Just Us

1. Ellie

Chapter One

Ellie

It was midnight, but it might as well have been smack dab in the middle of the day. I walked down the aisle through the crowded casino. Las Vegas was abuzz with energy. The cacophony of voices hummed around me, bright lights glittered everywhere, and the electrical pulse of humanity pounded at a breakneck pace here.

I had quickly discovered Las Vegas might be the best place in the world to watch people. The sheer mass and variety were astonishing. Elderly couples mingled with nubile dancers. Some people were clearly here just for the fun of it, while others were downright businesslike in their approach to gambling.

I threaded my way through the crowd, relieved for the endless distractions. I’d discovered you could essentially walk through Las Vegas without ever going outside. There were walkways connecting all the casinos. Although it was January, the weather was only marginally cool here. I imagined it was much hotter in the summer, but this time of year was just about perfect with the temperature hovering in the sixties.

I angled around the corner in a wide, crowded hallway, pausing to admire a display of blown glass. Beyond the endless gambling, there were shops mixed amongst the casinos.

“Ellie!”

The sound of the voice calling my name instantly infuriated me. What the hell was he doing here?

I kept walking, ignoring the pain slicing against my heart. In another moment, I heard my name again, this time right behind me, then the feel of a hand on my shoulder stopping my momentum.

In the midst of the crowded space with bodies all around us, I turned back, glaring at my ex-boyfriend. “What the hell do you want, Wayne? For that matter, what the hell are you doing here?”

You see, I was in Las Vegas because I’d planned this trip six months ago with Wayne. At the time, I thought he might be planning to surprise me with a proposal. Instead, I found n***d pictures of the girlfriend he had on the side a few weeks after that.

Non-refundable tickets, my a*s. I decided to take the trip anyway. It appeared Wayne had the same idea. f**k my life.

I took a moment to assess him. While his sharp features and ocean blue eyes were still appealing in an objective sense, beyond the lingering sting of anger, pain, and humiliation, I was relieved to be rid of him.

“Ellie, you should’ve told me you were going to be here,” Wayne began.

I cut him off. “Excuse me. I don’t owe you any kind of report on where I am, or what I’m doing.”

Wayne’s eyes narrowed. “Look, I expected that room to be available.”

Awareness struck, followed immediately by fury.

“Oh, so you thought you would take it upon yourself to use the room we reserved. With your new girlfriend, I presume. How are things going with her?” My words dripped with sarcasm and anger.

“Ellie, that room was paid for…” he started.

I didn’t let him finish. “It damn sure was, and I’m staying there. This is Las Vegas. There are plenty of hotels. Find yourself another f*****g room, you cheating jerk.”

I moved to brush past him, but he curled his hand around my arm. It was then I recognized Cheryl, his girlfriend, standing a few feet away. She didn’t even have the sense to look embarrassed.

I’d once called Cheryl a friend. Then, I’d seen far more of her than I ever wanted. In the form of texts to Wayne where she sent some spectacular photographs of her assets…so to speak.

Don’t go thinking I’m a prude. It’s just, I wasn’t in the habit of wanting to stumble across n***d pictures of my friend sent to my boyfriend. My anger, my embarrassment, and my general sense of feeling like a f*****g i***t had all been exacerbated with that extra wrinkle to Wayne’s cheating behavior.

“Ellie, I reserved that room on my credit card,” Wayne said, clearly deciding to drop any pretense of being a halfway decent guy.

I felt like I had entered a crazy funhouse where the joke was on me. I was in the middle of a casino in Las Vegas, on a trip I had taken because I couldn’t r****d my ticket, and now the man who cheated on me with one of my friends behind my back was arguing with me because he didn’t want to pay for a new room. I couldn’t believe this.

He pressed on. “It’s on my credit card. If I have to, I’ll ask the staff to escort you out of that room. Cheryl and I are staying there.”

Although anger was buoying me through this dreadful encounter, a sense of defeat washed over me. The room had been reserved on his credit card, and I’d conveniently blanked out that detail. I should’ve known he would use the trip because he was selfish, incredibly selfish.

My cheeks were hot, and I was tired. I glanced wildly around, looking for a rescue I knew wouldn’t come. Las Vegas was so crowded, no one appeared to be batting an eye at this argument taking place in front of them. People just stepped around us and kept on walking. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and intending to say something sensible, although there really was nothing sensible to say.

At that moment, I felt a hand slide down my back. I opened my eyes, reflexively glancing up. My breath caught in my throat as I stared into the eyes of the most handsome man I’d ever seen. He had deep green eyes and amber hair glinting under the lights from above. He wore a suit, and, oh man, did he ever wear it well.

The black jacket stretched across his broad shoulders. There was a flicker of recognition for me, but I couldn’t place how I knew this man.

“There you are, Ellie,” he said smoothly. “I was just looking for you.”

Staring at him, I couldn’t say why, but I knew this man had overheard my interaction with Wayne and was stepping in to somehow save me from further embarrassment.

“Oh,” I finally managed. “Well, you found me.”

Looking into this man’s eyes sent my belly into a series of flips and electric heat spinning through my veins. I wasn’t sure what to say next because I didn’t know what the story was.

This man—tall, sexy, and exuding confidence—turned, his eyes narrowing as he looked Wayne up and down.

“Jacob Taylor,” he said with a nod, appearing to be introducing himself to Wayne. He didn’t extend a hand and gave off a frosty, cool energy.

My brain pinged. Jacob Taylor was a tech billionaire. He owned a company dedicated to online security. Rumor had it he started the company after his sister died in a tragic accident that was caused by a man she met over some dating app. He was quite media shy, although his face had been in the news more than enough. Aside from seeing photographs of him, my recognition came from briefly seeing him at a distance, once, during a function in Seattle.

