One Night in Vegas (Entangled Lovestruck) (Gambling Hearts) Read Online Free Page B

people about money?”
    She grinned. “Yes, but I knew you before you could grow facial hair, so I don’t think it counts for me.”
    “A scholarship, plus when my grandpa died, he set aside a little money to pay for school. And I made my dad feel so guilty about the divorce he shouldered a lot of the remaining costs himself. I got really lucky and managed to avoid any loans.” His mouth flattened into a thin line, his eyes not quite focused on the present. “Being an only child probably helped, too. No competition for Grandpa.”
    The waiter came to the table and Eliza straightened up to speak to him. Once they placed their orders and he left, she picked up her glass of water. “Being an only child seems so lonely, though. You didn’t have anybody at home to play with. I can’t imagine not having Jackson.”
    “I had friends. There were you and Jackson. I’d probably like to have more than one kid when I settle down, but I don’t want to leave any of that to chance, either.”
    Now it was her turn to frown. She set her glass down. “What do you mean by leaving it to chance?”
    “You know, you go off birth control and just wait and see how nature will take its course. I’m planning on banking sperm and having a vasectomy so it can all be planned ahead of time.” He leaned back in his chair with a self-satisfied smile.
    She stared at him. “You want kids…so you’re having a vasectomy?”
    “Yes.”
    “Isn’t that just adding an extra complication to things?”
    “Isn’t getting an IUD or getting a Depo-Provera shot an additional complication? I think it’s stupid to put all the family planning burden on my partner, so…” He shrugged, his white T-shirt momentarily drawing tighter across his chest with the movement.
    There wasn’t much she could say to argue against that, even if it did seem like a strange decision. Her dirtbag ex-fiancé had acted like using condoms was a torture banned by the Geneva Convention. A man who would take responsibility instead of just pushing all the burden onto his partner was a refreshing change of pace. Except, she reminded herself, she wasn’t the one to benefit from that sort of thinking. Whatever her brother thought he could make happen over dinner, it wasn’t going anywhere. Chris made his lack of interest clear years earlier.
    “That’s strangely sweet,” she finally said.
    He gave her a grin, those glacier blue eyes catching her and freezing her breath in her throat for a moment. “Thank you. What about you?”
    She blinked. “What about me?”
    “Kids. Are you planning on having any?”
    “Oh, well.” She waved a hand vaguely. “Sure, if I ever have the right situation.”
    She’d thought she found it with Bill and had even been the one to pop the question. Everything seemed to be going well enough until he suddenly decided he needed his space and had to find himself. Specifically, he needed to find himself in bed with other women.
    “Yeah?” He took a sip of his wine and she found herself momentarily distracted by him licking a drop of it off his bottom lip. “What’s the right situation?”
    “Just the basic stuff. A house of my own, a husband.”
    Another smile curled across his lips. “How dull and ordinary. If that’s all you want, I’m a little surprised you’re not married yet.”
    She made a pained face, not at all eager to discuss Bill with him. “I guess I’m just waiting for my hero to come and rescue me on the back of his gleaming white steed.”
    He chuckled. “Now that sounds like the bubbly girl I used to know.”
    She scoffed softly. “I wasn’t bubbly.”
    “Okay, fair point.” He stroked his chin a moment, then cocked a brow at her. “Enthusiastic?”
    She narrowed her eyes but couldn’t stop from cracking a grin. “I can agree to enthusiastic.”
    His fingers brushed hers on the stem of her glass, making her shiver. There was something in his eyes that she couldn’t quite fathom, but it made her grow more