“Hey, what are you doing here?”
“I skipped out of work early. Figured I’d try pressuring you to join me on my little hooky day.”
She gestures to her office and I step inside. She closes the door behind us and moves around her desk to sit down. “If you don’t mind waiting a few moments, I can leave as soon as I finish this up.”
“Sure, go ahead,” I say, walking around her office and taking it in. There’s a table on the far wall with a big TV above it. It plays a slide show of pictures: mostly the building, the property, the animals, and people with animals—people I’m assuming have adopted a pet from the shelter. On the table is a line of picture frames. I bend down and look at each one. Harley is in all of them, and some include other staff members. But most of the pictures are of dogs and cats playing together.
There’s a bookshelf in the corner, and all of the books are about dog breeds. There are a few framed photographs and knick-knacks here and there to decorate the shelf. Then there are two chairs in front of her desk, and a line of filing cabinets behind her.
“So, this is your office, huh?”
“Yep, my little home away from home. Sorry, I’m just trying to set up an appointment. I think I’ve found new owners for Bob.”
“Bob?” I ask, confused.
She smiles. “One of the dogs I’m fostering.”
“Oh, right.” I nod then sit down across from her. “So, what happens when you’re out of dogs? Do you get more or . . .”
She laughs. “I’ve never found myself without a dog, to be honest. I don’t take dogs who have problems with other animals. When one gets adopted, I usually get another. Just the way it works.”
“How many have you fostered?”
She thinks for a moment. “Twenty-six, I think?”
“Wow. I’m pretty sure I’ve ever even petted 26 dogs.”
She laughs and shakes her head, but then finishes what she’s doing on the computer and pushes back her chair. “All done. What’s the plan?”
I shrug. “I was thinking beer and wings at Stella’s?”
She smiles. “If they’ll let me back in.” She grabs her purse and pushes open the door, leading the way.
We pull up to the bar a little while later, and the moment we walk in, the bouncer looks our way. A knowing look takes over his face and he points at Harley.
“Stay off the tables.”
She shows him her palms and I put my arm around her. “I’ll keep an eye on her,” I promise.
I lead her to a small pub-style table and we have a seat. A waitress comes over and we order a pitcher of beer, a bucket of wings, and an appetizer sampler as a side. Music is playing softly in the background, loud enough to hear and sing along with if you wanted, but quiet enough to talk over comfortably.
“How was work?” Harley asks.
“Shitty. I had to get a talk from my father. He’s wanting me to come over for dinner this weekend.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Bianca and her parents will be there too. That means it’s not a dinner—it’s an organized plan of attack to figure out why we’re not engaged yet.”
She nods. “Ah. If you don’t want to get married, then why don’t you just tell them that? I mean, does she want to marry you?”
“No,” I laugh out. “She doesn’t want anything to do with me. She’s focused on getting her degree and moving up in her career. She wants to work. She doesn’t want to play the role of arm candy at functions. She’s not even thinking about kids yet. It’s all our parents. We’ve been stringing them along for so long now that they’re getting impatient. So sooner or later, we’ll either have to get married to shut them up, or we’ll have to break the news to them. We’re good friends and nothing more. The only problem with that is we don’t know what they’ll do.”
“What do you mean?” she asks, pouring a beer the moment it’s put on the table.
“I mean, will my father kick me out of his company and his will? Will her parents stop paying for her education and exclude her from their company? The only way she advances in her career is with that degree. If she can’t advance, then what’s the point of working there any longer? That will just push her to get married and have kids that much sooner.”
She takes a deep breath and shakes her head. “You know, for the first time in my life, I’m glad I wasn’t born into money.”
I laugh. “Sometimes I wish I hadn’t been either.” I pick up the beer she poured for me and take a sip. “But on the plus side, I had to come up with a lie to get out of dinner. Looks like I’ll be going to Vegas this weekend. Want to join me?”
Her eyes stretch wide and her mouth drops open. “What? Seriously?”
