by Mari Carr
“Nah. They left and nothing got busted up. That’s all I cared about. I know Bubbles was pissed as shit at Bella for something. She was cussing a blue streak, following them down the street.”
“Do you know where we can find Bubbles?” Aaron asked.
“You’re going to look for Bubbles? Jesus H. Christ.” Riley closed her eyes and he suspected she was praying for patience. Clearly her prayers had not been answered.
“She was the last one to see Trev. We’re following a trail, Riley. This is standard police work. Welcome to my world.”
“You a cop?” the clerk asked.
“Not at the moment,” he answered quickly. “I’m on my honeymoon.”
“That’s cool.” The young guy grinned and pointed out the door. “Bubbles will be on that corner over there in about an hour. She’s partial to animal-print tops, but they ain’t partial to her. Oh, and she’s got pink hair this week.”
Aaron picked up their bag of goodies and led Riley back out onto the street. “Sounds like we’ve got a little bit of time to kill. Sweaty sex or late lunch?”
She looked at him for a few moments, appearing so torn he had to stifle his laughter. “If we have sex, it’s like I’m admitting we’re married.”
“We are married, Riley. You just called me your husband in there.”
“Yeah well, I’m not totally ready to declare defeat yet.”
He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “Late lunch it is then.”
Chapter Four
After a very late lunch, Riley and Aaron headed back to the spot where the clerk at Sal’s said they would find Bubbles. They’d nearly reached the corner when Riley stopped mid-stride.
“Holy shit,” she muttered, her gaze falling on Bubbles.
Aaron had gone two steps farther when he spotted the woman as well and halted.
“Jesus,” he said.
Riley stood rooted to the spot, blinking several times. The clerk hadn’t been lying about Bubbles’ love of animal prints, but she hadn’t really fully appreciated his joke about them not loving her until this moment.
Aaron walked back toward her. “Wow.” His grin proved he was enjoying Riley’s reaction.
Riley looked at him and shook her head in disbelief. “Tit Mecca.”
“Oh yeah,” he agreed. “Not sure I’ve ever seen…” His words faded away unfinished as he turned to look at the hooker again.
“That woman has managed to squeeze her 34DDD boobs into an extra-small shirt. It’s like…”
“Like she’s defying gravity,” Aaron finished for her. “The animal print certainly accentuates her…”
“Her everything.”
Riley studied Bubbles, prying her eyes away from the woman’s chest to take in the rest of her. She was tall, close to six feet—not including her hair, which added at least another three or four inches to her towering frame. Her hair was long, teased to within an inch of its life and—as they’d been warned—pink. Hot pink. Her dark skin and eyes betrayed her Hispanic heritage and she was wearing a wildly patterned spandex shirt that barely contained her girls.
Riley could now understand the woman’s nickname. Her “bubbles” were very impressive, given the fact the woman possessed such a lanky frame. She wasn’t sure how Bubbles was remaining upright with all that weight in front. She had on super-tight pants that outlined her shapely ass and legs, and strangely, despite her crazy outfit and hair, Riley considered Bubbles one of the most beautiful women she’d ever seen.
Aaron turned to face her again and from the corner of her eye, she saw his smile grow.
“You doing okay, Riley?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Think I just got my first serious girl crush.”
He laughed. “On Bubbles? Jesus, I’m gonna have to get you out of Vegas soon. You’re starting to fit in here.”
“Didn’t know this place was Titty City. Don’t you think she looks sort of hot?”
“I’m trying to look at her face, Riley, I swear to God. It’s just—those boobs. It’s like a train wreck. I can’t make myself look away.”
She laughed. “Men. So typical. Come on. Let’s see if she knows where Bella is.”
They approached the woman as she appeared to be offering her services to a tiny bald man who was sweating profusely.
“Excuse me,” Riley said. Bubbles turned. The hooker’s gaze landed on Riley for a split second before it flew to Aaron.
“Well, now. Hello there,” Bubbles purred at Aaron. Riley grinned as her new husband blushed under the hooker’s intense scrutiny. Bubbles looked back at the bald man, dismissing him. “Sorry honey. Just got a better offer. Adios.”
