I’m sorry. I have no excuse for taking so long in getting this out to y’all. I won’t even attempt an excuse. I feel the best way to apologize is just to get right to the chapter. Links are in the profile and please enjoy.

Oh, and while there are multiple bars with the same name as the one in this chapter (all over the country, apparently), I’ve completely made the bar in this chapter up. It’s one of the few locations in Vegas I’ve fabricated.

And, once again, a huge THANK YOU to the bestest beta in the world, Bethaboo. If you haven’t read her works yet, go do so now. She’s listed in my Favorite Authors on my profile.

P.S. Thank you, everyone, for not sending me tons of demands and queries about when I’m going to update. While it made me feel guiltier for not doing so sooner, it did help me concentrate on getting this sucker out to y’all.

Chapter Fifteen

BPOV

The beautiful, delicate strains of a piano cascaded out from hidden speakers as beautifully lit streams of water sprayed and danced from the famed Bellagio Fountains. The jets of water waved back and forth in time to my favorite classical song. The peaceful music and relaxing motion of the water almost made up for the stress and strangeness of this entire vacation.

Almost.

Even “Clair de Lune” and the recreation of my favorite scene from Ocean’s Eleven couldn’t take away the turmoil of my emotions and churning of my mind. I leaned into the balustrade in front of the fountains and did my best to shove all uncertainty to the back of my mind. I wanted to enjoy this; the show was something you didn’t get to see every day unless you lived in Las Vegas, which I decidedly did not.

To my right stood Rose and Mike, my partners for the rest of the evening. I kept my gaze on the fountains, knowing that if I looked at Rose, I’d get an image of Emmett’s toned ass between her legs. It was an image that was burned into my retinas and I wished I could wash it out with Clorox and a Brillo pad. And maybe some caustic lye. Blindness was a small price to pay to never have to see that again, in person or imagination.

Alice and Jasper were to my left. They would be leaving our company at the completion of the show and off to do whatever happily, sappily in like-love daters did while on vacation in Sin City. I didn’t want to begrudge the two their happiness, but in my current frame of mind, they made me sick. They were just too…sugary-happy. I was glad we’d be parting at the end of the show. If they were to stick with us through the night, I’d need a shot of insulin. Or maybe two.

Lord, I was becoming a bitch. Damn Cuervo. I wasn’t that way before last night. At least, I didn’t think I was. I hoped I wasn’t.

Applause broke out as the song and the show came to an end and the spectators began to filter away. Sighing, I straightened up, as did my friends, and turned to lean back against the balustrade.

“So what are your plans for the evening?” Rose questioned, her gaze on the lone couple among us.

“I hope it involves getting a room,” Mike added, his voice containing a snarky edge, upon seeing how tightly Alice and Jasper were wrapped in each other’s arms.

Lovely Mike. He took the words right out of my mouth while simultaneously making me feel like less of a bitch. At least I wasn’t the only one put out by the excessive PDA they were exuding.

On the other hand, it was nice that at least one of our group was having an easy time of it. I was happy for Alice; Jasper was a great guy and I could easily envision him being “The One” for Alice. If it weren’t for my own problems, I’d probably be ecstatic for her.

If Mike’s pointed gripe bothered either of the couple, neither of them let on. “Actually, I plan on taking Alice out for a very romantic date,” Jasper smoothly answered the question. “She deserves nothing but the best.”

Rose and I exchanged a glance. It was as if he was trying to get himself beat up by two unlucky-in-love women! A heartbeat later, we both smiled, apparently coming to the same decision. At least one of us was having some luck on this trip. “It sounds great,” I stated.

Rose added, “I hope you two have a great time.”

“I’m sure we will,” Alice said, her voice and expression almost saturated with perkiness. But inside her blue eyes, I could see a shadow of concern for the rest of us, the Lonely Hearts Club, and I softened my smile so it didn’t look as faked.

That I was resentful of Alice’s happiness sent another sharp jab of self-disappointment through me. Self-pity was unlike me and I almost couldn’t believe I was indulging in it. Alice had dated some real idiots and she’d finally met someone who, I could already see, adored her and believed she hung the moon and the stars. When I really considered things in that way, I instantly felt better.

“You two had better get going,” I stated. “After all, the night isn’t getting any younger.”

