The constant ding, ding, ding of the slot machines nearby pulls Rhett’s focus from the beautiful woman standing in front of him. Why do they even have slot machines in the airport anyway? She twirls her hair and lets out a small sigh and a slight smile. “I guess this is where I leave you. It was nice getting to know you and I hope you have fun at your buddies wedding.”

He nods but can’t ignore the twinge of pain shooting through his stomach. It doesn’t feel right to just leave now. Not after the connection they’ve made. That makes him sound like a fucking wimp, but he can’t remember a time where a woman really and truly captivated his attention.

“I’m sure it will be great. Thanks for keeping my mind off the flight. It wasn’t so bad when I wasn’t thinking about dying every forty seconds.”

“You did great.”

She starts to walk away and a nagging feeling has him calling out her name, “Maria?”

“Yeah?”

His heart rate ticks up a notch and he starts to fumble his words, real smooth. “Would you? Do you think? Fuck.” What is his problem? He’s never in his life had issues talking with a woman before.

“Check this out,” one of the frat boys from the parking garage back in Dallas starts laughing along with his buddies.

Rhett tries to ignore whatever the hell they find so humorous and gives Maria his full attention.

Her eyes go wide and she almost drops the bag in her hand. “Excuse me?”

“Can I have your number?” His voice cracks a little and he cringes slightly. Come on Rhett, get your shit together. This is one tiny, fucking gorgeous woman.

Her mouth falls open and this time she does drop her bag. “Oh. Um, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Low blow man. Low blow.” Now he knows that they’re laughing at him. Without even thinking about Maria, Rhett picks up the bag she dropped and grabs her hand. He pulls her away from the idiot college guys and drops her bag on the floor next to the wall. A tight smile frames her lips and she wiggles her hand out of his grasp. She takes a small step away from him and the wall.

Shot straight to the heart.

“Why not? Why is it not such a good idea for you to give me your number?”

She looks down at her feet and kicks her foot back and forth on the slick floor. When she looks back up the sadness in her eyes shoots straight into his soul. “Listen, Rhett, you’re a great guy. And if I met you anywhere else besides a plane, I would give you my number in a heartbeat.”

“But?”

“But I did meet you on a plane.”

She’s not making any sense at all. “What does that have to do with anything? Do you have bad memories from plane rides or something?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. I live here in Vegas. And you’re here for a trip and at the end of this weekend you’ll get back on that plane and head back home…to Texas. Your life is there and my life is here. Why not just leave this at what it was? A nice little trip where we met a new friend. Nothing good can come from us trying to turn it into something more.”

He nods his head and shakes off the rejection, ignoring the sting, and how much this is affecting him. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I guess I just got caught up in the fun times we were having.”

“Don’t worry about it. It happens to the best of us.”

She walks back toward him and leans up on the tips of her feet. Her lips lightly graze my cheek and she whispers in my ear, “Goodbye Rhett Walker, it was nice meeting you.”

And then she’s gone. Turning away and walking out of his life forever. He doesn’t know why but it shouldn’t feel like part of him just left with her. Shit, he barely even knows the girl. But something tells him that she means more than just a random stranger that he got to spend a few hours with. He watches her disappear into the crowd but doesn’t get a chance to think about it any longer when his name is being called. There’s only one person he knows that could yell loud enough over the noise of the crowded airport.

“Rhett! Dude are you okay?”

He shakes his head and forces himself to forget about the gorgeous brunette that just walked out of his life and turns his attention to his friend. The reason why he’s even here in the first place. He lets out a small chuckle at what must be Jax’s normal rock star look. When he first met Jax and Erin, they were visiting in Texas at Erin’s grandparent’s ranch. Or more like they were getting away from the real world because Jax got sucked into the rockstar lifestyle a little too much and he needed to be brought back to reality.

When they were in Texas Jax spent his days working hard on the ranch and his clothing represented that. Now? Not so much. His skintight jeans look anything, but comfortable and his shaggy blonde hair is sticking up all over the place. Not that it’s hurting himself in the women department, because every single one that he passes stops in their tracks to stare. “Hey, Jax. You really owe me, buddy. I’ve officially decided that I hate airports and after this trip, I don’t think I ever want to step foot on a plane again.”

