A Hot Mess

by Christy Gissendaner

  The lady’s red fingernails … talons really … hooked around Simon’s tie and pulled him in close.

  Cait sucked in a breath. What in the hell?

  She wanted to look away but couldn’t tear her eyes from the scene.

  Instead of pulling away like she expected him to, Simon smiled at the blonde and lowered his head. A choked cry escaped Cait as he kissed her, a real honest-to-goodness kiss. Not a friendly peck or kiss on the cheek like you would give an old friend.

  Her fiancé, the man she’d eloped to Vegas with, had his tongue halfway down the throat of another woman the day before their wedding.

  A rage unlike any she had ever known overtook Cait. She strode forward, cursing when one of her heels twisted, and headed straight for Simon and the hussy he’d found.

  Her fiancé and the blonde woman continued to kiss, oblivious to the crowd around them. Hell, an earthquake could rock Vegas, and Cait doubted they would even come up for air. She could only hope an abyss would open beneath their immoral feet and swallow them whole.

  “Ahem,” Cait cleared her throat in a loud, dramatic manner.

  She tapped Simon on his shoulder, but he didn’t stir. She tapped harder, and he finally lifted his head. The expression he made when he realized who’d disturbed him was almost comical. If it wasn’t for the fury, she probably would’ve laughed.

  “Caitlyn!” Simon’s face paled beneath his airbrushed tan. “It’s not what it looks like!”

  “Oh, I would say it’s exactly what it looks like.” Cait dismissed Simon with a flip of her hair and turned to his companion. “You may not realize it, but the man you’re playing tonsil hockey with is my fiancé.”

  The blonde girl lifted an overly plucked eyebrow. “Oh, really? He wasn’t acting like your fiancé a few moments ago.”

  Cait’s mouth fell open. “Seriously?”

  She turned back to Simon with a shocked expression. “Do you mean to tell me that this,” she paused to wave her hand toward the blonde tramp, “is worth losing me? Do I need to remind you that you proposed to me this morning?”

  Simon’s expression reminded Cait of a floundered fish as his mouth opened and closed several times in quick succession. He looked down at the floor as he spoke. “I’ve been thinking about that, Caitlyn, and I’m not sure I’m ready to get married yet.”

  Cait’s heart leapt into her throat and threatened to cut off her air supply. “Excuse me?”

  Simon held up his hands and gave her a pleading look. “Don’t be mad, Caitlyn, but I’m not sure you’re the one.”

  She drew back as if he’d slapped her. “Not the one? Have you lost your fucking mind, Simon? You’re going to throw away our relationship just because of some slut you met, what, thirty minutes ago?”

  “Mandy is not a slut, Cait.”

  Cait laughed, but it lacked any trace of humor, as she glanced at the overly made-up Mandy whose breasts were about to fall out of her low-cut blouse. “I beg to differ with you.”

  Mandy stepped between them and flapped her hands in a shushing motion. “I think you two should lower your voices. People are staring.”

  Cait leveled a cold stare at Mandy and held up a hand as she asked for clarification. “Excuse me. You don’t want us to make a scene, yet you didn’t seem to mind people staring when you practically had sex with my fiancé in public.”

  “It was just a kiss,” Simon interjected.

  “Just a kiss?” Cait’s gaze swung back to Simon. “You don’t fucking kiss someone else, Simon, when you are engaged to me!”

  “You don’t have to explain yourself.” Mandy turned to Simon and reached for his hand.

  Cait laughed again. “Oh, believe me; he certainly does have to explain himself.”

  Mandy shook her head and tutted. “Come on, honey. Let’s leave.”

  “Honey?” Cait screeched, but then she registered the rest of Mandy’s words. “Leave?”

  Cait took Simon’s other hand and tugged him toward her. “You are not leaving with her, Simon.”

  What ensued was a game of tug and war with Simon as the rope. In the end, it was Simon who determined the winner.

  “Caitlyn, I think we should break up.”

  Chapter 2

  Simon’s bags were gone when Cait returned to the suite.

