Behaving Badly in Vegas (Vegas Love #3)

31. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Charli

“Thank you so much for taking care of her.” I handed Carina over to Rose, who was taking her back to their house for the night.

“Are you kidding me? I’m thrilled. Edward and I have been waiting on Trent and Gia. We never thought Hunter would have the first grandchild.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here? It might be easier.”

“Pfft!” She waved away my concern. “I already have a room ready for my granddaughter. Gave me an excuse to do some redecorating. Besides, you two kids could use a night off. Go enjoy yourselves.” Rose spoke like we were a couple, yet it was still very unclear exactly what we were.

Hunter rushed in the door, throwing his keys on the hallway table. “Thank god you didn’t leave yet.” He stole Carina from Rose’s arms and covered her with sloppy kisses. “I missed you, baby girl.” Over the past month he’d changed from a reluctant father to a man whose whole world revolved around his daughter .

Rose put a hand to her lips. “I never thought I’d see this day. This makes my heart so happy.”

Hunter gave her a rare smile. “You’re not the only one. I didn’t even know I had a heart until this little munchkin arrived.” He lifted Carina high into the air and nuzzled her belly, while she laughed and tried to kick him in the face. “Be good for Grandma and Grandpa tonight.”

Carina squealed and waved her arms wildly.

“She will be.” Rose ran her fingers through Carina’s short hair.

Hunter put Carina into the stroller, then grabbed the car seat base and two diaper bags I prepared. Yes, two. Who knew little people required so much stuff? I wanted to make sure she had everything she needed. “I’ll help you get her in the car,” he said.

Rose chuckled. “I’ve done this a time or two.”

“But it’s been a while. Things have changed a bit in the last thirty years.” Hunter leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

As Hunter made his way to the elevator, Rose gave me a conspiratorial smile and hugged me. “I’m so happy you’re in his life. You make him a better person.”

I hugged her back. “We’re undefined at the moment.”

“Young people. You all have to do things the hard way when the answer is right in front of your face. Trent and Gia did the same thing. Mark my words, it won’t be undefined for long.” Then she followed Hunter and left me standing there speechless.

Rose was a sneaky little matchmaker, and it seemed she had her sights set on Hunter and me. I wasn’t complaining, but I couldn’t see how we would work out in the long term. Once I returned to Oasis, my schedule would be crazy. I’d worked too hard to give up my dreams for a man.

With a sigh, I returned to my room. If I worried about the future, then I wouldn’t enjoy today. Life was a journey, not a destination. Every day a new adventure awaited. The only regret in a risk was not taking it.

I finished curling my hair and touched up my eye makeup, going a little darker than my normal everyday look. Now what to wear? I pulled distressed jeans from my closet and paired them with a silver, sequined tank top. Casually fancy and perfect for a concert in Vegas.

Hunter knocked on my door as I fastened black, strappy heels onto my feet. “Are you almost ready? We’re supposed to meet them for dinner in a half hour.” He stared at his watch impatiently. It was only a ten minute drive, but with traffic on the Strip, I didn’t blame him for wanting to leave early.

Standing, I walked over to him and put my hand on his chest. “I’m ready.”

His eyes scanned me from head to toe. “Wow! You look great.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself.” I laughed. “I didn’t even know you owned jeans.” The black button-down shirt he had on was rolled at the sleeves, showing off his muscular forearms. “Just one little thing.” I undid the top two buttons of his shirt and fixed the collar. “Much better.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you have the tickets?”

He pulled them from his back pocket. “Right here.”

Of course he did. Hunter was nothing if not meticulously prepared. I grabbed my purse from the dresser as Hunter led me from the room with his hand on the small of my back.

“Do you think Carina will be okay with my parents?” he asked as we waited for the elevator.

I was surprised he hadn’t brought this up earlier. “She’ll be fine. They’re excited to have her.”

The doors opened and we stepped inside. “What if she gets fussy?”

“Then they’ll feed her, change her, rock her… this isn’t their first rodeo.” It was cute how worried he was, although he really had no cause.

“What if she has a poop blowout? That’s a totally valid concern.”

I pressed my lips together, trying to contain my amusement. “Then they’ll clean her up. I packed plenty of diapers, wipes, and extra clothes.”

“Do you think they’ll know how to handle it?”

I couldn’t suppress my laughter anymore. “Do you really think you or Trent never had a blowout as a baby?”

“Not me. I was fully potty-trained by the time I moved in with them. ”

I winced at my mistake. Although I knew his history, I still managed to put my foot in my mouth. “Sorry. That was insensitive of me.”

