“You were the only trouble I had.”
Instead of firing back, Evie seemed to deflate. She sighed and her shoulders dropped. “Yeah. I know. I’ve brought nothing but trouble to myself and everyone I love with this whole situation.”
Did she include him in that group?
“I owe you an apology, Nick. For everything.”
He hadn’t been expecting that. “Such as?”
“I panicked, and I shouldn’t have. I put you in a bad position and then did nothing but exacerbate it. I have a bad temper, and I tend to jump into things with both feet without thinking it all the way through. So I’m sorry about everything I put you through. Including the mess I seem to have made of our divorce.” She shook her head sadly and a bitter laugh escaped. “After the mess I made of our marriage, I don’t know why I’m surprised I messed this up. I certainly don’t want part of The Zoo or any of that. If you’d like a cash settlement for your trouble, I’ll talk to Jackson and have him work that out with you and your lawyer. You deserve at least that much.”
What he deserved and what he wanted were two completely different things. He didn’t deserve much of anything, but he wanted a hell of a lot. “That was quite a speech. When you decide to humble yourself, you certainly go all the way.”
“It’s not false humility. I can admit to my mistakes.”
He wasn’t sure he liked her tone. “And marrying me was a mistake?”
She smiled weakly. “I think we’ve proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. I know money won’t fix anything, but that’s really all I have to offer.”
She had a lot to offer him, but she didn’t know that. “I didn’t realize being married to me was such a burden that you’d be willing to pay to get out of it.” Maybe he’d read this whole situation wrong. She certainly seemed resigned to her choice and determined to get it done as quickly as possible. He’d come to call her bluff; he’d never considered she might not be bluffing after all.
Evie ran her hands over her face and through her hair. “Being with you is many things. Burden isn’t the word I’d choose.” Then she turned to him and sighed. “It’s definitely been an adventure. An eye-opening adventure for me, and though I know it has sucked for you, I’m actually very appreciative for that.”
“Did I ever say it sucked for me?”
“You didn’t have to.” Her mouth twisted as she said it and he felt like that first-class bastard. “I’m sorry it turned out this way, but I would like to at least part as friends.”
It had taken everything she had to get that speech out of her mouth, but she’d been careening from one emotion to the next and she just didn’t have anything left in her.
Nick’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think we can be friends.”
Considering what she really wanted, hearing Nick say that was about the last blow her heart could take. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll take you off my Christmas-card list.”
“That’s it? You just roll over? What’s happened to you? Where’s the Evie that charges in and goes for what she wants? The Evie who was willing to take me on over anything and everything?”
“She’s tired of fighting. Look, I’m smart enough to know when I can’t have what I want, and it’s time to give up this fight.”
There was that sideshow oddity look again. “Tell me the truth, Evie. What do you want?”
You. But she couldn’t say that. “It doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does.”
“Do you know what you want, Nick?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“What’s that?” When he hesitated, she tried to sweeten the offer. “I just need this to be over with, so whatever it is, tell me, and if it’s within my power, I’ll happily give it to you.”
Nick broke eye contact as he thought, and she knew she should be worried what he was going to ask for if it required that much thought. She’d put herself in a place of weakness for this negotiation, but she just needed this over with. Her heart couldn’t break into any more pieces without killing her for real.
“I just want to ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“Were you happy in Las Vegas? At any time?”
It was an odd question, but she could answer it without hesitation. “Yeah, I was. Most of the time,” she acknowledged.
“With me?”
“I know it sounds hard to believe, but I was—when I didn’t want to strangle you, of course.” He smiled, and that gave her a little courage. “Honestly, I thought for a little while there that we might be able to make it work. But we got married for all the wrong reasons, and it was just too much to overcome. Had I known the divorce would be this complicated, I wouldn’t have asked you to marry me in the first place.”
“There’s actually a very simple solution to this divorce situation.”
“Really?” She tried to inject some enthusiasm into her voice. “Tell me.”
“We don’t get one.”
Her jaw fell open, and she couldn’t manage to close it. It felt as if sunshine was pouring into the dark hollows of her chest, and her heart started to beat for the first time in ages. She stomped down the feelings; there was no way she heard that correctly. “I’m not following you.”
Nick rubbed his palms against his thighs. “You’re not making this easy on me. I’ve tried every way I can think of—including getting you mad at me—to break down that wall you’re hiding behind.” He laughed. “I should know better by now. So, I’m just going to have to bite the bullet.”
She was teetering on a knifepoint, unsure if she should be hoping or praying. She swallowed hard and braced herself. “Um…okay.”
“I don’t want a divorce. There. I said it. I don’t want a divorce, and I want you to come home. To Vegas.”
That sunshine seemed to pump through her veins, filling her with hope. It was cautious hope, but without clarification…“Home? With you?”