As she spoke, she wiggled her fingers in a short wave. The bald man sighed heavily before walking away. Riley felt sorry for the poor man who looked as if his beloved puppy had just been run over by a truck.
“I think you may have misunderstood,” Aaron said, trying to warn Bubbles she was sending away her paycheck. “We’re not here to, um…” He looked at Riley for help and she laughed at the utter panic on his face.
“My friend isn’t propositioning you for sex,” Riley explained.
Bubbles grinned and Riley sucked in a breath. The woman had perfect white teeth, and again she was struck by her beauty.
Shit. She was going loopy in this freaking city.
“Maybe he’d like a sample before he throws away what I’m offering.” Bubbles took a step closer—all that was required to leave her chest a hairsbreadth away from Aaron.
“Miss, um—” Aaron started.
“Bubbles, bebé. Everybody calls me Bubbles.” As she spoke, she thrust her bubbles closer, her erect nipples brushing against Aaron’s T-shirt. He took a giant step back but Bubbles was undaunted, following him. Riley fought back the laughter Aaron’s terrified face stirred in her.
“Bubbles.” Riley tried to draw the woman’s attention toward her in an attempt to save Aaron. “Hello, over here,” she said, waving her hands.
Bubbles turned and Riley sensed it was the first time the woman really saw her. “You can play too, chica. There’s plenty of Bubbles to go around.”
“I can see that,” Riley said, “but we’re really not interested in sex.”
The hooker narrowed her eyes in disbelief. “Oh, you can’t lie to Bubbles, chica. You expect me to believe you’re walking around with this sexy number and you’re not thinking about gettin’ in that big boy’s pants? Sell that shit to somebody else.”
Riley glanced at Aaron and had to admit the woman had a point. She was so hot for him, she felt as if she could spontaneously combust on the spot.
Jesus, when did life become so complicated? She’d spent twenty years with Aaron and never felt a ripple of desire. Now it was as if every wasted second of the past two decades was crashing in on her at once and she needed to fuck him or die in the attempt.
She tore her attention away from Aaron, who was now grinning delightedly since Bubbles’ attention had turned toward her.
Revenge was such a sweet thing.
“Oh Bubbles, the dirty, nasty things I want to do with Aaron and to Aaron would make you blush. I just think it’s more correct to say we’re not interested in a threesome.”
Aaron groaned at her words and Riley laughed when he adjusted his jeans. “Dammit, Riley,” he muttered.
Bubbles’ eyebrows rose and Riley suspected she’d earned the woman’s respect. “Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it, sweetheart.”
Riley considered her comment for a moment and then glanced at Aaron. A threesome might be fun.
“No,” he said quickly, obviously seeing where Riley’s thoughts had wandered.
Bubbles turned her attention back to him, but before she could speak, Aaron cut her off. “My wife and I are here on our honeymoon,” he told her. “Hell, I haven’t even had a chance to have sex with her yet, so you can both forget the threesome thing.”
The hooker turned to her. “You married this guy and
you haven’t even had sex with each other yet? Risky.”
Riley had to agree. She hadn’t considered it until this moment. What if the sex sucked? “She’s got a point.”
He shook his head. “We’ll set the sheets on fire, Riley, and you know it. Could we try to keep the conversation on track? Trev,” he reminded her.
“We’re looking for a friend of ours,” she said to Bubbles. “The clerk at Sal’s said he saw you talking to him and his date last night.”
“I don’t know anybody named Trev,” Bubbles replied.
“Yeah, but I think you know his date. Her name is Bella.”
Bubbles went off like a bottle rocket. “That cunt! That whore! How dare you say that bitch’s name to me!”
Riley threw her hands up in surrender when Bubbles took a menacing step toward her. “Hey, I’m just looking for Trev. I’ve never even met this Bella bimbo.”
“That’s not completely true,” Aaron muttered and Riley shot him a dirty look.
