Say it Ain’t So

Chapter 1

1

RYLAN

What happens in Vegas doesn’t really stay in Vegas. Those memories you got—of watching half-naked dancers strip on stage, of gawking at the guys wearing banana hammocks and silver platform go-go boots strutting along the sidewalks, of zip lining down Fremont Street—are all coming home with you. The concussion you got from falling off the mechanical bull at that country bar will be with you on the plane ride home. The impromptu drive thru wedding is still as real as the paper the marriage certificate is printed on.

And all the money from the fuckin’ jackpot I won was going straight into my bank account.

With my celebratory beer in one hand, I tore my attention off the receipt from the cashier’s cage in my other and cast my gaze across the casino floor.

Twenty bucks.

Twenty bucks had just changed my fuckin’ life.

Never mind the hours I’d spent playing blackjack in the past two days. Never mind the meager ten thousand I’d collected as I decided to tap out and move along to the next big thing.

I’d been itching for action. Aching for something else to do. I saw that slot machine in front of me and, distracted by a gorgeous brunette in a purple floral sundress and cowboy boots, I’d shoved twenty bucks in it and pushed a button. It was either that or feel like a creeper for gawking at those beautiful, long, lean legs of hers.

The blaring bells and whistles behind me hadn’t made a lick of sense, not until that woman marched out of view on the heels of a handful of other women and I turned myself around.

Now here I was, two point seven million dollars richer with a beer in my hand.

And there she was, the woman I’d been gawking at, perched on the edge of the fountain while she stared down at her cell phone, alone.

My entire body lit up at the sight. My heart pounded and my mind spun through a thousand fantasies I was all too willing to play out. Before I knew it, I was off my bar stool, my drink abandoned as I shoved my receipt in my front pocket.

But something stopped me from moving her way. Something I didn’t understand. For a split second, my chest clenched and my stomach tensed, and I stumbled backward onto my stool, grabbing for my abandoned beer. I swallowed down a big gulp, gaze locked on that girl.

She swept her long brown hair off her neck and over one shoulder, the movement blocking my view of her gorgeous face.

That was, until she swiped the heel of her palm over her cheekbone before turning her watery gaze my way.

Our connection was brief, our eyes locked for half a second before the saddest smile I’d ever seen graced her full lips. Then it was gone. Her smile. Her attention.

My inability to move.

Tossing back the last of my beer, I shoved off my stool and strode her way. That itch to take action pulsed through me. My heart thumped in my chest, in my ears, until I could no longer focus on anything but her.

Her long, delicate neck.

The press of her collarbone against her tanned skin.

The defeated slope of her shoulders.

I couldn’t stand for it. I couldn’t sit back and let this woman, whose mere presence had changed my life, continue to look like her world lay crumpled beneath her feet.

She didn’t look up as I approached. Swiped another tear from her cheek as I pulled to a stop in front of her. When she turned her beautiful blue eyes on me, all the words I’d planned to say to coax her out of her gloomy funk suddenly took off on the rest of my vacation without me.

My mouth dried up, and my muscles twitched as something in my stomach took flight, chasing after my words in an effort to get away. When her brow pinched, causing the sparkling casino lights to glimmer off the moisture clinging to her lashes, all my nerves skittered away, and an unfailing certainty washed through me. I had to know her, had to talk to her and make her smile.

“Morning, gorgeous.”

Yep. That’s what decided to come out of my mouth. I cringed as one sculpted brow rose on her forehead, and her fingers tangled in her hair.

Kicking myself for my sudden awkwardness, I pushed aside the voice in my head telling me I’d already fucked this up and I should just walk away, and I forced myself to smile.

“You look like you could use some help. Are you lost?”

Her eyes lit up for half a second before she dropped her gaze to her phone’s blank screen. She hesitated, then set the thing down on her purse at her side. “Not really.”

“Not really?” There was an invitation there, and I accepted it as if she’d flung open her front door and asked me in. I took a seat beside her, getting distracted as she tucked a long hair behind her ear, and I caught sight of a yellowing bruise on her throat. “As in, you're not lost? Or you don’t need help?”

She slowly dragged her attention my way, and I felt it like a caress as her gaze drifted over me, rising from where my elbows rested on my thighs, up my chest, and finally stopping as our eyes met. “I’m not lost.”

There was no way for me to tell if the sirens I heard were from the casino around us or from those three whispered words. My body reacted as if she’d just begged me for help. I fought to keep myself from jumping into action even as the flush of her skin made more bruises appear under the drape of her hair.

As if realizing that’s where my attention was locked, she lifted her hand and covered herself. Like hiding it could wipe away the knowledge that it was there.

“Did someone hurt you?” I didn’t realize I’d reached out to her until my fingers were swiping away her long, silky hair. She dipped her chin, her shoulders pulling up, but she didn’t shy away.

“It’s nothing.”

“This isn’t nothing.” She let me brush her hand aside and didn’t flinch when I smoothed my thumb against her bruised throat. “Who did this to you?”

Her pretty eyes met mine. She didn’t hesitate before she said, “My ex-boyfriend.”

Ex?

