Chapter Fourteen
Seth and Presley spent the rest of the day and the evening in the room ordering room service for dinner, watching television, and lazing in the jetted tub. They enjoyed the peace and quiet, finding time to talk about topics that never seemed to be discussed in their day to day rush.
Hopes for their children, dreams for their future, and the fears too. Bad things couldn’t be avoided in life and for the first time Seth expressed his fear about his parents growing older. Right now they were active and in excellent health but there was a good chance that wouldn’t always be the case.
She’d fallen asleep in her husband’s arms safe in the knowledge that he was as committed to their life together as she was. They were lucky to have found each other and she’d never take that for granted. They’d also promised to make more time for just the two of them. It wouldn’t be easy but they needed to make sure that they didn’t neglect their relationship.
The next morning they ended up at the same breakfast buffet, both of them tired of staring at the same four walls of their hotel room. Presley was itching to be more active and Seth had suggested a walk to see the sights.
Presley was enjoying her waffle when she spied the strange man in the elevator sitting several tables away. “There he is.”
She kept her voice low so only Seth could hear her but the restaurant was so loud she probably needn’t have bothered. The place was buzzing with activity and the clatter of dishes and silverware muffled any nearby voices.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Seth’s expression didn’t change but he nodded acknowledging that he’d heard her.
“I see him now. If I turn around he’ll know we’re looking at him. You have a better vantage point. Is he looking at us?”
She shook her head, trying to keep her gaze somewhere to the man’s right instead of directly on him. “No, he’s just eating and drinking coffee by himself. That’s weird, don’t you think? Who comes to Vegas alone? I guess his friends or family could be sleeping. It’s still early in the morning.”
Now she was acting paranoid. It was just a man and he was paying absolutely no attention to them, peacefully minding his own business and munching on a piece of bacon. Of course she was going to see him if they were staying in the same hotel.
Seth drank the last of his orange juice. “Are you done eating?”
Was she? The cinnamon roll was delicious but this was her second helping and if she continued eating this way while they were in Vegas she wasn’t going to fit in the airplane seat on the trip back home. On the other hand, she and Seth had been…active…between the sheets, so that had to burn a few calories.
“Let me finish this and then I’ll be ready to go.”
Grinning, Seth reached across the table with his fork. “I’ll help you.”
Slapping his hand away, she popped the remaining half into her mouth, relishing the flavor.
“You’d think after all these years together you’d know not to touch my food.”
“You’d think after all these years together, you’d share every now and then,” Seth complained but in a good-natured way. “Just once.”
“I gave you two children. You want my food too?”
“Cranky.”
Dabbing her napkin daintily at the corners of her mouth, she gave him a smirk. “Yes, you are. Are you ready to go?”
Throwing her purse strap over her shoulder, she and Seth strolled out of the restaurant and straight for the front doors without a backward glance. That man wasn’t going to get another second of her attention. This was her vacation, dammit.
They meandered slowly down the sidewalk, taking in the sights of the city that they hadn’t seen the last time they’d visited. Presley loved people watching and this was a fabulous location for it. As usual, a few fellow tourists struck up a conversation with them as they watched the dancing fountains outside of the hotel. The couple was from Los Angeles and was in town just for the weekend. He liked to play blackjack and she liked to sit out by the pool and read mystery novels. Even Seth chatted with them for several minutes, completely relaxed in a way she hadn’t seen in quite awhile.
Eventually they continued on their explorations, pausing in front of The Venetian. She’d wanted to take a gondola ride but hadn’t mentioned it to Seth, assuming he wouldn’t want to do something so cheesy.
“These hotels are so cool.” Presley snapped a few photos on her phone to send to Eliza and Marion. “I love that each one has its own special theme. Where to next?”
He pointed to The Venetian hotel. “Right here.”
That grin. He had that shit-eating grin on his face.
“Here?”
“You want to take a gondola ride, don’t you?”
Her mouth fell open in shock. “How did you know?”
“Honey, you aren’t that good at hiding things. You kept looking at the brochure in the airport. I could tell from the look on your face that you wanted to do it.”
But…
“You don’t have to. I know you hate stuff like this.”
He really did, although he rarely protested.
“But you like it and that’s good enough for me. Besides, what could be more romantic for a second honeymoon than a gondola ride?”
“You are the bestest husband ever.”
“I know. Please remember that the next time I do something stupid.”
Giggling, she placed her hand in Seth’s. “Lead on.”
She’d follow him anywhere.
* * * *
Later they were walking along the Strip when Presley spied a display of teddy bears in the window of a shop. She’d been searching for something to take back as a little gift for Ben and Lulu.
“Aren’t they cute? We could get Ben that one and Lulu that one.”
They were multi-colored and wearing tiny t-shirts that said “Las Vegas.” A little touristy but they were adorable. Lulu would love it and so would Ben, although he was getting to the age where he didn’t want everyone to know he still liked his stuffed animals. There were t-shirts in the shop as well, so she could get Lulu the bear and buy something else for Ben.
Seth nodded his approval. “They’ll like whatever we bring back but you know the way they argue. Whatever it is needs to be the same. Get them both a bear or a t-shirt or a hat but make sure it’s identical. Remember the Great Candy Bar Incident last year? That got ugly.”
She did indeed. Marion had given Ben and Lulu each a “fun size” candy bar the day before Halloween, except that Lulu’s was a Milky Way and Ben’s was a Three Musketeers. Nothing had been fun when they realized that their candy wasn’t “equal”.
“Good point. I’ll dash into in there and grab their souvenirs while you get us a couple of coffees.”
The fancy coffee place was just down the street but she’d seen that sign a block and half ago. She needed caffeine and lots of it.
“I could argue that coffee this late in the day will keep you up at night but I know I’d be wasting my breath. The usual?”
She gave him a playful wink. “What will we do if we can’t sleep? We might have to find an outlet for all of our energy.”
Presley was kind of counting on not wanting to go to bed early. At least to sleep.
“When you put it that way…”
“And a muffin,” she called over her shoulder as she entered the souvenir shop. This should only take a few minutes but it would check off a big item on her to-do list.
Darting into the store, it only took a few moments to make her selection. T-shirts for the both of them in a neutral yellow with splashes of blue and green. She paid cash and was back outside before Seth was finished getting coffee. Tucking her package into her oversized handbag, she headed up the sidewalk toward her husband. She wouldn’t mind checking out the coffee shop’s display of mugs as she’d been giving her own store’s space quite a bit of thought while she was here. She needed to talk to Eliza about perhaps moving their retail section closer to the entrance. Maybe they even needed to have some t-shirts printed up with their logo on the off chance a tourist wandered into town.
Presley had only walked a few feet when she felt something pointy in the small of her back and a male hand grasped her upper arm.
“Don’t say a word,” a voice from behind her cautioned, his breath hot on the back of her neck. Her heart jerked in her chest and her breath caught in her throat. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. “Just smile and walk and everything will be okay. I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to talk.”
Where in the hell was Seth?