Their Vegas Gamble

by Tracy Lorraine

  Our eye contact holds until he drags his gaze away and looks down at his lap. “I’ve got some family shit going on.”

  “Right?”

  “It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

  “In case you forgot, you married me last night, Harrison.” I lift my hand and wave my ring around in front of his face. “I’m your family now, too. Don’t you think I deserve to know whatever it was that was so important that you left without even telling me? I’m about to move across the world and become a part of your life.”

  “Yes but—”

  “But what? I may not remember much of last night but this isn’t some big joke to me, Harrison. I didn’t agree to all this, this honeymoon, this marriage, just because I fancied a holiday and a fresh start. I’m uprooting my entire life to be with you. I’m sacrificing everything I’ve worked for. But I want this. I want us. Do you?”

  He shifts in his seat until he’s facing me and he looks up a second before he speaks. “Of course I do. I love you, Summer.”

  “Then tell me. Whatever it is, I can deal with it. We can deal with it.”

  I watch as he lets out a breath, trying to find his words. “I have a past.”

  “Right! Who doesn’t? You’re over ten years older than me, Harrison. I didn’t expect you not to have a life before me. How you’re not already married with a handful of kids is beyond me.”

  “I was…” He once again looks away, and I watch the muscles in his neck work as he swallows. “I was married.” Raising an eyebrow, I wait for him to continue. When he does speak his voice is quiet and unsure. “My ex is…my ex is…interesting.”

  “Okay.” Hesitation is written all over his face. “It’s okay, you can tell me. Just…start from the beginning.”

  That seems to be the right thing to say because I watch his face relax as he once again grabs my hand.

  “That I can do. We’ve known each other since school…” He goes on to explain a pretty traditional high school sweetheart story with his best and oldest friend, and if he wasn’t talking about his past, I would find some of his tales quite cute. “She was my everything,” he admits. The pain on his face is clear and my heart aches for him. I’ve never met this woman but that look alone makes me want to hurt her. “She was kind, caring, everything I thought I wanted. But as the years went on she…changed.”

  “Changed how?”

  “She…turned into a psycho-bitch. I think it was the money. She grew up in a similar financial situation to me, her dad’s a successful investment banker, but she met some awful money-grabbing friends and she just spiralled. Everything became about what others thought. It was inevitable, I guess, but eventually, I wasn’t enough either. I knew something was going on but I never expected to find out she’d been cheating.” I suck in a breath.

  “Did you know him?” I ask, almost expecting him to say it was his best friend or something.

  “No. I knew of him, though. It hit me hard. I’m not ashamed to admit that I lost myself for quite a while. But time’s a healer and it wasn’t all that long before I could see I was better off.” I nod, because if she’s even half as bad as he’s making out, then he’s definitely better off without her.

  “So what’s she got to do with you leaving me?” I ask, hoping coming at this from a slightly different angle will get me the answer I need.

  “She’s always playing games, and this was just another one.”

  My heart drops slightly because it doesn’t give me anything. “But—”

  “Summer,” he says on a sigh, interrupting me. “I promise you’re going to find out what she’s like soon enough. I’m sure she’ll have a field day when she finds out I’ve remarried like this. Can we please just forget about her and everyone else for a few days? When we’re home you’ll probably be begging to return to this time when ignorance was bliss.”

  Images of my own family and all the things I don’t really want to talk about fill my head and I reluctantly find myself agreeing. I guess he’s right. We’ve only got a few short days and everything I need to know will be right in front of me as I’m introduced as his wife. The thought of suddenly being thrust into his life has my stomach turning over. I’ve no idea where he lives, what his house is like. What if his family hates me? All the unknowns fill my head and my breathing starts to increase as the reality of what I’ve done once again hits me full force.

  “Summer?” he asks, his warm palm covering my cheek.

  “Sorry, I’m just being stupid.” Thankfully the flight attendant interrupts so I don’t have to explain my fears.

  “Do you want a drink, beautiful?”

  “Just a bottle of water, please.” I listen as he orders himself a gin and tonic and I once again lose myself in thoughts of what my life is going to be like now. Not only do I have a husband, but I’m about to move to a whole new country. My heart races as panic fills me once again. I concentrate on my breathing so Harrison doesn’t notice.

  He pulls his laptop down to do some work and after an hour or so of sketching in my pad I curl myself up under a blanket and attempt to get some sleep. The sound of his tapping keys eventually sends me off.

  “Summer…beautiful…” I open my eyes and it takes a few seconds to register where I am. The realization that I’m on a plane on the way to my honeymoon has butterflies fluttering in my belly. “Hey,” Harrison says with a smile when I find his dark eyes. “We’re going to be landing soon, sleepy head.”

  “Wow, really?” I guess weeks of night shifts followed by a drunken wedding really took it out of me. I was dreading being stuck in one seat for so many hours but it seems the whole flight has literally passed me by.

  “You need to put your seat up and strap yourself in for landing.” His instructions take a few seconds to register in my sleep-fogged brain but I’m soon jumping into action.