My body had a visceral reaction—some combination of wanting to pummel the asshole and wanting to jump for fuckin’ joy that she’d tacked that ex on the front of boyfriend .

“Is he here?”

She shook her head as she reached for her phone without turning away even an inch. “He’s back home. I’m…”

When she dipped her chin and didn’t continue, I ducked down and forced her to look at me. “You’re what?”

She sucked in a shaky breath. “I was supposed to be celebrating with his sister today. We’re here for her bachelorette party. But when she found out…”

“Found out what?” I asked when she didn’t seem to want to go on.

“That I broke up with him because I found out he’s fucking someone else.” Her spine straightened as she sat up straight. She lifted her phone and held it out in front of me. On its screen was a text conversation between her and someone named DB Peter . There was a video there, the cover of which gave away plenty.

“DB Peter?”

“Douchebag.” The first real smile she’d given crept across her lips and something deep inside me chinked into place.

Holy. Fuckin’. Hell.

I’d never seen anything like it, and I’d do anything to see it again.

“I just changed it.” She gave a shrug, her smile growing as one of my own split my fuckin’ face in two.

“What’s your name?”

“Joss.” The single syllable slid off her tongue like honey, and I swore it was my new favorite sound. “What’s yours?”

“Rylan.” I extended my hand to her, and a tingling sensation swept my skin the minute she placed her hand in mine, causing my blood to buzz in my veins and my mouth to water. I swallowed it down and forced out, “Nice to meet you.”

Joss didn’t take her hand back, and I tucked that fact into the back of my head. “Nice to meet you, too.”

“So, the sister,” I said after I watched color pink her cheeks as she dropped her gaze to our clasped hands. “That’s who you were with earlier?”

“Earlier?” She tugged her hand away, and I reluctantly let her, cursing myself for opening my big mouth.

I shrugged and cast her a lazy smile. “The one with the tiara and the white dress that looked like a nightie?”

Joss may have covered a smile with her fingers, but happiness gleamed in her eyes.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” I chuckled quietly. “Let me guess. All those women you were with told her she looked spectacular while you sat there biting your tongue?”

“Stop.” She grabbed the finger I’d pointed her way and tugged it down like she could hide the truth. But her laughter couldn’t be hidden. In fact, it knocked the wind out of me as I watched in complete fascination. “You’re horrible.”

“I’m not the one biting my tongue.”

She leaned against me, her shoulders shaking with laughter. “It was so bad.” She righted herself, her smile tempered as she said, “She asked me to plan this weekend for her, and I did. I did everything she asked, booked the plane tickets and the hotel and the shows, and she thanked me by telling me I’m not welcome because her douchebag brother accidentally sent me a video of him fucking her friend and I had a problem with it.”

She fell silent, and I hated it. I hated the pain I could practically feel pulsing off her in waves. I hated the way her smile disappeared and all her beautiful laughter fell away.

I wanted to bring it back.

Leaning into her, my shoulder pressing against hers, I asked, “You know where they’re supposed to be now?”

Joss held up her hand in front of her, examining her perfect lavender nails. “They’re going to the spa for massages and mani pedis.”

“And after?” I pressed.

She rolled her eyes, a hint of that smile coming back. “I booked one of those hypnotists shows this afternoon, followed by dinner at some fancy restaurant and then one of those circus shows tonight.”

“So, they’ll be busy all day?”

“And all night.”

“And you’re not invited?”

“I’m un invited.”

“Great!”

She looked at me through narrowed eyes. “Great?”

Grabbing her hand, I stood and gave her a tug. When she didn’t stand, I tugged a little harder, a smile creeping across my lips until she relented and stood in front of me. “Great. Because somewhere out there, there’s a douchebag that doesn’t deserve you, and his sister and her crappy-ass friends are going to be jealous as hell since they won’t be having nearly as much fun as you as we light this town on fire.”

Joss’s eyes sparkled, not with tears but with mischief. “What are we going to do?”

“You ever been to the Strat?”

“The big hotel north of the strip?”

Nodding, I rubbed my palms together and leaned in closer, lowering my voice. “I won a jackpot earlier. Got distracted by the most beautiful girl in the world and shoved a twenty in a machine. Now I’ve got money to burn.”

“Are you serious?”

“You didn’t hear all those bells and whistles as you were following Princess Nightie out of the casino earlier?”

Joss tilted her head to one side, studying me as I offered her my hand. Then her eyes widened, and her face lit up.

“That was you?” She shook her head and took a step backward, only to crash into the edge of the fountain and almost tumble into it.

She would have, if I hadn’t been there to save her. I grabbed her arm, spinning her around as I jerked her toward me. Her back slammed into my chest, and I wrapped an arm around her to steady her. After a long moment and a heavy breath, Joss peeked up at me over her shoulder.

“Come with me.” I didn’t want to beg, but I also didn’t want to let her go. Holding her felt good. Being with her felt right. “Let’s give them something to be jealous of.”

She licked her lips and my attention darted to the smooth slide of her tongue. “Okay.” She smiled and fuckin’ stole my breath away. “Let’s do it.”