  She stared at the empty spot where his luggage had been as shock washed over her. He had really done it. He’d left with that hussy, Mandy.

  After Simon broke up with her, Cait stood there in shock as he walked away with Mandy. She needed air, so she went outside to breathe in the cool early evening breeze. She couldn’t have been gone more than fifteen minutes, and Simon and his bags were already gone. Cait dialed down to the front desk and was informed Simon hadn’t cancelled the reservation. At least he’d had the decency to move to another hotel and leave her with a room.

  Cait wasted no time in going to the wet bar and pulling open the fridge that sat on the counter. She selected several tiny, expensive bottles of rum and placed them on the counter. She looked at her selection of alcohol. She reached back inside to pull out every five dollar bottle of water from the fridge and added it to the growing pile on the counter.

  Simon always ranted at the cost of bottled water, and the suite was reserved to his credit card. The least he deserved was an astronomical amount charged to him, courtesy of the fiancée he’d abandoned in Vegas.

  Cradling a bottle of rum in both hands, Cait sank down in the armchair placed before the room’s floor-to-ceiling window and stared out at the blinking lights of the Vegas Strip. Her hotel was situated near one end of the Strip, so the view was gorgeous.

  It was only dusk. When night fell, the view would be even more amazing.

  Cait lifted a bottle to her lips and took a deep swallow. The high-end rum burned a trail of fire straight to her empty stomach. Unless she counted the small bag of peanuts she’d had on the plane, she hadn’t eaten that day.

  Cait made a mental note to order dinner, but first she would finish a couple of these bottles. The numbing effect of alcohol was needed to get through this night.

  Cait’s throat ached with unshed tears, but she refused to cry for that heartless bastard. How could she have been so blind as to believe Simon when he said he loved her? The signs had been there all along, his disinterest in her hopes, and the cold way he treated her fears.

  Cait tossed an empty bottle at the trash can but missed by about two feet. She snorted at her effort. Basketball had never been her game.

  Cait left the trash lying where it fell. It wasn’t like there was a clean freak in her life anymore. She didn’t have to worry about being neat, so there was an upside to this disaster at least.

  She opened the second bottle and sipped on it as night fell. The sky outside her window turned dark, and more lights appeared on the Strip. The view was indeed gorgeous, but Cait’s image was reflected on the window and ruined her appreciation of the scene.

  She looked about as miserable as she felt.

  The room’s phone rang, and Cait shot it a glare hot enough to melt stone. It was probably Simon calling to apologize. If so, she didn’t want to hear it. The phone went silent, but a couple minutes later it started up again.

  Cait sighed. It could be something important, like Simon being run over by a car.

  The phone rang several times before she stood and walked over to snatch up the receiver. “Hello?”

  “Is this Caitlyn Myers?” A professional-sounding voice asked.

  Cait’s heart nearly stopped. She hadn’t been serious about him being run over. “Yes, it is.”

  “This is Mary with the airline.”

  Cait sank down onto the mattress with a relieved sigh. “Oh. Hi, Mary.”

  Mary cleared her throat before she continued speaking. “I regret to inform you, but your luggage was misdirected to China.”

  Cait rolled her eyes. Of course it was. With the way her luck was going, she wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up in Timbuktu. “What
does that mean? Will I be able to get it back?”

  “Yes, of course, but regrettably it’ll be several days before it’s returned. Would you like us to send it to you in Las Vegas or forward it to your home address?”

  Cait groaned. Could this day get any worse? “Send it to my home address please. I plan to leave Vegas as soon as possible.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Please allow me to apologize for the unfortunate mix-up, and I assure you we’re doing everything we can to correct the matter.”

  Cait listened with half an ear as Mary droned on with her apologies. “We hope you will continue flying with our airline. And once again, I apologize.”

  “No biggie,” Cait replied. “I assure you I have much larger problems on my plate right now.”

  “Err … right.” Mary cleared her throat again. “In that case, I hope you have a good evening.”

  Cait cut her eyes to the bottles of rum waiting for her on the counter. “I’m not too sure about the good part, but I’m going to try.”