“And don’t forget,” Mike finally piped up, this time with no hint of sarcasm in his voice, “avoid a frown, contain your clown.”

If we weren’t in front of a busy casino, I would have sworn you could hear the crickets chirping as we all turned to look at the blond man.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Rose asked, voicing the question that was in all our minds.

“You know. If you think she’s spunky, cover your monkey.”

Again there was silence as we stared at him, this time in disbelief.

“Don’t be silly, protect your Willie.” He looked back at us, the picture of innocent. “Don’t be a fool, protect your—“

“Jesus Christ, Michael! We get it already!” Rose burst out in exasperation. “What the hell is wrong with you, man? You don’t just burst out with idiotic wanna-be condom slogans!”

“Why not? They’re good ones! And they teach an important lesson. Like an extremely short after school special.”

And here was another moment when I wondered just why Mike Newton was one of my best friends. While Rose and Mike continued to bicker, I turned to Alice and Jasper. “This is your chance, you two. Escape while you can. I’m stuck with both of them the rest of the night, you don’t need to be. Go enjoy yourselves.”

The two candidates for World’s Gooiest Couple flashed me a smile and a wave before backing away. Lucky little monkeys.

I let Rose and Mike argue for a few more minutes. “I thought we were going out, not standing in front of a fountain, making fools of ourselves.”

All aggressive postures relaxed as they both looked at me. “We’re not making fools of ourselves,” Mike countered.

“You just said ‘I know you are, but what am I?’ That’s hardly non-foolish behavior.”

Rose snickered at that. I raised a brow at her. Did she really need me to point out her wonderful “I’m rubber, you’re glue; everything you say bounces off me and sticks to you”? Sometimes I felt more like the mother of five-year-old twins than the twenty-four-year-old woman I was.

“Come on,” Rose spoke up before I could speak up. “I know just the place. It’s just what we need after the past twenty-four hours.”

Closing my eyes, I took a deep, calming breath, and followed my two friends. I always felt a measure of apprehension whenever the words “it’s just what we need” came out of Rose’s mouth. The anxiety turned out to be justified as I was led to a small, dimly lit bar. It was the kind of bar people thought about when they wanted to go and get away from it all. It wasn’t too busy and the jukebox could easily be heard above the soft murmur of voices.

I took a quick moment to identify the song playing then wanted to groan when I heard it. Patsy Cline. “I Fall To Pieces”. Wonderful. It definitely wasn’t the song I needed to hear tonight, it struck more of a chord inside me than any other time I’d ever heard it. Any other night, any other night before this one, it wouldn’t make me want to give into the self-pity I was trying to resist, nor would it prompt my mind to bring forth an image off a certain man with emerald green eyes who could never be my own. I fall to pieces each time someone speaks your name, I quietly sang in my head, hating how true that was quickly becoming. It was my fervent hope that by the end of the upcoming week, once matters were fully resolved, I could go back to my life without this incessant confusion and inappropriate feelings.

Rose met my annoyed gaze head on. “What? I’ve heard nothing but good reviews of this place from the locals.”

“C’mon, pull the other one,” Mike snorted.

“Okay, fine. Emmett also wouldn’t think to come searching here. He’s not the country sort.”

“Avoidance, Rose?” I couldn’t help commenting.

“Confrontation leads to wild monkey sex,” she responded archly, looking highly disgusted at herself. “Besides, you’re avoiding, too.”

“Yes, but avoidance is in my repertoire,” I cheekily replied, following her to the bar. I hopped up onto a barstool beside her and rested my arms on the bar. The bartender came over momentarily and asked for our orders.

Thinking back to the previous night and this morning’s mother of all hangovers, I started to order a soda but was unable to get the words out of my mouth before Rose overrode me.

“Well, my good man, I will have a Rocky Mountain Bear Fuck, he will have the Ultimate Sex, and she will have Kinky/Sex.”

The bartender nodded, barely raising a brow at the drink names and turned to get the bottles he needed. I glared at Rose for her presumption. “You’re drinking that, you know. After last night, I’ve sworn off alcohol. It leads to bad things.”

“It’s only bad because you don’t remember it,” Mike stated, reaching for the bowl of peanuts.

“He already has a girlfriend back home, monkey nut! I’m the other woman!” I stared at the highball glass that was set before me. “And his father has seen me naked.” The thought was still mortifying to me and, despite my earlier vow, I reached out and took a big sip of the icy, blended drink. At least it wasn’t the demon tequila, that snuck up on you when you least expected it.

