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yourself, I’m too young. Maybe in ten years, when I’ve made a name for myself…”
    He reached up to free her hands. She was right; everything she said made perfect sense, which meant he couldn’t go through with this. He couldn’t make love to her and then let her leave as though it had never happened.
    “What are you doing?” she asked, resting her hands on the pillow above her head. “I thought you wanted…”
    “You’re right, Nik. You need to focus on your career right now. I’d just get in the way of that.”
    She frowned, stroking his cheek. “It doesn’t have to be that way. Listen, we could have a great time together tonight. Maybe we could keep it casual when we get home. Whenever we’re both in town, we could hook up…”
    He pressed his fingers against her lips, silencing her. “Darlin’, I don’t wanna be your hometown hook-up. I wanna be your man.”
    She shook her head. “J.T., what you’re asking of me is more than I’m able to give. I’m sorry.”
    He got up, reaching for her clothes. “So am I, baby.” He tossed the garments on the bed beside her. “Trust me, better now than later.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four
     
    J.T. gave up trying to focus on late night TV. Too restless to sleep, he dressed and headed down to the hotel bar. A couple of shots of whiskey might help put him to sleep. Better yet, the company of a beautiful woman might help take his mind off the one responsible for his bout with insomnia.
    He walked into the dimly lit bar/restaurant, taking in the patrons still crowding the small tables, some couples and a few groups watching sports highlights on one of several screens.
    This has gotta be a cosmic joke , he thought when he heard the sound of her husky laughter filtering through the background noise. He turned around and saw her in a rear booth with a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, along with a cowboy hat and boots.
    Not the usual garb for Vegas, which led him to believe he was there for the awards ceremony.
    She looked up and their eyes locked for an instant before she turned her attention back to her date.
    It irritated him to think she may be there to make good on her threat to pick up where they’d left off. After tearing his eyes away from the cozy couple, he made his way to the bar. Throwing his leg over a tall stool, he sat down and reached for the sweet and salty mixture in the glass bowl. Anything to prevent him from making a fool of himself by going over there to issue a warning that would have the poor kid running for cover.
    “Hi there, what can I get you?” the bartender asked, wiping the counter surface with a damp rag.
    A curvy brunette wearing a tight little black and white uniform might be just the thing to take his mind off his troubles.
    He offered a grin that routinely had the desired effect on the opposite sex. “How ‘bout Jim Beam and keep ‘em comin’.” Unlike many of his cohorts, he wasn’t a big drinker. He had seen too many talented riders descend into oblivion at the bottom of a bottle. He was at the top of his game right now, the man to beat. He wasn’t going to let anything or anyone get the best of him.
    “You got it, hon.” She set the glass on the bar in front of him and set him up. “You here to go a round with the devil?”
    He smirked, raising the glass to his lips. His temptation wasn’t the cry of the blackjack table; it was the lure of the sexy little siren with a body built for sin. “I’m not a big gambler.”
    She set a hand on her hip, sizing him up. “What’re you doin’ in Sin City if you’re not a risk taker?”
    He drained the glass, savoring the burn. “Didn’t say I wasn’t a risk taker, darlin’.”
    She smiled, leaning over to reveal an impressive amount of cleavage. “Then tell me what you do for fun, handsome.”
    He’d been having a hell of a lot of fun earlier, but he was here to put that out of his mind. “I risk my life