Vegas Love (19 page)

“Um, who is he?” one of the girls asks quietly.

“This is Cash,” she says, grinning. “If all goes well, you’ll be seeing a lot of us together. Have a nice day!”

We get our food and then I drive to the beach, park on the side of the road, and suggest an impromptu picnic.
 

She grabs the bag of food and my hand. “Let’s sit up on these rocks!”

We carefully climb over the railing and perch on the rocks. “God, it’s beautiful up here,” she says.
 

I look straight into her pretty green eyes, which are sparkling in the sun. “It sure is.”

She blushes and looks down at her cheeseburger. “Are you talking about the view?”

I catch her neck in my hand and pull her toward my lips. “I’m talking about you. The way your eyes sparkle in the sunlight. The smile on your face. You’re beautiful.”

“I once played a vampire who sparkled in the sunlight,” she laughs.

“You should bite me and then we could live together forever. For all eternity.”

“That’s a super freaking long time.”

I grab her hand. “I wish you were wearing the ring. I wish I could take you home and tell my parents I married the most amazing girl.”

“Do you want to tell them?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

“More than anything, but I want you to be sure. Because I don’t want to get fired if you aren’t sure.”

“Will your brother really fire you?”
 

“Yes, he will. He and Palmer Montlake used to date. She was his client first, they fell in love and, because of some disagreement about her career, they broke up. So he’s probably more sensitive about it than someone else would be.”
 

She shoves another bite of cheeseburger in her mouth and I feed her a fry. “That’s sad.”

“He’s never gotten over her, in my opinion.”

She leans over and kisses me. “I don’t think I’m ever going to get over you.”

“I don’t want you to.”

“But I agree with you. Even though I want to sing from the rooftops that we got married, it’s probably best that people don’t know until we’re sure.”

“As the brother of your agent, I’d say that’s smart.”

“And as my husband?” she asks, causing my heart to swell.
 

I catch a piece of hair that blows out of her braid and tuck it behind her ear, leaning close to her. “As your husband,” I whisper, “I hate it.”
 

In a Fairytale

Ashlyn

We pull into a gated entrance, wind up into the hills, and stop in front of a gorgeous stucco villa in Laguna Beach.

“Wow. This is where you grew up?”

“Yeah, it looks sort of ostentatious from the front when I look at it now. I didn’t think much of it growing up, because all our friends lived in similar homes. Then I went to college and moved into a shitty dorm. That was a huge reality check. I seriously thought my mother was going to cry when she saw it,” he says as he helps me out of the Jeep.

The front door swings open and a girl comes bounding out to greet us, followed by a golden retriever and chocolate labrador. The dogs wag their tails and jump up to greet us then sniff my butt while the girl gives Cash a hug.

“This is my sister, Chloe,” Cash says, introducing me.
 

“Hi!” she says, throwing her arm around my neck and leading me into the house. “Mom is making homemade fudge and it’s imperative that we go taste test it. Get the dogs, will you, Cash?”
 

We leave Cash in the dust and step into a massive three-story rotunda with beige walls, a beamed ceiling, an iron chandelier, and an iron staircase. It reminds me of an old, Italian villa that would overlook a vineyard, but instead leads to a large great room with sweeping views of the ocean. The floors are either terra cotta tiles or thick wooden planks. The fireplaces are made from carved stone. The furnishings are in subdued colors and soft fabrics.
 

“This is beautiful,” I say, slightly shocked not just at its beauty but the way the house makes me feel. The way it tugs at my heart. When I turn around and see Cash following us, my heart overflows with feelings. Feelings I thought I had locked away the day my mom sold my dad’s car. Feelings of a future. Of my own happily ever after.
 

When I’m with Cash, I feel like I’m caught in a fairytale. I can imagine this house full of grandchildren someday. A huge Christmas tree in the corner with piles of presents from Santa.
 

The first Christmas after my dad died, Mom told me it was time to grow up. That Santa wasn’t real. If I’m lucky enough to have kids of my own, I’m going to tell them Santa is real until they are fifty.
 

A handsome, broad shouldered man, who’s greying at the temples, stands up and greets me. “You must be Ashlyn. We’ve heard a lot about you from Cade. I wish I could say the same about Cash.”

“Dad, I’ve been working,” Cash says in his defense.
 

“It’s good to have you home,” his mom says, wiping her hands on a dishtowel and giving her son a hug. Then she turns to me. “It’s nice to meet you, Ashlyn. Would you like to come test out the fudge? Cash doesn’t get any, since he hasn’t called his mother lately.” She gives him a little smirk. One that looks a lot like her son’s.

We’re licking warm fudge out of a bowl with our fingers when I notice Chloe’s bracelet. It’s made of thick black suede that’s been hand painted and set with multi-colored crystals. “I love your bracelet. I have one at home. I love everything the designer—wait a minute. Are you
that
Chloe? The jewelry designer?”

Chloe breaks out into a wide grin. “Ohmigawd! You have one of my bracelets?”

“Yes, I love it. I bought it in a store in Santa Monica. I have the gold zebra iPad cover too.”

“I’m seriously going to cry right now,” she says, hugging her mom. “Ashlyn Roberts loves me.”

