Her Sexy Vegas Cowboy. Ali Olson

herself.

      As if there was any chance she’d ever see him again.

      * * *

      ONCE AARON MADE it back to the hotel, he jumped into the shower for a long, hot rinse to help clear his head. As the water splashed over his skin, his mind wandered once again to his fantasy woman, now with her name attached. He pictured Jessica, and what it would be like to touch her smooth skin, share a shower with her, rubbing her slick body, his hands in her long dark hair. He let himself revel in the scene. He’d have to content himself with his imagination, since the real thing was long gone.

      After his shower, he ate and dressed in his jeans, a blue button-down shirt and his cowboy hat, the perfect attire for a day at the rodeo. It was the reason he was in Vegas, after all. By that time, he felt decent enough to try and fix a few of his mistakes from the night before, starting with Jeremiah.

      As for Jessica, he doubted he would ever see her again, but if the universe aligned somehow, he wouldn’t mess it up. A third chance seemed impossible, but he would definitely keep watch for her.

      He thought ahead through his day. It seemed unlikely she would be at the rodeo, but maybe he would get lucky. Then he thought of the women he was sure to run into during the day’s events, and he balked at the idea of spending his time with them.

      How long had it been since he actually enjoyed the company of any of those buckle bunnies? Why had he thought hooking up with them was so great, and when had he stopped feeling that way?

      He’d never before felt that fire and heat course through him the way it had done when he was just looking at Jessica.

      He repeated her name to himself: Jessica. Anything less than that sensation seemed pointless when he knew that it was out there.

      Even if he never met her again, maybe he’d find that feeling somewhere else, though he wasn’t sure about that. He’d never seen eyes like hers before. Or legs.

      He needed help.

      He heard his phone buzz, bringing him back to reality. Vegas was not the place to start rethinking your outlook on life. Aaron picked it up and glanced at the screen.

      Jeremiah had texted Hey. Come over whenever you’re ready to go.

      Aaron felt a little uncertain about going over to his friend’s suite. Would he be pissed about him disappearing the night before?

      He tapped out a quick I’ll be right over, put on his boots and walked down the hall to the next suite.

      As soon as he knocked, his friend opened the door, smiling the widest smile Aaron had ever seen. Jeremiah had barely waved him in before he began telling the story of his night. “Man, last night was awesome! Sorry you weren’t feeling great. You really missed out. Those two hanging all over you were pretty disappointed. I bet you could’ve gotten both of them. You hear what I’m saying? Both of them.

      “Anyway, I dropped them off at the Bellagio on the way back here. You know Vanessa, right? The brunette with really short hair. She came back here with me. Just left a few minutes ago. You wouldn’t believe what happened if I told you. Are you feeling better? You must be hungover like crazy.”

      Aaron barely had time to register what his friend was saying as Jeremiah wandered around the room, picking up his scattered clothing and gesturing wildly. Aaron was relieved his behavior hadn’t bothered Jeremiah. In fact, Jeremiah hadn’t seemed to register anything odd about his conversation with Jessica or any of the events of last night.

      Aaron said, “Yeah, I felt pretty awful this morning, but I’m better now.”

      It was somewhat true—he no longer felt like throwing up, at least.

      Jeremiah snatched up his phone and room key card and walked back to Aaron, who was still standing near the door. Aaron considered trying to say something to Jeremiah about the night before, but decided against it. No point bringing him down.

      As they exited the room, Jeremiah started talking again, giving Aaron even more reason to keep his mouth shut. “Tonight we’re having dinner with a bachelorette party, by the way. I met this sexy chick at the strip club who was there with a big group of them, but I managed to pull her aside and get her number. Her name was Marlene. No, that wasn’t it. Marilyn. Anyway, there are, like, seven of them besides the bride, and the ones I saw were all crazy hot. They’re from back East and in town for a long weekend, so I’m thinking we can get one of them to break away from the pack for you. Marilyn was all over me, so I think I won’t have a problem there—”