What happens in Vegas shouldn’t stay in Vegas…
It’s spring break, and a group of teachers from Half Moon Bay Middle School are planning to cut loose. History teacher Meg Phillips hadn’t planned on being one of them—Vegas isn’t really a town for a bookworm—but somehow she let her friend Anne talk her into it.
Though honestly, she’d rather indulge in some poolside reading than co-star in an R-rated edition of Teachers Gone Wild.
It took some major arm twisting for Finn Walsh to convince his fellow gym teacher, Anne, to do whatever it took to get Meg to Vegas. For over a year he’s been looking for the chance to get to know her outside of work. He’s drawn to her quiet beauty and intelligence—and the hint of fire beneath her understated exterior.
When he finally gets the opportunity to peel away those layers, the result is far more explosive than he ever fantasized. Now to convince her that the week isn’t a wildly out-of-character mistake, but the start of something amazing...
Note: this book was previously published as Vegas Vacation by Crystal Jordan.
A light rain fell as Meg Phillips hurried across Main Street toward the Moonside Café. The salty scent of the Pacific Ocean blew on the breeze, and she drank in the familiar smell. If she were a few blocks closer, she’d be able to hear the thundering crash of waves. Typical early spring day on the California coast, and she loved it. The mist would make her curly hair a frizzy mess, but who cared? She had no one to impress. She stepped inside the café, brushed a wayward tendril out of her eyes, and glanced around.
“Over here!” Anne waved from a table by the window. Their friend Karen sat beside her, already cradling a cup of coffee between her hands.
“Julie’s just locking up at Purl Moon and then she’ll be over,” Karen said, and her expression softened. “It’s been a rough day for her.”
READ MORESympathy squeezed inside of Meg. Yeah, those kinds of days happened after you lost someone you loved. Julie’s great aunt Eloise had passed away a few months before, leaving Julie to run her yarn and fiber arts store. The foursome had been friends since elementary school, so they knew how much Julie and Auntie Eloise had adored each other. Her death had hit Julie hard. Working at Purl Moon had to keep the memories fresh. Eventually that might be a good thing, but right now it meant their friend had a lot of rough days.
“Well, we’ll cheer her up.” Meg slid into a chair across from Karen, who was the only married one in their little group. “How’s the hubby?”
“Tate’s working, as usual.” She offered up a wry smile, her blond brows arching. “Someday, I’m going to get that man to take me on a nice, long vacation. Where he has no access to his cell phone or internet. Heaven.”
Anne leaned forward, sudden interest lighting her face. “Yeah, it’s important to take some time off and enjoy yourself once in a while. Right, Meg?”
Something in her friend’s tone made her wary, and Meg narrowed her gaze. “Yeah, why?”
“Because a bunch of the HMB teachers are going to Vegas for spring break, and you’re coming with us.” The redhead’s smile was sunny and appeared far too innocent.
Yeah, right. As if Anne could ever pull off innocent. Not since the third grade, anyway. Meg snorted a laugh. “Ha!”
“Come on,” her friend cajoled. “When’s the last time you got out of town? Be honest.”
She opened her mouth, closed it again. Enough time had passed that she honestly didn’t remember. She brushed an invisible speck of lint off her sleeve. “I prefer staycations.”
“You can curl up with a book in Las Vegas as easily as you can here.” Anne gestured to the gloomy day outside. “You’d even get a little sun in the process.”
Karen tilted her head, the sweep of her blond bob brushing her cheek. “You are looking a little pale.”
Sticking her tongue out, Meg folded her arms. “Thanks, that’s flattering.”
“The truth hurts,” Anne shot back.
“It’s only a week, Meg.” Karen picked up the refrain, and Meg had to wonder if the two had planned this before she’d arrived. She wouldn’t put it past them. Friends could be wily like that. Karen gestured to her partner in crime. “And Anne will be there—some of the other teachers too, so you won’t be alone. A little socializing would be good for you.”
