Endless Nights: Vegas Nights, Book 3

by Karen Erickson

  He led her around, through the crowds of people gathered, the wind whipping Andrea’s hair into her face and making her constantly push it out of the way irritably. She looked good windblown. She looked good anytime, anywhere. This realization meant he had it bad.

  Luke already knew this, though, so no surprise.

  He stood by as she took a bunch of photos and went to her when she waved him over. “Let’s take a selfie,” she said, and he moved to stand beside her, slipping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in close, bending at the knee so their heads were level. She counted down, and he smiled at the moment she took the photo, both of them standing with their heads bowed over the screen as they checked it out.

  “Turned out good,” she said, reaching out to dab at his face with her index finger. “We’re cute.”

  “We make a good couple,” he said, his voice low, his mouth dry. He probably shouldn’t have said that, but fuck it. This was about being real, he promised himself that. So he wasn’t going to hold back. She should know how he felt.

  “You think so?” She sounded breathless and she wouldn’t look at him, kept her gaze fixed on her phone. He touched her chin, forced her to glance up at him, and he smiled at her.

  “I know so,” he murmured, dropping a quick kiss on her nose. “Want to take another photo? You need to text me these.”

  “Yes. Let’s do it.” They started to pose, but a woman asked if they wanted her to take their photo and so she did, snapping a bunch of them before she handed the phone back.

  “Do you think it’s cheesy that I want to save this photo as my background?” she asked, showing him the photo in particular.

  “No.” He was happy she said it. Made him think she was just as into him as he was her. Hopefully she was as serious too. “I think I’ll do the same when you send me the photos.”

  “I’ll send them right now,” she said, her fingers flying over her keyboard.

  They left the Space Needle soon after, stopping to eat lunch at one of his favorite Thai restaurants before they headed back to his building. She was quiet on the drive home, her eyes at half-mast as she slouched in her seat. He let her doze, remaining quiet, the radio turned down low as he drove.

  He worked it over in his mind how he could approach her about wanting to turn this into something real. A relationship. He just wanted to blurt it out and be done with it. Hinting around was for sissies, and he wasn’t in the mood to play games. Being open and honest would kick start their relationship in the right direction.

  Exactly what he wanted.

  It had been months since he and Raquel had split, but he hardly counted that as a real relationship. He didn’t feel a tenth for Raquel what he was experiencing with Andrea. She was starting to become…everything to him. And instead of scaring the crap out of him, he wanted to embrace it.

  So he planned on telling her what he wanted tonight. Maybe even when they first got home. He wasn’t letting her leave without telling her. No way, no how.

  Luke drove his truck into the parking lot and pulled into a slot, shutting off the engine. Andrea startled awake, glancing over at him with a sleepy smile as she stretched, thrusting her chest out. His gaze dropped to her breasts and his hands itched to touch her there.

  “I fell asleep,” she said as she bent to grab her purse.

  “We can take a nap if you want,” he suggested.

  “Naked naptime? That sounds fun,” she teased.

  His cock twitched in anticipation. “Hell yeah it does.”

  He took her hand as they headed toward the entrance to his building, the sun breaking through the clouds, shining warm beams of light upon them. He tilted his head up, spotting the bright blue sky overhead, and he smiled. This day was just getting better and better.

  “Luke fucking Nelson, you dog. Where the hell have you been?” screeched a pissed-off female voice.

  A familiar female’s voice.

  Dread slithered down Luke’s spine, and he stopped when he saw Raquel standing in front of the double doors of his condo building. He gripped Andrea’s hand hard and she stared up at him, a questioning look on her face.

  Raquel. His ex-girlfriend. They saw each other for a few months, started up during the playoffs and a month or two after that, but then he got bored. She didn’t do it for him. Her jealous streak was wide as the Puget Sound and he didn’t want to deal.

  “Raquel.” He cleared his throat, trying for friendly and easygoing when he was feeling anything but. He didn’t want to piss her off any more than she already was. She looked furious enough already. “What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you. I was feeling lonely. Thought I’d stop by.” She flicked her chin in Andrea’s direction. “Looks like someone beat me to you.”

  Andrea tried to withdraw her hand from his, but he wouldn’t let her. Hell no. “You should’ve called first.” Yeah, especially since he hadn’t heard from her in months. So why would she stop by now, today of all days? Talk about shitty timing.

  “I can see that. But a surprise is always fun, right?” Raquel shifted her focus to Andrea, a calculating smile curving her lips. She was an attractive woman. Short and curvy, with the blondest hair he’d ever seen. But they weren’t what he’d call compatible. She was too much trouble most of the time.

  Proving so at this very moment.

  “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your latest piece?” Raquel asked.

  Andrea sucked in a sharp breath, but her expression remained neutral. “I’m Andrea,” she said.

  “Ah, great meeting you, sweetie. I’m sure he’s been wining and dining you. Maybe even sixty-nining you, but let me give you a word of warning.” Raquel approached them, her stride quick, her expression one of gleeful malice. “He may be sweetly attentive right now, but he’ll dump you so fast, your head will spin. He wasn’t made for serious. Luke enjoys being free and easy.”

