Rebecca shot her friend a pointed look. “With the way we’re dressed, you know one of us is going to get picked.”
She waved her hand. “Oh, please. There are probably a thousand bachelorette parties in here already.”
To Rebecca’s surprise, Allison was right. They passed at least three other parties who were sporting tiaras and feather boas. There was even one group of women who wore matching zebra-print dresses and neon pink heels.
“See?” Allison added as they weaved their way through the crowd. “No one will give us a second look.”
The exceptionally attractive bartender shot them a dazzling smile as they approached. “What’ll it be, Bride To Be?”
Liz mirrored his smile and leaned against the bar. “What’s your specialty?”
“I make the best mojito this side of Havana.”
“We’ll take three,” Liz said, sending Rebecca and Allison an uncertain glance as the bartender reached for a sprig of mint. “What’s a mojito?” she whispered.
Rebecca stifled a laugh. “I have no idea.”
“Don’t worry,” Allison assured them. “They’re delicious.”
With their drinks in hand, the girls headed for the dance floor, where a band was playing an upbeat salsa number. They crossed one of the bamboo bridges and laughed in unison when they realized that the dance floor was covered in golden sand.
“We’re never leaving,” Liz declared.
Just as they set their drinks on an empty table, the overhead lights dimmed and a series of colorful strobe lights started flickering around them. Blue mist poured out from the waterfall and the river, enshrouding the club in a mystical haze. Rebecca was about to say something to Allison when the bartender suddenly appeared behind Liz.
“It’s all you, Bride To Be,” he said, slipping a blindfold over her eyes. “Let’s go.”
Liz gasped when he took her hand. “Wait,” she said, reaching up to pull off the blindfold. “Is this for–”
“A body shot, yes. Every bachelorette has to do one.”
Instantly she shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Oh, come on, Liz!” Allison shouted over the music. “It’s just for fun.”
By now people were turning their heads to see what the commotion was about. Rebecca had watched the scene in silence, but when she saw the panic in Liz’s eyes, she felt a rush of sympathy for her.
“Alli, stop!” she shouted back. “She doesn’t want to do it!”
If Allison heard her, she ignored her. “We’re in Vegas, Liz. We’re supposed to do stuff like this!”
“No, I can’t! Tommy would kill me!”
Rebecca knew when they walked in that something like this was going to happen–something to spoil the entire evening. She shot her sister-in-law an icy glare before she sighed and stepped up to the bartender.
“I’ll do it,” she said, yanking the blindfold from Liz’s hand. “Let’s go.”
Allison started to object, but her response was drowned out by a spontaneous round of cheers from the crowd. “Now that’s more like it,” the bartender said, giving a sly grin as he placed the blindfold over Rebecca’s eyes.
She gave a silent groan as he took her hand and led her over the bridge. She didn’t want to do it, either, but she also didn’t want to see Liz’s weekend ruined by something as silly as this.
“Alright, we’re here,” the bartender said, coming to a sudden stop. “Have you ever done this before?”
“No.”
He placed her hand on the bar top. “Pull yourself up here and lie down on your back. You have plenty of room.”
Rebecca’s head started to spin again as she obediently fumbled her way onto the bar. “Good,” he added. “There are two steps, okay? First, I’m going to put the salt and the tequila on your stomach. Then I’m going to put the lime in your mouth, and I need you to hold it there. Got it?”
“Got it.”
The music suddenly seemed ten times louder as the bartender lifted her top to bare her stomach. Then she felt the salt being sprinkled on her skin, followed by the strange sensation of liquid filling her navel. In spite of herself, Rebecca gave a nervous giggle.
What in the world had she gotten herself into?
“Here’s the lime,” the bartender said, placing it between her teeth. “Don’t move, okay?”
She gave the slightest of nods. Seconds later an unfamiliar pair of hands grasped her hips, and she gasped when a warm tongue that was definitely not her husband’s made its way down her stomach. She squirmed when he reached her belly button, trying not to laugh but failing miserably as the tongue siphoned the tequila.
