SinCityTryst (6 page)

Numb and heartsick, Sara dragged out her suitcase once she
stumbled back into her hotel room and began to haphazardly pull her clothes
from the drawers. She tossed them into her case, not even bothering to fold or
organize anything, before heading to the bathroom to collect toiletries.
Something was missing, though…

Oh god, her vibrator!

With a groan, Sara buried her hot face in her hands and
struggled to breathe normally. The pleasure had been so intense, so
overwhelming, at least for her. How could it possibly be like that between just
anyone? How could he not have felt an ounce of the desperate craving she had
experienced, the need to touch and taste him until he permeated her very
senses?

Sara closed her eyes at the radiating waves of pain remembering
caused her. She tried to block out the carnal images of his mouth on her hot,
pulsing core, of reaching for him as she broke apart in ecstasy while he
brought her to peak after peak after peak…

Stop! You dumb cow, it was an impulse, and now it’s done.
She mechanically finished gathering her things and checked herself out of the
hotel with a minimum of fuss. She caught a taxi to nearby McCarran Airport and
put herself on the standby list for the last flight back to San Francisco,
which was in about an hour.

She felt drained and a bit light-headed as she slumped into
one of the uncomfortable chairs near the flight gate to wait. She’d managed to
leave a message for Angie on her cell right before it died, but she’d forgotten
to pack her charger so her phone now lay silent and dark in her purse.

Glancing at her reflection in the terminal window, she
winced. Her perniciously round face and cheeks set against a halo of curly
brown hair stared back mockingly, her eyes red and bright from smoky interiors,
lack of sleep and unshed tears.

Men like Ethan la Montagne simply did not pine after women
like her, she reminded herself. She thought she had glimpsed real desire and
appreciation in his eyes earlier, but now that the ardor had cooled and the
sweat had dried, she wasn’t sure anymore. She couldn’t compute how he could
possibly want her again after seeing her physical polar opposite draped across
him like a human Slinky—tight and toned and cellulite-free.

If she were a man, whom would she choose? It was no contest.

Introspection made her head throb even more. Things wouldn’t
seem so bad in the light of day, she hoped. But for now…

It was a good thing the airplane provided a built-in
designated driver, because she planned to get rip-roaring drunk.

Chapter Nine

Sean watched his best man slip another bill into the
redhead’s G-string and the entire crew hollered good-naturedly, too ramped up
to notice how Ethan glanced down at his watch for the millionth time that
evening. He was doing a great imitation of a man who was into it, Sean
thought—instead of one who was counting the hours until he could drag a certain
elementary schoolteacher off to another dark corner.

“You sure you’re ready to give this up for the rest of your
life, Sean?” quipped Alan, the youngest member of the firehouse, whose eyes
were glued to the stripper’s gyrating hips and thighs as he nursed his third
rum and Coke of the evening. “Hey, baby, how about taking me out for a spin
next?” he called out.

“You couldn’t handle a real woman, junior,” Sean retorted,
slapping him on the back and smiling indulgently. His phone pinged, and Sean
smiled as he read the exuberant text from his fiancée while the rest of his
crew got their jollies by salivating over the lovely Kimber.

The redhead continued to climb his best friend like a hungry
chimp, and Ethan looked as though he was enjoying the attention about as much
as a rectal exam. Sean made a mental note to let Angie know that her best
friend had finally gone and made complete mincemeat out of Ethan’s brain—the
guy was obviously over the moon for her. He bit back a grin as he recalled how
flustered Ethan had sounded earlier on the phone when he’d asked him about
Sara.

Sean pulled a twenty out of his wallet and shoved it in
Alan’s hand, who stared at it uncomprehendingly. He then strolled over to
Kimber and whispered in her ear. She looked over her shoulder with a raised
brow and saw a befuddled Alan still holding the twenty-dollar bill. With a
sinuous glide, she eased off Ethan and turned her attention to the awestruck
twenty-two-year-old. The guys whooped with laughter and made ribald jokes about
Alan’s overexcited state, warning him not to blow like a geyser as the redhead
began her undulating dance anew.

Sean sauntered over to Ethan and helped pull him up out of
the chair. “So,” he said conversationally, “what’s the deal? Hot Vegas
showgirls not your thing?”

“Thanks, man.” He looked more than a little relieved that
the lap dance was over. “Nah, she was great,” Ethan said with barely feigned
enthusiasm. “Really hot.”

“Uh-huh. That’s why you looked like you fell asleep while
she was giving you a titty facial?”

“I wasn’t asleep. I just…closed my eyes to savor the
moment.”

“Bullshit. The only thing that was missing was a
night-light.”

Sean handed him a cold beer and watched Ethan take a long,
fortifying slug without replying. He decided to test the waters and see if his
friend was as far gone as he suspected.

“I remember a time when Kimber was definitely your type,” he
said with deceptive casualness. “You liked ’em long and lean and giggly back
then.”

Ethan grunted in response and stared down at his feet as
though he found them fascinating.