Nick rolled his eyes in exasperation. “No, with Siegfried and Roy and the tigers. Of course with me. Jesus, Evie, how difficult are you going to make this for me?”
“But…”
Nick stepped closer to where she sat. “Do you really want a divorce? You just said you thought we might be able to make this work. Don’t you want to try?”
She stood and crossed the room, not wanting Nick to get too close. She needed space—to think, to breathe. “What I need is to just get over you. And that’s proving difficult enough—”
Nick interrupted her with a half grin. “Get over me? That rather implies…”
Me and my big mouth. “All right. Fine. You win.” Nick just looked at her expectantly. “Do I really have to say it?”
Nick nodded and stood there, seeming to enjoy watching her die of embarrassment.
She crossed her arms over her chest and squared her shoulders. “I don’t want a divorce, either, okay? For some reason known only to God and it’s probably proof I’m truly insane, I’m in love with you.” Nick’s grin grew and she wanted to smack him. “I’m sure a good therapist will be able to help me sort this out.”
Nick stalked toward her and she backed up a step. And then another.
“I’m probably confusing good sex with love or maybe all those pregnancy hormones messed my head up. Or something like that.” Oh, no; she’d backed herself into a corner, and Nick closed in on her as she put her hands out to block his approach. “Um, Nick, I—”
He cut her off with a kiss. It was both sweet and hungry, sending happy shivers all the way to her toes at the same time it sparked her nerve endings to life. Nick leaned in, pressing his chest against her palms, and she could feel the heavy thump of his heart as it kicked up speed and he deepened the kiss.
She relaxed her hands and let them slide up his chest to his shoulders and finally clasp around his neck. Rubbing her thumbs against the muscles there, she heard his sigh as he broke the kiss and moved to nuzzle her temple.
“Missed you,” he murmured against her hair.
“And…?” she prompted. Instead of answering, Nick’s lips moved to her earlobe. She shivered, but she wouldn’t be distracted by that. “Don’t leave me out here on this ledge alone.”
Nick pulled his head back and tilted her face up to his. “And I love you.”
Peace settled on her shoulders, lightening her heart. “I’ve missed you, too.”
“So you’ll come home with me?”
She nodded, then gasped as Nick lifted her off her feet. Did he mean this very second? But no, the bedroom was the destination, and she wanted to shout with happiness when she saw the look in his eyes as he pressed her onto the mattress and lay at her side.
Propped on his elbow, he loomed over her, one hand tracing a lazy path up from her hip, over her waist and rib cage before stopping in her cleavage where her ring was nestled. Nick’s eyes darkened again as he slid a finger over the thin gold chain. Then his fist closed around the ring, and one quick tug broke the chain.
He slid the ring back where it belonged with a tenderness that made her heart melt. “Much better,” he told her. Then he frowned. “But still not right.”
“Why? What’s the problem?” She examined the ring, looking for a flaw.
“You need a rock. Some big, fancy bling to show off at your country club. And if we’re going to do that, you might as well do the whole big white wedding thing. Give the paper that princess wedding they expected.” Nick’s fingers were working on the buttons of her blouse as he spoke, and a moment later it was on the floor.
“We can’t do th-that.” She stuttered when his mouth moved along the lace edge of her bra.
“Why not?” Now he was working the clasp of her jeans.
“It’s against the r-rules. You only get one wedding. A do-over is tacky.” He looked up at her, and she added, “Trust me on this. I know what I’m talking about. Gwen would have a cow…” She sat straight up as she remembered. “Oh, no! I’m supposed to meet Gwen.”
“Now?” The disappointment in his voice amused her and aroused her at the same time.
“We were supposed to go shopping. Just don’t move.” She scrambled for the phone. “Let me call her and tell her…What am I going to tell her?”
Nick tugged on her arm, pulling her back onto the bed. “That you’re very busy at the moment.” He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of her jeans and panties and slid them down over her legs. Then he grinned wickedly at her. “And naked.”
Fingers shaking from the kisses Nick placed on her inner thigh and the wet heat of his tongue moving against her, Evie barely managed to text Gwen with a message cancelling shopping. Whether it made any sense or not, she didn’t know, and she didn’t care as she dropped the phone and arched against Nick’s mouth with a groan.
When she could think again, she tugged at his hair, pulling him up until they were eye level. “You are so bad.”
“And here I thought I was pretty good.” One quick thrust of his hips, and, thank heaven, he was buried inside her. “I can always try again and see if I can do better.”
She was already trying to find a rhythm, rocking her hips against his. “Later.”
Nick dropped his forehead to hers and held still. “Marry me, Evie. Again.”
“I told you, it’s tacky,” she gasped, her fingers digging into his arms. She was going to die soon from wanting. “Please, Nick.”
“I’m from Vegas. We invented tacky.” He moved his hips just enough to send a shock wave through her. “Marry me.”