“In case you’ve forgotten, I was drunk last night. I don’t remember anything.” She stressed anything and a scowl crossed his face.
“Remember or not, the things that happened last night still happened and trying to avoid the truth—”
“Um, hello,” Bubbles interjected, “but I don’t know what the fuck you two are talking about.”
“Sorry.” Riley threw a nasty glance in Aaron’s direction. “Our friend Trev hooked up with—”
“The cunt.” Bubbles interrupted her with the nasty nickname and Riley grinned at the sound of it. She’d never used the word as a curse before, but she had to admit it had a certain ring to it.
“Forget it,” Aaron said, stepping up behind Riley.
“What?”
“Forget you ever heard that word. I know you. You’ll start flinging it around as easily as you do the food at the pub. Your pop hears that and he’ll wash your mouth out with soap and then blame me for letting you use it.”
“You have to admit it has a certain pizzazz.”
“It’s vulgar and crude and you’re an aunt. Erase it from your mind right now.”
“Spoilsport,” Riley muttered.
“Are you two on fucking drugs or something? What the fuck is wrong with you?” Bubbles asked.
Aaron stepped forward. “Trev ran off last night with—”
Bubbles started to interject her nasty nickname for Bella, but Aaron cut her off.
“With Bella,” he said loudly. “Trev’s wife has shown up in Vegas now and she’d like her husband back. We told her we’d track him down for her.”
Bubbles’ head swayed sideways and Riley fought not to laugh at the woman’s haughty expression. “Hmpf. You might wanna tell that wife her two-timing husband has dipped his stick in a well of STD-infested poison. I wouldn’t take a man back who’d fucked Bella even if he’d been dunked in a vat of bleach and scrubbed off with twenty-two cases of Purell.”
“Lovely imagery,” Riley muttered.
“We’ll pass your advice along to Trev’s wife, but for now, we really just need to find him,” Aaron said.
Riley was impressed with his calm, matter-of-fact manner. In the meantime, she was hungover, horny and torn between laughing her ass off or curling into a fetal position and crying her eyes out. She was going to knock every tooth Trev had left down his throat when she found him. Nobody was worth this much hassle.
“I don’t have any clue where the cunt is and I don’t really care to know.”
“Fine,” Aaron said. “Thank you for your time.”
He took Riley’s hand and turned to leave, but Bubbles stopped him. “You could always ask Johnny.”
“Johnny?” Riley asked.
“Johnny Sparks, Bella’s old man. If she’s run off with this friend of yours, you can be damn sure Johnny’s looking for them too. You better hope you find them first or there won’t be too many parts of your friend left to find.”
“Any idea where we could find this Johnny guy?” The question seemed to be pulled from Aaron’s gut and Riley could appreciate the sentiment. The idea of tracking down Bella’s pimp, especially if he was dangerous, didn’t seem like such a good idea.
“He hangs out at Jacko’s—closes it down every night, the drunk asshole. It’s a bar on the edge of town. Kind of a rough place.” Bubbles looked at Riley as she spoke and Riley appreciated the woman’s warning.
“What does he look like?” Aaron asked. “Might help us find him if we have a description.”
Bubbles laughed. “Oh, bebé. You don’t gotta worry ’bout that. You can’t miss Johnny Sparks. He thinks he’s fucking Wayne Newton. Dresses like him, looks like him, acts like him. Shame he can’t sing like him. Maybe he wouldn’t be such a loser then. Stuck with cunts like Bella.”
“Thanks for the help, Bubbles. Listen…” Riley pulled a tattered receipt and pen from her purse. “Here’s my cell number. If you see Bella again, do you mind giving me a call?”
Bubbles took the number and nodded. “I’ll call you right after I beat her silicone-infested jugs into the ground.”
“Why do you hate Bella so much?” Riley asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
“Cunt knows this block is my territory. She went into that casino and picked up your friend knowing he shoulda been my john. Then he wins that jackpot and she’s flitting all over town acting like a big shot. He was my Richard Gere.”
Riley was confused. “Richard Gere.”
