Chapter 36
Thursday morning arrived too quickly. It was less than one week away till Christmas Day.
She’d be leaving the busyness of the Strip for hectic festive preparations.
Yesterday they’d gone to the Grand Canal Shoppes at a hotel called the Venetian, having overheard a couple at the table next to them, at breakfast, rave about the canal down the middle of it.
Shoppers could take gondola rides, which Lili and Dylan did, sailing past restaurants and luxury shops.
Late afternoon they’d gone to the burlesque show called Naughty Santa .
With its skimpy outfits, tinsel boas, sexy music and topless dancers, and Santa, in very tight trousers, Dylan had pretended to cover his eyes, widening his fingers just enough to get a good view and looking at Lili through it.
They’d laughed. A lot.
Being with him was effortless.
So why hadn’t she been able to open up about her feelings for him? Since the visit to the Grand Canyon, it was as if the pure blue sky, strewn with sunbeams, had penetrated her skin and infused her with a joie de vivre. But what if he said no and the world became a darker place again?
Lili looked firmly at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
Then so be it. You’ll find the light once more. You know that now.
They’d be leaving for the airport mid-morning.
When they entered the food hall, both went for waffles.
Lili offered to get them whilst he fetched two coffees.
She’d sent photos of their food all week to Meg, having failed to spot celebrities, and found a biker bar on the Strip with a Harley Davidson parked outside, and an amazing neon-yellow sports bike that looked like a Transformer.
Tommo loved the snaps and replied to Lili’s message with wow face emojis.
But she wouldn’t be sending Meg a photo of Dylan’s waffles today. Lili carried their plates over to the table where he was waiting. She put down hers first and then, stomach in knots, placed his plate in front of him.
Dylan rubbed his hands and picked up his cutlery, shadows under his eyes not so dark as a few days ago, his hair shiny and tidier. ‘So ready for this,’ he said and looked down. His eyebrows knotted together as he glanced at Lili’s plate. ‘Is mine a special order?’
His stack of waffles was covered in cream, and bright red hearts of coulis were dotted around, along with cranberries. Whereas Lili’s coulis was in a puddle on the side, next to a mini jug of cream and slapdash pile of berries.
Lili clenched her hands under the table.
‘I asked the server to do that. Because, well, I like you, Dylan. A lot. I’ve known for a while but didn’t feel I could cope with anything…
deeper than that one-off night at the pub.
Not after losing Em. But that’s changed. ’ Awkwardly, she took a sip of coffee.
He studied the plate once more, then lifted his head.
‘God, Dylan, put me out of my misery, say something!’
‘I’ve got nothing to say.’
The knots in her stomach tightened and insecurities filled his silence. In her black one-piece she hadn’t been half as glamorous as the other women at the pool, in their eye-catching metallic bikinis, as if Dylan?—
He shot her one of his disarming smiles. ‘Actions speak louder than words.’ He swapped their plates over and turned the hearts to face Lili. ‘I feel the same. Have done since we first met.’
The sun in Lili began to shine even more brightly.
‘Not just about liking you, but also about getting close to someone again,’ he continued.
‘When we first met, my emotions were still so focused on the loss of Harry. But it’s become harder and harder not to see you and me, us together, as a chance for happiness that I’d be a fool to let go of.
Vegas proves that getting that lucky break often involves taking a gamble.
’ He leant forwards, took her hand and kissed her palm, his lips remaining there as he gazed into her face.
Lili cut a big piece of waffle, stuffed it into her mouth and bit into the sweet gooiness, slowly digesting his words.
‘I wonder if your bed is as comfortable as mine?’ he whispered, feeding her a cranberry.
Her eyes crinkled. ‘Only one way to find out. And I think we’ve got time.’
They practically ran to the lift and once in Lili’s room, they undressed faster than the spin of a roulette wheel.
An hour later, she lay in his arms, utterly content, having hit the jackpot after the sweetest breakfast a person could want.