I used to live in Bellingham, Washington, but I’d moved to Seattle a few years ago. My brother, the only family I had left, lived in Seattle and ran a security company. He had collaborated with Jacob on a few projects. I hadn’t met Jacob that night because I had only been there briefly, begging off and telling my brother, Aidan, that it was a bit much for me.

Wayne stared at Jacob for a moment and appeared to make the same connection I did. He managed a tight smile. “Nice to meet you. Wayne Bradley,” he said, holding out his hand.

If Jacob hadn’t made his point before, it became abundantly clear now. His eyes flicked down to Wayne’s outstretched hand and back to his face. “No offense, but I don’t intend to shake your hand. It appears you’re being an asshole to someone who matters a lot to me. But no worry. You can have your shitty room. Ellie forgot I had reserved the penthouse suite tonight.”

Wayne looked from me to Jacob, his eyes widening.

I replied, “I didn’t forget. I just wasn’t intending to let him use that room.”

At this point, my ex-friend, Cheryl, approached. “What’s going on?” she asked, her gaze curious as she looked from Wayne to Jacob to me.

My pride was stinging. Not because I wanted Wayne back, but it still stung to have someone I once called my friend screw around with my boyfriend behind my back.

Jacob’s arm slid around my waist, pulling me against his side. He was warm and strong, and my entire body was tingling from his nearness. I didn’t know what to make of any of this, but I was going with it.

Wayne opened his mouth to reply, but Jacob’s voice—clear, authoritative, and dismissive—cut across. “What’s going on is your asshole of a boyfriend, who f****d around with you, is arguing over the room. It’s all yours, sweetheart.”

Although I was a little freaked out that Jacob appeared to know that much information about me, it was a rather glorious moment. Cheryl’s cheeks flushed, and her eyes took on a mutinous glint. I didn’t know what led Jacob to intervene here, but in this slice of time, I was getting a small bit of payback.

“Let’s go,” he said, incrementally tightening his arm around my waist. I felt the heat of his touch through my thin silk blouse.

Seeing as there was no particularly graceful way to exit the situation, I simply followed his lead. Unlike when I was trying to make my way through the crowded spaces by myself, Jacob’s mere presence seemed to cause the crowd to part before us.

He didn’t say a word, but his touch was firm, and in a matter of minutes, we were standing in front of a bank of elevators. He tapped the button and, as if by magic, the elevator doors whispered open. Another miracle, no one was inside. Still tingling all over, and a bit stunned, I stepped ahead of him to the elevator when he exerted a gentle pressure on my lower back.

Once we were alone in the elevator, I had no idea what to say. I looked up to find his rich green gaze waiting. I thought perhaps I was crazy, but my body sure thought there was desire in his eyes.

Now you know you’re crazy. There is no way on God’s green earth that Jacob Taylor wants you.

I had a hard time getting air. Not to mention, my pulse was going wild.

“Thank you,” I finally managed.

Jacob smiled, just barely, glancing away from me and asking, “What floor?”

I was befuddled for a beat before asking, “For my room?”

It suddenly occurred to me I had just let a man who was almost a complete stranger take me into an elevator. He was now asking me where my room was. The only reason I didn’t totally freak out was because I knew Aidan considered him a friend. Mostly a business friend, but a friend nonetheless.

A gleam entered Jacob’s eyes. “Perhaps you don’t know this, but I know your brother, Aidan McNamara.”

I nodded and swallowed. “Right. I knew that, but we’ve never met.”

“I wasn’t planning to kidnap you, if that’s what you’re wondering. As it stands, since the room is on his credit card, either you get out of there or he could kick you out. I figured you might want to keep your pride intact.”

“Why did you help?”

“I happened to be walking by and overheard him. When I realized who you were, I decided to step in. You didn’t deserve to be treated like that. I hate assholes.”

“Oh,” came my brilliant answer.

I couldn’t seem to think straight when I was up close and personal with this man, not with my pulse leaping and heat prickling over my skin. “I suppose you’re right about the room,” I finally said. “I’m not really in a position to get another room though.”

“I have a suite. There are two bedrooms,” he said simply. “If you don’t trust me, call Aidan.”

Regardless of what my common sense might have thought, my gut told me I could trust Jacob. “Floor fifteen. Are you…?”

He shook his head. “No need to ask if I’m sure. It’s really not a problem.”

With Jacob’s steady presence alongside me, I returned to the room and gathered my things. When I hesitated by the door, uncertain what to do with the key card, Jacob said, “I’ll call down to the desk. Leave it here on the dresser.”

In a matter of minutes, he had whisked me down a long hallway to a set of elevators I didn’t know existed. Then, we were on the top floor, and he led me through a private entrance into his hotel suite. I felt as if I were living another life. Like a princess whisked away to a tower.

It was beautiful, of course. The entryway was tiled in marble. Stepping beyond that into the living room, my heels were nearly silent on the plush carpet. The expansive space had floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over Las Vegas—Sin City glittering in the desert. Beyond the lights, there was nothing but blackness in the distance.

There was a fully outfitted kitchen, along with an office, the master bedroom, and another bedroom, which was still three times the size of the room I’d had many floors below. After I set my single suitcase down in front of the dresser, I wondered what to do next. I’d been out of my element to begin with in coming to Las Vegas on my own. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t lived in cities. I’d lived in both San Francisco and Seattle. Yet, a high-end hotel suite in Las Vegas, a city with its own heartbeat, had knocked me off balance.

Running into Wayne hadn’t helped matters. I had no illusions about him. I didn’t miss Wayne. In fact, I was relieved. I was glad I found out sooner rather than later just what kind of man he was.

But, I had my pride, and now I was in a virtual stranger’s hotel suite. I might trust Jacob not to do anything insane, but I didn’t know the social rules for this situation.

At all.