She barely had a chance to catch her breath before the stranger’s mouth found hers and skillfully claimed the lime from between her lips. Rebecca pushed herself to her elbows and removed her blindfold, just as the stranger did the same, and the smile dropped from her face when she saw that it wasn’t a stranger at all.
Chapter 17
Tommy stared straight back at Rebecca, positive he was hallucinating. “Bec?” he managed to say. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” she retorted.
He pushed himself away from her and stepped down to the floor, watching in a daze as she dusted the remaining salt from her stomach.
How in the world had this happened? Of all the nightclubs in Las Vegas, how had they all ended up here? And of the thousands of people packed into this building, how had he and Rebecca gotten paired up for this?
There was no way it was a coincidence.
As if on cue, Alec, Jeff, and Jake emerged from one end of the bar while Allison and Liz appeared at the other. “What the heck?” Jake shouted as they pushed through the masses. “Where was Liz?”
“She didn’t want to do it!” Allison cried. “I tried to say something but they pulled Bec away too fast–”
“Whoa, hold up a second,” Rebecca interjected, swinging her legs over the bar. “You guys had this rigged?”
“Of course we did,” Allison replied, turning back to Liz. “I knew all along that it was going to be Tommy. I never would have forced you otherwise!”
Liz’s gaze shifted from Allison to Rebecca to Tommy before she tilted her head back and burst out laughing. Jake was next, followed by Jeff and Allison. Tommy didn’t want to turn his head to see Alec’s reaction, but to his relief, Alec was laughing too.
He turned back to Rebecca, who looked equally relieved by her husband’s response. Her cheeks flushed as she slid from the bar top and started to giggle, just like she had when he was licking the salt off her stomach.
Licking.
The salt.
Off her stomach.
Had that actually happened? Had his mouth actually been on her body…and her lips?
Tommy should have been grateful that everyone was laughing at the mix-up, because Liz or Alec could have easily been furious right now. He should have been laughing along with them, but he couldn’t make a sound.
He’d been a good sport when the blindfold landed on his head–after all, they were in Vegas, and it was his bachelor party–but never in a million years would he have imagined that the girl on the bar would be Rebecca.
She gave him a gentle nudge. “It’s alright, Tommy. We didn’t know.”
At that, he finally laughed, not because he thought it was funny but because there was no other way to respond. He glanced at Alec again, fearful that he could somehow read his mind, but there was nothing on Alec’s face except amusement.
“I’m glad it was you, my friend,” he said, giving Tommy a lighthearted slap on the back. “Otherwise I might have killed the guy.”
*
After a few more laughs, the seven of them exited the club to start the short walk back to the Bellagio. “So will someone please explain to me what happened back there?” Rebecca asked.
Allison and Jake exchanged a glance. “We came up with the idea last night,” she confessed. “We thought it’d be something that seem
ed scandalous at first but would turn out to be really funny in the end.”
“Which it did,” Jeff pointed out.
Jake nodded. “I made sure we got there first and stayed at the far end of the bar, so you girls wouldn’t spot us when you walked in. Alli kept you all on the other side of the water. About five minutes before they started their rounds, I grabbed a bartender and pointed to Tommy and Liz. It seemed like a done deal.”
Rebecca sighed. “And I had to go and ruin the whole scheme.”
“Actually, I kind of ruined it,” Liz said. “I should’ve just gone along with it.”
“Well, no harm done,” Allison replied. “We all got a great laugh.”
While everyone continued talking, Alec wrapped his arm around Rebecca’s shoulders and leaned close to her ear. “Should I be jealous?” he whispered.
“No,” she assured him, giving his ribs a loving squeeze. “It was the most ridiculous thirty seconds of my life.”
“What on earth possessed you to volunteer for that?”