She met his eyes. “Tell me you love me.”
With a seriousness that healed every crack in her heart, Nick cupped her face and whispered, “I love you, Evangeline Rocco.”
“Then I’ll marry you. Again.” She wanted to say more, but Nick was moving and she couldn’t hold a thought in her head.
Two hours later, Nick asked, “Where do you want to go for our honeymoon?”
She thought for a minute. Just a few hours ago, she’d been examining all kinds of potential places to go. None of them seemed very tempting now, and Las Vegas, which hadn’t even made her short list earlier, was the only place remotely interesting at the moment.
While Nick expressed surprise, it made perfect sense to her.
After all, she’d gotten very, very lucky in Vegas.
Epilogue
EVIE GROWLED LOW IN HER THROAT as pain creased her sweaty brow. He couldn’t tell if she was growling at the actual pain or simply because she was in pain at all.
Nick smoothed her hair back from her forehead, only to have that growl redirected at him.
“Do not touch me,” Evie gritted out. “This is all your fault, and you’re not to touch me again as long as you live.” She groaned and gripped the steel rails of the hospital bed. “And that might not be for too much longer,” she snarled.
Sunny, the labor and delivery nurse whose attitude matched her name, patted his shoulder. “That’s just the pain talking. She doesn’t mean it.”
He hesitated correcting her. Evie didn’t make empty threats, and she was probably plotting his demise—his painful demise—during the moments of calm between contractions. Those moments were getting shorter, though, and he was feeling bad enough at this point to accept whatever painful torture Evie had in mind. She was in so much pain…“Can’t you give her something? Anything?”
Sunny shook her head. “Not at this point. But we’re getting close.”
Another contraction gripped Evie, and his wife seemed to channel that kid from The Exorcist. “This can’t be normal,” he complained.
“Evie didn’t plan on doing this naturally, so she wasn’t prepared for the pain. That’s making it worse for her.” Sunny checked a monitor and murmured encouraging words to Evie.
With the next contraction, Evie cursed a blue streak and threatened to remove a part of his anatomy she’d been rather fond of until her water broke.
“Language, Evie. You’re going to be someone’s mother.” Will’s dry tone contrasted with the lines etched on his face. Will was handling this only slightly better than Nick was.
“Bite me, Will. I don’t know why Gwen didn’t kill you after the twins were born.”
“Because Gwen—unlike some people—was smart enough to get to the hospital before the window for her epidural closed.”
“I was busy,” she panted, “you butthead—” pant, pant “—how was I supposed to know…”
As Evie and Will bickered, Sunny frowned. She motioned him closer. “Do I need to get her brother out of here?”
“No. They’re always like this. It’s probably good for her—taking her mind off the contractions.” And as long as Evie was sniping at Will, he himself wasn’t in her crosshairs. Will had planned to come closer to Evie’s due date anyway, so it was a nice coincidence he’d been in town for the dedication of the new Harrison-funded day-care center at Gleason Street when Evie went into labor two weeks earlier than expected. Gwen was still en route.
They’d waited over a year before trying to get pregnant again, and Evie had received the news they were successful with cautious optimism, unconvinced she wouldn’t miscarry again and too scared to get her hopes up until after they crossed the three-month mark. After that milestone, Evie’s entire outlook changed, and she’d become almost Madonnalike in her serenity during this last trimester. That had been a bit of a shock, but the feisty Evie he knew and loved was back now. With a vengeance.
Dr. Banks pushed through the door, his white coat flapping behind him. “Are you ready to do this, Evie?”
Evie smiled angelically at her doctor, relief written all over her face. “Yes. Please.”
“Then let’s have a baby.” Dr. Banks motioned to Will, who squeezed Evie’s hand on his way out, and Sunny directed Nick into position as she helped Evie sit up.
Evie met his eyes then. “Wipe that smile off your face. I’m holding you personally responsible for this.”
“The baby’s crowning. Push, Evie!”
She squeezed his hand and smiled. “Thanks.”
From page three of Dallas Lifestyles:
Evangeline Rocco, née Harrison, was spotted shopping with our own Miss Behavior and Sabine Wyndham last Saturday, while baby Charlotte spent the day with her doting father, Las Vegas nightclub magnate Nick Rocco, uncle, HarCorp’s Will Harrison, and cousins in the HarCorp skybox watching the Rangers game. The newest addition to the Harrison-Rocco family empire then made her Dallas debut Sunday morning at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in a beautiful hand-stitched christening gown reportedly imported from France for the occasion. No official photos of baby Charlotte have been released by the family yet, but casual snaps are surfacing as Evangeline introduces her daughter to the sights and society of her hometown.
Dallas society has suffered greatly from the loss of Evangeline to the lights of Las Vegas, but all reports indicate our Evangeline has taken Sin City by storm, as well…
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
What Happens in Vegas... Page 17