Stinger (A Sign of Love Novel)

"What happens if you end up ruining me for anyone else?" I asked back. I told myself I was teasing too.

She laughed, lying down on my chest. I was still semi-hard inside of her, just enjoying the feel of her skin on mine, running my hands up and down the silk of her back.

"I feel so damn sorry for that first guy. Never getting to hear you scream his name. Missed out. Sorry fucker."

Her body shook on top of mine in gentle laughter. "Who knew I was a screamer anyway? Think the manager will be by to kick us out soon?" She grinned against my chest and nipped at my skin with her teeth.

"Probably. We should stay in your room tonight–give the people on this floor a little rest." I grinned into her hair and she laughed again.

After a few minutes I said, "Okay, up. I'm not going to keep you locked in this room all day. Although it's tempting. We're gonna walk around and you're going to experience Vegas."

"Okay." She yawned. "Nap later?"

"It's a plan, Buttercup."

She winked at me. "Okay, good, come rinse off with me."

That sounded dangerous, but I was nothing if not a risk-taker.

An hour, a bottle of body wash and another orgasm later and we were dressed and ready to go.

I didn't have a specific destination in mind–we just walked down the strip, people watching and stopping in a casino here and there. She loved the casino at Paris which didn't surprise me. I teased her that she was like an old lady with the slot machines. She took out a couple of dollars and sat feeding them into the machine, sucking in a breath when she won twenty-seven back. We brought her ticket up to the redemption kiosk and I couldn't keep the grin off my face just watching her excitement. It was like this girl had lived under a rock all her life and someone had finally lifted it to show her the sky. I realized that I hadn't had just plain fun with a girl, maybe ever. And who would have guessed that the girl I first thought was an uptight little princess, would be the one to give that to me? I had said it to Grace and it was fucking true; life is wild.

I told her that while she was in Vegas, she needed to experience a buffet and so we walked to the Bacchanal Buffet at Caesars Palace. She got a plate and a half of food and then sat back with a look on her face like she had gorged herself. "I guess I didn't really get your money's worth, did I?"

I laughed. "Well considering that your first plate was all dessert, I'm not surprised."

"I just didn't want to get full and then miss out on all those cakes." She grinned. "I can't even remember the last time I ate cake."

"It was worth every penny then." I smiled.

"So Carson, obviously you work out to keep that physique of yours. You sure don't diet." She waved her hand toward my lunch, the plate piled high with seven different items from four different food stations.

I laughed around a mouthful. "I don't work out at the gym, but I surf and snowboard anytime I'm not traveling for work–any extreme sport and I'm there."

"Snowboarding? In California?" she wrinkled her brow.

"Yeah! Mammoth Mountain is less than five hours from L.A. and Tahoe is about seven. The snowboarding is great. I go with my buddies all the time."

"Hmmm. Sounds fun."

"Where are you from originally, Grace?"

"Ohio," she answered.

"I'm gonna assume you've never surfed. Have you ever snowboarded?"

She shook her head. "No, I've never done either. After my parents divorced, money was kinda tight. We never traveled."

"When did your parents divorce?" I asked.

"A couple years after my brother, Andrew, died. My mom just never really pulled herself out of the depression she sunk into," she said quietly. "My dad tried everything to help her move forward, but nothing worked. Eventually, she asked my dad for a divorce. I think just being around him, watching us all try to get back to life, it was too much for her. She resented us and she thought we were the reason she couldn't ever feel okay." She shrugged, but I saw the grief flash in her eyes. It still hurt her to think about what had happened to her family.

"So your dad raised you. Where did your mom go?"

"She moved across town. We went there on the weekends for a while, but eventually those visits stopped. It was just too hard for us to be there–she would just start crying in the middle of dinner, and if any of us ever raised our voice for any reason, she couldn't handle it. She checked into a hospital to try to have her depression treated when I was fourteen and she seemed to get a little better. But she's never completely come back. My sisters and I see her once a year or so, usually around the holidays. She's living with a boyfriend now who's pretty nice. She seems to be doing okay." She looked down.

Jesus, no wonder she was such a control freak. Her whole fucking world had fallen apart when she was just a kid.

"Hey," I said, reaching for her hand across the table. "Thanks for sharing that with me."