No Reservations - Megan Hart [70]
'Glow sticks,' Brandon said.
Kate rolled her eyes, teasing. 'Why am I not surprised you'd know that?'
'And damn, I didn't bring my whistle,' Brandon said to poke her back.
'And a classic rock cover band,' Leah finished as she knuckled his side. 'Behave, you.'
Dix waved at the server to bring their check. 'Sounds like a helluva party.'
'It's New Year's Eve in Las Vegas,' Leah said. 'How could it be anything less?'
'I still can't believe you stayed in that hotel.' Leah curled her fingers through Brandon's as they navigated a crowd of tourists ogling the hourly pirate-ship show in front of the Treasure Island Hotel. They'd stopped by the Penny Pincher to get Brandon's luggage and she'd nearly thrown up at the smell in the elevator. Fortunately he'd only packed one small bag and it had been easy enough to transfer to the suite.
'No reservations,' Brandon said carelessly, also ogling the pirate wenches in their skimpy costumes until Leah tugged his hand. 'I took what I could. Glad you let me stay with you, though.'
No doubt.' It was his expression but felt right on her tongue. That happened a lot lately, this transference of pet phrases and habits. Hell, he even had her checking the NHL scores on her Google Reader, because hockey turned out to be the only sport she could stand to watch with him.
'So. Where do you want to go?'
Leah considered. She and Kate had already plundered a lot of the shops and gone to the mall. She could find a dress and shoes in any of a couple dozen places, but she thought the easiest place to find a suit for him would probably be in the hotel where they were staying. She'd seen an ad for tux rentals there, and there was no sense in making him buy a tux to wear for only a few hours.
Not that she was going to let that stop her from getting a new dress, of course.
Let's head back to the hotel. It's that way.' She pointed through the crowd that had started to disperse once the pirate show ended but now had swelled to enormous proportions in exactly the direction they wanted to go.
With Brandon leading, that wasn't a problem. He held tight to her hand and wove them through the crowd, finding the gaps and leading her effortlessly into them so they were barely even jostled. It was because he was tall enough to see over everyone else's heads, she thought fondly as he side-stepped a mother with a stroller, of all things - was the woman crazy?
'I will never bring our child here,' she said as they ducked at last into the lobby of their hotel.
He looked down at her with a smile that widened as she watched. 'Our child?'
She knew he wanted kids, probably a few, but they'd never talked much about it. 'Don't get ahead of yourself. Let's make it through this party tonight before we worry about getting me knocked up.'
He squeezed her hand and looked as though he were about to say something, then just nodded. The tux rental place was in the lower level, close to some of the convention rooms. The ones in use for the FetCon, Leah realised as they rode to the bottom of the elevator and the attire of the guests mingling in the public areas changed drastically from T-shirts and shorts to lots and lots of leather and vinyl.
Leah lifted her chin even as her lip curled. She couldn't help it. Mike had taken her to a convention like this once. He'd wanted her to wear a mask with a zipper over the mouth and a bra cut to show her nipples. She hadn't done it, but she'd gone along with him. She could still feel the collar he'd made her try on.
Let's find another place,' Leah said.
'No. Wait.' Brandon's hand anchored her and Leah, not wishing to make a scene, didn't pull away. 'I want to check this out.'
'It's a vendor room. With . . . demonstrations.' Again, Leah's lip curled. She knew what was inside that room. Booths offering sex toys, fetish gear and all sorts of lotions and potions. Books, movies, adult film stars. Hundreds of people with their sexuality on display not just for the world to see but to shove it in everyone else's faces.
'No,' she said.
'Please,' Brandon asked quietly