“What was that?” They were both looking at me in surprise and it was then I realized I had stated that last thought aloud. “His dad has what?”

“His dad’s my doctor,” I grudgingly elaborated.

“You married your doctor’s son?” It was said in disbelief before Mike started laughing. He was finding this whole situation much funnier than it actually was.

“Isn’t that what she just said?” Rose, it seemed, had picked up on my desire to not dwell on the situation. “Dr. Hot Bitch?” Then again, maybe not.

I knew going out with these two tonight was a horrible idea. No, scratch that. I knew this entire trip had been a terrible idea. I should never have let myself get persuaded into it with Jane Austen and Ocean’s Eleven.

“Yeah, well, you did, too,” I pointed out to her, sounding an awful lot like a petulant child. I wasn’t the only one who was a regular patient of Carlisle Cullen. I may have been the first, but the rest of the Girls had quickly followed upon my gushing about how gorgeous the man was.

“That’s right.” She sounded too proud of that fact, the little witch. An expression of annoyance soon followed as she was reminded of her own marital status. In the time that it took to blink, she threw back her shot and gestured for the bartender. “Keep ‘em coming.”

“Look at the bright side, Bella,” Mike chimed in and the twinkle in his eye that instantly set me on edge. “At least you’ve only been seen naked by Edward and Hot Bitch. Rose here has been seen by both them and Emmett.

I cringed at the memory he brought up. This was going to be a long night.

EPOV

I looked up at the understated sign hoisted above the doorway. The sight of Emmett’s “dude, we gotta go there” location left me, not so strangely, unimpressed.

After the past twenty-four hours, I acutely felt the need to relax and come to terms with everything that had happened. I would probably be back in the hotel suite if my darling brother hadn’t gotten on one of his I’ll-keep-annoying-you-until-you-come-with-me jags. I’d learned long ago that giving in gracefully was the only way to deal with him when he got in one of those moods.

I looked away from the bar’s sign momentarily and at my brother before reading the sign once again. Dick’s Last Resort.

“Is this really Dick’s Last Resort?” I questioned, my voice as dry as the Sahara, even to my own ears.

“Come on, man, give it a chance,” Emmett wheedled. “Larry, the bellboy at the Bellagio, recommended this place as the best low-key bar in town. It’s just the type of place to knock back a few and try to drown away your problems.”

“It’s not a good idea. Alcohol is the reason behind my problems,” I pointed out pragmatically. Giving him a sidelong glance, I continued, “And we all know the reason behind your problems is your astonishing c—“

“Hey! While I admit that my cock is quite amazing, I was not—“

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Emmett! I was going to say your cavalier behavior.” It sometimes astounded me how we’d been raised in the same house yet were so vastly different. “Right now your wife would love you if you hadn’t given in to your juvenile personality and sabotaged her business. She stole one client from you. I’m sure you’ve stolen a client from her, too. A little competition never killed anyone.”

“Don’t you think I know all that?” he responded, sounding more serious than I’d ever heard him. “Way to kick a man when he’s down.”

The door to the bar opened as a couple of its patrons departed and the strains of country music filtered out, cut off by the closing of the door. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. Not only did he make me feel a bit guilty for once again pointing out his own stupidity, but he was, apparently, doing his best to subject me to more guilt through sad, vintage country songs. He was going to owe me for this. Still, I couldn’t help but give a retreat one last shot. “I’m sorry, Emmett. But is country music and alcohol really going to help you any?”

The trademark, dimpled, boyish grin quickly returned to his face. “I don’t know. I’ve never tried it. Tonight, we’re going to give it a shot.”

He grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me alongside him. Mere seconds later, the door was closing behind us. My jaw dropped in shock as my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting to reveal something—someone—I hadn’t expected to see tonight.

“Good evening, Las Vegas!” Mike was standing on an empty table, Collins glass half-filled with a brightly colored drink in his hand. “I’m Mike and I’ll be your entertainer this evening!”

Emmett and I exchanged a glance before looking back at our inebriated friend. The patrons in the bar were silent, all eyes focused on the blond man. Is he here alone or are Rose and Bella with him?

