“The credit card went through just fine,” the older woman said.

Elvis nodded and pulled two sheets of paper from his inside breast pocket. He paused a moment as he appeared to study the paper. “ Jackson,” he said. “Is that right?”

Jackson nodded.

“ Jackson, do you take…”

After that, everything was a blur. In a detached way, as if she were watching herself from the back of the room, Lori heard Elvis officiate and she responded appropriately, but the scene became more surreal than real. Was she really pledging her troth to Jackson? And what exactly was a troth? Some corner of her mind took in the slight snore of the older woman sitting on the front row and the nonstop pecking of the young man texting. Looking into Jackson ’s eyes, she wondered what he was really thinking. She wondered if he secretly wanted to run screaming from this place. Of all her fears, that one was the biggest. Lori wanted to get the wedding done before he reconsidered and backed out.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Elvis said, the words snapping Lori out of her fog. “You may kiss the bride.”

She and Jackson stared at each other for a frozen moment of incredulity. Omigod, they’d done it.

“Go ahead,” Elvis urged. “I have one more song for you.”

Slowly and deliberately, Jackson slid his hand behind her back and pulled her toward him. He lowered his head, and she lifted her mouth. To the sound of Elvis butchering “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You,” they sealed the deal.

Twenty minutes later, she’d returned the faux bouquet and the faux rings they’d borrowed for the ceremony, and she and Jackson climbed into the limo that was part of the ceremony package.

Jackson exhaled and rubbed his face. “That’s over,” he said, then sat up and glanced at the bar. “There’s a bottle of cheap champagne. Do you want any? I think I want a scotch.”

“If it didn’t taste so bad, I’d want some scotch, too,” she said.

He glanced over his shoulder at her and chuckled. “Then what will it be, my beautiful bride?”

“Cheap champagne,” she said, her stomach knotting at the word bride. “This is going to sound horrible, but it felt like a funeral.”

Jackson poured a glass of scotch and tossed back a gulp. “There were a few times I was worried Elvis might not survive the ceremony.”

She watched him open the champagne and pour the bubbly liquid into a flute. “It’s hard to believe that people deliberately choose that kind of ceremony.”

“I think we got the second string.”

“Or third,” she said, accepting the glass as he handed it to her.

“Or fourth,” he said and laughed again as he clinked his glass with hers. “It’s done now, Lori. You can spend money.”

She nodded, fighting a sudden hollow feeling. Glancing outside the window as she took a sip of champagne, she stared at the lights. “I’ve never been to Vegas without my father,” she said.

“You’re kidding,” Jackson said.

“No.” She glanced back at him. “He always thought this was the perfect place for me to get in trouble. And of course, he always saw it as his job to keep me out of trouble.”

He nodded, silent for a moment as he took another drink from his glass. “What kind of trouble did you want to get into?”

Her stomach dipped again at the expression on his face. “I don’t know,” she said, shrugging. “The usual stuff, I guess. Shoot some craps, visit some clubs.” She laughed. “Dance on a tabletop.”

Pausing, he tilted his head to one side. “We might be able to cover some of that tonight.”

“Tonight?” she echoed, surprised. She’d anticipated going back to separate rooms and separate beds and pretending nothing was different between them. With the exception of the legality, she supposed it wasn’t.

“We’re here. We may as well. Within reason, you can shoot craps while I play blackjack. The only problem is you’ll finish a lot faster than I will.”

“I could do the slots,” she said, warming to the idea. “Or watch you play. Are you any good?”

“I do okay,” he said in a humble voice.

“You must be very good,” she said.

“I wouldn’t say that,” he returned.

“If it’s the truth, why not?”

“When you’re in Vegas, if you don’t want to lose big, never brag about how good you are,” he said. “Or how much money you have.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s always somebody ready to show you how to lose, and there’s always somebody ready to relieve you of your money.”

“Okay,” she said, unable to keep a smile from her face. “I’m going to do Vegas.”

Jackson kept an eye on Lori while he raked in the chips at the blackjack table he’d chosen after careful scrutiny. It was a hot table with a fun crowd and a flirtatious dealer intent on making sure everyone had a good time.

He’d watched Lori win, lose, and win again at craps. He was impressed when she’d walked away after winning. Now she was feeding the slots while she sipped her second margarita.

Thirty minutes later, he felt a foot on his ankle that slowly moved up his calf. Surprised, he glanced around the table and caught the vixen gleam in the eye of the dealer. “My shift’s over soon,” she informed the group, but her gaze lingered on Jackson.

The dealer was attractive and had a good sense of humor. He wondered if he would have taken her up on her offer in other circumstances. At the moment, he couldn’t even consider it.

He was just about to fold and walk away when Lori appeared beside him. “How’s it going?” she asked.

“Not bad,” he said. “I was just getting ready to leave.”

He felt the dealer’s foot fall from his ankle. “Does the lady want in? Are you two together?”

“Yes,” Jackson said.

“No,” Lori said at the same time, then looked at him. “I don’t want to play. I just came to watch.”

“I was telling her that you and I are together,” he said. “We just got married.”

The group around the table crowed and oohed and ahhed.

The dealer smiled. “Just married and you’re here on the floor. I would think you would have better things to do.”

“Soon,” he said, slipping his arm around Lori’s waist, feeling her stiffen in surprise. With his other hand, he scooped up his chips. “Thanks. Have a nice evening,” he said and led Lori away.

“What was that about?” she asked, staring up at him.

“The dealer was extra-friendly,” he said.

She gave him a blank look. “How? Did she give you extra chips or something?”

He couldn’t swallow a chuckle. “No, but she wanted to give me something else.”

Her eyes widened. “She solicited you?”

“It was more of an invitation than a solicitation.”

“Hmmph. That’s-” She broke off, as if she couldn’t come up with the right description. “Bold.”

“Vegas isn’t known for subtleties.”

“True,” she said, glancing over her shoulder at the dealer with a frown.

“Let’s cash in my chips and I’ll take you to a club,” he said, wanting to get her in a better mood.

She met his gaze again and slowly smiled. “That could be fun. We can dance.”

“Dance?” he said. “I thought you wanted to dance on a table. I’m not dancing on a table.”

“I was joking about that. You don’t have to dance on a table.”

“I don’t dance.”

She sighed. “I guess that means I’ll have to find someone else to dance with me.”

Shit. He was going to have to dance.

Twenty minutes later, Jackson was wedged intimately between Lori and someone else he’d never met in his life. The dance floor was packed with writhing bodies, and he and Lori were positioned in a dark corner. The good news was that the moves he made were so limited, no one could see that he couldn’t dance.

Lori spun around, wiggling her ass and jiving to the music while Jackson shifted from one foot to the other. She rocked her booty against him, clearly unaware of her effect. He would have to be inhuman not to grow hard from the way she brushed him.