Читать книгу Shirley Valentine Goes to Vegas - Michelle Betham - Страница 11

‘Down in one, darlin’. Down in one,’ Eddie shouted, slamming his empty shot glass down onto the table.

Picking up my drink I knocked the clear liquid back in a single mouthful, quickly sucking on the lime in my other hand, which made me choke slightly as the juice mingled with the tequila in my throat, causing Eddie to laugh out loud.

‘Bastard!’ The fact I was laughing too only caused me to cough even more. ‘Still got it down, though.’

He threw me an appreciative look, taking a sip of his beer. ‘You can hold your own, sweetheart, I’ll give you that.’

I sat back, closing my eyes briefly to let the alcohol hit take hold. I was verging on tipsy, but nowhere near drunk. I was determined to keep as clear a head as I could tonight, because I had a feeling I was going to want to remember this. When it was all over.

‘Come on,’ he said, draining the last of his beer and grabbing my hand, pulling me up off the couch. ‘It’s time to hit the casinos.’

This night was turning out to be a fast-paced, whirlwind of an affair, with my feet hardly having time to hit the ground as we almost ran from bar to bar, all of them favourites of Eddie’s, grabbing a drink, meeting all the people Eddie knew – a wonderfully eclectic mix ranging from musicians to artists to fellow bikers. People that reminded me a bit of the new friends I’d made back home. And because of the speed at which everything seemed to be moving, I’d almost forgotten that I was doing it all in a dress that was probably way too short and boots that were a little too high. I was just having the best time. It was the most exhilarated I’d felt since my college days and the weekly Friday-night pub crawl. But this – this was on a whole different level.

Despite the pace at which Eddie was playing this night, I had no urge to fall into bed just yet. This was a twenty-four-hour town, and I was going to make the most of every single one of those hours. As far as casinos went, well, this was Vegas! And you had to hit at least one casino when you were in Vegas, right?

Back out on the Strip, the blast of fresh air was more than welcome and I took a few seconds to catch my breath, once more marvelling at the bright lights and vibrant atmosphere this town was so good at creating. I’d fallen head-first in love with the place.

‘What time is it?’ I asked, snaking my arm around his waist, sliding my hand up under his t-shirt, biting down on my lip as it touched his skin.

‘No clue, darlin’. Could be eight in the morning for all I care.’

All of a sudden he stopped in his tracks, taking me by surprise as he pushed me gently back against the nearest wall, his fingers winding in my hair as he kissed me slowly. So slowly I felt my whole body relax, bit by bit, with every touch of his lips against mine.

‘Still want to check out those slot machines?’ His mouth was twitching at the corners, his eyes trying to stay deadly serious and I couldn’t stop a fit of the giggles from taking over.

‘Where did you come from?’ I whispered, pulling him closer by his jacket collar, running my fingers over his beard, my eyes following their every move.

‘I don’t know, baby,’ he murmured, his mouth gently brushing that soft space just below my ear, causing the most delicious sensation to course right through me. ‘But wherever it is, I’m in no hurry to go back there.’

I rested my hand against his cheek, turning his face to look at me, leaning forward to kiss him again, sighing quietly as his mouth opened slightly, our tongues touching as he pulled me closer. The second our bodies connected I felt a heat the like of which I hadn’t known could exist just from touching another human being; it was like a series of minute electric shocks were being fired into me, one after the other. ‘I think we should probably go check out that casino now, don’t you?’ I whispered, my mouth resting against his as I spoke. I could almost feel him breathing into me – breathing life into me. A new life. The life I’d always been looking for?

His face broke into a smile, his thumb stroking my cheek before he pulled back slightly. ‘This night ain’t anywhere near over, darlin’. You got that?’

I threw my arms up above my head, stretching out, my eyes still locked with his. He had my answer.

Cocking his head just a touch, he raised that eyebrow again, a slow smirk forming. ‘Am I doing okay here, kid?’

‘You’re doing just fine,’ I breathed. ‘But you’ve still got some work to do to make this the night of my life.’

