‘Adam’s here.’ I needed to get straight to the point. No use dragging it out. ‘In Vegas. He turned up yesterday, just after you’d left…’
‘I know.’
I frowned, cocking my head in question. ‘You do?’
‘I saw him, down in the lobby. I was on my way out of the hotel, and… I spoke to him, Lana. I told him where you were, which room you were in because… The guy has a tattoo now, kid. Your name… Jesus!’ He threw back his head and let out a low groan of frustration. And I felt another wave of sadness hit. ‘And he did that because he loves you so fucking much.’
I laid my hand over his, our eyes locked together. ‘I’m sorry, Eddie. I thought I could walk away, you know? I thought I had to walk away, that me and Adam – I thought we could never be together. That we were bad for each other, but I was wrong. Everything I thought…’ I broke the stare, looking at our hands still joined down by our sides. ‘We wasted so much time, me and Adam, and we need to make that up.’
‘He really does love you enough, huh?’
I raised my gaze again, smiling slightly. ‘You have no idea.’
Eddie squeezed my hand, a faint smile on his handsome face. A face that seemed just a little tired now. ‘I played this all wrong, Lana.’
‘No, Eddie, you didn’t. Whatever you’d done, however we’d tried to make something work between us it… it was never gonna last. Because he was always there – Adam. He was always there, and I was never really gonna let him go. I can’t. I can’t do it.’
He bowed his head, his fingers tightening around mine. ‘When you said I was always gonna be in your life…’ He looked back up, our eyes locking once more, ‘… did you mean that?’
‘Yeah. I meant it,’ I whispered, my smile a little wider now. ‘Look, Eddie…’
‘Just start living that life now, Lana. You hear me?’
I nodded. ‘I hear you.’
Neither of us said anything for a few seconds.Neither of us felt the need. We just looked at each other, his hand still holding tightly onto mine.
‘One last time, Lana. Just one last time, darlin’…’
I leant in towards him, my forehead resting against his, closing my eyes as I breathed him in – that now-familiar smell of beer and engine oil and stale cigarettes that I’d found strangely comforting for so long. ‘I’ve got to go,’ I whispered, slowly pulling away from him.
‘Aye,’ he sighed, letting go of my hand and stepping back from me. ‘Aye, you’d better get back to him.’
‘Eddie, I… thank you. What we had, it’s … it’s been an adventure.’
He smiled, and I allowed my stomach one last flip, sticking my hands in the back pockets of my jeans as I started to walk away.
‘Lana?’
I turned back around.
‘I would have had your name tattooed on me countless times, darlin’. And I mean that.’
38
‘Did he stay over?’
I turned to look at Adam. He was standing there with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his legs slightly apart, his dark-grey shirtsleeves rolled up to the elbows, exposing his brand- new tattoo that I still had trouble believing was there. He looked so beautiful, so handsome it took my breath away. It felt as though I was looking at him for the very first time, and it was the strangest feeling. But one I never wanted to lose.
‘I saw him, down in the foyer the night I arrived here. Did he tell you that? When you saw him yesterday?’
I nodded, leaning back against the sideboard, my fingers gripping the edges behind me.
‘So, had he stayed the night? In this room? With you?’
‘You know he did, Adam.’
He looked down, pushing a hand backwards and forwards through his hair. ‘You slept together?’
‘Adam, please…’
‘I’m sorry.’ He threw his head back, sighing heavily, once more pushing both hands through his hair in an almost nervous fashion. ‘I didn’t mean to…’
‘It’s a mess, Adam, we can’t deny that. But me and Eddie, it’s finished, baby. I promise you. We are done.’
He walked over to me, untying my robe and sliding his hands underneath, resting them on my hips as he lifted me up onto the sideboard, stepping between my open legs. ‘It’s none of my business anyway, darling. We weren’t together, so you sleeping with him…’
‘We were never over, Adam. You and me, it was never over. But that’s exactly why I knew it was over with Eddie. Because I couldn’t get past you.’
He smiled, pulling me forward slightly and I wrapped my legs around him, closing my eyes as he kissed me long and deep. A new kind of Adam kiss. From a new kind of Adam. ‘The thought of someone else…’
‘And you were a saint all the time we were apart?’
‘Almost.’
‘Almost?’ I laughed, running my fingers over his beard, safe in the knowledge he wasn’t getting rid of it now. Not without my say so, anyway. ‘Oh. Little Miss Socialite wear you down a bit too much, huh?’
He couldn’t help laughing, too, turning his head away for a second before his eyes locked back on mine. ‘Whatever we did in the past, it doesn’t matter now.’
‘No,’ I whispered, gently stroking his cheek. ‘No, it doesn’t.’
‘We should be going. We’ve got dinner reservations and…’
I reached down, loosening his jeans, unzipping him slowly. ‘We can get dinner anywhere, Adam. We’re in Vegas. We can get anything we want, any time we like. New life, remember? You don’t have to play by the rules anymore, baby. You don’t have to stick to regimes and timetables.’ I kissed him, gently at first, building up to a much deeper, harder kiss, sliding my tongue inside his mouth, loving the taste of him. ‘We can do whatever we want.’ I took him in my hand, my fingers lightly stroking him. ‘Whenever we want.’
‘Jesus, Lana…’ he groaned, pulling me closer still.
‘It’s too late now, handsome.’ I smiled, wrapping my legs back around him. ‘It’s way too late.’
‘You’re a dangerous woman, Lana Saunders,’ he whispered, holding onto my hips as I leant back slightly, angling myself so I could feel every inch of him pushing inside me.
‘Believe me, Adam, you haven’t even scratched the surface.’