Hunter took my hand and squeezed it. “It’s okay. I get your point. It just feels weird knowing Carina won’t be there when we get home.”

“You can call to check on her if it makes you feel better, but I can assure you your daughter is in good hands.”

He gave a curt nod, and I knew he’d be making more than one phone call tonight.

I understood his concern, but part of me was excited we would have the apartment to ourselves. We’d never been completely alone, and I was hoping not having a baby in the house would be the inspiration Hunter needed to completely take advantage of me. And that thought made tonight even better.

Turned out Hunter was justified in his concern about being late. Traffic was a nightmare. We were only running behind by five minutes, but the way he dragged me through the parking lot you’d think we were meeting the president, not friends, at the bar and grill.

Well, not my friends. I was more of a friend by acquaintance. Come to think of it, I wasn’t sure if they could be classified as Hunter’s friends either. I mean obviously, Trent was his brother… so maybe family and friends? But I got the notion that Hunter and Brett weren’t close.

Whatever.

It didn’t really matter. The point was these people weren’t worth twisting my ankle over. “Slow down. I can barely keep up with you in these shoes.”

Hunter ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. You know how I feel about being late.” He slowed down a little, but his long legs still ate up the distance faster than mine. The man was wound so tight, one day that little vein in his forehead was going to burst .

I was practically panting by the time we made it to the hostess stand and seriously rethinking my choice of footwear. “We’re with the Kingston party of six,” Hunter said in a rush.

The hostess smiled at him. “Brett Kingston?”

“Yes,” he said roughly, almost to the point of being rude.

“You’re the first to arrive.” She gathered up some menus and led us to a semiprivate corner table. “Your waitress will be with you shortly.”

“Guess we didn’t have to worry about being late.” I didn’t mean for it to come out sarcastic, but my feet hurt and armpits were damp. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind to start off our evening.

“I already said I was sorry. I know it’s only dinner, but punctuality is important to me, especially with my brother and Brett.”

Our waitress came with water and took our drink orders, mine a rum runner and Hunter’s a bourbon. When she walked away, I turned back to my date. “Explain.”

He rolled his neck, letting it crack on both sides. “When we were kids, they were like two peas in a pod, the best of friends. I used to follow them around like a damn puppy. I was only a year younger, so I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. They ditched me at every opportunity, making me feel like a defective third wheel. In high school, they weren’t in the cool crowd. They were the cool crowd. Girls got in actual fistfights over them.”

The waitress returned with our drinks and Hunter picked his up, taking a big sip. “Anyway, not much has changed. They still make me feel inferior, like I’m not good enough. I guess I still feel the need to prove myself worthy, especially after getting fired.”

I understood more than he knew. I spent my whole life trying to live up to the standards my brother set… his accelerated classes, his valedictorian-worthy GPA, his amazing test scores, and the scholarships that fell into his lap. Unfortunately for my parents, their second child was painstakingly average. I felt guilty Tom worked for Trent as his personal assistant. If it weren’t for him following me to Vegas, he’d probably be making big bucks somewhere in Silicon Valley.

Putting my hand on top of his, I gave it a squeeze. “Thank you for sharing that with me, but can I tell you something? ”

He nodded.

“Your value doesn’t depend on what others think of you. Nobody, and I mean nobody, agreed with my choice to move to Vegas to become an aerialist. The only one who really supported me coming here was my brother, although begrudgingly. You know he’s got mad computer skills, right? His job at Mystique is so far below him that it makes me feel selfish and guilty. He only took it to be close to me. When I fell and couldn’t perform anymore, all I could think was what a terrible person I was for putting my dreams above his.”

“You’re not a terrible person. I know Tom really cares about you and he’s very protective of you. He threatened that if I didn’t treat you right that I’d be sorry. I have to be honest; I didn’t see him as that big of a threat, but I respected him for standing up for you.”

I threw my head back and laughed. It was so typical of my brother. “Oh, you should be afraid. He’ll never throw a punch, but he’ll make your life a living hell regardless. He’ll hack every device you own, installing malware and viruses that will affect every electronic platform you use…bank accounts, social media, email… everything.”

Hunter’s eyes went wide. “I did not know that.”

“Yeah, he might seem innocuous, but I can promise you he’s as dangerous as they come. Anyway, my point was that you’re too old to worry about being in the cool kids’ club. You’ll never get everyone’s approval. If people don’t like you… fuck ’em.”

“That hasn’t exactly worked out well for me.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Were you being yourself or were you trying to be part of the cool kids’ crowd? Just be yourself, minus the assholeness.”

