Stacia laughed. “You have a fair point. I hate to concede to it, but it is you. And I do want a wealthy, hot NFL quarterback,” she said dreamily. “We’re not asking for too much, are we?”
“Definitely not. I really have to go. I’ll come back soon.”
“Hurry up,” Stacia said before they disconnected.
Bryna dropped her phone back into her purse and then returned to the counter. Luckily, the guy was still standing there. It seemed he had purchased something while she was on the phone.
She went to take the earrings out of her ears. “Sorry. No time to get these. I have to head out. At least you found what you were looking for.”
“Yes, I did.”
The man held the bag out to her, and she stopped trying to fiddle with the earring clasp.
“What?”
“I told you that you needed them,” he told her.
“I’m confused.”
“I got them for you.”
“You purchased the earrings?” she whispered in surprise. She had said to Stacia that she wanted someone to support her lifestyle, but she hadn’t quite expected this.
“I couldn’t let you leave without them.”
“Wow.” She took the bag from him. “You didn’t have to do that.”
Of course, she was thrilled. She had rolled the ball toward him, and he had picked it up and put it on a pedestal.
“No. But I wanted to.”
It was official. This guy was too perfect. She wished she had more time.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. It was nice meeting you.”
“Bri,” she said automatically.
He took her hand and firmly shook it once. “Nice to meet you, Bri. I’m Hugh.”
He smiled and then left before her. She had no idea what to make of all of that. A guy didn’t buy a girl twenty-two-hundred-dollar diamond earrings and then not ask for her number…or something more in return.
As she exited the store, she opened the blue Tiffany’s bag and peered inside. There was a blue pouch with her other earrings inside and a crisp white business card.
HUGH WESTERCAMP
WC RESORTS
On the back, he had scribbled his number. But that wasn’t the only thing that made her stomach tighten with excitement. WC Resorts owned casinos and resorts on the Strip as well as other locations. And the sole owner of the entire conglomerate and resort fortune.
Hugh Westercamp.
BRYNA AND STACIA were going to be perfectly on time for the flight out to Oregon even though Stacia was complaining the whole way about Bryna being late. Her head was up in the clouds though, and she was tuning out Stacia’s comments. No wonder she had thought the situation had all the right characteristics for her to be interested. The man was Hugh Westercamp.
Just the thought made her skin tingle with excitement. She would have to play this right. A man like that wouldn’t accept just anyone. She was shocked he had even given her his number. He must have been so fucking confident that she would call.
Déjà vu hit her something fierce. She remembered leaving her number with Jude, knowing that he must have been interested after the incredible night they had spent together with their intimate deep connection.
She rolled her eyes. What bullshit!
There had been no connection. Just hot sex and a whole lot of deception. At least she could take what had happened in her past and make it work for her here. If Hugh was used to something happening, then she’d need to be unpredictable. The card weighed heavily in her purse, but she vowed to ignore it for as long as she could. Absence made the heart grow fonder. Or at least she hoped it would make his wallet fonder.
“So, tell me about the hot stranger,” Stacia said. She hoisted her cheer bag out of the back of her SUV. “I see you have new bling. Atlas Collection. Obsessed!”
Bryna shrugged. She wasn’t ready to reveal all her secrets yet. The girls knew how she was, but Hugh felt like an investment she would have to take seriously or else it could all slip away.
“It was nothing. He was cute.”
“Older?” she guessed.
“Much. But I like that.”
“I know. I think you want a guy who already has a job and a career, so you can fit into his life.”
Fair assessment. “Nothing wrong with coming to college to get your MRS degree.”
“Don’t let Trihn hear you say that,” Stacia said with a giggle.
They walked into the airport where they were meeting the team.
“We’d both get a lecture on how college is about more than just finding a husband.”
“Of course it is. There are football, parties, drinking, dancing, cheer,” Bryna rattled off.
Stacia giggled in agreement. “So, did you give the guy your number?”
“Nope.” That was true. Stacia hadn’t asked if she had gotten his number. “I told you, it was nothing.”
“Well, you know what is something? Blaine,” she said with a sigh.
Their eyes were drawn to the quarterback, who was laughing and making jokes with his friends.
“You are not hooking up with Blaine this weekend.”
“Maybe. But my options are open. I bet we’ll both find someone sexy to hook up with,” Stacia said confidently.
Bryna’s eye caught on Andrew Holloway, who was standing near Blaine, and he smiled broadly at her attention. Yeah. She was pretty sure she could do that in the meantime while her plans came together.
LV State beat Oregon by a field goal in overtime. Bryna screamed at the top of her lungs and excitedly jumped up and down. Stacia barreled into her and hugged her tightly. Leaving Stacia behind, Bryna threw herself at her base, Daniel.
“We won! We won! We won!” she screamed.
He picked her up and threw her into the air as if she weighed nothing. To him, she supposed she probably did, considering he hoisted her into the air with one arm pretty regularly.
“So fucking awesome,” he said when she landed back in his arms.
The girls cheered on the sidelines toward the LV State fans who had made it out to the away game. The players raced past the cheerleaders and jumping over the barrier into the stands. The crowd clapped them on the back with congratulations. The press was all over it like a field day, snapping pictures and rolling the cameras.
In the mayhem, Bryna felt someone circle an arm around her waist. She looked up to see Andrew smiling down at her.
“Hey, Bri.”
“Andrew! Congratulations! That was an amazing game!”
His hand moved a little lower, and he winked. “Maybe we can make it an amazing after-party?”
She smiled. “Maybe.”
She wished he were someone else—Hugh preferably. But Hugh was a game, and this was just for fun. Stacia was right when she’d said Bryna should hook up with people while she waited for the prize. Some fun wouldn’t hurt anything.
“Find me later.”
And he did.
Even though the team was instructed to remain model examples as they were here representing their school, a raging party broke out at the hotel. Bryna was swept away with the energy from their victory and ended up disappearing back to Andrew’s room.
Her head was fuzzy as she let him drag her into his empty room. The lights were off, and she ran into a chair, falling down, and landing hard on her ass. She broke into a fit of laughter as she tried to right herself. Andrew was there, lifting her easily from the ground and pushing her toward the bed.
His hands were on her body, pushing at the material of her slinky black dress and riding it up to her hips. He groped at her breasts, and she tried to relax into his touch. This was what she wanted. This was what she had done all summer with random strangers in Europe. She was glad she was drunk enough that she might not remember it in the morning.