“I’d like to start off with one of my favorites, and I sure hope one of yours. To help me with it, I’d like to bring up my good friend Rosalie! Let’s give her a hand, everybody!” At the mention of her named, an equally-sloshed looking, and undeniably annoyed, Rose was yanked up onto the table. Mike was stronger than he looked.

That answers the question as to whether he’s on his own.

Seconds later, Mike began to sing. “Sometimes it’s hard, to be a woman. Giving all your love to just one man…” Considering how drunk he was, his voice was actually quite good.

I started looking over the bar patrons as Mike clumsily tried to hold Rosalie’s hands with his own without spilling a drop of his fruity-looking drink. “But if you love him you’ll forgive him, even though he’s hard to understand.”

My eyes finally lit upon a familiar head of mahogany hair and I drifted away from an enraptured Emmett. Bella was sitting alone at one of the weathered, round wooden tables, the only one not watching the spectacle that Mike was making of himself. A large pitcher of a light-pink slushy drink sat in front of her as well as a partially filled hurricane glass. I took a seat as Rosalie joined her friend on the chorus. Bella, staring down into her glass, was oblivious both to her friend’s antics and to my arrival at her table.

“Are you alright?” I questioned after a few moments of watching her.

Her head snapped up and she gave a few hard blinks, as if she was coming out of a dream or other deep thoughts. “Edward! What are you doing here?”

“Emmett,” I responded by way of explanation. She nodded and I could tell she understood. I had a feeling she occasionally had only to give her friend’s names as explanations. Between the two of us, we did have an odd little group of personalities.

“Rosalie,” she gave her own explanation. She glanced to the side and flinched at the sight of her two friends up on the table.

The song came to an end and they immediately launched into another I wasn’t familiar with. I caught sight of Emmett sitting at the bar, his eyes practically glued on his wife. I shook my head and turned back to my own, temporary, wife. “Are you alright?” I repeated my earlier query. “You seemed pretty out of it.”

Through the muted glow of the lights, I could see a flush residing high on her cheeks. Bella was such a low-key personality I could easily understand how she could be embarrassed by her effervescent friends. She drank the rest of the contents in her glass before answering. “I’m fine. Just trying to tune out Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton over there.” She shook her head and refilled her glass from the pitcher. “They’re even worse at karaoke bars. Not only do they ham it up, but they also heckle everyone else. It’s terrifying.”

Her words contained a soft edge, more noticeable now that she’d spoken more than a few words, and her flushed cheeks made sense as more than just embarrassment. Bella was tipsy. I couldn’t help but feel a sharp stab of concern and protectiveness. I told myself it was only caused by our friendship, though a small part of me acknowledged that it felt a bit deeper than that. I promised myself that I’d look after her tonight and make sure she didn’t do anything she’d regret upon waking tomorrow. She’d already reached her quota for this vacation. “I can see how it would be.”

The second song ended. Before Rose and Mike could start up a second—“If they start singing ‘Islands in the Stream,’ I think I’ll die,” Bella murmured—one of the bar’s patrons, a man dressed like an extra from the Community Theater’s production of Oklahoma!, spoke up, presumably to call a halt to this bizarre display. “Someone fire up the karaoke machine!” The command was echoed by the other country-loving customers. I never would have expected this crowd to love a drunken gay man and blonde making spectacles of themselves. Emmett looked ready to climax in his pants at the thought of Rose doing it up right.

Bella groaned as the bartender started setting up the karaoke machine and downed her drink yet again, cringing a little as the ice cream headache stabbed her between the eyes. Valiantly, she ignored it and poured the last of the pitcher into her glass. She was going to hate being herself in the morning. “You’re going to want a drink, Edward. It’s the only thing that makes those two bearable in full-blown karaoke mode.”

I declined the drink and soon Mike and Rose were back to their two-person show. It was easy to see what Bella had meant about the two getting into a karaoke mode. The two became more effervescent than ever, like some almost scary form of Donny and Marie. Instead of getting sucked into them, I blocked them out and focused on Bella.

“How much have you had to drink tonight?” I questioned, knowing that whatever amount had already been too much.

“Too much,” she echoed my own thoughts. “I knew I should have returned to the hotel instead of coming here. Next time I’ll listen to my instincts and ignore the two singing psychos.”

“I am glad you’re here, though,” I admitted to her. “Though I am sorry about the hangover you’re going to have tomorrow.”