  After the call was over, Cait stretched across the bed and reached for her wallet. She pulled out her credit card and grabbed the phone again. Mary’s call had reminded her that arrangements needed to be made for an earlier flight home.

  She and Simon had planned to spend a week in Vegas, but there was no way she was going to stay for seven days now.

  Cait reached the ticketing office, explained her need for a flight home as soon as possible, and was scheduled for an early morning flight the next day.

  The ticketing agent rattled off the charges. “Okay, Ms. Myers. We have you scheduled for flight one eighty-one which departs at three a.m. tomorrow. It will be a two hundred and fifty dollar fee to alter the ticket.”

  Cait recited her credit card number and vowed to castrate Simon.

  The sound of keys being pressed clicked over the line, and then the airline employee’s tone turned apologetic. “I’m sorry, Ms. Myers, but that card is expired.”

  “What? That’s not possible.” Cait squinted at the date on the plastic square and cursed under her breath. “You’re right. I must’ve shredded the wrong card when the new one came in.”

  “No problem.” The agent remained courteous and upbeat. “Do you have a different card?”

  Cait reopened her wallet and searched every flap, but couldn’t find her debit card. “No, I’m sorry. I think I left it in my purse at home.”

  The agent’s tone brooked no argument. “I’m sorry, Ms. Myers. Without a card, I cannot process the change to your ticket.”

  “I understand. Thank you for your time.”

  Cait slammed the phone down and shoved her hands through her hair. She let out a loud shriek.

  Was everything going to go wrong?

  Cait retrieved a third bottle of rum and opened it with her teeth. She spat out the metal top, heedless of where it landed. This was all Simon’s fault, the ass. Her ring clinked against the glass bottle, and she glared at the beautiful diamond he’d just given her that morning. It seemed so long ago. She set down the bottle and wrenched the ring off her finger. She thought about throwing it in the garbage but tossed it in her purse instead. Maybe she could pawn it when she got back home.

  She paced the room and considered her options. There was no way she was calling her mother. Gwen Myers had never been fond of Simon, and Cait was not up for listening to her mother’s “I told you so’s.”

  Her sister, Amy, was out as well. Amy was in her last year of college, and Cait didn’t want to distract her from her studies.

  Who did that leave? Cait thought of her other relatives but dismissed them all just as quickly. She couldn’t bear the embarrassment of pouring out her sad sob story.

  Cait turned on her heel and marched back toward the phone. There was one person she could trust to not judge her.

  Dylan Russell.

  Cait’s fingers punched out Dylan’s cell number and gripped the receiver against her cheek, praying Dylan wasn’t on location for an exotic photo shoot where he wouldn’t have cell reception. She really needed his help.

  Dylan answered on the fourth ring, right when she was worried his voicemail was about to come on.

  “Hello?”

  “Dylan, thank God!” Cait exclaimed.

  “Cait?” Dylan’s deep voice revealed his concern. “Is everything all right?”

  “No, it’s not.” Cait hated the tremble in her voice. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves. “I need you to do me a favor.”

  “Sure,” Dylan answered without hesitation. “What do you need?”

  Cait bit her lip. She hated to ask him for money even though she knew he had bucket loads to spare. His family was loaded, and his successful career as a fashion photographer made him practically a celebrity in Atlanta. He’d done shots for all of Cait’s favorite magazines. Cait felt like a pauper asking him to let her borrow money, but she had to get home, and this was the only way she knew how.

  “I really hate to ask you this, but can you wire me two hundred and fifty dollars? I can pay you back as soon as I get home.”

  There was a long silence on Dylan’s end. Finally, he spoke. “Are you in trouble, Cait? Where are you?”

  Cait glanced around the room and grimaced. She wished she could lie, but she’d never been very good at it. Besides Dylan would see … or in this case, hear right through her. “Ummm … Vegas?”

  Dylan groaned. “It shouldn’t sound like a question, Cait. Are you there or not?”

  “Affirmative.” Cait hoped the reminder of their childhood conversations on his walkie talkies would break the tension.

