7. Lily
I”m sittingin the casino at the Bellagio, drowning my sorrows in cocktails. Porn star martinis, to be exact. The world feels fuzzy right now. I”ve had to fend off about five men who tried to sit with me because, ”a pretty lady shouldn”t be on her own in Vegas.” Like, excuse me, I”m an independent woman who runs her own business.
I turned my phone off hours ago. I”ve left it in my room. I don”t want to know what”s going on at home. I don”t want Ryan to find me. Well, actually, I do, but I know he”s not interested in me. Why was I so foolish to believe a man who told everyone he walked out on me when it was the other way around?
Taking another sip of my cocktail, my eyes glance around the room. There are couples here, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and then there are the individuals who come here just to play on the slot machines. I could watch these people all night. I don”t want to play myself; I don”t take those kinds of risks. I know that if I did anything tonight, I would regret it tomorrow.
A guy approaches me. “Hey, you look sad. Do you want company?”
I look up at him. He”s handsome. He”s around my age. I nod for him to sit at the chair opposite me. “Are you okay? I was watching you for a while. You look so sad.”
“Are you a stalker?”
He splutters on his drink, laughing, which makes me smile for the first time in hours. “No, I am not a stalker, ma”am. It”s difficult not to look at a beautiful woman sitting on her own in the casino. It”s not something I see often.”
“I”ve had a really bad day, and I just want to forget about it.” I pick up my cocktail. “Do you want to get drunk with me?”
“Hell, yeah, I do.” He picks up his drink, and we clink glasses. “Here”s to getting drunk and forgetting about being sad.”
I smile at him and take another sip. Then I wave the server over to get us both another drink.
“So, I take it you aren”t from Vegas?” He takes a sip of his drink, looking at me over the rim of his glass.
“No, I live in LA. I was here a couple of months ago as part of a bachelorette party.”
“Did you love it so much you had to come back? I always thought it was New York that was so good they had to say it twice.” His eyes meet mine, and I see the crinkle of his skin at his eyes.
“Very funny.”
We”ve been here for four hours. We had food delivered to the table, and the guy, Marcus, is really nice. If I wasn”t in the process of nursing my broken heart, I would be all over him. Although, I”d say he”s definitely not marriage material. Now, what the hell made me think of that?
“Do you want to go to the bar or somewhere a little more private?” Marcus looks around at the hustle and bustle of the casino.
I stutter. I don”t know what to say. I was going to spend the night with someone else, but I just can”t. I need to get over Ryan first.
Suddenly, there is a voice behind me. It”s deep, growly, and I can”t move. Am I that drunk that I”m imagining Ryan is here? In the Bellagio. Behind me. “Sorry, she”s spoken for.” I feel his hand on my shoulder, and I”m shocked. I don”t know what to say.
Marcus stands up. “I”m sorry, who are you? I”ve been sat talking to her for the last four hours. She never mentioned she was taken.” He looks down at me in disgust. “You could have said you were taken.”
“It”s complicated.” I stand and reach out to touch his arm. I hear a growl from behind me.
“It”s always complicated. Good to meet you.” And with that, he leaves. I stare at his retreating back.
I feel a surge of anger rush through my body. I turn to face Ryan and I slap him across the face. “You had no right to do that. Not after what you did to me.” I grab my bag and storm off through the casino. Ryan follows me, then he grabs my arm and turns me around to face him. Before I know what”s happening, he”s kissing me, and his arms are wrapped around my body. I struggle and try to pull away, but the feel of having him so close to me feels like I”ve come home. I kiss him back, but when he pulls away, I storm off towards the bank of elevators.
“Lily, we need to talk. But I don”t want to do it here.” He looks around at the concierge who is staring at us.
“Are you okay, madam?” The concierge has come over to me.
“She”s fine,” Ryan says, pressing the button to call the elevator.
“I need madame to tell me, sir.” He looks at Ryan like he”s going to arrest him, and however much fun that would be, I guess I need to hear him out. That way I might be able to move on.
“He”s fine, he”s with me. For now.” I step inside the elevator as the door has just opened.
Ryan steps inside with me, and when I look into his eyes, I know he is going to kiss me again. I hold out my hand to him as the door closes. “Don”t you dare come closer to me. Don”t put your lips on me. I need to resist. I need to resist.”
When I look up at him, I see a smile on his face. Fuck. “Did I just say that out loud?” A blush rises up my cheeks.
“Yes, you did, Lily. I just want to talk to you. That”s it. I deserve a chance to be heard.” He leans against the wall and crosses his legs.
“Okay, but let me tell you, there”s nothing you can say that makes this any better.”
He smirks and looks me in the eye. “Is that a challenge, babe?”
I shrug my shoulders.
The door opens, and he follows me down the hallway to my room. There”s no penthouse for me. He takes the key card off me and opens the door for me to walk in first.
Then he steps inside, and it feels like all the air leaves the room and it”s replaced with him.
Walking over to the mini-bar, I open the door and grab a can of Pepsi out. “Do you want anything?”
He shakes his head. “The only thing I want in this room is you.”
