Hearts in Vegas (Harlequin Superromance) Read Online Free
Author: Colleen Collins - Hearts in Vegas (Harlequin Superromance)
Tags: AcM
family heirloom ring with Grams this morning so she can wear it for a while.” She looked back at the brothers. “Since I’m out, you two split the retainer.”
“You’re the lead investigator,” Drake said to Braxton, “plus you’ll be working more of the case, so...sixty-forty?”
Brax racked up the numbers in his mind. “Seven thousand, two hundred...sounds like enough to get my own place.”
Finally. His own bachelor pad. Not as posh as before, of course, but a place where he could play his music loud, toss a shiny new black satin cover on a king-size bed, invite a special lady over for his renowned spaghetti alla puttanesca, a bottle of Chianti and a homemade tiramisu dessert that would make an Italian mama weep.
Ah, a pared-down version of the life he left behind was almost his again....
He looked down at his cell phone.
Grams, I’m...
He didn’t mind, much, paring down when it came to his new life, but forget stripping down, as in going shirtless, which was what he’d heard guys did in these date auctions.
But it wasn’t an issue to be discussed in text messages. He needed to talk to Grams in person, offer a compromise, like his donating some money from his hefty retainer instead. Yeah, that might fix this problem.
He looked back up at Val and Drake. “Guys, mind if I take off early?”
Val did a double take. “You finally have a date, Brax?”
“Sorta.” More like a sit-down negotiation with one of the grandest old ladies who ever graced this planet.
“That didn’t come out right,” Val continued. “Sounded as if you can’t get a date when that’s so far from the truth. Why, with your stud looks, you could be courtin’ a different girl every night, so it’s just odd you’ve been livin’ like a monk for months now.”
“Honey,” Drake murmured, “you might be stepping over a line.”
She looked at her husband, all innocence. “Because I mentioned an obvious fact? Why, even Grams is worried about him! That’s why you—” She pursed her lips.
Braxton leaned back in his chair and checked out his brother, who was scratching his eyebrow. Which he always did when he was uncomfortable. Or guilty. “What’d you do, bro?”
“I, uh, paid the entry fee.”
“Entry fee,” he repeated, not liking where this was going. “To this brawn fest.”
“Magic Dream Date Auction, yes.”
Brax rocked forward on his chair, the front legs hitting the floor with a thud. “ You think I can’t get a date?”
“Hey, Brax,” Val cut in, making a placating gesture, “it’s not like that, really. It’s just that ever since you moved in with Mama D and Grams, you stay home every night, get to bed by ten, never answer your former girlfriends’ calls. You seem, well, defeated, flat...nothin’ like my former bro-in-law.”
“I don’t stay home every night,” he muttered, wondering if it were Mom or Grams who’d snitched about his not returning those calls. Probably both.
“Right,” Drake said, “one evening you drove to a convenience store and bought a quart of milk.”
Brax blew out an exasperated breath. “I can’t believe this! I spend years being estranged from my family for hanging out with thugs, dating questionable women and skirting the Nevada criminal justice system, during which time Mom banned me from our childhood home. But now that I’m law-abiding, and yeah, okay, so I haven’t been involved with a woman for a while, but that’s my choice, by the way...” He gave both of them an and-you-better-believe-it look. “Where was I?”
“A law-abidin’ citizen,” prompted Val.
“Right. Now that I’m an upstanding citizen, my family can’t hear enough about my uneventful, boring life? I suppose Mom’s spilled that I still watch cartoons sometimes, too.” He jabbed an accusing finger at Val, then Drake. “Maybe it’s you people who need to get a life!”
“Brax,” Drake said, “don’t take it the wrong way.”
“What’s the right way? To joke
“You’re the lead investigator,” Drake said to Braxton, “plus you’ll be working more of the case, so...sixty-forty?”
Brax racked up the numbers in his mind. “Seven thousand, two hundred...sounds like enough to get my own place.”
Finally. His own bachelor pad. Not as posh as before, of course, but a place where he could play his music loud, toss a shiny new black satin cover on a king-size bed, invite a special lady over for his renowned spaghetti alla puttanesca, a bottle of Chianti and a homemade tiramisu dessert that would make an Italian mama weep.
Ah, a pared-down version of the life he left behind was almost his again....
He looked down at his cell phone.
Grams, I’m...
He didn’t mind, much, paring down when it came to his new life, but forget stripping down, as in going shirtless, which was what he’d heard guys did in these date auctions.
But it wasn’t an issue to be discussed in text messages. He needed to talk to Grams in person, offer a compromise, like his donating some money from his hefty retainer instead. Yeah, that might fix this problem.
He looked back up at Val and Drake. “Guys, mind if I take off early?”
Val did a double take. “You finally have a date, Brax?”
“Sorta.” More like a sit-down negotiation with one of the grandest old ladies who ever graced this planet.
“That didn’t come out right,” Val continued. “Sounded as if you can’t get a date when that’s so far from the truth. Why, with your stud looks, you could be courtin’ a different girl every night, so it’s just odd you’ve been livin’ like a monk for months now.”
“Honey,” Drake murmured, “you might be stepping over a line.”
She looked at her husband, all innocence. “Because I mentioned an obvious fact? Why, even Grams is worried about him! That’s why you—” She pursed her lips.
Braxton leaned back in his chair and checked out his brother, who was scratching his eyebrow. Which he always did when he was uncomfortable. Or guilty. “What’d you do, bro?”
“I, uh, paid the entry fee.”
“Entry fee,” he repeated, not liking where this was going. “To this brawn fest.”
“Magic Dream Date Auction, yes.”
Brax rocked forward on his chair, the front legs hitting the floor with a thud. “ You think I can’t get a date?”
“Hey, Brax,” Val cut in, making a placating gesture, “it’s not like that, really. It’s just that ever since you moved in with Mama D and Grams, you stay home every night, get to bed by ten, never answer your former girlfriends’ calls. You seem, well, defeated, flat...nothin’ like my former bro-in-law.”
“I don’t stay home every night,” he muttered, wondering if it were Mom or Grams who’d snitched about his not returning those calls. Probably both.
“Right,” Drake said, “one evening you drove to a convenience store and bought a quart of milk.”
Brax blew out an exasperated breath. “I can’t believe this! I spend years being estranged from my family for hanging out with thugs, dating questionable women and skirting the Nevada criminal justice system, during which time Mom banned me from our childhood home. But now that I’m law-abiding, and yeah, okay, so I haven’t been involved with a woman for a while, but that’s my choice, by the way...” He gave both of them an and-you-better-believe-it look. “Where was I?”
“A law-abidin’ citizen,” prompted Val.
“Right. Now that I’m an upstanding citizen, my family can’t hear enough about my uneventful, boring life? I suppose Mom’s spilled that I still watch cartoons sometimes, too.” He jabbed an accusing finger at Val, then Drake. “Maybe it’s you people who need to get a life!”
“Brax,” Drake said, “don’t take it the wrong way.”
“What’s the right way? To joke