“Seems your taste runs more towards chubby brunettes now.”

Ethan’s head swiveled around, casual demeanor gone. “Watch
it, Sean,” he growled in a low voice.

Ignoring the signs of impending doom, Sean continued. “Hey,
no offense! Some guys like a little meat on their women. I mean, Sara does have
an awesome set of…” He cupped and gestured with his hands, and waggled his
eyebrows in a lascivious manner.

“Cut it out, goddammit.”

“And that
booty
. I mean, if I had a paddle—”

“
Shut the fuck up
.” Ethan looked like an enraged
bull, ready to charge and gore him with relish. His voice was hard as granite,
his stance wide and aggressive. “Don’t talk about her like that.” His tone
brooked no argument.

“Like what?” Sean asked with wide-eyed innocence,
deliberately baiting the tiger. “Oh, I don’t mean I’d ever make a move or
anything. I’m about to be a married man, after all. Plus, we’ve known Sara
forever. She’s practically one of the guys. But you gotta wonder, that body, in
the dark…”

Ethan’s considerable bulk seemed to grow exponentially as he
pressed in until they were nose-to-nose. Sean observed his friend rippling with
suppressed fury, and tried not to show his glee. Ethan’s voice was still low,
but menacing enough to make Sean wince.

“Brother, if you want to be able to walk down the aisle on
your wedding day,” he bit off harshly, “you won’t finish that sentence.” It
didn’t take a genius to see that Ethan was deadly serious.

Their gazes locked, and Sean assessed the situation in his
nimble brain.

Possessive, starry-eyed, ready to do damage to his best
friend before his wedding day…

Huh. Ethan had it bad. Damn, this was going to be fun.

But first, he had to make sure his friend didn’t take his
head off for no good reason. Sean quickly dropped the act and held both hands
up in supplication, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. “It took
you long enough to admit it. Angie and I were beginning to lose hope.” He
smiled apologetically and shrugged, trying to coax him out of his incensed
state.

“Don’t push me, Sean.” Ethan continued to glare at his
friend.

“Ethan, I swear I was just messing with you,” Sean said with
a wry grin. “I think Sara is wonderful. And she’s all yours, buddy.”

Ethan calmed by degrees, relaxing his stance when he
realized he’d been had. Flustered, he took a mock swing at Sean and cuffed him
in the back of the neck.

“You’re a real dick, you know that,” he said gruffly, rubbing
his face with one hand and taking a swig from the forgotten longneck with the
other to hide his embarrassment.

He flipped a chair backward and sat with his arms
overhanging the back, still somewhat sore from the sexual acrobatics earlier in
the evening and yet eager to go out, collect his woman and do it all over
again. Sean mimicked his motions and sat beside him.

“So, what the hell are you doing here tonight?” Sean asked
with his usual directness. “Shouldn’t you be back in your room, fucking each other’s
brains out? Why haven’t you called her?”

“I did. She’s not picking up. Keeps going to voicemail.”

Sean made a thoughtful sound, and they both continued to
watch the dancing in silence.

“Was it bad?” he ventured, causing Ethan to choke a little.
He didn’t need a manual to figure out what Sean meant.

Images of Sara staring up at him beseechingly and sobbing in
pleasure, splayed out for his enjoyment like a feast, instantly came to mind.
He closed his eyes and set his teeth against the wave of lust that accompanied
the memories of their lovemaking, feeling the sudden erection press against his
fly. He had to swallow hard before he could answer.

“No,” he replied curtly. Ethan ignored Sean’s raised
eyebrows and wicked grin.

“Ah.” The soft exhalation held a wealth of understanding.
“So, you rocked each other’s worlds, and then she pulled a disappearing act.”

Yep. That was about the gist of it.

“What can I say, bud? Women can be crazy.”

“Amen.” Ethan savagely clinked his beer against Sean’s and
took another long swig. “Good luck with yours.”

“Oh, mine’s a trip. But I love her,” Sean said fondly as he
took out his cell phone and checked out the latest text message sent by his
angel. “She says that she’s sandwiched right now between a sailor who isn’t
wearing his Dickies and a construction worker with a loaded tool belt.”

Ethan snorted and shook his head. He wondered how Sean
remained so calm about his soon-to-be bride rubbing up against a bunch of
half-naked guys in a club. “It doesn’t bother you?” he couldn’t help asking. If
it was Sara locked in between two greasy yahoos in Speedos, he’d have already
tackled them to get them the hell away from her. She was entirely too edible as
it was.

“Eh, it’s all in fun,” he replied with a shrug, still
reading the steady stream of texts. “In a few days, she’ll be sandwiched
between me and our mattress for the rest of our lives, if I can help it. I can
afford to let her cut loose with her girlfriends for one weekend.” Sean smiled
indulgently, and Ethan noted how mellow and happy his friend was. Angie really
was a terrific influence on him, and she was a great girl.

Now, if only she could exert some of that influence on Sara
and send her tumbling his way…he would make sure to be there to catch her and
whisk her away as fast as humanly possible. She was so damn elusive, like a
deer moving through the brush. If you looked away for a minute, she was gone.