Jax cringes and tries to force a smile. “Yeah, sorry about that. Erin told me you had never been on a plane before. She said you wanted to drive up here for the ceremony but we didn’t give you enough time.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing I like you two then, isn’t it?”

“I guess it is. Well c’mon we need to get going. We need to get a tux for you and then it’s off to the bachelor party.”

He has to wear a tux? Rhett packed his nicest suit and figured he could iron it in the hotel room, but didn’t count on wearing a tux. Guess there’s a first time for everything though. Wait did he say bachelor party? “Seriously? I didn’t think that you and Erin would be into something like that.”

“Well, I wasn’t but the guys and the ladies wouldn’t let us out of it. So, we’re being forced against our will to get wasted and all kinds of debauchery before tomorrow. And get this, they aren’t even letting us stay the night together. What kind of bullshit is that?”

“Isn’t that the normal thing to do?”

Jax wraps his arm around Rhett’s shoulders and asks, “Maybe, but is there anything about me that screams normal to you?”

“Yeah, you’re right. If there’s one thing that I know, Jax Hartley is the furthest thing from normal.”

“Okay well, do you need to get your bags or…”

Lifting his duffle bag from the ground, Rhett holds it in the air and says, “Nope I’ve got it all in here.”

“Well let’s get this show on the road.”

He glances one last time in the direction that Maria walked off to and hopes that wherever she’s going, at least she’s happy. That’s all he ever wants for all the people he cares about. True happiness. And maybe someday he’ll find it himself. But for now, they’ve got a bachelor party to get ready for.

***

The last thing that Rhett expected when he followed Jax into the hotel room was to see a bunch of guys lounging around in front of the TV playing video games. They’re all rockstars after all and have been on the road all summer long on tour. They’re in Las Vegas and maybe it’s a little cliché, but he expected more alcohol being poured and maybe some half-naked women running around. But definitely not the intense focus toward the fictional battle.

Jax stops in front of the television which causes a bit of an uproar and he looks pointedly at all of the guys in the room. “Why aren’t you all ready yet? I don’t want to spend the entire night watching you kill each other. I didn’t have Rhett fly all this way for him not to experience Vegas the right way.”

At the mention of his name, all of the other guys in the room swing their heads around and switch their focus toward him. He’s never been a shy guy but he suddenly feels uncomfortable with all eyes on him. Like they’re all silently judging him. Rather than make things awkward he drops his bag to the floor next to him and takes a small step forward.

“Hey, I’m Rhett. You must all be in Jax’s band?”

They all start cracking up laughing and one of the guys who looks eerily similar to Jax says, “Yeah, he wishes this was his band.”

Jax smiles and says, “What my jackass brother is trying to say is it’s our band, not just mine.”

Rhett doesn’t really see what the big deal is but he shrugs and doesn’t bother asking for clarification. If he were being honest with himself he would much rather hang out here than go out wandering. It is his first time in Las Vegas but the day was already pretty crazy and he’s a lot more tired than he normally would be after a long day on the ranch. Before he can say anything about being fine with staying in one of the other guys stands up from the couch.

The dude has long dark hair styled similar to Jax’s and he’s dressed similarly in tight jeans and a t-shirt. He tosses his controller onto the couch and asks, “Okay, that’s it. Who’s ready to go hit up a strip club?”

Sitting on the floor next to the coffee table is a younger guy, much younger by the looks of him, and he says, “Seriously Flynn?” The guy with dark hair, who must be Flynn shrugs, and the kid looks around the room. “Real nice guys. You know I can’t step foot into one of those places.”

“It’s not our fault you’re still a baby Jude,” Jax laughs while reaching down ruffling his hair.

At that moment, another guy walks into the room. He pulls his cell phone away from his ear and ends a call and looks around the room. He must have heard the conversation because he says, “Don’t worry about it Jude, I’m not taking off. No way I’m going to have any part in that. If my sister found out I agreed to go along with her fiancé to a strip club the night before his wedding she’d chop my dick off. I think I’ll sit this one out.”

Everyone laughs along with his conclusion and Rhett’s got to admit Erin can be a little scary at times. She’s intense and focused. He’d definitely not want to be on the receiving end of her fiery anger that’s for sure.

Jax claps his hands and gets everyone’s focus again. “Well c’mon then. Let’s get going. We’re losing daylight.”