  “Did you get all your work done?” I ask when I’ve got myself sorted and see Harrison’s laptop has gone, replaced by a Kindle.

  “I’ve always got work to do. I guess I should warn you now that I work a lot of hours.” I guessed as much, but hearing him say it does make my stomach drop a little. “I promise not to abandon you once we get to London though. Plus, I know Mum and Danni will want to get to know you.”

  “Danni?”

  “My kid sister.”

  I smile at him, my nerves about meeting his family hitting me once again, but knowing he has a younger sister makes me feel a little better. I always wanted a sister instead of my overprotective big brothers.

  “How old?”

  “Uh…twenty-three, I think.”

  “Oh.”

  “What?”

  “It was just when you said, kid, I was thinking…well…kid. But she’s older than me.”

  His mouth drops open to say something but he soon shuts it again. “Well, she behaves like a kid,” he eventually says.

  “Right,” I mutter, feeling like a child myself as I sit next to my wealthy business-owning husband. If he thinks of his adult sister as a child, what does he think of me?

  “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just when I think of her she’s still an annoying little seven-year-old in my mind. I forget she’s now all grown up.”

  “Does it bother you that I’m so much younger than you?”

  “What? No, of course not. I actually quite like having a younger woman,” he says with a wink. “All I care about is you, Summer. I couldn’t care about any of that, so get the thought out of your head.”

  “Okay,” I mutter, but I’m not sure it’s something I’m going to forget about any time soon.

  “You ready?”

  “For what?” Not two seconds after I’ve asked do my ears pop and the plane suddenly starts to descend. My hand goes to my stomach as it drops. The color drains from my face and I start praying we touch down very soon.

  Once again Harrison grabs my hand and the feeling of him rubbing his thumb against my skin helps keep my breathing steady as we make our final descent. Wh
en we break through the light cloud cover, all thoughts of dying on a plane are forgotten as I stare out the window at the gorgeous country we’re about to land in. Excitement takes over as the buildings begin to get bigger and I start to make out the details of the ground below. For just a few seconds, all the unanswered questions flying around my head and my uncertainty about the future vanish as I take in the view.

  “Hold on,” I hear Harrison say and I just turn to him when the thud of the plane hitting the tarmac reverberates through me. My heart pounds as the force of the brakes throws me back into my seat. But the second we’ve slowed to a normal speed, I turn to him with a wide smile on my face.

  “You want to do that again, don’t you?” he asks with a laugh.

  “Maybe.”

  “Thank god for that. I wasn’t looking forward to getting you on another one to London if you hated it.”

  “Oh my god. That man has our names on his board.” I point over to the guy standing in arrivals in excitement. This is the kind of thing I watch on TV. I never thought I’d get to experience it.

  “He’s driving us to our villa,” Harrison says, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Transport hadn’t even entered my head. I guess I just presumed we’d get a taxi or something. I keep forgetting that Harrison lives a little differently to what I’m used to. “Come on, it’s only a short drive.” He squeezes my hand and pulls me toward the guy with Mr. and Mrs. Abbot on his sign. I’m holding in my squeal of excitement. I just about manage to contain myself as we follow him out to an awaiting town car.

  The drive is beautiful. The sun is beginning to set, casting everything in a warm orange. It’s like paradise.

  “What are you doing?” I ask the second Harrison’s hand covers my eyes.

  “We’re nearly there. I want it to be a surprise.”

  Excitement and disappointment duel inside me. As much as I can’t wait to see where we’re staying, I don’t want to miss seeing anything. This is my first time outside of America and I want to make the most of it.

  Harrison

  My concern about telling Summer the truth about my life is still bubbling under the surface but as we travel towards our villa I push it aside, instead concentrating on watching my wife. Her nose is practically squashed against the car window as she takes in all the passing scenery. It looks like a stunning place and I can’t wait to experience it with her, but right now I can’t take my eyes off her. I truly thought I’d had my one shot at love and when it was thrown back in my face I thought that was it for me, that I was destined to live out a lonely life filled with my few friends, family, and antiques. I understand why Zach feels the need to take the piss out of my life when I think about it like that. I make no effort to go out and meet someone for fear of history repeating itself. Rebecca was very normal and I believed my childhood best friend was meant to be the love of my life, so it hurt like hell when it all went to shit in front of my eyes.

  As we get closer, I shift over and place my hand over Summer’s eyes. If this place is even half as impressive as the images I saw online, I think it’s going to take her breath away, and I want us to be alone when that happens.

  “Really?” she huffs against my palm.

  “Really, beautiful. I promise it’ll be worth it.”

  She mutters something under her breath that I can’t quite make out but I smile anyway.

  Switching off from everything I’ve left behind is almost impossible, but being here with Summer is the closest I think I’m ever going to get.

  I watch our home for the next week appear in front of us and a little more excitement buzzes through my veins that I’m going to get to have her all to myself for a whole week. No outside bullshit from anyone else; just the two of us in our own little world.

  “Are we there yet?” she complains as she feels the car come to a stop.

  “Yes, but you can’t look yet.”

