by Abby Brooks
Dominic wasn’t kidding about the travel blog. He purchased a domain name while we were in Vegas and posted pictures of the Grand Canyon along with my article. We’ve had so many hits on that post already, I don’t know what to do with myself. It almost looks like I’m really going to get to make a living as an author and that feels amazing.
Living the dream? Yes, please!
We’re also looking into what it would cost to buy some land around Townsbury or Farmington. Get a few of those shipping containers and build a home for ourselves. Just a little place to keep our stuff in a place where I can visit my family in those moments when we have nowhere to go and don’t feel like roughing it.
Of course, that’s a ways off still. And that’s okay because I have him and he has me. We have food on the table—well we would, if we had a table—and really, when you get right down to it, that’s all we’re ever going to need.
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Brookside Romance
Wounded
Inevitably You
Lexi’s story (Title and release date coming soon!)
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The Moores Series
Blown Away (Ian and Juliet)
Carried Away (James and Ellie)
Swept Away (Harry and Willow)
Break Away (Lilah and Cole)
Purely Wicked (Ashely & Jackson)
Love Is…
Love Is Crazy (Dakota & Dominic)
Love Is Beautiful (Chelsea & Max)
Love Is Everything (Maya & Hudson)
What Happened in Vegas
Dakota & Dominic’s Wedding
Copyright © 2016 by Abby Brooks
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
For Bill. Thank you for rocking my world.
Chapter One
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?
Not when the story is this crazy.
Not when I’m flying out there with the man of my dreams. A man I met and fell in love with and knew without a doubt that he was my forever and ever in a matter of months. A man who tried to leave me because he thought I was better off without him only to show up at the bar where I work with a ring, an apology, and a pair of plane tickets to Vegas—the words marry me on his lips.
Dominic Kane. The man I’m destined to spend my life with. The man I couldn’t be more perfectly crazy in love with.
“You excited?” Dominic takes my hand as we head out of McCarran International Airport, following the cute little limo driver who greeted us with a sign that said “The future Mr. and Mrs. Kane” just a moment ago. Those words stretch and echo in my mind and this little flower of happiness blooms in my heart. I never want to be without him again. Ever.
“More excited than you can know,” I reply.
I am definitely out of my element here. As much as I’ve wanted to travel for, oh … you know … my whole entire life, the only time I really left my hometown of Townsbury, Ohio was when Dominic took me to the Grand Canyon a month ago. I was wide-eyed and open-mouthed then, too.
But now? This experience trumps all others. Even the airport in Vegas has slot machines and so many signs with so many neon lights I don’t know where to look. There’s sound and activity and everything already feels completely over the top.
I love it. It’s everything I’ve been missing in my life.
“Welcome to Vegas,” says our driver as we step out into the night and I’m not kidding, I shiver with excitement.
“I can’t believe I’m finally here,” I say to Dominic as we follow our driver towards a cream-colored stretch limo. I raise my eyebrows at him and he unleashes that wide, shit-eating grin I love so much. The driver opens the door and we climb in while she deals with our bags.
“Wow,” I whisper, overwhelmed by the opulence inside. “I’ve never been in one of these before.” There’s a fully stocked minibar and even more neon lights. It looks more like a shrunken version of a private room in a club than, you know, an actual vehicle.
“Want a drink?” Dominic asks, gesturing towards the bar.
“Hell yes I want a drink, but there’s no way I’m letting you make it for me. You’re sweet, but mixing drinks isn’t your strong point.”
“Hey!” Dominic tries to look wounded, but he’s too busy smiling at me.
“What?” I ask, blushing. The look in his eyes is intense. Open. Warm. I can literally see his love for me and it makes my toes curl with happiness.
“I missed you. I love you. I’m glad to see you.”
“Ditto on all counts.” I crawl into his lap, straddling him, and press my lips to his. His hands glide up my back and I run my fingers up into his hair. The sound of our breath and the rustle of our clothes fills the small space and the thump of the driver’s door closing makes me smile against his mouth. I look towards the front of the limo. The partition is down. The driver can’t see anything.
“I missed this, too. Kissing you. Being touched by you/”
Dominic runs a hand across my cheek and into my hair, releasing a zing of pleasure and desire that wings its way through my body like a lightening bug on crack zooming around inside me. “Ditto.”
I kiss him again as the limo roars to life and grin against his lips. “Are we really doing this?”
“Yes, Dakota. We are most definitely making out in a limousine.”
“No, silly. I mean, are we really getting married? No plans. No engagement period. I mean, you haven’t even met my parents!” I run my hands up his arms, just so glad to feel him again. “I mean, when I woke up this morning, I hadn’t spoken to you in weeks. I thought we were done. Over. And here we are, making out in a stretch limo in Las-fucking-Vegas where we are going to get married.”
“Are you having doubts?” He pulls back a little to get a better look at me.
