I could already hear my mum retelling the story, organising a wedding at the luxury resort owned by my family. One just like the celebration she was organising for my sister and her fiance in just a few weeks.
Destiny sipped her fruity drink, wrapping her lush lips around the straw. Looking at me with those sharp, dark brown eyes waiting for me to elaborate on my flimsy story.
“I had a job opportunity pop up when I was at uni, it was too good not to take so I packed up and moved to LA.” That wasn’t quite a lie, it was a truth that I’d told countless times when I didn’t want someone to realise who I was.
From the minute I’d sat down, she had given me that look, the one I received less these days. It was the one where she thought I looked familiar, but she wasn’t quite sure where from. Since my days in The Monarchists, I’d filled out and gotten a grown up haircut. My dark locks were still a little long on top, but rather than hiding behind it, I now wore it in deliberately dishevelled style.
This time, though, with this woman, I didn’t mind if she had recognised me. I almost wanted her to know I was Mason King from The Monarchists. I felt like I wanted to impress her and I would take any advantage I could gain.
Well, perhaps I wanted her to know me as Mason, but probably not the BS that came with being associated with being the lead singer of a band that was touted as the next big thing for about a hot minute. I definitely wanted her to associate me with the young heartthrob that was marketed as a playboy and I may have played in to for a while. What was a guy to do when beautiful women threw themselves at me?
“What brings you to Vegas?” I focused our conversation back on her.
“Ughh.” Destiny rolled her eyes. “My sister and her friends decided it would be epic to have a Vegas hen's weekend before her wedding in Hawaii. So she fluttered her eyelashes and her fiance flashed his cash.”
“You say that like you don’t approve?” I questioned.
“I love my sister, I do,” she put her hand to her heart. “But she has always been a pretty, little blonde who just needs to smile sweetly, and she got exactly what she wanted. She did that with our dad, now she does it with her future husband.”
I took in her voluptuous figure, smooth light brown skin, her carefully curled dark blonde hair and her perfectly painted lips. All she had to do was smile sweetly and I would give her the world. I was already tempted to offer it to her, anyway. Toying with a lone of those curls, I said, “You’re telling me you couldn’t do the same thing?”
The laugh that poured out of her mouth was loud and addictive. It was no artful or girlish giggle.
“Yeah, NO,” she pursed her lips. “Everything I have, I’ve worked for. It may not be the lavish lifestyle my sister enjoys, but it’s mine.”
My impression of Destiny escalated. I was raised by a hardworking and strong-minded woman. I couldn’t imagine being with someone who didn’t challenge me. A future with thiswoman was something I could easily imagine. “So, how long are you in Vegas for?”
“We fly out in about 24 hours and to be honest, it couldn’t come quickly enough…” she sighed.
“Not enjoying my company?” I smiled at her over my drink, then pretended to stand.
“Oh, no,” she reached out and wrapped her hand around my arm. “You’re definitely a highlight of this trip.”
I settled back into the seat, already enamoured by this woman. “No other highlights other than some guy hitting on you in a bar?”
“Nope.” She popped the “p” for emphasis. “I can now say I’ve ticked Vegas off my bucket list and be done with it.”
“Are you sure you can tick that box? Have you truly had the Vegas experience?” I didn’t know what I was aiming for here, but maybe I could find something I could do with her to extend my time with her. I mean, other than the thing my body wanted to do with her the minute I saw her. Failing that, I would just drag her to my room and ravish her for every minute she had left in this city.
“I’ve seen the lights, been to shows, dabbled in some gaming, watched the fountain, gone to nightclubs and walked the strip,” she rattled off typical tourist things. “Underneath all the lights and music, it just feels a little seedy.”
“I get what you’re saying. It’s hard to walk around and not have your senses assaulted.” I agreed. “But what I haven’t heard is if you’ve done the ultimate Vegas experience?”
Destiny eyed me with suspicion, her elbow resting on the bar beside her. “And what would that be?”
“Have you had a Vegas Wedding?” I gave her that winning smile, the one that was once plastered on magazine covers and all over social media.
For the second time, I enjoyed her full, hearty laugh. Amusement playing in her eyes. “No, I haven’t experienced a Vegas wedding.”
Sucking in a breath and putting on my former stage persona, I stood up and did something so ridiculous that there were only two possible outcomes. One, she would laugh her ass off or two, she would go with the flow and this would be the beginning of the rest of my life.
I bent down on one knee, looked up into the gorgeous face of the woman I was certain was my future. “Destiny, would you do me the honour of accompanying me to the altar tonight? Will you marry me?”
Destiny looked like she was holding back a laugh, and I was quickly losing some of my bravado. Standing from her stool, she took my hand, and it was like music to my ears when she said, “Why not?”
3
Destiny
