Vegas, Baby: The Complete Series by Fiona Davenport

1

Amelia

“C’mon, Amelia, don’t be a stick in the mud. Pick a dare instead of truth.”

I wanted to stomp my foot in frustration, but I’d probably end up spraining my ankle since my cousin talked me into wearing three-inch spiky heels when I usually went with flats or wedges. The only thing worse was the sparkly halter top and skinny jeans she’d forced me to pour myself into. But I couldn’t say no—not when we were in Vegas for her bachelorette party. Unfortunately, agreeing to stuff I didn’t want to do had been the theme of the day, which didn’t bode well for me. This was only the first day of our trip, and odds were good the stuff she wanted me to do was going to get worse as time went on.

Being the only sober one in the bunch was turning out to be a lot less fun than I’d expected—and my bar had already been set pretty low. But I was Maria’s maid of honor, so I couldn’t skip out on the trip.

“Are you sure you want to keep playing truth or dare?” I asked for about the tenth time in the past hour. “We’re almost at the hotel, and it’s been a long day.”

“No excuses!” cried one of Maria’s friends from college.

“Yeah, pick a dare!” the others chimed in.

“Fine,” I huffed. “Dare.”

Maria’s eyes lit up, and she rubbed her hands together in excitement. “I want you to kiss a guy before we get back to the suite.”

Kiss a guy?!I figured whatever she’d dare me to do was going to be outside my comfort zone, but I hadn’t expected her to tell me to accost a stranger. Especially when she knew darn well that I was a virgin. Not that she was daring me to have sex with some guy I picked up off the street, but still. Maria knew me well enough to know how weird I’d feel going up to some guy and laying a kiss on him. Then I brightened as I had an idea—maybe if I kept the kiss PG, I wouldn’t die of embarrassment.

Maria crushed my hopes when she added, “And it has to be a real kiss on the lips with tongue.”

I wrinkled my nose and heaved a deep sigh, my shoulders dropping as I trudged along with Maria and the rest of her bridal party. The next six blocks were torture. My feet were killing me, and the girls pointed out about a dozen guys they thought I should kiss. By the time we were less than a block away from our hotel, I was starting to seriously worry about how much they’d all had to drink because their picks were terrible. The last one had been walking into an attorney’s office whose awning advertised quickie divorces. He’d been wearing a tux, and the woman with him was still in her bridal gown. Presumably, the guy had gotten married last night and already regretted the decision. Kissing him in front of the woman he was about to divorce was out of the question because I definitely didn’t need that kind of drama in my life.

“There’s no way she’s going to do it,” one of the bridesmaids mumbled.

“Probably not,” Maria agreed before lifting the bottle of the one hundred and ninety-two proof Polish vodka she’d snagged at the ice bar we’d hit up before calling it a night. “But I’m cool with that too because then she’ll have to take a shot in a forfeit. That will be almost as funny because Amelia isn’t much of a drinker, and this stuff is like jet fuel.”

I grimaced, reminding myself that my cousin really did love me even if she wasn’t showing it in the best way at the moment. She’d had more than her fair share of that vodka, along with several other drinks tonight. Blaming her teasing on the alcohol, I was almost ready to call off her harebrained dare and take a swig from the bottle when I spotted him—the only man I could picture myself kissing tonight...or any night, for that matter.

He strode out of the hotel and casino directly next door to the one where we were staying. He was wearing a black suit that looked as though it had been tailored to fit his tall body. His dark hair was overdue for a cut, and my fingers itched to run through it, and I could practically feel the scruff on his face scraping against my soft skin. Something about this man had my dormant libido roaring to life.

As his head turned in our direction and his dark eyes met mine, I whispered, “I’m not going to need the vodka.”

“Huh? What’d you say?” Maria asked, her brow wrinkling in confusion.

“You’re not going to get the chance to see me drinking that jet fuel.” I sped up my pace, stepping as carefully as I could in the shoes that were bound to land me in the emergency room if she made me wear them again. Glancing over my shoulder, I added, “I accepted the dare, and I’m going to go through with it.”

Maria came to a sudden halt, her jaw going slack in shock at my announcement. Her friends stopped with her, and they all watched as I approached the man I planned to kiss. His gaze swept down my body, and as I got closer, I was able to see the male appreciation in his dark eyes. Knowing the attraction was reciprocated helped settle most of my nerves at doing something so out of character.

My newly discovered confidence took a nosedive when I stumbled and crashed into his chest, but I wasn’t going to allow that to stop me. With his strong hands wrapped around my upper arms—conveniently holding me steady—I rose as high as I could go on my toes and pressed my lips against his. I felt his fingers tighten as a deep groan rumbled up his chest. Emboldened by his response, I gently stroked my tongue across his bottom lip. I figured that would be enough to satisfy the dare, but when his lips parted, I took the kiss further. My heart raced as my tongue swept inside his mouth to tangle with his. When I heard my cousin and her friends hooting and hollering, I reluctantly pulled away from my mystery man.

We stared at each other for a long moment, but as soon as I felt the awkwardness creeping in, I pivoted on my heel and started back to the girls. He didn’t let me go far, though. I’d barely taken a step when he curled a finger through one of my belt loops and tugged me back, spinning me around and hauling me against his chest. Then one of his arms wrapped around my lower back to anchor me there. “Not so fast, beautiful.”

That was all the warning I got before his lips crashed against mine, and his tongue swept inside. Where I’d been tentative with my exploration of his mouth, he was bold. It felt as though he was devouring me as his hand tangled in the back of my hair to tilt my head exactly where he wanted it to deepen the kiss. I whimpered into his mouth when he flattened his other palm against my back and ground his hips against me. His hard length was pressed against my belly, and I felt every single hot inch of him—and there were a lot of them.

“It’s okay, beautiful. I’ve got you,” he soothed in a deep murmur against my lips.

I was about to press my mouth against his again when I heard a whistle and a masculine voice yelled, “Get a room!”

My cheeks heated with a deep blush, and my mystery man twisted around to glare at someone over his shoulder. While he was distracted, I jerked out of his hold and mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

His focus returned to me as I stumbled away, getting just far enough out of his reach that his hand missed when he reached out for me. Feeling an overwhelming mixture of desire, confusion, and embarrassment, I was willing to risk the chance of breaking my neck as I raced into the hotel. The girls rushed after me, crowding around after we made it into the lobby.

“Holy crap, Amelia!” Maria cried, her eyes wide in shock as she stared at me. “When I dared you to kiss a guy, I didn’t expect it to turn into a full-on make-out session on the sidewalk. What was that?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered before pressing my fingers against my slightly swollen lips. I’d never experienced anything like it before, but spotting my mystery man through the glass doors of the hotel, I felt a twinge of regret that our moment was over. It was too bad that what happened in Vegas stayed here because I doubted I’d ever have the chance to experience anything like that kiss again. Especially since I’d probably never see him again.