I did too.I loved needling Noah.He was such an easy target.
“Fine.”He groaned.“Let’s just get this over with.”
“All right.”Harper fought against the smile tugging at her lips.“I narrowed it down to five women.Two are elementary school teachers.One is a dancer for the local basketball team.And two work in hospitality at casinos in town.”
“Wait, they’re all locals?I thought we’d be picking from women from all over.”
“The teachers aren’t locals.I thought I’d tip the scales and give you a larger pool of locals to choose from.”Harper smiled.“Thought it might be more comfortable if you picked someone you could have a relationship with and not have to figure out the logistics of distance.”
Noah scowled.
And I knew without him even saying that he’d been hoping for a one and done kinda deal.That the temporary nature of dating a tourist would give him an easy out.
“But if you don’t want to go that way, I can dive back into the pool.Either way, we need to get going on this.The last girl’s posts are still getting traction.We need to change the narrative.”
“Fine.”Noah sighed.“Show me who you picked.”
Harper grinned as she turned her laptop around on the desk, displaying the screen.She came around the side of her desk and clicked through the screens.
“Bachelorette number one is a front desk clerk at the Desert Island.”Harper pulled up a picture of a beaming, slender redhead in a bikini standing poolside at Vegas dayclub.“She’s twenty-four and has a degree in hospitality from UNLV.She grew up in Minnesota and wants to be a stay-at-home mom one day.”
“She put that in her application?”Noah asked incredulously.“That she’s looking for a sugar daddy?”
“I…didn’t take it that way,” Harper finished in a mutter.“Shit, you’re right.Okay.Moving on.Bachelorette number two is a blackjack dealer at the Medina.She has a six-year-old—”
“And is wearing a wedding ring.”Noah leaned toward the screen.“Is that a recent photo?”
“Should be.I have that copy of Vegas Variety.”I pointed at the table behind the pouting brunette.“It came out last week.”
“That looks like a wedding ring.”Noah pointed at the huge rock on the woman’s hand.“Is she married?”
“Oh my god, we can’t have you going out with a married woman.That’s the last kind of publicity you need.”Harper scowled then clicked to the next photo.“Fine.Bachelorette number three is a dancer for the Vegas Lights.She’s going to school part time for civil engineering.She’s twenty-five and doesn’t have any visible marital jewelry or blatant sugar baby aspirations.”
I snorted with laughter then tried to muffle it behind a cough when Noah turned to scowl at me.
“Enjoying this little nightmare, are you?”His jaw flexed as he no doubt ground his teeth.
“Little bit.”I grinned unabashedly back at him.
Noah grunted and turned back to the screen.“I like that she’s around professional athletes and still going to school.Means maybe she’s not into the whole lifestyle.What else does it say on her application?”
Some of my enjoyment leached out of me the longer Noah looked at the screen.This woman was the definition of gorgeous.Long, slender legs.Flirty little skirt in the Lights’ bold red and purple colors.Tousled blonde hair that looked silky smooth.Plump lips and even plumper chest that somehow matched her lithe physique.
Everything I wasn’t.
And apparently, everything Noah wanted.
She had that vixen-girl-next-door look down pat.
“She lives in Vegas now, obviously, but she grew up in California—LA, I think…yeah.She came to Vegas for school and has been dancing for the Lights for three seasons.She also works part time as a server at Desert Island’s dayclub in the off season.”
I would’ve thought that would count against her, but Noah nodded.“Good.I like her hustle.And that apparently she is doing it all on her own.What are her socials like?Does she have a huge following?”
He was clearly remembering the fallout from the last contestant.
Harper toggled between the screens.“Nothing huge—a couple thousand.But you know that won’t guarantee her posts won’t go viral if she chooses to talk about you.”
“Can we do an NDA then?”Noah groaned, rubbing his face.“Keep her from talking?”