He chuckled. “Point taken, but being an asshole is pretty much part of my personality. Call it my trademark.”

“Well, how about you work on taking it down a couple notches? You’ve made mistakes but you’re making amends and that’s important. I think you’re harder on yourself than anyone else could ever be.”

“Thank you.” He picked up my hand and kissed my palm. “You don’t know how much I needed to hear that. ”

“Are we interrupting?” Gia raised her eyebrows. The rest of our group arrived, and all eyes were on us.

Hunter dropped my hand and tapped on his watch. “You’re late.”

“Traffic was awful,” Trent said.

“A total gridlock,” Brett added.

Penny looked at Gia and gave her a wink. “Looks like you two were doing fine without us.”

Yes, we were.

Gia and Penny accepted me easily into their fold, showing genuine interest. It probably helped that they knew my brother, so we had that in common.

I tried to apply the cool kids pep talk I gave Hunter to my current situation. Both of these women wore designer clothes and looked like they’d stepped out of the salon. I never worried too much about my no-name-brand jeans or discount shoes before, but it was difficult when sitting across the table from Gucci and Chanel.

“I love that top. Where did you get it?” Penny asked.

I looked down at my shirt. “Oh this? I picked it up from a little boutique called Second Chances.” Boutique was a euphemism for thrift store, but I hoped they wouldn’t know the difference.

“Oh my god, I love that store!” she shrieked. “I used to shop there all the time. They have some terrific finds.” Then she turned to Gia. “You know that red polka dot blouse I have that ties at the waist. I got it at Second Chances.”

“Wait. You shop at Second Chances?” I asked in astonishment. I couldn’t help but stare at the rocks both of them were sporting on their ring fingers. Gia’s was enviable, but Penny’s was almost obscene. Her diamond alone could probably feed a small third-world country .

“Well, not so much anymore, but before I married Brett, every little penny counted. It’s not like I make a killing being her personal assistant.” She motioned to Gia.

That was true. I knew my brother made decent money, but it was nothing to write home about. He and I were surviving, not thriving.

Gia put a hand to her chest. “Don’t blame me. I’m not in charge of the salaries. Without Trent, I might still be living at the hotel.”

“Oh, I doubt that. You make more money than me, and I was able to afford a condo. It wasn’t fancy, but it was mine.”

My head ping-ponged between the two of them. I admired their easy friendship and candor.

I snuck a peek over at Hunter and was pleasantly surprised to see him engaging with Brett and Trent, laughing even. It made me sad that Hunter wasn’t close with his brother, and I hoped they could repair their relationship.

Being estranged from my brother would devastate me. We were super close when we were kids. Although Tom liked to bitch about the things I did, I knew he’d always have my back. Moving to Vegas with me proved that.

Hunter squeezed my knee under the table. A shiver ran up my spine and my lady parts clenched. As much as I didn’t want to be attracted to him, my body didn’t agree. There was an electric chemistry between us since day one, despite his assholeness. Beneath his hard exterior was a decent guy not many people got to know.

After finishing off a burger and my second rum runner, I was a tad tipsy, so I switched to water. I wasn’t a big drinker, and my tolerance was low. Also, I didn’t trust myself to be a drunky skunk around Hunter. Although we were officially something , I didn’t quite know what that meant or if we were going public. It was better to keep my wits about me and follow his lead even if the group had caught him kissing my hand.

Penny leaned in close and whispered, “What is going on with you two?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Playing dumb wasn’t my strong suit, but I tried it anyway .

“Don’t play coy with me, missy. He can’t stop looking at you.”

“Okay. It’s just a little… something.”

Gia clapped her hands together. “I knew it!”

“Wait! Are you actually encouraging this?” Penny asked.

“Yes,” Gia said with the widest of grins.

Penny lowered her voice even more. “Why? He’s a total jerk.”

Pushing a strand of dark hair behind my ear, I whispered back, “He’s not that bad.” It wasn’t a glowing recommendation, but I didn’t know what else to say. It would betray his trust to tell them about the conversations we shared.

“Something has changed in him. He’s not the same guy since Carina showed up. I would have never believed it before, but he has a soft side. I saw it the night of the family dinner.”

The family dinner. Hunter had eaten me for dessert, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Of course, I wouldn’t share that information.

“It’s risky,” Penny insisted.

“It’s Vegas. What isn’t risky?” I asked.

“Be careful, or you’ll end up gambling your heart away,” she said.

I heard her warning loud and clear, but I’d never backed away from a challenge. Because I might get hurt wasn’t a reason not to try. I’d been taking chances my whole life and this one felt right.