I smile and nod.
“Yes! Yes, I want to go! Who could pass up a trip to Vegas?”
I laugh. “Good, I was hoping you’d say that.”
“Where are we staying?”
I shrug. “I haven’t booked anything yet, but I’ll do it tonight now that I know I have someone to go with me. For a second there, I thought I was going to have to stay home and hide away all weekend to avoid running into anyone I know.”
She laughs and rolls her eyes. “I’ve never met anyone who would take a trip to Vegas to cover up a lie.”
“Well, I’m not a liar, so I had to make it the truth.”
Our food arrives and time flies. The next thing I know, we’re done with the food and out on the dance floor, holding each other close as we sway back and forth to the soft music.
Seven
Harley
Foster kept his word and his eyes didn’t leave me while we were at the bar. But now, we’re back at his place and he has more than his eyes on me. His hands are touring my body as we stumble through his apartment, trying to find the bedroom without having to detach from each other. I’m walking him backward as we kiss, our hands stripping the other of clothing. He bumps into the end table and a lamp topples and falls over, breaking on the floor.
I gasp and giggle, but it’s like he didn’t even hear it. He doesn’t stop or slow. Instead, he pulls my shirt over my head then starts on my bra. “Foster, we should clean that up before someone gets hurt,” I say against his lips.
“Fuck that lamp. Right now, the only thing I want is you.” He gets impatient and picks me up against him as my legs wrap around his hips. Then he practically runs to the bedroom with me. We fall into bed and everything is right in the world.
Friday rolls around and we’ve both taken the day off from work for our weekend trip to Vegas. I’ve taken my three dogs to Cora to watch over the weekend and the place is too quiet as I pack. I should’ve done this last night, but I was too busy with Foster to think about anything else. He stayed over again and didn’t leave until this morning to go home and pack for himself. The plan is to shower, eat, and pack before he gets back. He’s too worried about leaving his car in my driveway all weekend, so it’s staying in the parking garage at his place and he’s Ubering over to pick me up so we can head to the airport from here.
I manage to shower, get ready, and eat. I’m just finishing up packing when my phone chimes. It’s a message from Foster, telling me he’s only 10 minutes away. I go into panic mode, checking and double-checking to ensure I have everything I’ll need. It would suck to get all the way to Vegas just to realize I forgot to pack underwear or something.
I finally decide I have everything I need. Just as I’m dragging my bag to the front door, there’s a knock on it. I pull it open and Foster is standing on the other side. He looks hot as hell in his faded jeans, white T-shirt, and black hat. He has a little stubble on his angular jaw and his sexy lips are turned up into a smile.
“Ready to go?”
It takes me a moment to catch my breath. “Yep. Can you take this out for me and I’ll be right out?”
“Sure,” he says, leaning down to grab my bag. As he’s in that position, he presses his lips quickly to mine. The kiss doesn’t last nearly long enough, but I
’m thankful I’ll have an entire weekend with him. He turns and walks away to put my bag in the trunk and I gather up my phone, house keys, and purse. I turn off the living room light and lock the door behind me. I’m rushing up to the car just as he slams the trunk closed and opens the door to the back seat of the Uber for me. I slide across the bench seat and he climbs in after me.
“Are you excited?” he asks as we start backing out of the drive.
“I can’t wait to spend the whole weekend with you,” I say, leaning in for another quick kiss. He takes my hand in his and holds it between us.
“Are your dogs going to be okay all weekend?”
“I took them over to Cora’s. They’ll be fine, but I’m sure she’ll go crazy. She’s not much of an animal person, but I bribed her with the promise that I’ll help her with wedding shopping.”
He laughs. “Not much of a shopper or not big on weddings?”
“Both!” I say a little too loudly. “I just don’t understand the thrill people get out of buying more shit they don’t need. I’ve never been much of a shopper. And weddings, no way. I’m out on that . . . usually.”
“My kind of girl,” he says, picking my hand up to press a kiss to the top.
