Will took my hand to lead me outside and down the street to the small restaurant inside the hotel and casino that Becket Parker, who I knew from when he worked as a dealer for shits and giggles at the Lennox, owned with his brother. The hostess balked at the idea of seating us since they were usually booked months in advance until I said, “You should have my name down on the list for the owner’s table. Lia added me to it a while back in case I ever wanted to come over for dinner. Look for Aurora Dawson.”
“And Will Scott should be on there, too.” He flashed the girl a grin that made her blush before she ducked her head and tapped on the screen of the tablet she used to check reservations. Then he turned to me and explained, “Becket told me that I’d earned a spot on the list since I lasted the longest in a round of poker against his wife about two weeks ago.”
Holding your own with Lia was quite an accomplishment since she was one of the best professional poker players in the country. The hostess must’ve agreed that his hotness factor was off the charts because she was looking at him with goo-goo eyes when she said, “Your name is on the list, Mr. Scott. Sorry about the mix-up. Please follow me to your table.”
“How much do you want to bet she didn’t even bother to look for my name?” I mumbled as Will placed his palm against my lower back to guide me through the restaurant.
Will chuckled, not bothering to answer since he knew I was right. The hostess left us after a long, lingering glance at Will, and I asked, “How do you know Becket?”
“Drew Lennox and I went to college together, and he introduced me to Becket shortly after I moved to Vegas.”
“Huh.” I smiled at the waiter as he set a couple of glasses of ice water on the table. Will and I gave him our drink orders, and I finished the thought after he walked away. “I’m surprised we haven’t met since you’re friends with Drew and Becket. Our circle is kind of close-knit.”
“I just moved here about a month ago.” His dark green eyes twinkled with humor as he added, “I’m sure we would’ve met through them eventually…if you hadn’t already come storming into my office this morning.”
At the verbal reminder of what he did for a living, I leaned back and crossed my arms. “Yeah, you mentioned something about wanting to explain some things to me. Now’s your chance.”
“You want me to dive right into it, huh? No wasting time on any more small talk.”
I nodded. “Yup.”
Will waited until after the waiter dropped off our drinks and took our food order to say, “I used to work in mediation and specifically divorces involving children. I loved being able to help kids when they needed it, but some of the cases I had were rough.”
“Oh, wow,” I murmured. “Yeah, I can see how that would be a lot.”
His eyes were haunted as he continued, “After a while, the bad started to outweigh the good. A few months ago, I took a case”—he ran his hand through his hair again before scrubbing it down his face—“that was flat-out awful. From beginning to end. I felt like I failed that child as much as the system did, and I just couldn’t do it anymore. So I walked away from my firm without knowing where I was headed or what I was going to do next.”
“And you ended up in Vegas because of Drew?” I prodded, wanting to hear the rest because my heart hurt for him now. I wasn’t so much angry about the focus of his law office here anymore.
“Yeah, he knew what’d happened and offered me space to open my own shop,” he confirmed. “I know the whole quickie divorce thing pushes some buttons for you, but I’m not doing it because I’m out to destroy marriages. My aim is to help couples who’re having doubts right off the bat so they don’t turn into a messy divorce five, ten, fifteen years down the line when kids are involved. Better to take care of it now when they’re the only ones who’ll get hurt. Or in some cases—like a drunken, spur-of-the-moment wedding—when nobody will get hurt because neither party wants to be married.”
Dammit. His explanation actually made sense. Any hope I had of resisting him just went out the door.
4
Will
As I explained my situation, Aurora’s expression softened and even turned a little sheepish. “Okay,” she sighed. “So maybe you aren’t the devil like I thought.”
A smile spread across my face, and I winked at her. “Don’t underestimate me, baby. I can be very wicked.”
Aurora’s cheeks turned pink, and she squirmed in her seat, making my grin widen. Before I could say anything else, our food arrived. Once our dishes were served, and we were alone again, I started to speak when yet another shadow fell across our table. I looked up to see Zack, the manager and half-owner of the restaurant standing in front of us.