“Didn’t you ever see the movie Pretty Woman? Rich guy falls for the hooker. Saves her from a life on the streets by proposing.”
“Trev isn’t rich,” Riley explained. “And he’s already married. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t qualify for the Richard Gere role.”
Bubbles shrugged and then laughed. “Then maybe I’ll let Bella live, just so I can laugh at her sorry ass when she realizes her Prince Charming is a frog.”
Riley nodded.
“I’ll tell you this,” Bubbles said. “Last time Bella ran off with a guy, Johnny put a hit on him. You find your friend, you’d be smart to get him and his wife outta Vegas.”
“That’s the plan,” Riley agreed. “Thanks again, Bubbles.”
“Sure thing, chica. You ever convince your man to play at the threesome, you come find me. I’ll give you two the full-service deal for free.”
Riley glanced at Aaron, who was shaking his head.
“Free,” she said with a laugh as he wrapped his arm across her shoulders and led her back to the hotel.
“Dammit, Riley. Can I get into your pants first before we start exploring ways to jazz up our nonexistent sex life?”
She shrugged, not ready to let go of the joke. “I guess so. Just seems to me you don’t get an offer like that every day, sugar.”
“I’m not worried,” he assured her. “I’ve known you forever and believe me, those sex offers come your way all the time.”
She laughed. “Like when?”
“Like when Bobby Arthur offered you twelve dollars to touch your boobs in middle school.”
“Twelve bucks was a lot of money in middle school.”
“Like when Jules Rodgers came out of the closet our junior year and announced to everyone she was in love with you,” he added.
“Well, now I’ll admit that was awkward. But we’re fine now. She’s still a really good friend.”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “All I’m saying is it’s not that unusual for people to offer you sex in whatever variety or form.”
“Everyone except you.”
He frowned. “What’s that mean?”
“It means that until this morning, you’ve never even hinted at being interested in me sexually. Don’t you find that odd?”
He shook his head. “Not really. I knew it was all or nothing with you. I’ve always known that.”
“All or nothing?”
“I would never have been able to have sex with you, Riley, without wanting a committed relationship, without wanting marriage as the end res
ult. Until last night, that never seemed like a possibility.”
“What happened last night?”
He grinned. “You let the mask slip.”
She paused to consider his comment. Had she revealed the reason she’d been so depressed lately? Had she confessed her secret desire to get married? Obviously she had, hence her current dilemma. “I’m never drinking again.”
“You always say that. This too shall pass.”
As they approached their hotel, they paused outside. It was early evening and Riley’s energy level was nearly depleted. It had been a long day. Hell, it had been a long weekend and it was showing no signs of slowing up. “What now?”
“Let’s cruise through the casino again. It’s probably too early for Johnny to be at the bar. I figure we have a fifty-fifty chance he’s a mean drunk.”
“You want to wait until he’s drunk and mean?”
“No,” Aaron said. “I want the other fifty percent. Drunk enough to be helpful and harmless.”
“You do realize our luck in this godforsaken city hasn’t been all that great so far.”
Aaron smiled. “Are you kidding? I’m having the luckiest weekend of my life and I’m about to hit the jackpot.”
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “How so?”
“After we determine Trev isn’t hanging out by the slot machines, I’m taking you up to the room and making you my wife. Once and for all.”
* * * * *
Riley pulled her sweater over her head as they entered the hotel room. Aaron had pushed buttons in her she didn’t know she had.
Fuck it.
She was having sex with him and to hell with the consequences. The sound of leather swishing against denim proved Aaron was in a hurry too as his belt hit the floor. He kicked the door shut with his foot as he reached out for her, turning and pushing her against it.
“Haven’t I seen you here before?” She recalled they’d been in the exact same position this morning.
Aaron grinned. “Same place, different ending. Take off your clothes.”
“I’d rather take yours off.” She reached for his T-shirt, pulling it over his head, her heart racing at the sight of his bare chest. She’d seen the man shirtless a thousand times in the past, but for some inexplicable reason, she felt as if she was seeing it clearly for the first time and a strange sense of possessiveness gripped her.