“What all do you want to do in Vegas?”
He shrugs. “I don’t have anything planned. I figured we could fly by the seat of our pants. Just have fun. Schedules aren’t any fun.”
“My kind of man,” I reply with a smile. “Hey, you think we can jump out of an airplane while we’re there?”
He bursts out laughing. “No way, not after puking up my guts before bungee jumping.”
I bump my shoulder against his. “Fine, no free-falling. Just drinking, gambling, and sex.”
“Lots of sex,” he adds on, and I see our driver’s eyes glance up at us from the rearview mirror, making me giggle. Foster smirks, but he doesn’t care who heard his dirty plans for this weekend.
The flight was fun and boring at the same time. There’s nothing to do on a plane but drink, eat, sleep, watch whatever movie is on, and talk to your seatmate. We had an annoying neighbor who kept hacking up loogies and spitting them into his disposable cup. It was nasty at first, but then Foster and I made a drinking game out of it, and by the time the plane landed, we were both more than buzzed.
My vision is blurring as we make our way through the airport to a taxi. I pass Foster my bag and he hands both of ours over to the driver while I crawl into the back seat. Somehow my hands get into a tangled mess and I fall onto my stomach across the seat. Foster is laughing and pushing me by the ass to scoot over as he climbs inside. I never find my way to sitting all the way up, but he manages to crawl into the car too. My feet are draped over his lap and my head is resting against the door.
My eyes fall closed and I hear him tell the driver where we’re going, but pay no attention as sleep begins to pull at me.
Foster shakes my leg. “Wake up! We’re in Vegas! We’re not going to bed until tomorrow,” he teases.
My eyes pop open and I give him a smile. “I think I could use some food in my stomach before drinking anything else. That guy on the plane got me hammered,” I laugh out and he joins in.
“Who knew one guy could have so much mucus?” he jokes, giggling around his words. Apparently, he’s just as drunk as I am. “We’ll check into our hotel, put our things away, then go for some dinner before moving on with the rest of the festivities.”
I smile. “Festivities?” I question.
“Drinking, gambling, seeing a show, whatever. We’re going to have a night neither of us will remember,” he says, his laughter breaking through his words.
I smile. “Shouldn’t it be a night we’ll never forget?”
“Well, yeah, but we’re not going to remember.”
The drive doesn’t take long and Foster pokes or tickles me every time he sees me falling asleep. He manages to keep me awake and even helps me out of the back seat when we arrive. He takes both bags since I’ll probably fall over if I’m not careful, and he leads the way into the hotel.
I almost doze off standing in the lobby area as he checks in. I take in the shiny white tile, the cream-colored furniture, and all the gold accents. I’m staring at a couch, thinking about curling up for a nap, when he slips his arm around me and leads me toward the elevators.
Once inside, I lean against the wall for support. “I’m sure there will be some snacks in the room if you can’t wait,” he tells me.
I giggle as the doors open. He takes me down the long hallway and turns right, sliding a key card into the door. It beeps and opens. He pushes the door open wider and allows me to walk in ahead of him. The room is beautiful and spacious. There’s a seating area with a couch, two chairs, and a table between them. There’s also a TV on the wall and a desk nearby. I walk further into the room and find the big king-size bed. It’s loaded down with fluffy-looking blankets and dozens of pillows. There’s a nightstand on either side of the bed, holding lamps and the phone. Before the bed is a dresser with another massive TV. I open one door and find a small closet with an ironing board. I try the other and walk into a huge bathroom. There’s a Jacuzzi tub, a walk-in shower that’s surrounded by clear glass, and a big vanity that has two sinks and a mirror so big it takes up nearly the whole wall.
I come back into the bedroom area. “Where’s the mini fridge?”
He smiles but bends down to the dresser. He opens one of the doors on it, and to my surprise, it’s a fully-stocked mini fridge.