“So…” Ethan asked casually, trying to find a tactful way to
find out whether he knew anything about the location of the bachelorette party.
Finally he settled with, “Are the girls having fun?”

Sean shook his head and snorted even while he texted. “Dude,
how long have we known each other? If you want to know if Sara is with Angie,
just say so.”

Ethan bit back a curse and ran a frustrated hand through his
hair. “Fine,” he griped. “Ask her for me, will you?”

“Already have, shithead.”

“Thanks, prick.”

Sean’s phone chirped, and as he read the response, his face
broke out in a grin.

“Aw, man, you’re not going to believe this.”

“What?” Ethan asked with feigned manly indifference. He was
dying
to know.

“Guess where Angie and her bridesmaids are?”

Ethan bit back a growl of frustration and scowled.

Sean laughed and shook his head. “They’re here, dude.”

“Huh? Where?” Ethan jumped to his feet, scanning the dim
room with untapped eagerness. She was here? Sara was here?

“Not right
here
, you idiot. They’re watching the male
dancers in another part of the club. This place must be huge. I didn’t know
they catered to both men and women.”

Ethan was already halfway to the door before he felt Sean
grab his shoulder suddenly. The frown on his friend’s face had his ready retort
dying in his throat. “What is it?” he demanded impatiently. “Are they there or
not?” He couldn’t wait to see Sara again, to hold her and feel her glorious
form underneath him.

Sean held a finger up while he finished reading the last
text message. “Wait, Ethan. Angie’s party is here…but Sara’s not with them.”

His lungs deflated as disappointment lay in his stomach like
lead. And then he was worried, too. She had left his room hours ago, and if it
wasn’t to rejoin Angie and her bachelorette party, what had caused her to
leave?

“So where the hell is she?” he asked, piqued by the
situation past the point of politeness. “It’s almost two in the morning. Is she
back at the hotel? Can Angie tell me that at least?”

“Wait…shit, hold on,” Sean muttered as he quickly dialed his
fiancée. “Angie, honey, what’s going on?” His face grew somber as he listened
to her response, and Ethan felt himself grow unaccountably anxious as the
minutes stretched. He paced a bit while Sean spoke with his fiancée, and
finally couldn’t stand it anymore. He neatly plucked the phone out of Sean’s
hand and put it to his own ear. “Angie? Where the hell is Sara?”

“Ethan, is that you? Sara isn’t here.”

“You already mentioned that, sweetheart,” Ethan said with
barely restrained impatience. “So, is she back at the hotel?” He figured he
could grab a cab and be back down the south end of the Strip in about fifteen
minutes, easy.

“Um, no. The thing is, Ethan…she’s not in
Vegas
anymore.
She’s gone back home.”

Ethan gaped at Sean, unmoving as he processed this new piece
of information. “Gone? What, she
left
? Just like that, without telling
you?”
Or me?
he added in silent outrage.

“She didn’t tell anybody. She sent me a text, saying that
some last-minute work thing came up and that she had to fly back to SF
tonight.”

Bullshit.
He’d bet a week’s pay that it wasn’t a work
emergency that had sent Sara sprinting back to the city. Ethan continued to
stand there silently, looking poleaxed, as Angie continued to chatter in his
ear.

“She disappeared after dinner for a bit, came back to the
club and was really quiet for the rest of the night. And the next thing I know,
she disappeared. She hasn’t been answering any of my calls since.”

At Sean’s speculative glance, Ethan absently handed the
phone back to him and bit back several choice swear words. He had never been so
righteously pissed in his entire life. She had flown back home without even
letting him know? After that mind-blowing interlude back at the hotel room?

Jesus, he’d been so far off the mark it wasn’t even funny.
He had hoped that Sara would be receptive to his advances now and not try so
hard to evade him. And he knew without conceit that she felt something more
than mere affection for him. It was in every touch, every smile and every shy,
fleeting glance she’d ever sent his way. Ethan needed her to know, finally and
without a doubt, that those feelings were reciprocated by him a thousand-fold.

But it seemed his stubborn little hellion, true to form, was
feeling unsure and running scared. She was trying to put some distance between
them again, only this time, literally. Well, he was sick and tired of the
emotional stopgaps. If she was feeling vulnerable and freaked out, it was high
time she starting reaching out to him instead of pushing him away.

Sean was wrapping up his conversation with his fiancée.
“Okay, okay, I’ll tell him, sweetheart. No, don’t you dare go anywhere. You’ve
had too much to drink. Sit tight and I’ll be right up to take care of you,
sweetie. Love you, too. See you in a few.” He hung up, sighed and looked at
Ethan with an undeterminable expression.

“Well? What are you going to do, man?” Sean asked.

In reply, Ethan made a beeline for Alan and yanked the
twenty-dollar bill from his slack fingertips.

“Hey!” yelped Alan indignantly. Kimber looked chagrined at
the loss of her potential tip.