“It’s not like I’m a hermit. I get out of the house for work every day.” It sounded pathetic, like that was the only time she ventured out, and Meg didn’t want to admit that maybe it was. Other than their group’s weekly dinner, she hadn’t made much effort to get out lately. Damn, they had a point, and she hated it. “Who else is going?”
Anne didn’t meet her gaze. “A bunch of us. Ed, Cindy, Karla, Finn, Doreen, Roger, Frank, me…and you.”
But Meg honed right in on the name that had been sandwiched in the middle. “Finn’s going?”
“You don’t like Finn?” Sudden concern shone in Anne’s golden eyes. “Has he been bothering you?”
Hot and bothered was a good description for what he did to her, but there was no way in hell Meg was telling her friends that. They’d try to push her into going out with him. She focused on the scarred tabletop. “No, no. He hasn’t bothered me at all. He only asked me out the one time, and that was ages ago. It’s fine. He’s fine.”
He was more than fine, and turning down his offer had sucked. The school might not have rules against teachers dating, but she had personal rules against it, and she had those rules for very good reasons. But she felt a twinge of regret every time she ran into him at work. She sighed. It really was too bad.
“Okay, then. It’s fine.” Anne waved a dismissive hand, but when Meg glanced at her, there was more than a little calculation in her expression. “Besides, they have museums and stuff you can check out, too. It’s not all booze and broads. There are shows, shopping, gourmet food. It’ll be fun.”
“It’ll be expensive,” Meg groused.
“Pfft.” The redhead huffed. “The flights to Vegas are cheap from SFO, and we can room together and split the hotel costs.”
Meg opened her mouth to continue arguing, but before she could, Julie jogged into the café, shaking rain out of her hair. “Hey, guys. What’s up?”
“We’re trying to talk Meg into going with Anne to Las Vegas for spring break.” Karen flagged down a waitress. “And now that you’re here, we can order dinner. I’m famished.”
They’d been to this café enough times they had the menu memorized, so ordering was quick and the waitress brought them a round of coffee without asking.
Meg looked up. “Oh, I forgot to ask for—”
The old guy at the next table leaned over and deposited a small container of cream at her elbow. “No need. I’m done with it.”
“Thanks, Paul.” Meg shook her head. The wonders of small-town life. Everyone knew everything about you, including how you took your coffee.
“You should definitely go to Vegas.” Julie tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear. “Don’t sit around at home alone on your vacation.”
Meg gave the other woman a pointed look. “If anyone needs to get away from here, it’s you.”
Dark circles smudged Julie’s eyes. She looked pale and…sad. It was hard to watch, but grief was hard, and nothing but time made it any easier. A wan smile crossed Julie’s face. “I’m still wrapping my head around running the business. Purl Moon’s doing well, but I can’t leave it to go gallivanting.” Her shoulder twitched in a shrug. “Maybe later this year.”
“Three against one. Don’t be a spring break hermit hunched over your books at home.” Anne widened her eyes theatrically. “You’ll turn into Quasimodo.”
Meg snorted, though her mouth curved in a reluctant grin. “Fine, but one of you has to watch Hugo.”
Julie and Karen groaned pitifully, but Meg crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow at them. “With melodrama like that, you’ll get along perfectly with my depressive basset hound.”
“The last time he was in the shop, he chewed up some very expensive yarn and then made sad puppy eyes at me. Made me feel bad when he was the one who chewed stuff.” Julie held up her hands. “I can’t take the guilt. That mutt is a menace.”
“I’ll do it.” Karen sighed. “Maybe it’ll encourage Tate to take me out of town, if only to escape the doggie breath.”
“That’s the spirit.” Meg grinned, enjoying the chance to torment her friends. Hey, turnabout was fair play. But her smile faded when she realized she’d actually agreed to spend her break in Las Vegas.
Somehow, she had a feeling she was going to regret this.
COLLAPSE