Vegas Two-Step by Liz Talley

sunny ballpark full of good-natured people packing away equipment and making plans for beer and pizza. She didn’t want everyone to know that all she could think about was being alone with Jack.
    “Kate?”
    Her friend ripped her eyes from the man in front of her. “Mmm?”
    “Uh, Jack wants—”
    “You to wash his back?” Kate finished, lustily eyeing Jack’s teammate, who was shrugging into a dry shirt.
    “Not necessarily,” Nellie said. “I thought I would go with him and then meet you and the girls later for the show.”
    “Don’t worry about the show. I got the tickets for free. Don’t know why you wanted to see those blue guys anyway. Freaky.” As she spoke, Kate kept brushing against the unsuspecting Hamm or whatever his name was.
    “Blue Man Group?” the Brad Pitt look-alike asked. “I love those guys.”
    “Really?” Kate drawled the word. It sounded like honey pooling. “’Cause now I have an extra ticket.”
    And just like that, Nellie was free. Free to go with Jack. To spend a few more precious hours with him. Or maybe more. If she didn’t have to go to the Blue Man show then she could spend the whole evening with him.
    Or maybe the whole night.
    Her stomach flopped over at the thought.
    “See you,” Nellie called out as she turned back toward Jack.
    Jack had grabbed his bag while Nellie talked with Kate. Keys dangled from his hand.
    “All set?”
    “Yeah, I’m yours for the night,” she said, sliding her arm into the crook of his, all the while tossing the blonde who’d draped herself on him a few minutes ago a sunny smile. It was tacky. Low. But Nellie enjoyed every moment of it.
    She had staked her claim.
    “Mine for the night, huh?” Jack murmured against her ear. “I like the sound of that.”
    “Me, too,” Nellie said.
    As they strolled toward the sleek sports car, Nellie wondered why she had allowed herself to get so tangled up in Jack Darby. Okay, she knew the motto for the Girls and Glam getaway. Indulge. Create a fantasy. Live for the moment.
    But this had grown into more than that. Now it felt dangerous. Not as in “take a risk” dangerous. More like “eat a carton of ice cream and go through a box of tissues” dangerous. Like this one was going to hurt. Bad.
    But what could she do? Blow him off and go back to the hotel? Go watch the blue men bang on drums? She only had a couple of days left. Could she really spend them without Jack?
    No. She would take what she could. Continue being Elle. Pretend he wasn’t anything more than what she intended him to be.
    Jack opened her door. “Whew. It’s getting hot. I could really use a cold one.”
    “I’ll second that,” Nellie quipped, hopping into the bucket seat.
    Jack clasped a hand to his chest and staggered back. “I am in love.”
    Nellie watched as Jack jogged in front of the car to the other side, wondering if he knew what a chord his words had struck within her. So silly of her, but a little part of her wanted to believe he meant what he said.
    But that was stupid, because he didn’t know her, really. He didn’t know her name, where she lived, what she did, or anything much else about her. What would he think if he knew she could embroider tablecloths and transplant heirloom roses? What would sexy Jack Darby say if he saw her in her library jumper with the books appliquéd to the pockets, or in her Coke-bottle glasses?
    She really didn’t want to know.
    So wishing for something that wasn’t going to happen was unrealistic.
    And Nellie was never unrealistic.



CHAPTER EIGHT
    Good sex only happens between a man and woman who love each other. And to be honest, Nellie, I could only label it “good” about a tenth of the time.
    —Grandmother Tucker, upon delivering the “birds and bees” talk to Nellie on her fifteenth birthday, just two weeks after Nellie had let Clive Sikes get to second base.
    N ELLIE WALKED AROUND the infinity edge pool, admiring a backyard that could have been featured on HGTV.