“Oh my God, that”s so smarmy.” I laugh though because it is kind of funny. “Sit down, in the chair, I”m going to sit on the bed.”
He sits down and looks at me. “Can I talk now?”
I nod my head, then open my can. “Go ahead, I”m sitting comfortably, so you can begin.” I giggle; I think I”m funny when I”m drunk.
He smiles. “I hear you met my neighbor this morning.”
“Are you always that friendly with your neighbors that they use your shower and walk around half-naked?”
“Are you going to smart-mouth everything I say, Lily? If you are, then this is going to take some time.” He stands up and takes off his jacket, then sits down. “Maybe I should take off an item of clothing every time you smart-mouth me.”
“Don”t you dare. I”m only listening to what you have to say because I need closure.”
“Closure, huh. How quick you were to give up on us, Lily? You didn”t even give me the benefit of the doubt, did you?”
I don”t answer him. I can”t let him take his clothes off. That”s not why he”s here. Actually, why is he here? “What are you doing here, Ryan?”
“I”m here to claim my woman. My woman who walked away from something special that we have. I want to know why, but first, I want to tell you what happened this morning.”
I take a sip of my can and listen intently. I”m ready to flee if it gets too much for me, but I guess I need to listen to him.
“You met my neighbor this morning. Yes, I did have a relationship with her. Well, it was more like neighbors with benefits.”
I snort. Then nod my head for him to carry on.
“She is a whore, and I soon realized that when I regularly saw men leaving her apartment the morning after. Her apartment is being paid for by her very rich, married boyfriend. He can”t complain about the other men because he is still with his wife. I did not invite her into my apartment, but clearly she still has a key card and she let herself in. She didn”t know what time you were coming in, unless she was around Stan when he found out you had arrived early.”
He looks at me, and I believe him. But it still hurts. She is more beautiful than I am.
“She wanted to sabotage what we have because I don”t have relationships. I don”t really see women more than once or twice. No one has held my interest. Ever. Until you, Lily. I know that sounds corny and stupid, but it”s true.”
He looks at me, but I”m not going to talk. I know there”s more to come.
“As soon as I found out what happened, I canceled all my meetings. Went over to where Alicia works and I called her on her bullshit, in front of the people she works with. I didn”t care. All I worried about was getting to you before it hit you and you wouldn”t let me back into your life.”
“Nothing to say?” He looks at me.
“I”m waiting for the rest because I feel there”s more to it and I want all the facts before I decide what I do next.” I stare at him. My heart is melting. He did that for me.
“So, after bawling Alicia out of it, I went to the airport and flew to LA.”
I gasp. “You went to LA? I thought you might have spoken to your friends, but you actually went to LA?”
“What happened to hearing the rest of the story?” He smirks at me. He knows he is breaking my walls down.
“Go on.”
“I went to see Rory and Jess; they were surprised because they knew you were coming out to Vegas to see me. They offered me some advice, and then I went to see Alison. She, on the other hand, was not so easy to deal with. I had to explain everything to her, and she finally told me...”
“I told her not to tell you where I was.”
“She didn”t; she wrote it down.” He smiles at me, and I can”t help the small laugh that leaves my mouth.
“So I went straight back to the airport, and when I landed back in Vegas, I had to go looking for you in every square inch of this damn beautiful and large hotel and casino. I did not expect to find you chatting with another man, looking like he was the man you were taking to bed tonight. But that might be something to do with Alison telling me that you were going to get under a new man to get over me.”
I giggle. “Did she really say that?”
“Yes, she did. I couldn”t get here quick enough. I needed to see you before you did that.” He gets up and moves closer to me, sitting next to me on the bed. He takes one of my hands. “I had to see you, Lily. I hate that you think I was cheating on you. I would never do that to you. You mean so much to me already. I”ve been falling in love with you so fast, that I”ve had to stop myself a few times from saying it. But I love you with all my heart, and the thought that you believed we were over kills me. I want to be the only man that you look at like you are doing right now.”
I stare at him; there are tears in my eyes, but I can feel the warmth of love in his hand that is caressing mine.
“I didn”t know.” I look down at our hands. “I thought you might have been dating me for a laugh. But what I”ve felt with you is something so fast, so hard, that I wasn”t sure if it was only me. Then when I saw Alicia, I thought that it was the confirmation I needed. I should have let you talk to me, but I felt betrayed. I”ve never been so hurt before. I knew then that I loved you, but thought that you didn”t love me back.”
He lets go of my hand and raises it up to cup my cheek. “I love you, Lily, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I”m moving to LA and will be able to run my business from there. If I need to come back to Vegas, then I can do day trips or you can come with me if it”s for a few days. I don”t want to be away from you anymore. It hurts too much.”
“You”re moving to LA? For me?”
“Well, who else would it be for?”
I laugh. He takes that as an opportunity to turn my head to him and kiss me on the lips. It”s gentle, hot as hell, and I can feel my love for him rushing through my body.
“Do you want to come back to my place? It would be a shame to waste a room in the Bellagio, though.”
“Hell, no, we are staying here. In this room.”
“Together?”
I nod my head. “Together forever.”