What happened in Vegas: Didn't Stay In Vegas! (7 page)

“Aria mentioned
you wanted out of the lease. Is that true?
”

Okay, I wanted
to disappear,
“
Oh, she said that,
did she? Maybe, but that was ages ago.
”

He casually
stepped closer to me and I could smell his musky sent. Chase's
black suit was flawless although he had probably worn it all day
and his eyes made my knees go Jell-O. He asked,
“
So you
don
’
t feel that way anymore?
”
My nerves were
winning, so I pictured him naked and that didn
’
t work,
because I was suddenly feeling very hot, everywhere.

He probably had
the perfect body, his face and hands were a telltale indicator that
his creature was to die for. My breathing became shallow and rapid;
I was losing control of myself. I told myself,
‘
stick to
the brother, they
’
re identical and I
like him, stick to the brother.
’
Even that
didn
’
t work. I was losing control of my autonomic nervous
system.

“Oh heavens no,
I don
’
t feel that way anymore. I
’
ve settled
nicely.
”
A nervous laugh escaped me. I took a step
backward now; I was almost pinned against snowball with nowhere to
go.

“Glad to hear
that.
”
I turned to open my door when suddenly I felt him rub
against my behind,
“
Do you need help with
your door?
”
I thought I felt hardness, I
wasn
’
t sure. To know for sure he would have had to rub
against me one more time.
‘
Stop it
Chanel,
’
I yelled at myself.

“No, No,
I
’
m fine,
”
I stammered.

I turned back
to face him and well, that was a big mistake we were standing even
closer and I could feel him through his pants pressing against me.
Oh and Yes! He was hard. Holy shit! A bolt of excitement ran
through my veins, there was such a spark with his touch, I wished
for more but him being the beacon of professionalism, Mr. CEO
stepped back when I would have rather him shove me into my car and
take me, fill me with his hard dick and pound against me in some
mind blowing sex. I knew I wasn
’
t thinking straight.
I didn
’
t even like him, but I didn
’
t have to. My
body, my sex drive, my vagina, just loved this man, wanted to eat
him up for dinner.

I drove home
all shaken up. I was tempted to text Nick a code purple, and then I
changed my mind to a code grey. I had no idea what to do but I knew
I only wanted Chase between my legs right now and that was just
absolutely insane. Bradley
’
s words about how I
was
‘
devaluing myself
’
weighed heavily on
me and then I decided against calling a code completely. I called
Aria instead.

~14~

We planned our girl
’
s night in for eight
o
’
clock. Aria resisted inviting Nick complaining
that,
“
It was supposed to be a girl
’
s night
in!
”

I argued for
Nick,
“
He
’
s as close to one
without being one, a guy can get!
”
I also added,
“
He also brings a male perspective to the table which
enables us to understand men better.
”
We both knew the
real unspoken truth why she didn
’
t want him over, he
was going to be seeing her in a sweat suit, I won the argument
though because she finally agreed to have him come, over that
is.

Nick
’
s twelve hour shift
ended at seven thirty, so he texted back saying he needed at least
forty-five minutes to shower and change before coming over, which
really meant an hour and a half in Nick language. I tapped on her
door at exactly eight o
’
clock.

I wanted alone
time with her before Nick showed up anyway. She answered the door
immediately. Her hair was still wet from her shower and hanging in
really cute ringlets around her face. Her porcelain skin and blue
eyes were striking and she had on a beautiful rust colored lipstick
that just made you want to kiss her perfect supple lips. She looked
like she was in her late teens, it was the most beautiful
I
’
d ever seen her.

She opened the door for me, acting all giddy
and giving me a huge hug before cordially inviting me in. Her loft
looked exactly like mine with different living and bedroom
furnishings.

I called
out,
“
Aria?
”

“In
here.
”
Her voice was coming from the kitchen,
“
Make yourself at home, do you want a
drink?
”

“Sure, what do
you have?
”

“Tassimo
everything, Diet Coke, beer, wine.
”

“Wine
please.
”

“Good choice, I
was just given a bottle of Marcassin Estate Chardonnay, from the
Sonoma Coast. I googled the price, it
’
s worth a pretty
penny, given to me of course by a very happy
client!
”

“Real estate
client I hope.
”

“I
don
’
t have any other kind, silly!
”
Aria grinned at
me.

“How
unfortunate for you,
”
I teased.

Aria handed me
my wine and turned on a gas fireplace in the corner of the room, I
hadn
’
t noticed it until now. Then she sat next to
me.

