Vegas Love (3 page)

He wipes his nose. “I’m in Vegas without my family. Tonight we’re going fucking nuts.”

“I’m all for going nuts, but you shouldn’t be doing that.”

“I’ve only done it a few times, Ash. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“It is to me,” I say quietly. But Zach doesn’t know that, because I’ve never told him about my mom or about my childhood. Maybe Harper is right. Maybe he’s not the right guy for me. If I loved him, wouldn’t I be able to tell him everything? “All it takes is a few times to get addicted, Zach.”

He wraps his arms around me and kisses me passionately. Which is a surprise. So far, sex with him has been a lot like the pop songs he sings with his brothers—fluffy, but without much substance. But love and sex are different. And I know Zach loves me. I know he’s a good guy. That’s more important than hot sex.

Right?

But with the way he’s kissing me, I’m thinking this weekend might be different. Maybe it’s because his family isn’t around. He has no work obligations. Hell, we may not even leave. We’ll just order room service and spend the weekend in bed.

“We’ve got to get going,” he says, ending the kiss.

Or, not.
 

I start to ask why, but don’t want to ruin whatever he has planned, because he plans the most amazing dates ever—all of which he blasts on his social media. His fans think I’m the luckiest girl in the world.

And I do too.

Most of the time.

He leads me out of the suite, down the elevator, and to a private dining room in the hotel. It’s candlelit, romantic, and overlooks a tiled waterfall.
 

“This is beautiful,” I say, as he pulls out my chair.

He gives me a sweet smile and looks at his watch. “We’ll have a romantic dinner first then make our appearance at the club.”

“What appearance?” I ask, shocked. He told me this weekend was all about us.

“The one I’m getting paid to do.”

“You didn’t tell me this was for work.”

“It’s just a few hours. The truth is, I’m thinking about doing a solo album, breaking away from my family. If I’m going to do that successfully, I need a sexier image. People need to realize I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m older. Mature. Having a wild night in Vegas will help with that—or so my publicist says. Oh, and sometime at the club, will you rip my shirt off? I know people will take pictures. I’ve been doing a ton of core work, so I’ll have the kind of abs women will scream over.”

I purse my lips. Although the cocaine was a turn off, the idea of him going solo and being away from his family turns me back on.

He grins at me. “Come on, Ash, you like having fun. You need a bump?”

“I don’t do drugs,” I say calmly as the idea of my dream wedding falls apart in front of my eyes. Maybe Harper is right. Maybe tonight is the night I should see if he’s even worthy of marrying. If a wild night is what he wants, I’m going to drive him so fucking nuts, he won’t be able to keep his hands off me. I’ll have him so hot, we’ll do it in the VIP section.
 

But the night doesn’t really go as planned.
 

Even though he’s more wild than usual in his drinking and dancing, the night almost feels scripted. He’s had quite a few shots, has his shirt off, and at three in the morning as we make our way back to our suite, he’s attacking me with kisses and running his hands all over me in the elevator. In the hallway to the penthouse, in front of the hotel butler, he tries to unzip my dress.
 

And I’m thinking, finally, this is it. Who cares about a proposal? I’m going to get hot up-against-the-wall sex. A proposal will follow soon enough.
 

But as soon as the door of our suite shuts, he slurs, “Thanks for posting so many photos from the club. This is going to be great publicity for me. Whew, what a night. I’m tired.”

Or, maybe not.
 

Harper might be right about him, I think, as I’m straightening my dress.
 

Zach stops in his tracks and says, “What are you guys doing here?”

I peek around him, surprised to see his manager and one of his publicity people sitting at the dining room table, looking really stressed.
 

His manager studies him. “Zach, have you been drinking?”

“Fuck yeah. It’s Vegas.”

“Get to bed. We’ll deal with you in the morning.” I follow Zach toward the bedroom, but his manager points to his computer. “Ashlyn, there’s something you need to see. Now.”

“Uh, okay,” I say, taking a seat. “What’s up?”

He shakes his head. “It’s bad, Ash. A sex tape of you was released tonight.”

“A sex tape?! But we’ve never made—”

“It’s not of you and Zach. It’s of you and your ex-boyfriend, Luke O’Brien.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve never made a sex tape. I’m not stupid.”

“Then he made it without your knowledge. I know you told Zach that he called you out of the blue last week. What did he say?”

“He wanted to have lunch. I said no. That was the end of the conversation.”

“You need to see this.”

“I’m telling you, I have never made a sex tape with him or anyone else. It must be someone who looks like me.”

They both shrug their shoulders. “It’s definitely you.”

My phone rings on the coffee table where I had left it.
 

“That’s probably your people. Your phone has been going off since we got here.”

“Shit,” I say, answering the call from my agent. “Hey, Cade.”

He goes on a tirade about the sex tape and what it’s going to do to my career. “And I know I’ve told you this before, but something is going on with your manager and your publicist. I don’t trust them. And I don’t think you should either. When I called them, they didn’t seem surprised by the tape. I think they had something to do with it.”

“Cade! They would never do that. We’re friends!”

“They like you being in the spotlight, because it puts them in the spotlight. I mean, there have even been rumors of you having an affair with Kenton, who you don’t even like. One of them is starting shit. I think both your publicist and manager are milking you and need to be fired. Now.”

