My Vegas Valentine

By R.A. Lee

There is a code between sisters: Thou shall not be intimate with a guy your sister dumps, not without her permission. Faith lives in the shadow of her more glamorous twin, but on a trip to Vegas she bumps into a man she takes for her sister's ex-lover and debates breaking that code when she inadvertently spends Valentine's Day with him after dumping her cheating boyfriend.

Arriving on a commercial flight, Faith's adventure takes her on a local's tour of Vegas and a stay in a private Villa before she boards a private jet home to get away from her Vegas experience and back to her normal small town life.

When co-workers learn of her exploits from her ex-boyfriend, a co-worker who trashes her reputation, they refer to the stranger as Faith's "Vegas Valentine."

Realizing that she's been settling, Faith begins an adventure that takes her from the comfort of her carefully planned life and into the arms of a stranger who may break her small town heart, but for whom her heart beats. "My Vegas Valentine"

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.A. Lee
• Release date: Jan 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301829606

R.A. Lee

I am a storyteller. What starts as a simple dream turns into a movie in my head and it is cathartic to put it in words. Writing is like therapy. Therapy doesn't come cheap, though, so please enjoy. I have to go, another movie is starting. YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@anovelproduction​

Book preview

My Vegas Valentine

A Novella

by R.A. Lee

Copyright 2013

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Unauthorized reproduction, in any manner, is prohibited.

Product of the U.S.A.

Smashwords Edition

The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any living person past or present, or sleeping in my bed, is purely coincidental. This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the eBook seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. If you have received a free download of this work, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non- commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

Dedicated to my mother (get well), the love of my life (Happy Valentine's Day), and my family.

TalesByRALee.com

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Cover image by Autumn Angel Designs trademarked and copyrighted 2013

Other eBook Titles by R. A. Lee

Love Again, Love for Them: A Novel

The Beauty at the Bus Stop: A Novel

The Fountain of Truth: A Novel

Desert Town Angels Trilogy

PART ONE The Last Will and Testament of Howard Thornbon

PART TWO The Kin of Ms. Honey Hallowell

PART THREE The Final Showdown in Golden Peaks

CHAPTER 1

Standing on the stairs leading to the cabin of the private jet, the neon lights of the Strip glowing and pulsating off to my left, I held in my hand a small box that looked like it might contain jewelry offered as a souvenir to commemorate my trip to Vegas that ended on Valentine's Day. I was not impressed and I wasn't about to open it any time soon.

I had arrived on a commercial flight, a crowded flight with a layover, but now I was flying private, and alone. Except for the loud VPs in the back joking about how many hookers they banged on their trip.

Cringing as I thought about my own trip, I remembered a pair of dice flying in slow motion across the craps table and the look on Matt’s face when the sharp points bounced off his forehead and hit the felt-covered table toppling multi-colored casino chips.

There had been applause, not because of my direct hit but for the toss that resulted in a win for the dozens of gamblers around the table.

This was not the Valentine’s Day vacation I had anticipated when Matt had originally suggested we take our first trip together as a couple.

Groaning as I made my way to the wide leather captain's seat that swiveled to my pleasure, I remembered what my sister said just before I left on the trip.

That is not a romantic vacation, Gail had asserted as I packed my only pair of hand-me-down designer heels and the contents of my cosmetics drawer. Take my Cru’ Elle gown, Gail offered. I waited for the sarcastic reason my sister was lending me a designer gown from her last runway show.

I’ve lost weight and it should fit you better, Gail explained while staring at herself in my wall mirror. It's too bad you'll be wasting it on Matt. He probably isn’t aware Valentine’s Day is at the end of the trip. Your first trip together and he takes you to a casino. I mean, if it were Monte Carlo… Gail continued as she got bored and wandered down the hall.

It was humiliating, knowing my sister had been right.

It was so unexpected, the rage and fury seeing Matt change from a modest insurance salesman to playboy within hours of arriving in Vegas.

What else happened?

What happened was that I met my sister's ex-lover and used him to escape from Matt for a while.

