Page 351 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
I laughed and straightened up. “Let’s go, then,” I suggested. There was plenty more that I wanted to show him.
I didn’t know why I wanted to show him around so much. Well, part of it was that I wanted to show him off. I knew people here in Vegas, and they knew me. I had seen the way Matt, the dealer, had looked at us in surprise as I walked up on Adam’s arm. He had given Adam a once-over, and I could tell from his expression that he knew just how attractive Adam was. And he approved of that.
I wanted everyone to know that I was with Adam. That he had flown all the way out to Vegas to be with me. Oh, they might not all know the full story about Brooks Mountain Resort and the fact that Adam was the mechanic there. Probably best that they didn’t, really. But I wanted everyone to know that I was taken.
Because I really was taken. I had known that I had missed Adam, in the time that I had been here in Vegas. Seeing him again had only made me realize how much. And waking up next to him that morning? I couldn’t quite put a name to the expression that I had seen in his eyes, but I knew that it was reflected back at him in my own gaze.
There was no way that I was letting him go.
So I wanted to show him everything that there was to see here in Vegas. This might not be my whole life anymore. I still couldn’t wait to get back to Utah. But this place was a part of me. It had made me who I was in so many ways, especially when it came to business. I wanted Adam to know all of that.
Besides, it was kind of fun to have fun with Adam there. I never really got to experience Vegas like everyone else. Normally if I was at the casinos, it was because I was working. I wasn’t just out to gamble and have fun. I had forgotten some of the charm of the place. The way time just seemed to pass as you wandered through the elaborate hallways of the different casinos, marveling at the architecture, the shops, the glitz and the glamor.
Adam laughed and shook his head as we wandered. “This place is just nuts,” he said, craning his neck to look up at the high, painted ceilings.
“It is,” I agreed. “Honestly, even I am afraid that I’ll get lost here sometimes. I know that’s crazy, but it just feels like there’s always more to discover.” I shrugged and leaned into him. “Vegas is such a love-it or hate-it kind of place, but for me, I definitely love it. I guess I’m biased, though.”
“I don’t know if I love it,” Adam admitted, looking down at me. “But today has definitely been fun.”
“Worth leaving Utah for?” I joked, and Adam laughed.
“Oh yeah,” he said, and I knew he wasn’t just saying that because of the tour of the city that I was trying to give him.
We wandered in silence for a bit down fake cobblestoned streets, and I couldn’t help sneaking glances up at Adam, watching his expression. He looked fascinated and amused, and I counted that as a win.
“Come on, let’s get ice cream,” I suggested, steering him towards one of my favorite places.
Adam raised an eyebrow at me. “Shouldn’t we eat some proper food?” he asked. “Lunch? Or dinner?” He frowned, glancing at his watch. “This place is kind of like the Twilight Zone,” he said. “You can’t even tell what time of day it is here.”
“All the better to keep people in here,” I pointed out. “If you don’t realize just how much time you’ve spent in here, then you don’t realize that it’s time for you to leave. Besides, the passage of time would kill the fantasy of it all.”
Adam snorted. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” He looked around. “I can’t imagine living in a place like this.”
I tried not to feel disappointed at that. Did he think of me differently because I had lived here for so long? Did he look down on people like me? “Well, if you live here, to be honest, you probably don’t come out to the casinos all the time. I mean, there are some people who do. But it just kind of becomes the same after a while, you know? And I’ve never really been interested in gambling. Ian does more of that than I do.”
“I didn’t mean it like it was a bad thing,” Adam said hurriedly, like he was afraid that he had offended me. “I just meant that I can’t imagine living here. But I’m sure most of these people can’t imagine living like I do either.”
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.
Adam shrugged. “I’m way out in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “I mean, I’m not. The town isn’t that far away. But you’ve seen where I am. It’s just Dad and I out there. And Ethan. If we want to go anywhere else, we have to drive. Most people just don’t want to live like that.”
“I guess not,” I said slowly, shrugging my shoulders. “Honestly, I can’t wait until I’m back in Utah. Things just seem so much more relaxed there. So much more real.”
We were still lingering outside the ice cream shop. After a moment, Adam seemed to finally realize it. He grinned and steered me inside. “I guess I’m on vacation,” he said. “If I want to eat ice cream for dinner, then I can do that.”
I laughed. “That’s the spirit,” I said.
We got ice cream and sat down at one of the wrought-iron bistro tables with a good view of the ‘street’. It might be a random Saturday in January, but there was still plenty of foot traffic strolling by us.
“So, you can’t wait until you’re back in Utah?” Adam asked slowly. His tone was carefully measured, and there was something in the way that he was carefully not looking at me, staring down into his ice cream as he stirred it around with his spoon, that told me there was a certain subtext to what he was saying.
“I’m coming back to Utah,” I said quietly but firmly. I set my ice cream down on the table, reaching over to catch his hand. “I know that it hasn’t exactly been fair, me dumping all this work on you. Or asking you to wait for me. Especially since I haven’t been able to tell you when I planned on coming back. I know it’s been difficult. But I am definitely coming back.”
I saw relief break across Adam’s face, and my heart twisted in my chest. Here I had been, wondering if he was even interested in me anymore, if there had been something about the fact that he had asked me if this was just some seasonal fling, what he and I had. I hadn’t thought that he might be doubting us just the same way. I hadn’t thought about the fact that I had done nothing but give him things to doubt since I had come here to Vegas.
“All right,” Adam said. He took a bite of his ice cream, and I could tell that he had something that he wanted to say. I waited patiently. “It’s not the work that really bothers me,” he finally said slowly. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t exactly love taking over the weekly meetings and that kind of stuff. I’m a lot happier working with my hands than I am doing basic administrative stuff. But that’s all fine.”
He paused again and then took a deep breath. “But I’ve missed seeing you around. And not knowing if you were really coming back…” He trailed off.