‘You throwing me a challenge there?’

‘Call it whatever you like, biker boy. I just can’t wait to see what you do with it.’

All of a sudden he lunged at me, grabbing me around the waist and nuzzling my neck, causing me to shriek out loud and laugh even louder as he tickled me, pushing my body up against his in the process. I just fell into his arms, letting him kiss me again, over and over, every time we came up for air the kisses growing longer and slower. Sexy, soulful kisses. If there was a heaven out there, I hoped to God it was something like this.

‘Oh, you are really playing for points now, aren’t you?’ I smiled, gently stroking the hair at the back of his neck, running my fingers through it.

‘Well, I’ve got something to prove, haven’t I? I’m a man who keeps my promises, sweetheart.’

It was me who pulled away first, shaking my hair out and composing myself before I took his hand. ‘Casino. Come on. I’m feeling lucky tonight.’

It hadn’t been intentional, to end up back outside the hotel I was staying in, but we seemed to have found ourselves there.

Eddie looked at me, his hand giving mine a little squeeze. ‘We can go somewhere else, if you’d prefer.’

‘Why would I want to do that? We’re only going to play some roulette, maybe a little blackjack. Aren’t we?’

He grinned and that only made him twice as handsome, doubly hot. Ohboy, was I loving this night? ‘Whatever you say, kid.’

‘Let’s start small, huh?’ I winked, leading the way inside.

‘Small?’ he questioned, his grip on my hand tightening.

I glanced at him over my shoulder. ‘Slot machines. I want to ease myself into things gently, okay?’

He grinned again, swinging me around so I fell back into his arms. ‘You’re one hell of a woman, Lana Saunders. I kind of need you to know that, darlin’.’

I reached out to touch his face, letting my thumb run lightly over his cheek. ‘Yeah, well, you’re proving to be a bit of a surprise to me, too, Eddie Fletcher.’ Grabbing his hand I started pulling him towards the sound of a barrage of slot machines coming from the hotel casino. ‘Come on. We’re wasting valuable gambling time here.’

Clutching a fistful of money, I sat myself down at a random machine, Eddie behind me, the closeness of his body something I was used to now. It kind of felt odd if he wasn’t there.

‘I’ll go get us a drink,’ he said quietly, leaning over so his mouth was practically touching my ear. It was an action that sent a lovely sensation coursing through my body. ‘You get started, okay?’

I turned my head to smile at him, my mouth catching his in a quick but still unbelievably hot kiss. And I couldn’t help but let out another of those unfamiliar, tiny gasps as I watched him walk over to the bar, that sexy swagger meaning mine wasn’t the only head that was turning.

Back off, bitches, he’s mine!

Smiling to myself, I turned back to face the machine, carefully sliding a note into it, watching as that first attempt at a win failed. But so what? I had a feeling I’d already won the best prize of the night. Hitting the jackpot here would be nothing but a bonus.

‘Any luck?’ Eddie asked, handing me a beer.

I shook my head, concentrating on my next attempt. Which also failed.

‘Here.’ He leant over me again, his body touching mine from behind as he reached out to take a note from my hand, sliding it into the machine. I could feel his breath on my cheek, his beard rough against my skin, and I had a sudden urge to just pull him down and kiss him until our mouths ached. But I took a drink of beer instead, my head spinning slightly, telling me I was probably on the edge of being drunk now.

His luck was no better than mine, as far as the slot machines were concerned, and I smiled as he swore quietly, making no attempt to pull away from his position behind me. ‘Lady Luck ain’t smiling on us tonight, darlin’,’ he sighed, his fingers trailing lazily along the back of my neck.

Flip!

I wasn’t sure if he was aware of exactly what he was doing to me, but I could feel myself heading in a direction I still wasn’t sure I should be heading in. I needed a bit more time to think about this.

Grabbing my beer and stuffing the money down the front of my dress, I took his hand, dragging him over to the roulette wheel.

‘Oh, we’re going bigger now, are we?’ He smirked, and I threw back a slow smile.