  It didn’t work.

  “What in the hell are you doing in Vegas?” Dylan exclaimed.

  “Oh, well you know. Just visiting,” she answered in a breezy tone.

  “Cait.” Dylan stressed her name. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  Cait wondered how much of the truth she should reveal. Dylan didn’t like Simon either, and it would be just like him to seek out her heartless ex-fiancé and punch him. “Promise you won’t get mad.”

  Dylan’s sigh sounded through the phone line. “I promise.”

  “I eloped.”

  The silence drew out even longer this time. Nerves attacked Caitlyn with a vengeance. She knew he would be upset, but she just didn’t know how much.

  Her voice quivered. “Say something, Dylan.”

  Dylan cleared his throat. “So you married that jackass?”

  “No. The jackass dumped me.”

  “What?”

  Cait couldn’t hold it in any longer. She poured out the whole story to him. By the end of her impassioned rant, she wanted to kick herself for being so blind to Simon’s faults.

  Dylan’s voice was remarkably calm. “And you need the money for what exactly?”

  “I want to get an earlier flight home.”

  Dylan sighed. “Cait…”

  She interrupted him. “Don’t lecture me, Dylan. I can’t handle it right now.”

  “I wasn’t going to lecture you. I was going to offer to come to you.”

  Cait rolled her eyes even though she knew Dylan couldn’t see the gesture. “You’re going to fly all the way from Atlanta? That’s a bit much, Dylan, even for you.”

  “Actually, I thought I could rent a car and drive up there. I had a shoot in Los Angeles that just wrapped up. I could be there in a few hours. It would probably be quicker to drive than to try to book a flight last minute.” He paused for a moment. “Unless you want me to send for my father’s jet?”

  “Don’t you dare!”

  Cait would die of embarrassment if Mr. Russell found out what had happened to her. Plus she knew Dylan hated to draw from his family’s resources. He’d built his photography business from the ground up without any help from his parents.

  She realized she’d sounded a bit sharp and didn’t want to seem ungrateful, she softened her voice. “Thank you for the offer, Dylan, but please don’t.”

  Dylan sounded relieved. �
�Okay. So I will rent a car and be there in a few hours.”

  Cait couldn’t believe her change in luck. What were the odds he would be so close to her when she really needed him? But she felt honor bound not to put him to so much trouble. “You really don’t have to do this, Dylan. You can just wire the money to me.”

  “I want to, Cait. Now give me your location, step away from the rum, and order some room service. I’ll be there before you know it.”

  Chapter 3

  The Vegas Strip was ablaze with lights when Dylan arrived shortly after midnight.

  It did not matter that it was a weeknight, the party never stopped in the Nevada town. The energy and excitement of Vegas mixed with his eagerness to see Cait.

  A buoyant happiness filled him at the thought of Cait. The maddening, irresistible redhead had been the bane of his existence for as long as he could remember. She’d been his neighbor, childhood friend, and ultimately the object of many sex-laden fantasies throughout his adolescence. He’d grown out of his hormone-driven obsession for her in time, but Dylan knew he would always be half in love with her.

  He knew it was a useless endeavor, since she’d just been dumped, but he had to come to her and hope that one day she would look at him as more than a friend.

  Dylan drove his rental car up the valet entrance of Cait’s hotel and tossed the keys to a young man who emerged from the valet station. He retrieved a duffel bag stuffed full of camera equipment and clothing from the trunk and slung it over his shoulder. He headed through the sliding glass doors and looked for the elevators to the guest rooms.

  Dylan strode though the elegant lobby, grateful he finally had a chance to stretch his legs. He’d driven nonstop from Los Angeles, and an economy car was all that had been available. The tiny two-door did not allow much leg room, and it had been a long, cramped drive, but the aches and discomfort were worth it.

  Dylan headed for the elevators, but he had to walk right past the casino to reach them. He had not been to Vegas in several years, but the sounds were exactly as he remembered. Catchy melodies sounded from the slots. The rumble of voices echoed over the din. Every now and again, a woman would squeal as she hit a jackpot.