  Anger coursed through him, and he flexed his jaw. Andrea disentangled her hand from his and he felt bereft. Empty.

  “Shut up, Raquel,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “Ooh, the truth hurts? I’m sure,” she mock cooed. “Wait until the media gets word that you found a new pretty young thing to keep on your arm. I’m sure you’d love that sort of attention, huh, Andrea? You seem like a real simple girl, though, from the way you look and all.”

  “Quit insulting her and get the hell out of here,” he growled, taking a step forward, but Andrea put her hand on his arm to stop him.

  “Big man all ragey and angry? Does she know about your steroid problem?” Raquel blinked up at him. “How violent you can get?”

  Ah, Jesus, now she was just flat-out making up lies about him. Fuck this. They needed to get the hell out of here.

  “Hope you’ve had your fun spewing nothing but lies,” he muttered as he took Andrea’s hand once more and started heading for the front entrance, reaching out an arm to push open the door and hold it for Andrea. “Stay away from us,” he told Raquel.

  “With pleasure,” Raquel called after them, the door shutting and silencing her continued shouts.

  Luke escorted Andrea into the elevator and she didn’t say a word. Still didn’t say a word the entire ride up to his floor either. It was when they were walking toward his front door that he couldn’t take her silence any longer.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, stopping at his door so he could unlock it. “I had no idea she’d show up.”

  “Does that happen often? Ex-girlfriends randomly stopping by and trying to sabotage your date?’

  “No, it’s never happened before.” And that was the damn truth. He just had some sucky bad luck.

  “But it did just now, while I’m here.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, her behavior defensive. “How long did you two go out?”

  He opened the door and she walked inside. He followed af
ter her, shutting and locking the door. “A couple of months, if that? It was meaningless. I met her at a bar.”

  “Sounds familiar. Random meeting, instant relationship, ugly split a few months later.” Andrea shook her head, disappointment etched all over her pretty face. “Is this a pattern you have?”

  “I don’t have any type of pattern.” He was angry. Frustrated. How the hell was he going to explain himself out of this one? “In all the time I was with Raquel, I never felt even an ounce of what I feel when I’m with you.”

  Andrea studied him silently, looking like she wanted to believe him. God, did he want her to believe him. “Do you really use steroids?”

  “Jesus.” He ran his hands over his hair, wishing he could punch something. “No. I don’t. I can’t believe you’d ask me that.”

  “I don’t know anything about you! We only just met. All we’ve done is have lots and lots of sex. What are we trying to do here, huh? Pretend we have something serious?”

  Her words were sending him reeling. Damn it, did she say pretend? There was nothing pretend about what he felt for Andrea. Nothing. “I’m not pretending,” he said, his voice low. “Are you?”

  “I don’t know.” She lifted her chin, her gaze meeting his for a brief moment before she dipped her head. His heart literally ached at the fact that she couldn’t seem to stomach looking at him. “I’m confused. This is all…too much for me to process.”

  And just like that, he saw all of his hope for a future…dashed. By one pissed-off ex.

  Chapter Nine

  “You shouldn’t have let that stupid jealous cow make you doubt him,” Natalie said. “He’s famous. He’s gorgeous. He dates women. A lot of them, I’m sure. So of course angry ones are going to come out of the woodwork on occasion and try to tear him down. Especially when he has a new woman by his side.”

  Andrea clutched the phone to her ear as she curled up on her couch, leaning heavily against the soft brown fabric, desperate to seek comfort from it. Best purchase from Pier 1 she ever made, but the kind of comfort she was looking for couldn’t be delivered by a freaking couch. “I know. You’re right. I blew it with him.”

  “I’m sure you didn’t blow it,” Natalie said, trying to turn it around, but too late.

  A week after returning from Seattle, Andrea was in despair mode and there was nothing that could take her out of it. The rest of her visit with Luke had been clouded by the appearance of Raquel the vengeful ex. Oh, they’d talked about what she said and cleared up a few things, but really? Andrea had been full of doubt over how she could handle a relationship with a guy like Luke. A guy who had to deal with that sort of thing all the time. She was a private person. A quiet person. She didn’t get into fights with other women and bash a guy publicly. It wasn’t her style.

  Dating a famous football-playing man like Luke Nelson wasn’t her style either. The incident with Raquel made Andrea realize she was completely out of her element. She wasn’t the right type of girl for Luke. Not that she said anything to him. They continued on with their day by having sex, watching a movie, eating takeout Chinese, having more sex and then finally falling asleep.

  But she’d held herself back, just like she’d originally planned. She played it cool. And he knew it. Her behavior hurt him. Since she’d come back home, she’d thrown herself into work, ignoring most of his calls, answering his texts with brief replies and generally being a real bitch.

  She did it to protect herself. Protect her already broken heart.

  “I did blow it, Nat. I’m sure he hates me. I hate me. I acted like that stupid ex-girlfriend of his could say a few bad things and ruin it all. I let her ruin it. I should’ve been stronger.” Andrea closed her eyes. “I should’ve believed in him.”

  “Call him and tell him that! Don’t waste your breath on me,” Natalie said. “I’m hanging up right now so you can go call him, okay? You need to stop sitting around and moping over your supposed loss. He’s not a loss, not yet. Don’t let him get away.”