‘You have no idea how big I intend to go tonight.’

‘Feel like giving me a clue?’

I shook my head, digging out a handful of chips from my bag. ‘Stick these on red.’

He looked at me. ‘Any particular reason why?’

I shrugged. ‘I like red.’

‘Good enough,’ he said, turning to place the chips on the table. I slid my arms around him from behind, resting my head against his shoulder, breathing in the smell of leather and cigarettes as the wheel turned, round and round, faster and faster, until it inevitably slowed down, that tiny white ball jumping in and out of the red and black compartments. It was actually quite strange, the level of excitement that small ball could create, but as it finally settled in red even I couldn’t stop myself from giving a shriek of delight and high-fiving Eddie. This was fun!

‘Red again. Or do you want to choose this time?’ I asked, my excitement reaching child-like proportions now.

‘No. What the lady wants, the lady gets.’ Eddie smiled, his eyes meeting mine for a brief and surprisingly intense second. Enough time for me to know, for sure, that I was done with the alcohol for tonight. I really needed to keep my head as clear as possible. I could cope with slightly woozy, but any more than that and I knew I was going to forget too much of tonight. And I didn’t want to forget any of it.

‘Stick it on red then, handsome,’ I whispered, lightly kissing the back of his neck.

‘You’re killing me here, darlin’,’ he murmured, reaching behind him to rub my bottom. Oh yes! No way did I want to forget this night!

I felt his hand slide into mine as the ball once more bounced into the red, and I let out another tiny squeal of excitement, squeezing Eddie’s hand probably a touch too hard.

He let go of me, leaning forward to retrieve our winning chips, scooping them up and dropping them into his pocket.

‘Come on, kid. We’re quitting while we’re ahead.’

‘We are?’

I let him take my hand again as we headed out of the casino. And it wasn’t until we were back outside in the hotel’s sprawling foyer that he stopped, swinging me around to face him, reaching out to cup my cheek in his hand. ‘You ready to call it a night yet, darlin’?’

I stared up at him, those dark eyes of his boring into mine, that intensity I’d sensed before coming back with a vengeance now. ‘I’m not sure,’ I said slowly, and then inwardly shook myself, taking a very quick, very deep, breath. ‘Tell you what… Let’s go grab a whisky or something. Outside.’ I didn’t really fancy another drink, but I didn’t feel much like letting him go just yet, either. And this was the only compromise I could come up with on the spurofthemoment.

‘Suits me.’ He shrugged, letting me lead the way out to the pool bar. But the second we were outside he stopped, pulling me back into his arms. ‘What are you scared of, Lana?’ His mouth was already closing in on mine, and I felt my heart start to beat faster. Harder. Louder.

‘I’m not scared of anything,’ I breathed, grabbing onto his jacket collar to steady myself as my knees started weakening again. I was still putting that down to Eddie. To this. To everything that was happening. Was that what I was scared of? This?

‘I think you are,’ he whispered, his hand in the small of my back, pressing me against him.

‘I thought we were getting a drink?’ And I wasn’t entirely sure why I was almost pulling back from this, because it felt good, being this close to him. It was everything I wanted. Everything this night had inevitably been leading up to.

‘In a minute.’ His voice had a beautiful, gravelly tone to it now, probably due to the cigarettes and alcohol he’d been indulging in tonight. It was so sexy I almost moaned out loud. ‘I’m not finished here yet.’

I closed my eyes, letting my hand fall loosely around his neck as his mouth lowered down onto mine, kissing me so slow and so deep I didn’t ever want to come up for air.

‘You are such a bad influence,’ I groaned, his mouth moving to my neck, brushing over it so gently, so lightly, it was crazy!

‘You don’t know how bad I can be,’ he growled, swinging me around so I was backed up against the wall, at his mercy, silently willing him to do all manner of unspeakable things to me, right there and then. I didn’t really care. Not anymore.

‘I’d quite like you to show me,’ I whispered, taking hold of his t-shirt and pulling him against me, smiling as my mouth rested against his. ‘Right now.’