AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Amber nodded. “Sounds amazing. But do you think I should text him?”
I nibbled on a bite of papaya. “Well, don’t ghost the poor man.”
“Poor man, my booty. He left with a big smile on his face.”
“Okay. Let’s go be tourists and see what happens. I’m thinking about collecting tacky fridge magnets.”
We set off and jumped on the Big Bus when it stopped in front of the giant statue of Caesar by the entrance. We snagged seats on the open top deck as a man with a microphone rhapsodized on the wonders of Vegas.
Amber snapped pictures and gasped at each new sight. We passed replicas of the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, the massive pyramid of Luxor, and went to the iconic Welcome to Vegas sign where we stood in line to take our picture. Amber and I stepped off at the Bellagio Fountain to wait until the next show. The tour guide had told us all about the twelve-hundred fountain jets in the artificial lake that shot water up as high as four-hundred and sixty feet.
“This is pure magic,” said Amber.
I took her picture, smiling, but also thinking about my parents. I couldn’t even send them a photo.
After a bit more wandering, we made our way back to the hotel and got ready for pool time. Our cabana would be like having our own tented room on the pool deck, with a daybed and television, and cooler, fan, mister, and safe.
We settled into our lounge chairs in the shade, sinking into their big orange cushions. I pulled out a magazine and Amber opened a romance novel with a Scottish barbarian type of guy on the cover.
“Was that book in the black bag too, next to Bob?” I asked her.
“No. The book was in my purse.”
“Too bad. I bet it would have distracted Mario fromWar and Peace.”
She sniffed. “His loss.”
We drank a couple of Bloody Marys. The magazine didn’t do a good job of distracting me. I wasn’t going to run, no matter what Hank said. The asshole stalker probably could have sniped me with a rifle shot a number of times at my parents’ house and hadn’t. How would that be enough for him? He was obsessed with getting his hands on me first.
“Oh crap.” Amber jumped up from her chair. “He’s calling me.”
“Tell him Bob doesn’t miss him.”
She made shushing motions with her hand and walked away before answering. Then my phone rang as well and I stared at it suspiciously. The universe was delivering all the calls at the same time for some reason. I glanced at the screen and saw Javier’s name, video calling me.
“Hey, beast,” I said, holding my phone up in front of my face.
He was in a whitewashed hotel room, bright light streaming in through big windows off to the side. Smiling, he rested his head onto one hand, his elbow propped up on the arm of an ornate wooden chair he was slumped in—shirtless and only wearing loose shorts. He’d called me on his laptop, apparently.
“Bella, what are you doing? This is not your house, no?”
“I’m in Vegas on vacation. This is the Venus Pool at Caesar’s.”
“Yes, I know this place. You will be good there, my Bella, and not take off your top.”
I fingered the strings of my bikini top. “How’s the movie?”
He sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. “They are using me like a racehorse—go here, go there, then back to your stall to wait. When are you coming to visit me? I need you, Bella.”
I started pulling on the string of my bikini. Javier inhaled a sharp breath.
“How much longer do you think you’ll be filming?”
“Bah—they cannot say. Six weeks. But this is only for perfect shots. Already we redo many things. What are you doing?” He bit his knuckle.
My top fell off. “I’m sunbathing.”
He grabbed the laptop and brought it over to the bed. “You are a bad, naughty woman.”
