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Falling for her could be his biggest gamble.
Life as Seth Hamilton feels pretty damn good. Easy-going, charming and blessed with a face to make panties drop, Seth has it all. For the last two years, he has been sleeping his way across Europe, enjoying a carefree life and reaping the benefits—until his hotel-mogul father orders him home and tells him it’s about time he grew up.
Back in his hometown of Las Vegas, Seth is adamant he won’t follow in his father’s footsteps. He wants something out of life, to leave his own mark. The only problem is he has no idea what he wants to do—apart from enjoy everything the world has to offer.
Cassidy Reynolds knows what she wants out of life, and Seth Hamilton is not it. She refuses to be another notch on his whittled-down bedpost and fights against the obvious attraction and raw sexual heat he exudes from every pore.
Seth has never met someone like Cassidy—funny, sharp-tongued and way too smart for his charm. After a disastrous first, second and even third impression, Seth finally convinces Cassidy to give him a chance for her to get to know the real him.
Everything about Cassidy flips Seth’s world around. And for the first time, he realizes what it means to have something worth fighting for.
General Release Date: 3rd November 2015
The streets teemed with people. Bodies spilled out of the bars, singing and laughing. Music pulsed in the air—different songs, different beats that couldn’t be discerned unless you were in the actual bar. Promoters armed with fliers stopped people, giving away tickets for free shots and insisting their club had all the best action.
It was spring break. And I was in fucking heaven.
“So what brings you girls to Spain?” I asked no one in particular. The group of five girls had giggled and glanced in my direction for so long I took pity on them and invited myself to join them—bringing a cocktail jug with me.
“We’re on holiday from uni,” the brunette of the group answered. She rested her elbow on the table and pushed her tits so far out I was surprised they didn’t burst free from her shirt. “We just got here.”
These Brit girls were my favorite kind of tourists—beautiful, flirty and clearly out for a good time. I placed a hand over my heart. “And the first thing you did was come see me? Aw, I’m touched, girls—really.”
Cue collective giggling.
First-nighters fell into one of two categories—the ‘play it safe, it’s only the first night and I don’t even know this guy’ and the ‘fucking-A I’m on vacation, bring on the cocks and cocktails, what happens in Spain, stays in Spain’. The brunette was definitely in the fucking-A category…maybe her red-headed friend too.
She smiled as she lifted her cocktail glass, her eyes full of promise. “Well, we heard a good-looking Yank was chatting up all the girls, so we didn’t want to feel left out.”
Oh yeah, the redhead was definitely down.
An ice cube smacked off the back of my head, making me start. Scooping a handful of ice cubes out of the cocktail jug, I turned around and threw them back at Jesse behind the bar.
He ducked before they hit him and flipped me off. “Come on, Seth. We’re busy, in case you hadn’t noticed!”
“Hey, I’m making new friends over here!” I called back with a grin.
A chorus of giggles broke out around me.
“He finishes at two, ladies!” Jesse shouted before giving me a pointed look. Usually we were good with covering for each other while in pursuit of a new lay…but yeah, the crowd was thickening around the bar, and if the owner caught me slacking off, I’d be looking for a new job. And this was one sweet gig.
Vardis was one of many bars along the main drag in the tourist town. Decent in size, it pulled in the crowds. I’d worked for the owner there last summer and when I’d returned last month, he’d hired me back as manager, along with Jesse. It wasn’t often we were front of house like this, but two bartenders were out—with those dreaded hangovers that seemed to be catching—and being spring break, it was crazy busy.
So there I was, playing the part of a loveable American rake, charming and memorable, but never permanent. And man, did the girls just love the part I played.
The brunette threw her arm around the redhead’s shoulders and pressed their heads together, sending a silent, but very well-heard message. “You’ll have forgotten about us by then.”
“Sweetheart, you ladies are anything but forgettable,” I said with a wink as I rose out of my seat. “Enjoy the drinks—and welcome to Spain.”
The group of girls stayed for another hour but the bar was too slammed for me to get away again. They filed out of the door, my two sure things bringing up the rear. They waggled their fingers in my direction and I would swear down dead that I’d be seeing them again before the night was over.
“Your dick’s going to fall off if you keep this up,” Jesse said, shaking his head. “I can’t decide if I should be concerned or impressed.”
“Hey, I have a lot of love to give,” I said as though offended.
Jesse barked a laugh and reached for a fresh glass to mix the drink ordered by his customer. “Yeah, well, some of them might have a lot of the clap to give.”
I grinned and shook my head. “I have no idea what that is.”