“No.” I say it and I mean it. “Not at all. It’s just crazy, you know? This morning I was a lonely bartender with a shattered heart, and now? I’m marrying the man of my dreams and we’re going to travel the world together, you taking pictures and me writing a travel blog. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted and it just doesn’t feel real yet. That’s all.”
I trace my finger around the swirling tattoos that decorate his arms. It all feels too good to be true and as much as I know what they say about these kind of things, if I pay extra close attention to how I’m feeling, I know in my soul that it is true. That I am for him and he is for me and we’re really, truly getting married. That we have the kind of love that’s going to stick. That’s we’ll grow old together, holding each other’s hands and fucking like rabbits the whole way.
“So,” Dominic says, pulling me close so he can nuzzle my neck. He nibbles my ear and kisses that spot at my jaw that drives me so crazy. “Are you going to make me a drink or what?”
“I’ve got other things on my mind right now.” I press my hips into his and judging by the bulge in his pants pushing up against me, he’s got the very same things on his mind, too.
“Ditto,” he says, smiling devilishly at me. “But it’s been too long since I’ve had you. I don’t want to rush things in a cramped limo. I want to stretch you out on the bed and have time to show you what you mean to me. To remind you what it means to be mine. So as interested as I am right now, I’m going to ask you to make me a drink, woman.”
Pouting, I climb off his lap and pour him a co
uple fingers of whiskey, neat, just the way he likes it and hand it to him with a flourish. He takes a sip, eyes searing into mine the whole time. I grin as I make myself a drink.
Dominic quirks his head to the side. A question. “What’s making you smile?”
“Thinking about you.”
“That smile looks like you’re thinking about more than just me.”
“I’m thinking about having you inside me and all the orgasms I intend to have over the rest of our life together. I’ve really missed your magic penis.”
“Believe me, it’s missed you.” He slides down in his seat, widening his legs and thrusting his hips forward. It’s the single hottest movement I’ve ever seen. “Take a drink, Dakota.”
I take a sip.
“All of it.”
I raise an eyebrow and do as he tells me, holding eye contact as I finish off my whiskey. “Your turn,” I say, turning on my one-thousand-watt smile.
Dominic winks at me and throws back his drink. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see you.” The edge is gone from his voice and I can tell we’re not going to have hot limo sex.
“I missed the hell outta you, Kane.” I pour us each another couple fingers of whiskey because, hey! It’s free. And hey! We’re in Vegas. And hey! We’re about to get married. “So what’s the plan? How do you want to do this?” I ask as I hand him his drink. The limo jostles a little and I settle into the smooth leather seat next to my future husband.
We clink our glasses together and throw back the amber liquid. It burns my throat on the way down and tastes so much like him I might just explode with happiness.
“I kind of thought it would be me and you, and you know, we’d say our vows and exchange rings and then call each other husband and wife.” Dominic grins at me. “Do you know of some other way?”
“You know what I mean.” I slap him on the arm and immediately regret it. I’m working hard on my impulse control and I know not everyone likes to be hit as much as I seem to like hitting them. “I was kind of thinking we could get married by Elvis.”
“Uhh…” Dominic gives me an incredulous look. “I don’t think he’s available.”
This time I do slap him. “You know what I mean. An impersonator.”
He laughs. “Ohhhh. That makes a lot more sense.”
The view on the other side of the window catches my attention. There are lights and people and energy and holy shit I can’t believe how amazing it all is. The biggest city I’ve ever visited is Cincinnati and this isn’t even in the same league. I press my face to the glass like a child and stare, mesmerized.
“It’s something, isn’t it?” asks Dominic.
“Wow.” I glance at him, only to find my attention dragged right back out the window. “It’s everything I ever imagined it to be. More.” I look at him. “Thank you.”
“No, Dakota. Thank you.” He slides his hand up my cheek and into my hair. Pulls me in for another kiss, the taste of whiskey on his tongue making me feel like I’ve finally come home. Like I’m finally the person I’m supposed to be, complete. Whole. Real.
“Say it again,” he says, pressing his forehead to mine.
“Say what again?”
“Say that you want me. That you want this. That we’re going to get married and spend the rest of our life together and the idea doesn’t scare you to death.”
“I’m not scared in the least,” I say and mean it.
“You don’t think this is crazy?”
“It’s totally crazy.” I smile and run my hands up those big, muscular arms again. “But it couldn’t be more perfect.
Chapter Two
“So,” says Dominic as I pour us yet another drink. “The plan.”
“Yes!” I hand him the glass and promise myself I’ll go slow with this one. The last thing I need is to get totally drunk and waste time dealing with a hangover. “Tell me. I want to know.”
Dominic settles into the seat. Throws an arm up on the back and takes a drink. “I managed to get us the penthouse suite at the Bellagio.” He waggles his eyebrows. “We are going to be living it up like the one-percenters, baby.”
“Isn’t that wickedly expensive?” I know he doesn’t have a ton of money. He’s not big on the whole material possessions thing, but then again, neither am I.