“She’s gonna love me more,” Cade says, joining us in the kitchen. “I just got Vanessa Flanning to agree to take her as a client.”

“You did? You’re right. I do love you!”

“She’s going to visit you Monday on set.”

“That’s perfect.”

“I’m going to show Ashlyn the rest of the house,” Cash says, possessively pulling me out of the kitchen, almost like he’s mad at me. He takes me down a set of stairs and outside where you can hear the ocean and see the cliffs surrounding the cove.

He pushes me up against a stone wall and gives me a hard kiss, his hands cupping my ass. “You told my sister and Cade that you love them. I’m feeling insanely jealous.”

Even though we had sex just a few hours ago, my body heats up. I wrap my arms around his neck and practically swoon.
 

“Uh, so how’s the tour going?” Chloe interrupts, causing Cash and I to quickly step apart.
 

“It’s fine,” Cash says in an irritated tone.
 

“What all have you seen?” she asks in an innocent voice, but knowing she totally just busted us.
 

“I’ve been too mesmerized by the view to see the inside yet. Maybe you can show me around,” I suggest.

“I’d love that. You can see my studio too. It used to be Dad’s home office, but when he retired, he let me have it. I‘m going to give Vale the grand tour too. She and Carter just got here.”

“He brought Vale to the house?” Cash says, looking surprised.
 

“Yeah. He says they’re just friends, but I think it’s more than that,” she replies, flashing the Crawford smirk in her brother’s direction. “You’d know that if you hadn’t ditched us for boring, cloudy Seattle.”

Embarrassingly

Cash

While my sister takes the girls to see her studio, I go back in the kitchen.

“It’s so nice to have all my boys here,” Mom says, as she puts a roaster of lasagna in the oven. “I expect you are all coming to Cabo with us next month, as usual.”

“I’d like to come, Mom,” I say, “but I’d need to bring Ashlyn with me.”

“No,” Cade says.
 

“Why not?”

“That’s my private time. She’s work.”

“She’s personal now that you’ve involved me.”

“You aren’t supposed to get personal with her, remember? Tell me you’re not sleeping with her.”

“You didn’t come home last night,” Carter adds, tattling on me.

“I stayed at her house because she was very upset about her former manager attacking her. And although I made her change the security system codes, she was nervous because he still has a key. You didn’t think about all that stuff before you fired him, did you, Cade? And what if I was sleeping with her? It would be none of your business.”

“I’d fire you on the fucking spot,” Cade says, to which Mom replies with,
Language.
“The last thing she needs is another guy dicking her around.”

“Since when did your brother become just another guy?” Chloe asks, taking my side. Ashlyn and Vale aren’t with her, thank goodness, and I have no idea how long she’s been listening.

“You stay out of this,” Cade says to her.

“I like her. If you won’t let Cash invite her then I will. She’s my friend and Mom and Dad have let me bring a friend on vacation every year since I can remember.” Chloe’s got her hand on her hip. My sister has always gotten her way—and she never had to cry to do it. She’s stubborn, opinionated, and awesome.
 

“Fine,” Cade relents. “But I don’t have to talk to her.”

“Maybe you should sleep with her yourself, Cade,” Chloe says, taunting us both.

“I don’t sleep with my clients,” he says.

She rolls her eyes. I can’t help it, so do I. We both know that wasn’t always the case.
 

Chloe says, “Why don’t you just call Palmer and tell her you love her?”

“I don’t love her.”

“Yeah, you do,” she says, going toe-to-toe with him.

He shakes his head. I still don’t know the whole story of what happened with him and Palmer Montlake. Being away at college meant I didn’t get involved in the daily drama.
 

Cade tells our sister to mind her own business and marches away, Chloe clearly hitting her mark.

He’s storming out of the door when Ashlyn and Vale come back in.
 

“Is he mad?” Vale asks.

Chloe, never one to pull a punch, says, “He’ll get over it. So, Vale and Ashlyn—my new best friends—did my brothers tell you we’re going on a family vacation soon?”

“No, Cash didn’t say anything about it,” Ashlyn says, not able to hide the sadness from her face.
 

“Carter told me, but I wouldn’t want to intrude on his family time,” Vale says.
 

“Don’t be silly,” my mom replies, “the more the merrier.”
 

Which, honestly, shocks the hell out of me. Mom has a strict no-girlfriends policy.

“You didn’t tell me about your trip,” Ashlyn says.
 

“Even though we go every year, I sort of forgot it was coming up so soon.”

“Did you ask your sister to invite me?”
 

“No, I didn’t, but I want you to come.”

I pull her into the bathroom—so no one sees us—then set her up on the counter, push her legs apart, and give her a deep, long kiss.
 

One that sets me on fire.
 

“It’s killing me not being able to touch you.” I slide my hand up her thigh and under her skirt, rip off her underwear, unzip my pants, and plunge myself inside her. She grips my sides tightly and thrusts in time, clinging to me.
 

“I’ll go anywhere you want,” she says when it’s over. Which is shockingly—almost embarrassingly—quick.
 

Then we rejoin my family and try to pretend we’re just friends. Well, I try to. She’s much better at it than I am.