ChapterFive
Lexi
Leo ledme outside to the Strip, where the constant stream of people still hadn’t let up.There never seemed to be a break in the action in Vegas.It was exhausting.People were everywhere, taking in the lights and sights that even at two in the morning were going strong.
Some of the sights were much more disturbing than others.
“Are you okay?”Leo asked.Until I heard his voice, I hadn't realized I'd stopped moving.My gaze was frozen on the sight in front of me.“Lexi?”Leo asked.His voice was soft, concerned.
“I can't believe it,” I said to him over my shoulder.“Why would they do that?”
“Do what?”
I pointed to the woman standing a few feet away.She had a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other as she leaned over a stroller.Her child, who looked to be about two or three, reclined with his legs hanging over the bar and his eyes, wide open.“It's the middle of the night,” I whispered.
Leo covered my outstretched hand with his own, pushed it down and held it in both of his.“You see all kinds of things here.”
“That doesn't make it okay.I would never take my…” I could feel tears building in my eyes and I blinked hard to keep them at bay.
“Your baby?”he asked.“Do you have a child?”
I turned my back on the woman and looked at Leo.“No,” I said, trying not to let my emotion show.“I don’t.But if I did…”
“You wouldn’t have them out in the middle of the night,” he finished for me.“You’re very sweet, Lexi.”
“Just because I don’t think the Vegas Strip is the best place for a child in the middle of the night?”
“No.”He squeezed my hand.“Because you obviously care a great deal about people, and I don’t see that a lot here.It’s a nice change.”
“Well,” I said with a shrug.“I am what I am.”
“Yes, you most certainly are,” he said with a laugh.
His laughter was so fresh and real that tingles traveled down my spine.I hoped he couldn't hear how my heart sped up.It was embarrassing how my body reacted to him.I would say that I felt like a teenager, except even when I was a teenager I'd never reacted to a guy like this.Even Andrew, who I loved—had loved—never made my body go crazy that way.
“Are you cold?You're shaking,” he said.
“Cold?”Even with the sun down, it was still hotter than a summer day back home.I shook my head and let my hair sway across my shoulders.
Cold was not the problem.My body was in a continual state of heat with Leo around.
“Tired then?I keep forgetting how late it is and that most people aren't used to staying up all night.”He sounded so concerned for me, and I wanted to wrap my arms around him and hold on.
I didn't.Instead, I shook my head again and looked into his dark eyes.“Please stop asking me, because I am definitely not tired,” I said.I fluttered my lashes in a way I’d seen Nicole do.I hoped the look in my eyes would convey the message that my body was trying to send to him.A message I wasn't completely sure of yet.
For good measure, I tossed my head and tried to flip my hair.But instead of looking sexy, I’m sure it looked like I’d had a spasm of some sort and the ends of my hair flicked Leo in the face.
If the earth had opened up and swallowed me right then, I would’ve welcomed it.
He held a hand to his face where my hair had stung him.Not the message I was trying to convey.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“No, it’s...”He coughed hard and covered his mouth.
Oh my, God.He was laughing at me.I knew I wasn’t good at flirting but...
I’m such an idiot.