Closing my eyes, I remembered the dizziness when I awoke wondering how I ended up in a strange chaise lounge in a strange room overlooking the Strip instead of looking down on the Strip from the suite I shared with Matt.

I didn’t want to go back to the hotel room. That is what happened.

Matt would have been in the room and I hadn’t wanted to confront him.

Instead I had opened my eyes and looked out the floor-to-ceiling tinted windows at the blinking, pulsating, vibrating lights of the Strip in the distance and knew I wasn’t in my bed in Holly Oake.

My head started aching as the memories started cranking up again. Somehow, when I put on my sister’s gown, I had also stepped into her life.

You’re awake, I remember the stranger's very deep voice whispering and I nearly hit the window as I leapt like a startled cat.

Yes. At that moment I was very awake. Awake and very aware of my surroundings.

The cool breeze on my back as I realized I was still in my sister’s designer Cru’ Elle gown, the stranger's sigh as he propped himself up on his elbow, the kiss.

Closing my eyes tight against the force of gravity pressing me against the chair as the jet took off from the runway, I remembered the absolute fear that ripped through my body when my sister walked in on us unexpectedly.

As I headed home on that private jet, I felt humiliated that the Valentine's trip to Vegas I had naively envisioned would end with no boyfriend and a small jewelry box from a stranger.

I had wanted a getaway, but I hadn't considered that maybe I had wanted to get away from my life for a while instead.

CHAPTER 2

A couple's getaway was not a foreign concept to my sister. To me, I jumped at the opportunity because it was the first time I had been asked.

Although we are twins, Gail had somehow seized more of the attractive genes while we were in our late mother’s womb because a split second after looking at the two of us it was clearly evident we were not identical.

When people first met us, there was a moment of confusion.

We looked almost exactly alike, but there was a shine to my sister that made me seem duller in comparison. We both had dark hair, but my hair tended to be frizzy while Gail’s hair bounced and shimmered in the sunlight.

Raven. Gail’s hair color had a name, a power, a sleek shine. We both have green eyes, but people considered Gail’s eyes emerald with a twinkle that captivated male attention.

There were many admiring men in Gail’s life. There were many tales of how she would find herself in Paris with one man and end up with another in Italy the same day.

Since she didn’t have to do anything to gain their attention, Gail was indifferent to their advances, which only made her more attractive.

You’re settling, Gail always said about my boyfriends.

I’m looking for a real relationship, I would counter back. I'm not looking for a man to buy me diamonds. Those statements always made my sister laugh.

They’re all the same, Gail shrugged. You might as well get the richest one who doesn’t demand a prenup.

That was my sister’s philosophy. At the wise age of 28, she thought she knew all about men and relationships.

As a model, my sister was sent all over the world. As a file clerk at an insurance company, I had been nowhere.

Although I hadn’t said anything, I noticed she had been living at the house for a longer period of time than that to which I was accustomed. Usually, I was alone for months while she hopped across Europe or vacationed on some exotic Caribbean island.

In a town where most people wore jeans for a night out, Gail still looked like she was going clubbing even when just sitting at home.

Now, I was being asked on an exotic, romantic getaway.

This might have been a natural progression to most couples. After four months of dating, the opportunity to get away and be intimate in an exotic location would have been first and foremost on most people's minds.

Looking back, I realized it had not, but I didn't know why.

Sure, a beach resort might have been more romantic, but even Gail only went to Palm Beach on her first getaway.

The only thing that mattered was that Matt had asked me to get away for a few days.

Our relationship started simple enough. A few glances as he passed by my cubicle.

Then my co-worker invited Matt and me to happy hour and said she would be right behind us, then never showed up. Matt ended up taking me home and we liked each other enough to plan a date for the movies.

I really liked that we had a lot in common. We both went to the same church, we both grew up in the same state, we both hinted at wanting to start a family when we met the right person.

I have a surprise, Matt had said as we spooned on the couch watching one of the black-and-white movies on our list of movies we wanted to see one day. How would you like to go to Vegas with me?

Excitement led to dread when I realized that Matt might want to