Chapter 4: Laney
Ten Hours Earlier
“She’s just so…” I can’t think of a word awful enough to finish my sentence, so I finish my drink instead. Then, when the waitress comes by our table, I order another round of drinks. They’re free, thanks to Travis, and they’re strong as hell. Just what I need to put that terrible party behind me.
“She was trying to get me to quit my job and work at a tabloid! She practically called my boss and gave her notice!”
“If you think that’s bad, try actually being related to her. Trust me, it gets so much fucking worse.”
“Okay, but you don’t get to complain. You’re…” I gesture towards Travis’ body, and Travis smirks, “…you. You’re more famous than her. You have more money than her. If she tries to give you crap, you can just……go be on TV or something. Meanwhile, I have to live with her because my stupid content assistant internship barely pays me, which means I have to deal with her talking down to me and leaving brochures for fingernail implants on my bed.”
Travis laughs. “Does she actually do that?”
I nod. “She thinks my perfectly normal fingernails are holding me back.”
Our waitress comes back with a tray covered in cocktails, margaritas, and fancy shots. “I got you a little bit of everything.” She winks at Travis as she leaves, and I roll my eyes.
Travis looks at me and grins. “Jealous?”
“Ew. No. Go pull her panties down and bend her over a craps table for all I care.”
Travis laughs a little and raises his eyebrows. “That’s pretty specific, Laney. You haven’t been thinking about that, have you?”
“In your dreams.” I feel my face start to turn a little pink, so I grab the nearest margarita like it’s a life preserver and take a drink. Just like the other drinks, it's sweet and strong, leaving a powerful burn in the back of my throat with every sip.
Travis breaks the silence. “Your fingernails are fine, by the way.”
“Yeah, I know. It just pisses me off that I’m economically dependent on someone who thinks they’re not.”
“You could always live with me.”
A shudder runs down my spine. Living with Travis was bad enough when we were younger, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like now. Him bringing home supermodels while I’m stuck on the couch…
I shake my head. “Thanks, but I want to pay my own way out. All I need to do is to get my boss to hire me full time.”
Travis shrugs. “Does she know you have two celebrities in the family?”
“Yeah, and that’s why I think she’ll hire me if I give her a reason. But I don’t want some random desk job; I want to be a reporter. And that means I need to bring her a story. Something juicy.”
“Juicy, huh?”
“Yeah. Something big.”
Travis smirks, pulling a brochure out from one of the martini glasses on our table. When I see what’s written on it, my eyes get huge.
Win a trip to Royal Shores.
The Royal Shores. The most exclusive resort hotel in Hawaii. So exclusive, they run background checks on their guests to make sure paparazzi don’t sneak in. To get in, you either have to be seriously rich or seriously famous……or, apparently, win this contest. They do background checks on their guests, so journalists never get in, but if the rumors are true, it’s where A-list celebrities go to hook up with each other away from the paparazzi.
Travis grins as he takes in the look of shock on my face.
“Give me that!” I snatch the brochure out of his hand and open it up. I open it, and my heart sinks.
Of course. I should have known. For normal, non-famous people, it’s a honeymoon resort, so the contest only applies to couples who get married at the wedding chapel at the other end of the casino. That would explain why most of the tables around us are occupied by drunk, horny couples. There was a big line outside the chapel when we walked in. They're probably just here waiting their turn.
I shake my head and put the brochure back on the tray of drinks. “I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”
“Why?” Travis picks the brochure off the table and reads it.
“It’s only for people who get married here.”
“Yeah, but they’re giving away ten trips. Those are pretty fucking good odds.”
I look around and do the math. Twenty couples here, twenty couples in line…holy crap, that’s a 25% chance to get enough celebrity dirt to make headlines for the rest of the year. It’s too bad I don’t have anyone to marry.
I look up at Travis, who’s looking back at me and trying not to laugh.
“Travis! Ew!”
Travis raises his eyebrows and adopts a look of mock innocence. “What? I didn’t say anything.”
I sip my drink, hoping that Travis doesn’t see me blushing.
But of course he does.
“Ohhhh, I see what’s going on. You thought I was going to ask if you wanted to marry me, didn’t you?”
I bite my lip and try to come up with a response. “I mean, of course it crossed my mind that we could technically get married and enter the contest. That doesn’t mean I thought of it as a serious option. I mean, gross…” For some reason, my voice is weak and I’m stammering, like I do when I’m caught in a lie. Can’t we change the subject to something else?
Travis shrugs. “Hey, I’m just saying, you were just telling me that it’d solve your Nina problem. I’d do a lot for my stepsister, even if it meant making you my blushing bride.”
I let out a gasp and attempt to cover it by bringing my drink quickly up to my lips. Well, I’m already blushing…
Okay, we need to change the subject.
“Well, uh, thanks for the offer, but I think I’m going to try and find a scoop the old fashioned way.”
I look down at the drink tray.
“So…why do you get free drinks here?”
Travis’ bright blue eyes make long, intense contact with mine, like he’s trying to read my mind.
“Well…it’s a funny story. It started last year, when we rented out the roof of this place to shoot a commercial…”
***
When the whole tray of drinks is finished, the waitress comes back, batting her eyelashes at Travis. “Want another tray?”
Oh no. No way. No more drinks for me. I’m not at total hot mess level yet, but I’m definitely getting close. Ever since that last Long Island Iced Tea, everything that comes out of Travis’ mouth has been hilarious to me.
“I’m good, thanks.”
Travis shrugs. “I’ll take one more shot.”
I start laughing. See what I mean? That wasn’t even a joke.
“I’ll be right back.”
The waitress leaves, and I go back to ranting about how terrible the OMG offices are. I was kind of hoping that she’d take the tray away, so I wouldn’t have to look at that stupid brochure out to the corner of my eye.
It’s taunting me. I haven’t really been able to stop thinking about it since I opened it up. I can practically see the celebrities having illicit affairs in the glass windows. Even a boring story that came from this place would get me promoted, and it's a 25% chance to win…
The waitress comes back with our shot, setting it gently down onto the tray of empty glasses. “So are you two lovebirds here to enter the contest?”
Lovebirds? Us? How’d she get that idea? I open my mouth to explain that we’re stepbrother and stepsister and therefore we definitely won’t be getting married, but instead I just say “Uh…”
The waitress smiles at me. “Because if you are, I could put in a good word for you. You seem like you could really use a vacation.”
I guess I must have been ranting a little too loud.
“What do you mean ‘a good word’? Isn’t it a totally random chance who wins?”
The waitress shoots me a secretive smile. “It’s a casino, honey. Nothing’s up to chance. I’ll tell the reverend to keep an eye out for you two, okay?”
I look back at Travis, who’s looking at me with those intense blue eyes again. I break his gaze and look down at the brochure. My 25% chance of getting promoted just got a whole lot higher. And all I have to do is marry my stepbrother.
Wait, what am I thinking? I can’t marry Travis. He’d…make it weird……it’d go back to being like it was when we first met…
But then I look down at the brochure again, and realize that I have a choice. I could either go back to complaining about my life, or I could actually do something about it. Right now.
Nina’s face from the party flashes through my mind. Condescending. Controlling.
Fuck it. I take the shot in the middle of the table, grab Travis’ hand, and lead him across the casino floor.
After that…it’s kind of a blur. Before I know it, I’m squeezed into a wedding dress, looking into Travis’ eyes as the reverend tells him he can kiss the bride. We laugh, but then, somehow, our faces get a little too close and Travis brings his mouth onto mine, claiming my lips with a surprisingly powerful kiss. And after that…well, I have no idea what happens. The feeling of Travis’ lips on mine is the last thing I can remember.