“I can’t just fire them. They’ve been with me from the beginning.”

“Have you seen the tape?”

“No. I just learned about it like two seconds ago from Zach’s people.”

“Watch it and take a peek at how many times it’s been viewed. It’s only been live for a few hours and already has over a million views. No way that happened organically. It’s being pushed.”

“Maybe by Luke?”

“Luke doesn’t have that much push. Watch it. I’ll wait.”

I set my phone down and turn my attention to the computer screen. Zach’s publicist hands me a set of headphones, so I put them in and press play.

I’m cringing, covering my face, and crying by the time I’m halfway through. It’s definitely a video of Luke and me. We’re doing things that are supposed to be private between two people. This is so personal. So violating.

Once I get over the shock of it, I start looking for clues as to when and where this was recorded. I’m wearing the pink lingerie I bought after Luke and I had gotten in a fight a week before he broke up with me. He had come home late. Way late. Gave me some excuse about a friend needing him, but the way he smelled was off. I was certain he had cheated on me.
 

When I confronted him about it, he swore it wasn’t true.
 

Later, when my publicist, Brandi, confirmed that she had seen him out with a friend that night, I felt bad for not trusting him. Brandi told me I should go buy something sexy, show up at his apartment unannounced, and apologize.
 

I hadn’t been to his apartment since we first dated and, honestly, I didn’t even think he still had it. He had moved in with me months before.
 

And although I believed Brandi, something still seemed off about the whole thing. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. When Brandi called and asked if we’d made up, I told her no.

She came over, we drank wine, discussed the situation in more detail, and then she put me in a car and gave them Luke’s address.

He was there. I said I was sorry. We made up.

Fast forward a week. Luke and I are at my place in bed when he kisses me on the forehead, says that he’s hungry, and is going to get sushi.
 

Thirty minutes later, he texted me and said he wasn’t coming back. Ever.
 

I remember how Brandi offered to be there while he moved his stuff out, so that I wouldn’t have to face him.

I’d asked her as a favor to take him on as a client. To help him go mainstream.

And as soon as he did—Oh my god.

Did she plan this?

Did
they
plan this?

And that’s when I realize that Cade might be right about something. Something entirely different.

“Cade, do you think Brandi and Luke were having an affair?”

“I don’t know what they did when you were together, but they’re definitely dating now.”

“They are? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What you should be asking yourself is why didn’t she tell you. I didn’t tell you because I assumed you knew.”

“That bitch”—I spew out every single curse word I know in one big stream—“I’m going to fire her this minute!”

“Calm down, Ash. It’s not the end of the world.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down. You aren’t all over the Internet giving a blow job to an asshole!”

Cade starts laughing. “Now, that would be a completely different kind of video. Where are you right now? The press is going to be hounding you.”

“I’m in Vegas with Zach. Can we get this taken down? Can we sue them? What are my legal rights?”

“Let me handle all of that. Don’t go home. I’m sure the press will be camped out. Why don’t you come straight to my house. We can go over the legal stuff when you get here. In the meantime, don’t talk to anyone. Not your manager. Not your publicist. Not the press. No one.”

Fuck.

I scroll through my phone to see if Brandi has called me. One would assume your publicist would call you during a crisis situation such as this.
 

All I see are calls from people I don’t want to talk to. Numbers I don’t recognize.

But as I scroll down the list, I see Luke has called me.
 

I don’t care what Cade says, I’m calling that fucker back.

When he answers, I say, “What’s that saying, Luke?
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?
You’re about to find out what that feels like. Maybe it will inspire you to write a decent song.”

“Ashlyn, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“You
didn’t know
that you videotaped us having sex in your apartment?”

“No, I didn’t. Look, could we meet somewhere? I really need to talk to you.”

“Fuck you, Luke.”

I slam my phone down on the table.

Zach’s manager stares at me expectantly. “So?”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“Yeah, you should stop seeing Zach before you ruin his career.”

“What are you guys doing out here?” Zach asks from the bedroom doorway. He’s wearing a hotel robe and chugging a bottle of water. “I’m hungry. Where’s the room service menu?”

“What do you want, Zach?” his manager asks. “I’ll make it happen.”

“Breakfast. Like steak and eggs or something.”

The manager nods and gets on the phone, not bothering to ask me if I’m hungry.
 

Not that I am.

I feel like I could puke.

His publicist rolls his eyes. “Food should be the last thing on your mind right now, Zach. Your girlfriend, here, made a sex tape with her ex and it’s all over the Internet.”

Zach pulls me into the bedroom and shuts the door. “If you wanted to release a sex tape, Ash, why didn’t you do one with me? I never thought of it, but it would have been the perfect thing to do for my next career move.”

“Are you crazy? I didn’t release it! Luke must have. Anyway, I have to head back to L.A., like now, and deal with this.”

“Wait until after we’ve had some breakfast. Please? I want to come with you. I’ll stand by you, I swear. We’ll face this together.”
 

And I decide that Harper is wrong. I don’t just want hot sex. I want someone who will stand by me no matter what.

I give him a grateful hug.