“I’m glad you’re here, too,” Bella said with a small smile. “You’re the only other sane person I know anymore.”

I snorted a little at that, but I couldn’t help thinking the same about her, especially considering her friends and my brother’s rapt attention to them.

Bella raised her glass and caught the bartender’s attention. “More Kinky/Sex, please!”

Her voice was a little louder than she’d intended and some snickering came from the tables around us. I barely heard them over the rush of my blood flowing straight to my lower body at her request. I closed my eyes and tried to will my sudden, and inappropriate, erection.

Taking a deep breath, I looked over at her. “I’ll get it for you,” I said, my voice coming out more gravelly than I would’ve thought. I grabbed her glass and the accompanying pitcher and moved to the bar. “Two waters, please.” No matter what, Bella would have a hangover in the morning, but I could save her some of the severity.

The bartender raised a brow, but had clearly seen that we knew each other so he let the change pass without comment and handed me two bottles of water. When I got back to the table and set her new drink before her, Bella looked confused. I couldn’t help the smile that curved my lips; she looked like a child who couldn’t figure out how vegetables always appeared on her plate at dinnertime.

“I think the bartender made it wrong,” she stated uncertainly. “It’s too clear and in a bottle.”

“That’s because it’s water,” I pointed out, trying not to let my humor show. “I think your hangover is going to be bad enough as it is. I’m trying to save you some of the pain by getting you hydrated before hand.”

She stared at me silently for a few moments. “You’re going to be a doctor,” she said, her voice sounding almost like she’d just remembered that. Which was probably true.

“Yes, I am.”

“You’re going to be a good one.” She sounded certain of that and I couldn’t help the feeling of pure joy that jolted through me at the pronouncement. “We’ll have to come up with something better than Dr. Hot Bitch for you, though. Your dad is great and all, but you’re much hotter than he is. And McDreamy and McSteamy have nothing on you, either.”

I opened and closed my mouth, struggling for words. What could I possibly say to that? Thank you? I’m glad you think so highly of me? I’m scared to know what that nickname would possibly be?

Mike’s booming voice cut off any response I was going to make, and I couldn’t help but feel thankful as I still didn’t know what was going to come out of my mouth. “Bella! Come show these fine, fine people what you can do! Everyone, let’s give our friend a round of applause and encouragement.”

Only I could hear the groan over the sound of the clapping, though her beet red face was visible to all. It was true that I hadn’t known her long, but even I knew that she hated being the center of attention. “You don’t have to go up there,” I told her. “We can leave right now.”

“No,” she responded. “I have to or they’ll drive me nuts for weeks to come. It’s a rule; all the Girls need to sing at least one song at karaoke. I still don’t know how I agreed to that one.” She stood and smiled at me. “I’ll sing you a good song.”

As Bella made her way to the makeshift stage, Emmett came to sit at the table with me. “Isn’t this great?” he asked, his grin as wide as I’d ever seen it and I was sure it was due to watching Rosalie acting so uninhibited and carefree. “I have to remember to thank Larry for his suggestion. That tube top Rosie’s wearing makes her tits look great.”

I barely kept from rolling my eyes at him. He could be such an idiot sometimes.

“Those pants do great things for Bella’s ass, too.”

“Emmett?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

The tune of a country song, vaguely familiar to me, started emitting from the karaoke machine as Bella made her selection and gathered the microphone from Mike.

Her voice, once she began singing, was clear and pure and, like her friends, much better than one would expect for her having had so much to drink. The tone of her voice held a hint of huskiness, whether usual for her or due to the alcohol, I didn’t know, that lent the song a certain sexiness. “I go out walkin’ after midnight, out in the moonlight just like we used to do. I’m always walkin’ after midnight searching for you. I walk for miles along the highway, well, that’s just my way of saying I love you…”

I felt another wave of joy, quickly followed by the sharp stab of incongruous desire. I knew I shouldn’t read anything into her song choice or the lyrics, but a small part of my mind pointed out that she was singing this to me and that part of me, the part that was undeniably smitten with her, was ecstatic at the thought of her loving me.

I stifled a groan at my inner conflict. I was so screwed. I could only hope that after Tuesday and our annulment was finalized, I could go back to my well-ordered life without the incessant confusion and inappropriate feelings for someone I already thought of as one of my best friends.