Betting on the Wrong Brother (What Happens in Vegas) by Cathryn Fox

not a tomboy anymore. I’ve grown up a lot since those days.”
    He arched a brow. “So…you haven’t always wanted to?”
    “No, I have.” She laughed and relaxed into him. He smiled back, liking this relaxed Andi.
    Her hand still in his, he walked her over to an elderly gentleman standing outside a long trailer that looked like the office. “Are you Wayne?”
    “That’d be me,” the man dressed in a striped shirt and orange vest said. He lowered his clipboard and adjusted his yellow hard hat. “You must be Grayson.”
    He put his arm around Andi and drew her closer. “Yeah, and this is Andi.”
    The man gave her a once over. “You ready for this?” he asked, a big grin on his face.
    She looked at the bulldozer and back at him. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”
    “Don’t worry kiddo, you’re going to love it. Heavy machinery isn’t just for guys.” He looked her over, then sized Ryan up and said, “Let’s get you both suited up, then we’ll give you the rundown on how to use the equipment.”
    He led them inside, fitted them both with a vest and hat, and then glanced pointedly at Andi. “You look like the kind of girl who’d enjoy a little competitive excavator basketball.”
    She arched one brow. “What makes you say that?”
    “You remind me of a girl I once knew. You have that feisty sparkle in your eye. Just like she did.” He shook his head and laughed. “Always wanting to prove she was as good as any guy. Beat me more times than not at damn near everything. I won once, though.”
    “What was the prize?” Andi asked.
    “Her hand in marriage.” He winked at Ryan. “I knew a good thing when I saw it.”
    Ryan laughed. “Is she still competitive?”
    “Damn straight. Makes me work hard for what I want. But it’s always worth it.” He waved his hand. “Come on, you two. Time for a little friendly competition. After your lessons, let’s see who gets the basketball in the boom first.”
    Ryan looked off in the distance and saw a row of basketballs sitting on top of cones. “What’s the prize?”
    “That will have to be between you and your girl. But if I were you, I’d make sure it was a good one.
    “Okay then. Winner takes all,” he said.
    Andi eyed him. “What do you mean by all?”
    “Winner gets to kiss the loser, anytime, anyplace.”
    “Or chooses not to kiss the loser,” she countered.
    Wayne chuckled and looked at them like he knew something and they didn’t.
    “Deal,” Ryan said.
    “All right.” She turned to Wayne, a new fire in her eye. “Teach me how to use this thing.”
    “Let’s do this,” Wayne said. He led them both to one of the huge excavators, and helped Andi in.
    She gripped both joysticks, and Ryan laughed. Damned if she didn’t look right at home and ready to win. He loved when she let her guard down, and it was fun to get these little glimpses into the real Andi. According to his brother, little Andrea Palmer was a tomboy back in their youth, and today he wanted her to forget the bad girl act, forget about playing ‘Andi’ to her fans, forget about the fantasy, and just be herself and have some good old clean, or rather, dirty fun.
    Wayne gave them both the rundown, explaining the joystick, how to move them to control the boom, and the track sticks that moved the equipment forward and backward.
    “Now, try to put the teeth in the dirt, and pull the left joy stick back to close the boom,” he said to Andi.
    She did it on the first try and Wayne looked at Ryan. “She’s a natural.” He gestured with a nod to one of his co-workers standing near the other excavator. “Carl will get you your own machine. You’d better get practicing, or this little lady is going to take you down.”
    It was all he could hope for.
    He ran over to where the other man was standing, and after an introduction, Carl gave him another quick rundown and let him practice. Hell, this was way more fun than he ever would have thought. He’d somehow have to work