Falling Free: What happens in Vegas... (The Fall Series) (12 page)

Sarah was studying me during the
awkward silence that developed between us. She pushed at the pieces of rice on
her plate for a few minutes before dropping her fork and throwing her napkin on
the table. She looked straight at me. “So, why don’t we talk about everything
BUT Eric and Jake? How does that sound?”

I started laughing. “Sounds
perfect,” I said, and we lifted our glasses and emptied our drinks as if it was
the best toast we’d heard in our entire lives. Soon, we were laughing so hard it
felt just like old times.

Three martinis later, we were
both a little tipsy as we made our way down to the salon. One thing I noticed
about Vegas was there were slot machines everywhere. We walked past a row of
Blazing Sevens and Sarah grabbed my arm.

“What are you doing?” I giggled,
“We have to get to our appointment.”

“I know. I know. Relax!”

I could tell by the way she was
slurring her words she was more than a little buzzed. Besides, this was totally
out of character for her. I was usually the one telling
her
to relax. Happy
to see her having fun, I quickly decided to go with it. I plopped down on the
stool next to her and watched as she slid a fifty dollar bill in the slot.

“Okay, let’s make this interesting.”
Her eyebrows wiggled up and down causing me to laugh so hard I almost fell off
my stool.

“Yes, let’s.” I replied, although
I had no idea where she was going with it.

“Let’s make a little bet. Shall
we? If I win big on this machine, then you’ll consider, just consider mind
you…you’ll consider dating Parker.”

I looked at her in disbelief. She
had no idea what was going on between Parker and me. She was totally clueless.
When I thought about why I was really here several action words came to mind,
but
dating
wasn’t one of them.

“Oh, that’s very funny, Sarah! I
almost forgot how alcohol goes straight to that otherwise sensible brain of
yours!”

“Come on, Lo! Just for fun! You
never used to back down from a bet. Maybe you’re getting old!” she teased,
knowing I couldn’t resist the bait.

“Okay, fine! I’ll
consider
it!”
I stuck my tongue out at her to show her my displeasure. After all, what were
the chances of this machine “hitting big” anyway?

She looked at me with the best
I
mean business
look she could muster after several martinis. “Pinky swear.”

Here we go again!
Until Parker came back around I
had almost forgot how important this seemingly meaningless gesture was to our
little group back then.

I hooked my finger into hers and
pulled it close to me. “BUT! If you don’t hit big you have to promise to never
suggest or even so much as hint about Parker and I dating again! Ever!”

“Deal!” She said and ripped her
finger quickly away to pull the lever.

I shot her a smug little smile as
the reels stopped on seven, bar, bar. Nothing. Undeterred, she pulled the lever
again. That’s when I realized she was betting ten dollars a spin.
This would
be over quick!

The second spin landed on bar,
bar, double bar. As the fifty dollar credits racked up she tilted her head and
raised her eyebrow.

“You said it had to be a
big
win,
” I reminded her.

Full of sassy sarcasm, she
starred me down and watched my face as she pulled the lever for the third time.
I watched in amazement, my eyes narrowing as I saw seven, seven, seven appear
on the screen before us.
Fuck!
The machine started sounding off as the
screen blinked, and a small crowd gathered around us while the credits
continued to skyrocket. Five hundred, six hundred, seven hundred…Sarah was
exchanging congratulatory high-fives with a couple of onlookers as we waited
for the final total. One thousand dollars. She had officially entered “big win”
territory.

In her excitement she screamed
and shook my shoulders, effectively snapping me out of my haze. Then she hit
the cash out button. “Oh, I’m so cashing in on your promise, Lo!” she squealed,
“I can’t wait! My mother has always insisted that you two were meant for each
other. Now we can finally find out!”

I scowled. “Slow down, Sarah! The
bet was that I would
consider
it, remember? Why do you keep forgetting
that part?” I was a sore loser.

“I know. I know.” She rolled her
eyes and folded the ticket into a neat little square and gave it an over
exaggerated kiss.

“What the hell are you doing?” I
asked as I starred at her still scowling.

“Keeping this of course.”

“For what?” Who keeps a thousand
dollar ticket?

“For insurance of course.” She
winked as I watched her slip the little white ticket into her bra.

At a loss for words I said the
first thing that popped into my head, “Classy, Sarah Blackwell O’Conner. I’m
sure your mother would be proud!”

Sarah laced her arm through mine
and started to drag me off toward the salon. “You can bet your ass she would
be!”

I had no doubt she was right.

I couldn’t help it. I pouted
through the entire salon appointment, and was thankful that the lady doing
Sarah’s hair and makeup couldn’t seem to shut up. I was silent, choosing to
wallow in my own self-pity for losing the bet instead of enjoying myself. But
by the time we were standing in front of the limo in our designer gowns, the
anticipation of the night ahead had me starting to come around.

As we waited in the long
procession of cars in the valet parking lane I spotted Parker standing on the
curb waiting for us. I couldn’t rip my eyes away from the sight of him in his
black fitted tuxedo and that hair that looked like he just came from a wild
romp in the sack. He looked like he belonged in one of those perfume ads in
Cosmo, you know the ones where the guy is obviously airbrushed to look like a perfect
Greek God? Only he was real. And he was mine, at least for tonight.

When the limo stopped in front of
him, he opened the door like a perfect gentleman, but seconds later I was
inhaling sharply as he grabbed my hand and pulled me roughly against him,
whispering in my ear, “You look so fucking beautiful. I can’t wait to get you
home tonight.”

He held my hand tightly as he
turned his attention to Sarah, catching her in his other arm. “Thanks for
coming, cousin. You look amazing!”

Sarah and I exchanged glances
with Parker sandwiched between us. I couldn’t help but notice the smug smile on
her face when she realized how friendly we’d become, and I was relieved when
Parker led us into the building arm-in arm.