“It is.” He unleashes his blindingly attractive smile on me and I can’t help but smile in return. “You are so beautiful. Hold on a second.” He pulls out his phone. “I need a picture.”
“Of course you do.” I try to sound like it’s a big pain in the ass, but I love his pictures. He pulls me in close, waits for the exact moment that my fake smile fades away and my real smile takes its place, and then takes the most beautiful picture of us since the last one he took of us. The lighting in the limo is amazing and it just looks so Las Vegas. He immediately uploads it to Instagram, tags me, and adds a few hashtags.
“So yeah,” he says when he’s done. “The Bellagio penthouse is way out of my … our … price range. But we’re getting the whole experience for free. And I mean the entire experience. Room service. Drinks. Chips for the casino. We even get one of their most expensive wedding packages. Massages. Sylists. The whole deal. But,” he says and takes another drink. “We have to upload all our pictures to my Instagram account and the blog, and we—well, you really—have to write an article about the experience.
“That sounds very fancy.” My dreams of a cute little Elvis wedding go flying out the window. The last thing I want is for him to see my disappointment because what really matters is that he and I are going to pledge our lives to each other. The wedding is just the background, you know? I just wanted something a little less Bridezilla and a little more us.
“It is fancy. We’ll be treated like royalty.” He’s trying to gauge my reaction and I refuse for him to see me be anything but happy.
“It sounds amazing,” I say, beaming and bouncing a little on the edge of the seat.
His dark eyes study me. “What is it?” he asks.
I take a sip of my drink and then put it down on my lap. I really need to slow down. The last time we were supposed to come to Vegas I drank too much and fell off the edge of the Grand Fucking Canyon. Maybe I should learn from that mistake. “What do you mean?” I widen my eyes and put on a confused face.
Dominic laughs “You’re utterly adorable when you’re trying to hide something, you know that? Adorable and transparent. Not buying it, Dakota. Something’s up. Spill the beans.”
“I don’t know.” I bring the drink halfway up, desperate for a distraction, before I remember that I was going to slow down and put it back on my knee. “It just doesn’t sound very much like us.”
“No,” he says and bobs his head in agreement. “It doesn’t. I went for the grand gesture after being such a dick and disappearing like I did. Chelsea said—”
“Ahhh. Yes. This has my older sister written all over it. The Bellagio is so right up her alley.”
Dominic looks crestfallen. “Shit. Of course. I knew I should have gone with my gut.”
Damn it. The last thing I wanted to do was make him feel bad. I take a drink because fuck it, I’m in Vegas and by the look of it, we’re in the middle of pulling up in front of our hotel. “Dominic,” I say and take his hand. “This whole thing is perfect. Utterly perfect. You know why?”
“Why?”
“Because I’m with you and that’s all that matters. The end. Period. Hallelujah. Amen.” I look out the window just as we pull to a stop in front of the Bellagio and holy shit, the fountain. I’ve heard of the Fountains of Bellagio before, but the stories have not even come close to doing it justice. “Wow,” I say, setting my glass down on the bar and hopping out of the limo as soon as it pulls to a stop.
Dominic follows me out, wraps his arm around my shoulder, and pulls me in close. I forgot how good it feels to be wrapped up in him. “It’s something, isn’t it?” he asks.
“I have no words.”
“Well, you better
find the words, woman. You’re gonna have to write an article about it soon. Very soon.”
Our driver steps out of the limo and smiles at us. “First time in Vegas?” she asks.
Dominic jerks his chin towards me. “Hers.” He presses a kiss into the top of my head.
“What brings you here?”
I’m pretty tiny. Fun-sized, as my friends say. But this woman is almost as small as I am, with adorable curly brown hair. It’s kind of nice, looking someone in the eye without having to tilt my head back until I get a crick in my neck.
“Craziness,” I answer, looking up at Dominic with lust burning in my eyes. “Adventure.”
The driver gets a funny look. One that says she understands my hidden message completely even though I have no idea what she thinks she understands. “If you’re feeling a little crazy,” she says and reaches into the limo and pulls out a thick, black binder. She passes it to Dominic who opens it and holds it so we can both have a look at what’s inside.
It takes a second to understand what I’m seeing. Each page is filled with cards, like baseball cards, but with women on them. I’m talking sexy women doing very naughty things. He turns the page. Really naughty things. Each card has a name and a phone number on it and I finally realize that these women are strippers. And, judging by some of the things I’m seeing, it’s more than likely that they’re willing to be a little more than strippers, if you catch my drift.
Dominic laughs and snaps the binder shut while I just stand there with my mouth hanging open. “Not that kind of adventure,” he says as he hands the thing back to the tiny woman with a knowing smirk on her face.
“I’ll tell you what. If you change your mind, you just let me know.” She hands him a card that he glances at and shoves in his pocket. “I’m here a lot.” She doesn’t say anything else, just walks away to gather our bags.