We’d managed to find the perfect spot outside The Bellagio, both of us looking up into the darkness as those famous fountains shot their impressive jets high into the Las Vegas sky, the accompanying music loud and in perfect rhythm with the shots of water. I couldn’t take my eyes off the show. I’d seen it over a dozen times now, yet every single time seemed to throw up something different. Something new.
I leant in against Adam, clinging onto his waist like the nineteen-year-old girl I’d been when we’d first met, his arm flung across my shoulders, his fingers absentmindedly playing with my hair as he looked up into the sky. I moved my gaze from the fountains to him, the lights from the show illuminating his strong profile. When had my husband got so beautiful? I really had been walking around with blinkers on for the best part of our marriage, and I could have kicked myself for letting that happen. For letting everything that had pulled us apart happen. I still got so angry sometimes, so frustrated that I – that we’d just stopped trying, that we hadn’t even realised that’s what we’d done, until it was too late. That we could have, maybe, saved us sooner. Without all the shit that had had to happen to get us here. But then, maybe… I shook all thoughts of Eddie and fate and all that stuff I still wasn’t convinced by, looking back at Adam. He’d always been handsome, I knew that much. Always been someone that had turned heads with his once-smooth, clean-shaven face and those incredible ice-blue eyes that were so rare in dark-haired people. But now, with the beard and the tattoo and that edgier, slightly rougher, look, well – he was just heartbreaking to look at. And he was mine. I smiled a small smile as I wondered whether bondage was something I should seriously consider looking into. I mean, if he spent a lot of time tied up then it was going to be so much h
arder to lose him again, wasn’t it?
‘Lana?’
His voice shook me out of my FiftyShades fantasy, although I’d made a mental note to pop into Ann Summers as soon as I was home and check out what kit I needed. That was a lunchtime shopping trip that was going to freak Finn out big time when I came back with those carrier bags.
‘Something on your mind there?’
I looked at him, blinking a few times, trying desperately to focus on something other than the beer-fuelled bondage nights I was now planning. ‘Hmm? Sorry? Did you say something?’ Did they have Ann Summers over here in Vegas? What the hell was I saying? They had anything you needed over here. All I had to do was ask and someone would no doubt point me in the direction of the local chain and whip stockist. Oh, I really had to stop this now. I could feel that ache between my legs kicking up all over again. Time and place and all that.
‘You looked miles away,’ Adam went on. ‘Is something wrong?’
I smiled at him, kissing him quickly, which did nothing to abate that ache. But what the hell. It wasn’t going to go away in a hurry anyway. ‘Nothing’s wrong. I was just thinking about something, that’s all.’
‘Thinking about what?’
I moved my mouth closer to his, lowering my voice just enough so he could hear me above the noise going on all around us. ‘About you and me and a whole new world of adventure that will rock your hot, hard body, Mr Saunders.’
He smiled, his hand running up and down my back, which really, really wasn’t helping ease that ache between my legs. The probability of this night out being cut short was looking more and more likely. ‘Are you about to drag me down further into your pit of degradation?’
I laughed quietly, my hands clutching his forearms. Such incredibly sexy forearms. Even sexier now they’d been inked. ‘Oh, I am gonna drag you so far down you won’t ever want to get back out.’
‘Promises, promises,’ he murmured, kissing me gently. ‘So, my bad but incredibly beautiful angel, are you going to put this back on now?’ He reached into his pocket, pulling out the black-diamond engagement ring he’d given me just a few weeks ago. ‘It’s for keeps this time, Lana. Okay?’
My stomach turned a million somersaults as he slipped the ring back onto my finger. I felt like a teenager who’d just been asked out by the best-looking boy in school. The excitement I felt right now, it was impossible to describe. ‘For keeps,’ I whispered. ‘Jesus, Adam… What are you doing to me?’
He threw back his head and laughed, a sound I loved. Because I loved him. I always had done. Always. It had just taken me all this time to realise that.
‘We’re gonna be okay, baby. This time. I promise you.’
He rested his hand against my cheek, smiling the most beautiful smile. ‘I know.’
I took his hand, pulling it away from my face and turning it around, staring down at the words etched in brand-new, jet-black ink on the underside of his wrist – in omne tempus–forever (until all time) in Latin. In turn he took my left hand, the exact same words tattooed there on the underside of my own wrist. And never had so few words meant so much, carried so much weight. Never.
‘We’re going to be just fine, Lana. This time.’
Did I believe in fate now? Yeah. Maybe I was starting to…
Also by Michelle Betham …
Striker
Extra Time
Final Score
The First Christmas Without You
About the Author
Michelle Betham is a media technician turned author of contemporary romance, with a kick!
Addicted to binge-watching TV dramas she struggles to think of a life before Netflix, loves rock music, tattoos, spicy food, and Keanu Reeves - a crush that's lasted over twenty years, and one she blames entirely on 'Point Break'.
Her dream is to ride a Harley. And visit Las Vegas. And be able to eat any amount of chocolate without putting on weight…
She lives in County Durham, north-east England, with her husband and West Highland Terrier, where she can be found most days drinking tea and making up stories.
http://michellebethamwriter.blogspot.co.uk/
@michellebetham
About HarperImpulse
HarperImpulse is an exciting new range of romance fiction brought to you from the women’s fiction team at HarperCollins. Our aim is to break new talent from debut authors and import the hottest trends from the US, bringing you the very best in romance. Whether that is through short reads for your mobile phone or epic sagas that span the generations we want to proudly publish romance fiction that gets everybody talking.
Romance readers, come and meet the team at our website www.harperimpulseromance.com, our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HarperImpulse or follow us @HarperImpulse!
Writers, we are simply looking for good stories! So, what are you waiting for? To submit, e-mail us at [email protected].
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London, SE1 9GF, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
http://www.harpercollins.com
Shirley Valentine Goes to Vegas Page 32