“Give me the
juice!
”
I ordered.

“I gave you
wine, you want juice now too?
”
I could tell Aria
wasn
’
t getting me.

“Juice, is my other word
for scoop...

“Whatever are
you talking about?
”

“Nick. Are you
interested in him?
”
Aria flushed,
“
I only ever met
him the one time.
”
Her shyness was endearing.

“Do you think
he
’
s cute?
”
I was hoping she would say yes,
because I really thought they would make a cute couple, it would
keep Nick away from the men!

“Totally, is he
single?
”

“He sure is,
that
’
s why I asked you to invite him tonight, so you could
get to know him.

Aria crossed
her legs and started playing with one of her now damp curls before
taking a sip of her almost filled too high glass of wine,
“
Okay, let
’
s say I was
interested in him, would it bother you? Would it bother you if I
started seeing your best friend? Would it be weird?

“Not at all,
Nick and I have been friends for as long as I can remember.
He
’
s more like a brother. I would love it if the two of
you hit it off.
”

“Chanel, he
probably doesn
’
t even like
me.
”

“You
don
’
t know that, his tastes are
eclectic,
”
like on cue, there was a tap on the door. The tap
wasn
’
t your typical tap, he tapped out a rhythm of an
entire song until you answered the door or the melody finished
whichever came first.

Nick breezed
into the room like he owned the place. He had this unexplainable
energy about him, everything just seemed more alive when he got
there. Aria asked Nick what he wanted to drink and he chose wine
too. He squeezed between us on the couch rather than choosing a
seat by himself, and looking to the left and right he said,
“
Girls.
”

He turned to
me,
“
Kill anyone at work yet?
”
He was such a prick
at times!

I
didn
’
t have much of a comeback for him. I think the wine
was slowing down my thought processes,
“
Bradley Hart is
too good a teacher to let that happen.
”

“The THROB is
teaching you? How did you swing that?
”
Aria just sat back
on the couch and listened to us go on, it had to be boring for
her.

“THROB?
”

“You know, as
in heart throb. Every female cardiac nurse at the hospital gushes
how much of a heart throb he is. Whenever the nursing station is
busy, they give up their computers, their chairs, their pens, even
their stethoscopes for him, anything he wants, just to get him to
notice them. He
’
s totally not into
them. He hasn
’
t dated anyone since
his divorce. It
’
s sickening. Frankly,
I think he
’
s overrated.
”

“You
’
re jealous is more
like it.
”

“Whatever. I
have it going on too, you know,
”
he started running
his fingers through his short hair in an arrogant
manner.

“You do, do
you? Who
’
s got a big head now?
”

He looks down
at his groin and then smirks up at Aria,
“
Don
’
t listen to her, the
only big head I have is hidden in my pants.
”
Jokingly, he
whispers to her,
“
I
’
ll show you
later,
”
just loud enough for me to hear.

“Throb might be
interested in somebody.
”
I smirked at
Nick.

“You?
”
He said sarcastically, pointing at me
laughing, he said,
“
Unlikely! Have you
seen his ex-wife? She is a breathtaking bombshell! No offense but
you can't hold a candle to her.
”

I felt
defensive,
“
He held my hand in
the parking lot at the hospital today, until we bumped into his
brother.
”

“You bumped
into Chase? CEO Chase?
”

“The one and
only.
”

“What did Throb
do with your hand?
”

“He dropped it
like it was made of acid,
”
I
grumbled.

“Didn
’
t want Chase the big
CEO to see obviously.
”

“I
guess.
”

Aria found a
second to get a word in,
“
Chase has a
brother?
”

Nick looked at
her,
“
Twin.
”

Aria
smiled,
“
Really?
”

Nick rolled his
eyes,
“
Oh God, not you too?
”

Aria cast her
gaze down and shook her head,
“
No,
no.
”

Nick focused
back on me and said,
“
So then what
happened?
”

I took another
sip of my wine, my glass was only half full,
“
Chase
wanted to have a word with me so Bradley left.

Nick looked at
me perplexed,
“
Why would Chase want
to talk to you? No offense!
”

“None taken
dickwad, he
’
s my landlord,
remember?
”

Nick
flushed,
“
Oh yes, so what did he say?
”

I
shrugged,
“
He just wanted to know if I still wanted out of
my lease. I told him definitely not. That was ages ago and
I
’
m happy now.
”
I looked at Aria,
and finished what I had to say,
“
When I went to go
open my car door, he accidentally rubbed up against my
ass.
”