deal and unlock these cuffs, and this can be over. Because it has to be.”
He sat up next to her, but she didn’t look at him, just went on. “You get that now, right? It’s over. You need to let me go, Carter.”
“Give me a night,” he said.
She shifted her eyes to his. “ What ?”
“Give me one night to show you that you don’t want to be alone. And that what you feel for me isn’t bad. And that losing control of yourself can be a very good thing.”
Chapter Six
Carter focused on the concrete beneath his feet, which he was drilling into with a jackhammer, the noise deafening to most people, but he used earplugs to protect his hearing. They were just getting started on the strip’s next mega-hotel, which required destroying some old concrete on the large, otherwise empty site. The Las Vegas sun beat down hard, but he was used to it and wouldn’t have traded it. He’d migrated from Boston some years back and only went home to see his family at the holidays. He would have liked seeing his parents more often, as well as his brother and sister and their growing broods, but Las Vegas provided an endless stream of work, mostly nice weather, and lots of beautiful women.
Not that he was noticing many beautiful women lately—other than Erin.
Saturday night had been unbelievable. He’d planned to confront her, get that answer and seduce her with those furry handcuffs he’d bought—but he’d never imagined how intense things would get, or that she’d end up confiding in him so deeply.
The truth was, he couldn’t stop thinking about that soft girl he’d uncovered inside her. And he had the scary feeling that maybe he was…falling in love with her. He knew it was quick, but wasn’t that how love worked sometimes?
He stopped the jackhammer with a sigh. Leave it to him to fall for the one chick in Las Vegas who wanted nothing to do with guys. He still thought her reasoning was pretty insane, but apparently the loss of her dad had affected her in a lot of deep ways that even she didn’t completely understand. And he hoped like hell he could convince her, make her realize that caring for somebody could make you stronger, not weaker, if you let it. But she was so stubborn that he had his doubts.
A tap on his arm made him remove one earplug to hear the words, “Knock off for lunch, dude.”
He looked up to see his buddy Drew—construction worker by day, college student by night. Although in his late twenties, Drew had just decided to pursue a degree in psychology last year. He and Carter weren’t longtime friends, but they usually walked up the strip together each day at lunch to grab a burger or some tacos, so Carter had gotten to know him pretty well. He was majoring in sexual psychology—mainly, Carter suspected, because he was a horny bastard—and he generally had more wild stories to share than Carter. But he was a smart, friendly guy, too, and Carter liked him.
Laying the jackhammer down, Carter wiped his hands on his old jeans, then tossed his hardhat aside, leaving only a navy bandanna tied around his forehead. Drew followed suit, ditching a white hardhat in the gravel to reveal straight but shaggy blond hair above the five o’clock shadow already darkening his face even though it was only noon. Carter scratched his own darkly stubbled chin, aware he hadn’t shaved the last couple of days. Erin was so constantly on his mind that he’d grown tired, lazy, lost in the haze of wanting her and not being sure he was going to get her.
“How’s your wild lady cop?” Drew asked as they hit the sidewalk at the edge of the empty, sprawling lot.
It was only Monday, so Carter hadn’t had a chance to fill Drew in on the latest. However, as they headed to a nearby McDonald’s, decked out in extra neon due to its Las Vegas Boulevard address, Carter hit the high points, focusing not so much on the sex as the end result—that she’d reluctantly agreed to give him a night to make her want a
He sat up next to her, but she didn’t look at him, just went on. “You get that now, right? It’s over. You need to let me go, Carter.”
“Give me a night,” he said.
She shifted her eyes to his. “ What ?”
“Give me one night to show you that you don’t want to be alone. And that what you feel for me isn’t bad. And that losing control of yourself can be a very good thing.”
Chapter Six
Carter focused on the concrete beneath his feet, which he was drilling into with a jackhammer, the noise deafening to most people, but he used earplugs to protect his hearing. They were just getting started on the strip’s next mega-hotel, which required destroying some old concrete on the large, otherwise empty site. The Las Vegas sun beat down hard, but he was used to it and wouldn’t have traded it. He’d migrated from Boston some years back and only went home to see his family at the holidays. He would have liked seeing his parents more often, as well as his brother and sister and their growing broods, but Las Vegas provided an endless stream of work, mostly nice weather, and lots of beautiful women.
Not that he was noticing many beautiful women lately—other than Erin.
Saturday night had been unbelievable. He’d planned to confront her, get that answer and seduce her with those furry handcuffs he’d bought—but he’d never imagined how intense things would get, or that she’d end up confiding in him so deeply.
The truth was, he couldn’t stop thinking about that soft girl he’d uncovered inside her. And he had the scary feeling that maybe he was…falling in love with her. He knew it was quick, but wasn’t that how love worked sometimes?
He stopped the jackhammer with a sigh. Leave it to him to fall for the one chick in Las Vegas who wanted nothing to do with guys. He still thought her reasoning was pretty insane, but apparently the loss of her dad had affected her in a lot of deep ways that even she didn’t completely understand. And he hoped like hell he could convince her, make her realize that caring for somebody could make you stronger, not weaker, if you let it. But she was so stubborn that he had his doubts.
A tap on his arm made him remove one earplug to hear the words, “Knock off for lunch, dude.”
He looked up to see his buddy Drew—construction worker by day, college student by night. Although in his late twenties, Drew had just decided to pursue a degree in psychology last year. He and Carter weren’t longtime friends, but they usually walked up the strip together each day at lunch to grab a burger or some tacos, so Carter had gotten to know him pretty well. He was majoring in sexual psychology—mainly, Carter suspected, because he was a horny bastard—and he generally had more wild stories to share than Carter. But he was a smart, friendly guy, too, and Carter liked him.
Laying the jackhammer down, Carter wiped his hands on his old jeans, then tossed his hardhat aside, leaving only a navy bandanna tied around his forehead. Drew followed suit, ditching a white hardhat in the gravel to reveal straight but shaggy blond hair above the five o’clock shadow already darkening his face even though it was only noon. Carter scratched his own darkly stubbled chin, aware he hadn’t shaved the last couple of days. Erin was so constantly on his mind that he’d grown tired, lazy, lost in the haze of wanting her and not being sure he was going to get her.
“How’s your wild lady cop?” Drew asked as they hit the sidewalk at the edge of the empty, sprawling lot.
It was only Monday, so Carter hadn’t had a chance to fill Drew in on the latest. However, as they headed to a nearby McDonald’s, decked out in extra neon due to its Las Vegas Boulevard address, Carter hit the high points, focusing not so much on the sex as the end result—that she’d reluctantly agreed to give him a night to make her want a
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