

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