Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 128260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 641(@200wpm)___ 513(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
I frowned. “I thought I’d see you there. I wasn’t trying to give you the brush-off.”
He smiled. “Yeah, I figured that out when you showed up at my hotel room, begging me to take you in for the weekend.”
I elbowed him. “Watch it, Stinger. I could still change my mind.”
He laughed and squeezed me to him teasingly as he directed me to the door of a restaurant. I looked up at the sign. “Hot dogs?” I asked.
“Yup. World-famous hot dogs. Your eyes are going to roll into the back of your head. Promise.”
“You did promise me that, didn’t you? I didn’t realize you meant hot dogs.”
His eyes heated. “I promise all kinds of eye rolling, buttercup. This is just first up on the itinerary.”
I snorted. “We’ll see…” I was having fun joking around with him. But the eye-rolling talk had me nervous too and made me remember the supposed purpose of our weekend. Carson had already blurred the lines a little bit with a dinner date first and the reassuring words in the Bellagio lobby. Go with it, Grace. Deep breath.
The hostess seated us, and within a few minutes, we had each ordered a beer and a hot dog. Carson ordered some god-awful sounding concoction of bacon and sausage and nacho cheese with a side of onion rings. I ordered a chili cheese dog. I hadn’t had one of those in forever and was surprised at how good it sounded.
As the waitress took our order, I noticed her trying to catch Carson’s eye. He politely ignored her, smiling over at me after ordering.
Our beers were set down in front of us a few minutes later and Carson lifted his beer to mine. “To malfunctioning elevators,” he said, grinning.
I laughed, clinking his bottle. I couldn’t believe I was cheersing to that. If someone had told me that about four hours ago, I’d have thought they were insane. “To malfunctioning elevators,” I repeated. God, I hope I’m still thankful to malfunctioning elevators by the end of this weekend. I took a long sip of beer.
The waitress brought our hot dogs and I made faces at Carson as he laughed at me for trying unsuccessfully to eat mine in a ladylike manner. Finally, I just gave up and dug in like he was doing.
His eyes danced with amusement as he said around a big bite, “If you’re not messy afterward, baby, you didn’t do it right.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ugh. You just get worse and worse, don’t you?” But I couldn’t help the smile that quirked the corner of my lips. I had accused him of doing his sex-on-a-stick act as a way to hide, but this was different. Those first couple times, he had used his sexual innuendos against me, using them to make me feel uncomfortable and then angry at my reaction to him. He knew the power he held. And he used that—in ways good and bad, I suspected. But he wasn’t trying to do that now—at least I didn’t think so. He was just trying to make me laugh. He was trying to help me let my guard down. And I had to admit, it was working.
I also had to admit that that hot dog was probably the most delicious thing I had ever eaten.
He used his napkin to wipe some chili off the side of my mouth and as his eyes lingered on my lips, I felt that throbbing start again. “Ready to get back?” he asked, his heated eyes lifting to mine.
Yes. No. I think so. Maybe. I just nodded.
He paid the bill and then we were back out on the Strip, hand in hand, only this time not walking with as much leisure as we had on the way to dinner.
We crossed the street and walked in silence back to the Bellagio fountain. My heart was racing now. I knew where this was leading, and as much as I wanted it now, this was going to change everything.
There was already a small group of people waiting in front of the still water. Carson scooted me to the stone railing at the front, and as I stood silently, waiting for the show to begin, he wrapped his arms around my waist and held me. I leaned my head back against him and enjoyed the feeling of his big body wrapped around me.
After a minute or two, music started playing and the water burst up into the air. I sucked in a breath as I realized that the water was “dancing” to the music. “Oh my God!” I exhaled. “It’s stunning!”
I felt the vibration of Carson’s chuckle. “Pretty, isn’t it?”
“It’s amazing. How do they do it?” I couldn’t look away.
“I don’t really know. They play all kinds of different songs though. They’re all choreographed.”
“Wow.” I suddenly realized what song was on and I giggled. “Listen to what’s playing.” I looked back at Carson and grinned as “My Heart Will Go On,” the theme from Titanic, burst through the loud speakers.