Rachel Bailey - What Happens In Vegas

The weather in Nashville was usually pretty mild, but she was certain today was the first time she’d seen the sun since November. Having a taste of it made her look forward to the summer. She couldn’t wait for flowers, ice cream trucks, sandals, cute pedicures and spending a little time cooling off in her bikini at the pool of her apartment complex.

Wait, she thought. Summer might be very different this year. For one thing, she’d be four or five months pregnant, so the bikini was probably out. And based on their discussions, she wouldn’t be living at her apartment much longer. She was moving into a place with Tyler. At least for thirty days. After that, who knew?

Tyler tugged his leather jacket over his navy blazer. They were barely half a block down the road when she felt his fingers reach for hers.

They held hands a lot—in a goofy, best friend sort of manner. She and Tyler had always been physically affectionate in a nonthreatening way. At least, nonthreatening to her. The guys she’d dated had never cared too much for the male best friend she talked about all the time. They’d never believed her when she insisted they were only friends. Perhaps they’d seen something in the two of them that even she couldn’t see.

Amelia laced her fingers though his until they were palm to palm. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, holding his hand felt different somehow. Maybe it was the soft shudder that ran through her when his warm skin pressed against hers. Perhaps it was the occasional whiffs of his cologne that drifted past her nose. Or her sudden awareness of his body so close to hers. It was most likely that all three were combining to remind her of that night together—the one when she’d realized what he was hiding under those expensive suits, and that she couldn’t wait to explore every hard, muscular angle of it.

“This area has built up a lot since I was here last,” Tyler said, oblivious to where her thoughts had strayed.

“Yes. None of this was here when we first bought the land to start building From This Moment. Fortunately, it filled in with a nice residential area and some higher-end shopping centers. I wish I could afford to live closer to work, but we found a good spot between two really expensive residential areas, so it’s not happening. There’s not even an apartment complex anywhere around.”

“It’s nice. I like it. Close to the interstate, but not too close. Nearby shopping and restaurants. Not too congested. What do you think about looking for a place around here?”

Amelia turned to look up at him with a frown. “Did you miss the part where I said it’s really expensive?”

“Did you miss the part where I auctioned off a thirty-one-carat canary diamond at Christie’s auction house last month?”

He had mentioned it, but she hadn’t thought much of it. He was constantly buying and selling stones. “But it’s not like you made pure profit. You’ve got what you paid for it originally, company overhead, insurance, fees to Christie’s... If you got it recut, there’s that expense, too.” There had been a time in Amelia’s life when she’d known nothing about the world of jewels and gemstones. There had also been a time where she hadn’t owned any jewelry worth more than fifty dollars. Tyler had changed all that.

Every year on her birthday, or for Christmas, he sent her something. The large teardrop amethyst around her neck had arrived on her twenty-sixth birthday. She also had sapphire earrings, a ruby-and-diamond tennis bracelet, an emerald ring and a strand of pearls. She never dared to ask how much he spent. She didn’t want to know. She just bought a small fireproof safe to store it and increased her jewelry insurance policy every year.

“Of course I have expenses,” he argued. “My point is that we don’t have to rent a tiny place in a cheaper neighborhood on the other side of Nashville. If you’d like to live around here and be closer to work, I’ll have a real estate agent start looking.”

The average home in the area ran about half a million. A good number of them were twice as much. She couldn’t imagine what the rent would be on a place like that. “You can look,” she said with a tone of disbelief, “but I doubt you’ll find something that works in this area. We don’t need a four-thousand-square-foot mansion with a five-car garage and an indoor pool.”

He shrugged, leading her down the sidewalk as though discussions of multimillion-dollar real estate transactions were nothing to him. “You don’t know that. I live in Manhattan. Real estate is at such a premium that some people live in apartments the size of a dorm room. The idea of a ridiculously large house—with private parking—sounds awesome to me. Why not? You might like having an indoor pool.”

“Get real, Tyler,” she said with a wry chuckle. “We may only live in this place for a month. Even if we stay longer, we need at most a three-bedroom house with a decent yard. Maybe a good-size kitchen so I can cook. And that’s only if we like the place enough to put in an offer to buy it. Right?”

“Right,” he said, looking thoughtfully off into the distance.

Amelia knew him well enough to know he wasn’t paying any mind to what she said. He’d pick whatever caught his fancy, regardless of price or practicality. All she knew was that if he picked a massive house, he’d better hire a housekeeper to go with it. It would be a full-time job keeping it clean, and she already had one of those.

They paused at an intersection, waiting for the light to change. “I’ll see what I can find. But like you, I’m not going to compromise, either. This isn’t just about finding a place to stay for a few weeks or months—it’s about finding a home where we can start our life together. It’s the house to which we’ll bring our child home from the hospital. It’s where he or she will take their first steps.”

Tyler had only known about this baby for an hour, but it didn’t matter. It was still an almost abstract idea in her mind, and yet he’d already revised his entire strategy to accommodate and care for his surprise family. He couldn’t just settle for a house to spend the next few weeks. He wanted a home for his family. He wanted to take care of her and their child. She didn’t understand how he could roll with the punches like that.

“You know, you don’t have to be so confident and positive about everything. You’re allowed to be upset and scared by the prospect of what’s happening. I threw a grenade at you and you’re just standing there holding it with a smile. I know that you don’t want to be tied down, and a family wasn’t on your radar. I’m freaking out. Tell me you’re freaking out, too, so I’ll feel better.”

Tyler turned to look at her with a frown. “What good would it do to get upset? Worrying just wastes valuable time. When I’m feeling uncertain, having a plan to go forward and executing it is the only thing that makes me feel better. No, a child wasn’t what I was expecting or wanting. Yes, a part of me wants to get in my car and disappear. But I won’t do that to our child. I have an obligation to step up and take responsibility for my actions, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make it work.”

It wasn’t a romantic declaration, but she’d asked for his honesty and gotten it. Having Tyler’s child wasn’t her plan, but she knew she would be hard-pressed to find a better father for her baby.

“You’re only thinking short-term, Ames, but I have no intention of us getting divorced in thirty days. Successful people plan for success, so I’m going to find the perfect house for us. We’ll rent until we’re sure we love it, and then we’ll see if we can convince the owner to sell it. It will be the place where you and I will raise our family.”