“Yes!” I breathe out, falling to the floor in front of it. I grab a package of nuts and a candy bar. I rip into both, filling my mouth with nuts then taking a bite of the sweet chocolate.
I hear Foster laugh behind me and turn to see what he’s laughing at. To my surprise, it’s me. He’s sitting on the foot of the bed, elbows resting on his knees, with a wide smile on his face.
“Is my hunger funny to you?” I ask with a mouthful.
He nods. “A little. But I’m afraid that if I don’t get some real food into you soon, you’ll Hulk out on me or something. Let’s go down to the restaurant.”
I pour some nuts into my hand to take with me and follow him to the door. I eat on the ride down, and my snack is gone by the time we reach the ground floor. I follow along behind Foster but don’t really pay any attention to where we’re going. This is my first time in Vegas and I want to take everything in. We pass by a casino and some kind of theater before we get to the restaurant. There’s a board in the hallway that says some comedian will be preforming in the theater and that tickets are available. That might be something fun to do later.
I guess Foster gets tired of my lagging behind, so he takes my arm in his hand and pulls me to his side as he follows along behind the hostess. She takes us to our table and we both sit down, across from one another. There are already two menus on the table and I pick one up, looking over everything.
Have you ever been so hungry that you simply can’t choose, because everything on the menu looks so good? That’s how I feel now. I don’t want to pick one thing. I want all the things.
“Do you want an appetizer?” Foster asks.
“Yes, the sampler? Get a little bit of everything?” I smile over at him and he grins with a slight shake of his head.
“I’m going to have to remember to feed you more often.”
“Only if we’re drinking,” I point out.
“Hi, I’m Judy and I’ll be your waitress tonight. What can I get you two started off with?” the pretty blonde waitress asks as she approaches our table.
“Hello, Judy. I think we’ll start with a pitcher of margaritas and the sampler platter.”
She smiles and nods. “Okay, I’ll get that put in for you and be right back.” She turns and walks away.
“A pitcher of margaritas? What about water?”
He snorts. “We’re in Vegas. People don’t drink water in Vegas,” he points out.
“How am I supposed to sober up with more alcohol?” I
point out.
“Sober up?” He frowns. “We’re not getting sober until we’re back in Chicago.” He offers up a breathtaking smile and I can’t help but smile back.
“So, what’s the plan? We going to the casino after this?”
“If you want.”
“Well, I’m not very good at gambling,” I warn him.
“Me neither,” he confesses. “I usually get my ass handed to me, but maybe you’ll be a good-luck charm.”
“Can I blow on your dice?”
He smirks. “You can blow whatever you want, baby.” His grin turns to a full-fledged smile and I can’t stop myself from laughing out loud.
“There will be plenty of time for that later. We’re going to get drunk and rich!”
He laughs. A few moments later, our margaritas are placed on the table with two glasses.
The two of us start sipping on our drinks while we look over the menu to figure out what it is we want our last meal to be. I’m sure after drinking this much, I’ll probably be dead soon. Might as well make it fun.
I finally settle on something filling to help absorb the alcohol and order a big burger with everything, plus an order of fries. Foster orders a steak and a baked potato with some steamed veggies as his side, then we both dig into our sampler platter.
I’m already feeling better from having some food in my stomach, but I still have more than enough room for my dinner. Everything gets brought out and I take my time and don’t waste one bite. The two of us also finish off the pitcher. By the time everything is done, I’m full and just as drunk as I was when we started, but now I’m much more prepared to take on whatever Vegas has to offer.
Our first stop is the casino. I go straight for the slot machines and he heads over to the blackjack table. I put in a quarter and pull the lever. I’m hit with music, lights, and all this exciting racket, but the wheels stop turning and I win nothing. I’ll try again. And I say that another 17 times, never making any kind of profit. Here and there, I win a few quarters, but never enough to make up for what I’ve shoved in already. I give up and head over to the table where Foster is sitting. I slide into his lap.
My Accidental Forever (Love You Forever Book 5) Page 8