He snorted his derision and slid the drink toward the customer. “Trust me. If you get it, you’ll know about it.”
“I might like to be generous with myself but I’m not stupid. No glove, no love, my brother. No glove, no love.” I winked at the girl waiting at the bar who was taking a keen interest in our conversation. “Isn’t that right, gorgeous? You practice safe sex, don’t you?”
“Of course,” she purred, lifting her glass to her lips. “I like to get in as much practice as possible.”
I held a hand out to her as I looked at Jesse. “You see? We’re all safe around here.”
Jesse lifted his eyes to the ceiling. “Yes, yes, what perfectly respectable sex fiends you all are.”
When my shift finished, I felt like an ass for leaving Jesse. There were ten other members of staff, but he and I both knew we were faster and more efficient and drew in the serious tips. But when the two girls from earlier showed up at the end of the bar, he knew I wasn’t going to stay to help him out.
* * * *
I was nestled in a warm cocoon of flesh when a persistently ringing phone rudely awakened me. Rolling over, I face-planted on a boob. We were a tangle of limbs and body parts, and extracting myself took more effort than I had, especially after an all-night threesome with two girls who tried to outdo each other.
Talk about exhausting.
I spanked a butt to get her to move and eventually I disentangled myself from the human knot. I found my phone in my jeans where I’d ditched them the night before. Glancing at my watch, I saw it was only eight a.m. I guessed I’d had around two hours sleep.
The name on the phone display had me groaning for very different reasons. Throwing my head back, I summoned up the energy to answer. “Hey, Dad, what’s happening?”
“Seth. You sound cheerier than I expected.” Dad betrayed nothing in his tone as to what he might want—or why he felt it necessary to wake his darling child when he no doubt suspected I’d only just made it to bed.
“Well, that’s probably because I’m still drunk.” Anthony Hamilton was an intimidating man to many. To me, he was the guy I knew how to antagonize like no other.
He didn’t rise to my bait. “Make sure you sober up before checking your bank account. I wouldn’t want you to forget, or think you were so drunk you hadn’t read the figure right.”
Whatever cocky retort I’d been about to reply with, died on my tongue. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m done bankrolling your excuse to fornicate around Europe. There’s enough left to get a plane ticket home—which I expect you to purchase today.”
Ah, hell. Dad had made this same threat for months. But now…he actually sounded serious. “Sure thing, Dad. I’ll see you in a few.” What he kept forgetting was I was his son. I knew my way out of a bind.
“You should also know I’ve canceled all your credit cards.”
Crafty old bastard.
The second he hung up, I logged on to my online bank account and there was indeed enough for a plane ticket, and a quick check of flight prices confirmed my guess. He’d left enough for first class.
So for the next two weeks I lived off meager funds, crashed with friends and enjoyed all the delights Spain had to offer before boarding my economy-class flight back to my shackles.
* * * *
Full dark had just settled across the sky as the plane landed, which meant I got picture-perfect views of the illuminated city as we began the descent. The second I stepped off the plane it was as if I’d never left. It’d been two years since I’d left her, but Vegas was still as bold and flashy as I remembered.
Slinging my battered canvas backpack over my shoulder and hauling an overstuffed gym bag behind me, I headed outside to find a cab. The line was huge. If I really wanted to, I could call Dad and have him send a car or—yeah, right—pick me up himself. But the thought of heading to his McMansion any sooner than I had to was not an appealing idea.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I scrolled through the contacts, searching for my brother. Instead I got sidetracked when my friend Hank’s number popped up. The bum had to be partying somewhere. Always was…and some things never changed.
I dialed his number and rocked back on my heels as I waited for him to answer.
“Hey, Hamilton! How’s it going?” Hank asked as he answered, a blast of music coming through the phone.
“Good, man, good. What are you up to?” I asked, smiling.
“I’m down at the Treasure Chest with Jimmy for Mike’s birthday. It’s fucking good here tonight, Hamilton. It’s a damn shame you aren’t here!” Hank shouted over the music.
I laughed and thought for a second about how he had worded his sentence. “You’re at a strip club for Mike’s birthday, but Mike’s not there? What an asshole.”
“It’s old news, Hamilton. Mike is as whipped as they come now. But we still love the guy, so we’re celebrating whether he’s here or not,” Hank said. He had always been considerate like that. “We went to OG’s for your birthday.”
“How sweet. Get me a drink. I’m on my way,” I said, finally next in line for a cab.
“Are you shitting me? You in town?”
A new cab pulled up and the driver got out to put my bag in the trunk. I threw my backpack across the back seat and climbed in. “And on my way.”
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