“Alec, you should’ve seen her face. She was terrified. It would have ruined her whole weekend if we made her do it. Well…if we made it her do it and it hadn’t turned out to be Tommy,” she added with a laugh. “Would you have done it if they’d blindfolded you?”
“I don’t think I would have had a choice.” He gave a rueful grin. “Would you have been jealous?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Even if it was one of your friends?”
She nodded again.
“Wow. And here I’ve spent all these years thinking you weren’t the jealous type.”
Rebecca pulled him to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk. “I would have been crazy jealous,” she whispered, tilting her face up to kiss him. “And don’t you forget it.”
They reentered the Bellagio and wandered into a dimly lit jazz lounge. “So where did you guys end up tonight?” Allison asked as they settled at the bar.
Jeff and Jake described each of the clubs they’d visited, ending with their journey to Sabrosa. Their night didn’t sound all that dissimilar to the girls’ night, but Rebecca couldn’t help but think that the girls–as usual–had more fun.
As if on cue, Liz started giggling again, tipping her face against Tommy’s shoulder. He stifled a laugh himself and turned back to the group. “I think we’re done for the night. We’ll see you in the morning.”
No sooner had they left than Alec gave a massive yawn. “I think I’m going to turn in, too,” he chimed in, slowly rising to his feet.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Rebecca asked.
“Nah,” he said, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “Take your time.”
He strolled through the doorway, leaving Rebecca with Jeff, Allison, and Jake. She fell silent while the three of them conversed, watching until Alec disappeared around the corner.
It was hard to believe that tomorrow they had to get on a plane and return to Wyoming. For the first time, she was starting to understand how Alec felt about the farmhouse. While their reasons might have been different, she too felt a sense of foreboding at the thought of their return.
This weekend had been incredible–Alec had been incredible–but she knew she’d lose him all over again the second they arrived home.
“You okay?” her brother asked.
She met his gaze and gave a little nod. “I’m fine.”
“Think we’re calling it a night, too,” Allison added, already gathering her purse. “Wanna walk up with us?”
Rebecca shook her head. “I’m going to finish my wine and keep an eye on Jake.”
“Good luck with that,” Jeff said, dropping an arm around Allison’s shoulders as they exited the lounge.
Jake leaned his elbows against the bar and flashed a debonair smile. “Well, now that the old folks have gone to bed…”
“Believe me, Jake, I’m one of them.”
“Not hardly,” he said as he settled back in his chair. “Come on, Bec. You’ve got a few more hours left in you.”
Before Rebecca could respond, a group of girls sauntered past the lounge, dressed to the nines in miniskirts and stiletto heels. She glanced sideways at Jake and laughed again when she saw his eyes following them through the windows.
“Go,” she said, giving him a little nudge.
“Go what?”
“It’s our last night in Vegas. Go do something other than sit here with an old married lady.”
Jake chuckled as he rose from his stool. “Just for the record, you’re the coolest old married lady I’ve ever met.”
*
Tommy stood at the window of his suite, staring at the endless urban sprawl below. He couldn’t deny that the guys had shown him a fun-filled weekend; in fact, it turned out even better than he’d expected.
Still, it was barely eleven o’clock. He was nowhere near ready to go to sleep yet.
He turned back to the bed and smiled when he saw that Liz still hadn’t moved. She probably wouldn’t move until next Wednesday, with as much as she’d had to drink tonight. All she’d blabbered about the whole way back to the room was how much fun she had and how much she adored Rebecca and Allison, so he figured she’d had a pretty good weekend herself.
Tommy lingered for another minute, fiddling with the room key in his pocket, before he released a sigh and headed for the foyer. Maybe the guys were playing poker in the casino again. Even if they weren’t, there was no reason he couldn’t play a few hands or sit and have a nightcap somewhere.
He took the elevator back to the main floor and started toward the casino, glancing into the lounge where he’d left his friends. Then he saw Rebecca sitting alone at the end of the bar, nursing a glass of red wine.
