***
Renee and I only had to stand in line to wait for a table at the top-rated restaurant she had brought me to for about fifteen minutes. When we were delivered to our table by a stunning redheaded hostess wearing heels higher than any I had ever seen, my stomach was growling impatiently.
“I’m starving,” I groaned, clutching my gut and plucking the menu from the table.
“Me too,” Renee said. Instead of looking at the food, she reached for the drinks menu tucked aside with the salt and pepper. “But first thing’s first. Drinks. What do you want?”
Normally, I would have declined the offer of alcohol, but I was feeling good tonight, and a little drink wasn’t going to hurt anyone. “Something bubbly,” I said.
Renee tried to hide her surprise by holding the menu in front of her face. She peered at me over the top of it, suspicion clear in her eyes.
I laughed. “What?”
She shrugged and continued reading the drink menu. “Nothing. Just surprised that little old you is going to be so adventurous as to order a drink.”
“I do have alcohol every now and then,” I said.
“Yeah, at Christmas dinner and sometimes Thanksgiving. Besides that, it’s just green tea and water for you.”
“If you worked in a hospital and saw the things I saw, that’s all you would drink, too,” I said.
Renee shook her head. “I doubt it. You know me. I’m not the kind of girl to turn down a good merlot. Or shiraz. Or—”
“I get it,” I said, swiping the menu out of her hands. “Let me look.”
I picked a concoction of soda water, pineapple juice, rum, and coconut. When it arrived, I sipped it through a straw and nibbled on the orange slice that had been wedged on the rim of the glass. We ordered our food and sat back to enjoy our drinks while people-watching the tourists on the street.
“So,” Renee said. I knew just by the way she said it that she had been holding back from asking whatever it was she was about to ask.
I put my drink down. “Yes?”
“I came to your room this morning to see if you wanted to go get breakfast, but you were already gone. Where did you go off to so early?”
I considered lying. The temptation was definitely there. But Renee was my sister, and she meant no harm by asking the question. If I was being honest with myself, I wanted to share the excitement of spending time with Greyson with someone, and there was no better someone in my life than Renee.
“Well,” I started, picking my cocktail up again and taking a drink. “I went out with Greyson. The guy you met at the pool.”
“The smoking hot one with the eyes?”
I laughed. “The eyes?”
She nodded vigorously. “They were mesmerizing. Not something a girl easily forgets.”
That was fair. His eyes were a paralyzing shade of blue that had held my attention for longer than they should have on several occasions that morning. “He is quite something,” I said.
“To look at or in general?” Renee pried with a cheeky smile.
“Just all around,” I confessed.
“Oh?” I heard the excited edge to her voice.
That same giddiness was racing through my veins just thinking about Greyson. “He took me out for a nice dinner last night. Then he asked if he could see me today. I knew we would be spending the afternoon together, so I told him no, but he was persistent. I agreed to go out with him again this morning.”
“What did you guys do?” Renee asked, leaning forward and resting her chin in her hand.
“Well, he wouldn’t tell me where he was taking me.”
“Which must have driven the little control freak in you crazy,” she said.
“It did, but only a little bit. Once we hit the road, I felt completely comfortable. I wasn’t worried. He took me to his house. Renee, the guy is a millionaire. No joke. He owns a massive piece of property in Boulder City that overlooks the town and Lake Mead by Hoover Dam.”
“Oh, shit,” she breathed.
“Yeah, I know. I didn’t expect it either. But we had a really nice time, and he’s so sweet and kind and attentive.”
“Is he now?” Renee teased.
I blushed for the hundredth time that day. “I really didn’t see it coming, Renee, but I think I really like him. Like, really like him.”
The server returned with our food. We dug in and conversation died as we shoveled food into our mouths. I had ordered a spicy chicken bowl, and the flavors were unreal. By the time I was halfway through, I had to take a breather. My mouth was on fire, and I pounded back both my glass and Renee’s glass of untouched water.
“Sky,” Renee said slowly. I knew this tone. This meant she had something to say, and she was afraid of the way I was going to react. “I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, okay? I’m really happy that you’ve met someone. And I think you should spend as much time with him here as you want to because he seems really great. But please, just be careful. Men in Vegas aren’t like they are back home.”
I snickered. “Because I have tons of experience with the men we have back in Houston?”
Renee stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork and acknowledged my jab at myself with a smirk. “Fair,” she said, then continued with a mouth full of food. “But seriously. Men here can be dangerous. This is a whole different scene.”
What she was saying was true, and it was something I hadn’t even considered. I trusted Greyson. I had since the first time I spoke to him in the line at the sushi place. I was positive he didn’t have a dangerous bone in his body.
“I appreciate you being worried for me,” I said. “But Greyson is a good guy. And you know me. Careful is my middle name. I wouldn’t let myself get caught up in something risky.”
“That’s true,” Renee said, reaching for her now-empty water glass. Her eyebrows furrowed. “Thanks for saving me some.”
“My mouth was on fire,” I said apologetically.
She shook her head at me and flagged down the server to order us another round of drinks and waters. We sat for a while longer, sipping our drinks until those were empty, too. Then we ordered a third round, which was something new for me. I hadn’t sat and enjoyed myself like this since I started nursing school.
“How are you feeling about being away from work for so long?” Renee asked.
“At first, I really didn’t like it,” I said. Which was true. Monday had been rough, and on more than one occasion, I was sure I wouldn’t last the week and would be booking an early flight back to Houston. “But now, it’s starting to feel like I can breathe again. I didn’t notice how much time I was really investing at the hospital and how little I was giving myself. It’s kind of surreal being here, to be honest.” I paused and stared at the table. “Thanks for bringing me here, Renee. I think I needed this. I just didn’t know it.”
“Well, I knew it, and you’re welcome.” She tapped the rim of her glass of wine to my summery drink. “Cheers, sister. To our first vacation together and to good memories.”
“To good memories,” I said.
As I took a drink, my thoughts were of Greyson, but I also knew I wanted to spend more time with my sister on this trip. I knew I would regret it if I spent all my time selfishly indulging in my first crush since school. Renee deserved my time, too. If anything, she deserved it more than I did. She was the reason I was here, and the reason I had met Greyson in the first place.
“I love you, sis,” Renee said. “Can we spend more time together while we’re here?”
“Of course,” I said. “I’m going to try my best to stop being a hermit. Just be patient with me, okay? Everything feels like a big step. Vegas makes it all a little more daunting.”
“I’ve got you.” Renee grinned.
And I believed her. I felt ready for the rest of my time in Vegas. Time with Renee, on my own, and with the man who had been racing through my thoughts for the last two days. He had even managed to creep into my dreams.
And I wasn’t upset about it.