  Andrea drew in a shuddering breath, opening her eyes so she could stare up at the ceiling. “I’m an idiot.”

  “Yes. You are.” Natalie paused. “I’d give anything to be in your shoes. I think Noah’s lost interest and I’m pretending like I’m fine, but really…I’m not. It’s killing me. I wish he’d call. I wish he’d show up on my doorstep. I wish I had the chance to call him right now and beg him not to forget me, but I don’t. I won’t do that because he’s…he’s already forgotten. I lost my chance. But you haven’t.”

  Andrea felt bad. She was whining like a baby and Natalie was quietly devastated that Noah hadn’t called her. At least Luke liked her, was pursuing her. And she was the one shutting him out.

  Stupid.

  “You’re right.” Andrea sat up straighter, steeling her spine with grim determination. “I’m going to call him.”

  “Good! Call him. Tell Luke you miss him and you’re dying to see him again. I bet he’d hop on the next plane.”

  “I couldn’t do that.” Fear sliced through her. What would she do if he did come and visit her? Freak out? Throw herself at him and proclaim her love? Tell him maybe they shouldn’t be together after all?

  Love him or push him away? Those were the options she was considering?

  God, she was so confused.

  “Couldn’t do what? Ask him to come see you?”

  “I don’t know! I’m freaking out, Natalie. I need to go.”

  “Call him. And then call me back and tell me what he said,” Natalie instructed firmly before she disconnected.

  Andrea stared at her phone, taking a deep breath before she sought out Luke’s number on her contacts and called him. The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. Was headed straight for voicemail after the fourth ring, but luckily enough, he answered, somewhat breathlessly.

  “Andrea. How are you?”

  She closed her eyes, clutching her phone tight. His voice sounded so…wonderful. So close. She wished he was here, right now, sitting on her couch, touching her knee, reaching out to pull her into his big, strong arms. “Hi.”

  “Hey.” He paused. “You okay?”

  “I miss you,” she admitted, clamping her lips shut. No more playing it cool, damn it. She needed to be forthright with her feelings, even if it scared her.

  “I miss you too.” When she didn’t answer him, he continued, “Baby. Seriously. Are you all right? You don’t sound so good.”

  “I’m an idiot. I let that stupid girl ruin our last day together,” she whispered, blinking back the tears that threatened. “It scared me, thinking I could be with you and knowing that you have all of these…things. Like a past. Like a career that keeps you busy and takes you on the road a lot. Women who fall madly in love with you and they don’t even know you. Women who throw themselves at you. I’ve never had to deal with that sort of thing before.”

  “I know,” he said. “It’s weird, I get it. But I don’t care about any of them. I only care about you.”

  She sagged against the couch. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I care about you a lot. I’d chase after you, wherever you are, just to keep you in my life. You know this, right?”

  “I wasn’t sure what to think,” she confessed. “I figured I blew it after how I acted last week. You should hate me for doubting you.”

  “I don’t hate you, baby. The last thing I could ever do is hate you.”

  “Really?” she repeated. God, had she turned into a parrot?

  “Yes. Really,” he said firmly. “Hey, I gotta go. Can I call you back in a few?”

  “Sure.” She ended the call before he could even say bye, wanting to throw her phone at the wall

  Most important call of her life and he had to go? What the hell? Maybe she should listen to those doubts whispering in her mind. Maybe this relationship was doomed from the start. It began in Vegas of all plac
es. At a party. Where she let him maul her and kiss her and then take her back to his hotel room and have his way with her for the rest of the night. She deserved to be dumped. A couple of bad experiences in college had left her with a terrible taste in her mouth and it looked like she hadn’t learned. Instead of growing up and respecting herself, she did it again—she cheapened herself. Totally and completely cheapened…

  A loud knock sounded on her front door and she startled, leaping to her feet. Who could that be?

  She carefully approached the front door, peeking through the peephole, but she saw nothing. Slowly she opened the door, poking her head out, and saw a giant bouquet of pink roses lying on her doormat, surrounded by waxy white paper. Reaching out, she plucked the roses up and brought them to her nose, inhaling their rich fragrance. There was no card, no note, no nothing, but she had a feeling who they were from.

  “You didn’t let even me say goodbye.”

  Andrea screamed, nearly dropping the flowers when she saw who stood in front of her.

  Luke.

  His girl looked incredibly sad and he didn’t like that. Not one fucking bit. She’d sounded sad too on the phone, and he’d had to end the call because he was sitting in her apartment building parking lot, dying to see her. Hold her. Comfort her.

  She’d told him her address during the first night she was in Seattle and he’d been smart enough to type it into his phone, much to her enjoyment. She informed him jokingly she expected to see multiple flower deliveries in her future and so he decided to make good on her demand.

  Though he believed it was much better for him to make said deliveries in person.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice a raspy whisper.

  He smiled. “I wanted to see you.”

  “So you thought you’d just…surprise me?”

  “Well, yeah.” He held his hands out, palms up and facing the sky. “Surprise.”

  She clutched the roses in front of her and slowly opened the door wider. “You want to come in?”