I didn’t know if I would ever get
used to all the glamour of Las Vegas, I thought as I took in the glitter and
elegance in the room. There were a lot of important people here by the looks of
it. The expensive jewelry in the room was enough to make me go blind if I starred
at it long enough. Parker shook hands with a few people and introduced Sarah
and I as we made our way through the crowd and around a circular hallway to a
set of huge wooden doors. That’s when I noticed the sign.

Welcome to the 10
^th
Annual Bachelor Auction for Breast Cancer

I squeezed Parker’s hand. When
our eyes met I looked toward the sign and then back at him. Just then the door
opened, and Parker’s friend Cole appeared. His face lit up instantly when he
spotted us.

“Cole, you’ve met my cousin Sarah
before haven’t you?

Right on cue, Cole reached his
hand out to Sarah. “Yes, how are you, Sarah?”

“Would you mind showing Sarah to
our table? Lauren and I will be there shortly.”

“Of course not,” Cole replied and
held out his elbow to escort Sarah into the room.

Parker pulled me further down the
hall away from the steady stream of people that were now entering the event. My
eyes went back to the sign.

“Why didn’t you tell me about
this?” I demanded, not know what to make of the whole thing.

“Because I wanted it to be a
surprise, and I was afraid you wouldn’t come.”

I ripped my hand out of his grasp
and turned my back to him. “Is this some kind of sick apology, Parker? Did you
really think that bringing me to something like this would make up for the fact
that you left me when my mother was dying of breast cancer?” My mind was
spinning with emotions.

“No. It’s not like that at all,
Lo. Why do you always assume the worst from me?”

He was right. I did, but only
because I couldn’t find a way to forgive him.

“I started participating in this
auction five years ago when one of the guys I see on the poker circuit asked me
to help out. At first I was hesitant, but after I tried it, I felt really good
about it, and for some reason it made me feel like I was doing something…”

I spun around, “Something what,
Parker?” I demanded.

“Something for you, Lo. Something
to show you how sorry I was for leaving you.”

Tears stung my eyes, and I
swallowed hard and shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t know, Parker. Seems
like a great excuse to meet women. Women who are willing to pay thousands of
dollars to spend a night with you. Do you get some added bonus from knowing
that? Sounds like a great way to ease your guilt and get lucky at the same
time!”

Suddenly Parker was charging
toward me, his jaw clenching, his emerald green eyes focused on mine. I
retreated only to find the wall at my back, and he pinned me against it with
the weight of his body, bracing himself with his arm just above my head.

I fought my body’s response to
his invasion as I starred up at him trying to remain defiant when he leaned in
close to my ear and growled.

“Nothing that happened before now
means a fucking thing to me. Do you understand? I do this because in some way
it heals a piece of my dark twisted fucking soul, and right now I need that
more than ever. You want revenge? Well, there’s a blank check at the cashier’s
desk with your name as the donor, and I expect you to go into that room with me
and act like a fucking lady, if not for me than out of respect for your mother
and the reason why all these people are here tonight. When I get up on that
stage, you better know that I’m doing it for you, and you better win me no
matter what the cost. After that, if you still want to leave I’ll book your
flight myself.”

My cheeks burned with anger and
shame, and I wanted to lash out. My stubborn bitter side wanted to tell him to
fuck off, but I couldn’t. I knew he was right. For some reason I couldn’t
accept his kindness. For some reason I was always looking for the ulterior
motive, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Why couldn’t I accept it?
Deep
inside I knew why. His kindness hurt me. It reminded me of all the pain I
pushed aside, and it made me angry at him. Angry that my parents were gone,
angry that he left…there were so many things. But I had to let go. Tears
spilled down my cheeks as I wondered what my mom would think of me now. She
wouldn’t approve. She would be sad to see what a bitter angry woman I’ve
become.

Wanting to escape, I glanced down
the hall and noticed the concerned glances we were receiving from the people
entering the event. We were making a scene. I relented, “I’m sorry. You’re
right, Parker. Let’s go in there and do this for my mom.”

Parker breathed a sigh of relief
and backed away, holding his hand out to me. “For your mom,” he said and
squeezed my hand gently as I placed it into his.

WINNER TAKES ALL

Sarah looked worried as we took
our seats at the table. I hoped my tears hadn’t left streaks in my make-up as I
smiled at her to let her know that all was well. Soon, the tension had eased,
and Cole, Sarah, Parker and I were enjoying the beautiful five course dinner
that was laid out before us. I looked around the room and wondered how many of
the people there had lost someone to breast cancer, and that’s when the
immensity of what Parker was doing really hit home. He had been doing this for
five years. For me. I remembered the look in his eyes when he admitted that it
healed his soul. His soul.

Suddenly, I wanted to wrap my
arms around him and confess everything I meant to say before I let the likes of
Shay Roberts interfere. As I watched him finish his drink, I remembered the
times when his eyes revealed the hurt little boy still trapped inside the
beautiful man in front of me. He was just as angry, just as bitter and damaged
as I was, but at least he was trying to change.
Maybe I should give him a
chance.
I smiled at the thought of the bet I had lost to Sarah earlier.
Maybe…

Just as our server was clearing
away the last of our dishes, the lights dimmed and a man appeared to be testing
the microphone on the stage at the front of the room. Parker and Cole stood up,
and I noticed several other men leaving their tables as well. Parker gave me a
quick kiss on the cheek, “Remember, you have to win me.” I nodded and smiled at
him noticing the smug smile on Sarah’s face.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to
Las Vegas and the 10
^th
Annual Bachelor Auction for Breast Cancer.
Please place your drink orders now as we will not be serving during the auction
which will begin shortly.”