  Her shoulders slump as my words register. “Not fair.”

  “Just a few more seconds. Can you promise to keep your eyes shut while I get out the car?”

  “Maybe,” she teases.

  Lowering my hand, I watch as her eyes stay tightly shut and a smile twitches my lips. “Good girl.” I regret my words the second her face drops. Our conversation on the plane about me calling Danni my kid sister when she’s older than Summer slams back into me. I couldn’t give a fuck about our age difference and I wasn’t aware it was something she was too bothered about, but I think I might have been wrong. As far as I’m concerned, age, sex, colour or whatever else doesn’t matter when it comes to love. I’d have fallen head over heels for Summer whether she was twenty-one or fifty-one, I’m sure of it.

  As I race around to her side of the car, I try to think about how I can prove to her that her age doesn’t matter, but I come up short, too excited to show her our temporary little paradise in front of us.

  “Come on,” I say, grabbing her hands and helping her from the car. “Don’t peek.”

  I can’t help but laugh when a growl comes from the back of her throat as I move behind her, place my hands on the curve of her waist and gently push her forward.

  Focusing on where I’m taking her and trying my best not to appreciate the stunning villa as we walk through to the floor to ceiling windows, my hand once again covers Summer’s eyes. The driver places our luggage in the hallway before calling out goodbye and closing the front door behind him, leaving us alone for the first time.

  “Are you ready?”

  “Yes.”

  Slowly, I pull my hand away as her eyelashes flutter open. Her breath catches as she takes in the view in front of us and I wrap my arms around her waist. “Harrison,” she breathes, as she stands stock-still. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so stunning.”

  “I have.” Spinning her so her back presses against the window, I lower my lips to hers and take what I’ve been impatiently waiting for but unable to have during our long journey.

  She whimpers as I run my hands from her waist and up to the swell of her breasts. I wanted to hold off and allow her at least a few minutes to explore the place, but one taste and getting inside her is all I can think about.

  Slipping the straps of her dress from her shoulders, I stand back as it pools around her ankles, exposing her bare chest and toned stomach. My gaze drops and I hungrily take her in. “Fuck, I need you.”

  Grabbing her hand, I tug her in what I hope is the direction of the bedroom. She stumbles a little behind me where she’s still in her shoes, so I pull her into my arms and carry her the rest of the way.

  “Carrying me over the threshold?” she asks between kisses to my neck as I walk us into what must be the master bedroom if the size of the bed is anything to go by.

  “You got it, Mrs. Abbot.” She smiles against my shoulder before dropping her to the bed in favour of removing my clothes.

  “Hey,” she complains, but the second she sees my hands working on the buttons of my shirt, she stops. Her eyes watch my every movement as her breathing picks up pace.

  Looking back up after dropping my boxers, I find she’s scooted to the edge of the bed, still only in her white lace knickers and shoes.

  “Spread your legs.” She hesitates for a second, her shyness seeping back in slightly, but she soon does as I say before leaning back on her hands and giving me an image I never want to forget: my wife laid out on our honeymoon bed, waiting for me.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

  Dropping to my knees, I wrap my hands around her thighs and tug her until her arse is hanging off the edge of the bed. Quickly pulling her knickers down her legs, I throw them over my shoulder and eat her until she’s screaming out in our peaceful paradise.

  4

  Summer

  I lie on Harrison’s chest as his fingertips trail down my back and over my ass, staring at the opulent gold bedframe we’re lying on. I’ve only had a quick look at this place but I can’t wait to see more. I think it’s more luxurious t
han everywhere I’ve ever been rolled into one. My memories of the view when he pulled his hand away aren’t enough. I need to discover more.

  “Can we go and check the place out?” I ask. Lifting my head from him and looking down at his exhausted eyes, I instantly feel bad about asking. I might have slept almost the entire flight but I’m pretty sure he didn’t. When I asked him about it, he told me he had work to get done and that he’d sleep once we were here.

  “Sure, anything for you.” His words combined with his smile kick-start the butterflies in my stomach because I have no doubt he’s speaking the truth. I mean, look at this place. I can’t even begin to imagine how much it must have cost to rent for the week.

  Grabbing the shirt he took off not so long ago, I quickly slip it on while he pulls his boxers up his legs, and we head out of the bedroom hand in hand.

  The entire place is white with ornate furniture and rich accent colors here and there. But what really holds my attention is the view once again. Through the wall of windows is a small decking area complete with sun loungers, then an infinity pool that blends into the sea beyond. Orange lights from the bay in the distance are reflected in the water and cast a glow overhead. We stand for the longest time, both staring out with his arms wrapped around my waist and his chin resting on my shoulder. I’ve never felt more content and at home in my entire life.

  Something in the corner of the decking catches my eyes and looking over, I see an easel with a blank canvas and a pile of sketchbooks, paints and everything I could need.

  “Did you organize that?” I whisper, nodding in the direction of the art supplies.

  “I thought you might want to make the most of the view.” Goosebumps race down my neck where his breath tickles as he talks.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”