For a moment, Tommy considered continuing on to the casino. Suddenly, though, playing poker didn’t seem nearly as appealing. Nor did the idea of turning around and returning to his room; all that awaited him there was an empty mini-bar and his comatose fiancée. None of those things fit his vision of the grand finale of his bachelor weekend in Las Vegas.
Then again…neither did hanging out at the hotel bar with his best friend’s wife.
He cleared his throat as he stepped up beside her. “Excuse me, ma’am. Are you here with anybody?”
She glanced at him sideways. “Well, I was earlier. But I seem to have lost him.”
“Now isn’t that a coincidence. I seem to have lost my fiancée, too.”
Rebecca sighed and shook her head. “Some people just can’t handle Vegas.”
“Apparently not.” His gaze drifted to her nearly-empty glass. “Can I buy you a drink?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Can I buy you a drink?” she echoed with a laugh. “That’s it? That’s the best line you’ve got?”
Tommy chuckled, too, as he slid into the empty stool beside her. “I’ve got plenty of lines,” he replied, sending her a little wink. “The question is whether or not you can handle them.”
Chapter 18
Tommy didn’t know which was worse–the fact that he was flirting with Rebecca, the fact that she was flirting back with him, or the fact that he liked it so much.
She mirrored his smile before she lifted her glass to her lips, and Tommy watched from the corner of his eye as she took a long sip. “Okay,” she declared as she set down the empty glass. “Now you can buy me a drink.”
“And what would you like?”
“Whatever you’re having.”
Tommy raised a brow. “You think you can keep up with me?”
She grinned and leaned closer to whisper in his ear. “You know I can.”
He didn’t know if it was her suggestive response or the proximity of her mouth to his ear, but either way, he couldn’t stop the slow smile that crept across his lips.
“Could we get two shots of Patrón, please?” he asked the bartender. “Make them doubles.”
Rebecca nodded in approval. “Good choice.”
“Thanks,” he said, resting his elbows on the bar top. “
Nice to meet a girl who can handle tequila.”
“Liz can’t?”
Tommy laughed. “You should’ve seen her face the first time she tried it. It was priceless. I still tease her about it.” He sent her a sideways grin. “Thanks for tonight, by the way. She said that you and Alli showed her a really good time.”
“I’m glad. We had a lot of fun, too.”
The bartender returned just then, lining up four shot glasses and a plate of lime wedges. “Shall we?” Tommy asked.
She was already reaching for the first glass. “Let’s.”
Neither of them needed the salt or the lime chaser. They clinked glasses and downed the first shot; then they repeated the process, draining the second shot just as quickly. Rebecca didn’t even crinkle her nose as she lined her empty glasses next to his.
“Well, what do ya know?” he said. “You do have some Southie left in you, don’t you?”
Rebecca laughed. “We didn’t shoot tequila in Southie. I got all my training from your old girlfriend.”
Tommy frowned. “My old girlfriend?”
“Yeah.” She gave a mischievous grin. “Rumor has it that you and Alli had a little fling during her first summer on the ranch.”
Rarely had Tommy been so unprepared for something. He stared at her in disbelief before he dropped his head in his hands and gave a quiet, mortified laugh.
“Geez, Bec. That was a million years ago,” he said, lifting his face to look at her. “What else did she tell you?”
“Oh, no. I haven’t had nearly enough alcohol to divulge that kind of gossip.”
“Well, we can fix that.”
Her eyes widened when he signaled the bartender for another round. “Tommy, I was joking.”
He chuckled as the bartender topped up their empty shot glasses. “Too late now,” he said, sliding two of them in her direction. “Come on, Southie. Let’s see you put your money where your mouth is.”
Rebecca groaned but obediently tilted her head back and drained the shots. He did the same, welcoming the numbing sensation on his lips, before he turned back to her and cleared his throat.
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