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A laugh escapes me. Apparently, I’m terrible at life in general lately. I don’t know if that’s fixable.
“For one night, we can pretend we are Jolene and Beau and have the Vegas experience we’ve never had.”
His confidence is ridiculous. Ridiculously sexy, that is.
“How?” I ask, pretending to be chill. When in fact, there is no chill in me whatsoever right now around this hot guy.
He stands and extends his hand. “Jolene.”
Just like that. Like, this is the most normal thing in the world. Like strangers do this every day.
My eyes drop to his hand. Then back to his face. I shake my head, trying to hide my smile. “We don’t even know each other.”
“We’ve got one night. We’ll let Jolene and Beau get to know each other and have the night of their life.”
I swallow nervously. One night. Just a story that I’ll tell my friends later. Remember that crazy thing I did in Vegas?
His grin softens. “Come on, Jolene.”
The fake name sends a smile across my face. “We don’t know each other. You could be a murderer.”
“Nope.”
“You could be a real-life Dexter,” I hedge, being half serious. He doesn’t seem scary, but I’ve watched enough Dateline episodes to know better than to take off with a stranger.
“But you could be a real-life serial killer as well,” he suggests.
I scoff. “I am not a serial killer. But I do have three brothers who would murder you and bury you across three states if you ever hurt me. No one would find you. Also, one of them is a former Navy SEAL.”
“That sounds… terrifying. But you have nothing to worry about with me,” he promises.
I narrow my eyes. “Exactly what a serial killer would say.”
His gaze meets mine. “What are the chances there are two serial killers in the same bar at the same time?”
I laugh at his joke. He is funny, I’ll give him that.
“I needed this. Thanks for the laughs, Jolene.”
Something about the way he says it lands directly in my chest. Because I know exactly what he means. For one night, neither of us has to be anything. Just Jolene and Beau. Two strangers who met up in Vegas. The idea feels reckless, but exciting. And somehow exactly what I need, too.
“What are the rules?” I ask.
His smile appears immediately. “Rules?”
“If we’re doing this.”
His eyes light up. “We’re doing this?”
“Maybe…”
He laughs, then starts counting on his fingers. “No real names.”
“Agreed.”
“No asking about work for either of us.”
“Agreed.”
