Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Now he’s my husband. Thanks a lot, Las Vegas.
Daniel Lawton is the most annoying man on the planet.
He’s also my husband after a weekend spent in Vegas to celebrate my brother’s upcoming nuptials.
After a string of bad relationships, I swore I would never get married, but here I am, legally tied to the jerk.
With his big blue eyes, five hundred dollar haircut, and a body that would make any action hero sob in envy, he’s impossible to ignore.
I should know. I tried avoiding him in Sin City, but that ended with a wedding ring on my finger.
Now we’re at home in Manhattan and arguing at every turn.
When I make plans to fly back to Las Vegas to get an annulment, Daniel asks me for one small favor before I leave.
Unlike my husband, I have a heart, so I agree to help him out.
I soon realize that walking away from my mistake of a marriage may not be that easy after all.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER ONE
Gina
Las Vegas is supposed to be the land of the lucky, so why do I feel like the unluckiest woman on earth?
I nudge an elbow into my sister’s ribs.
She turns to face me. “What the hell, Gina? That hurt.”
The smile on Bella’s face tells me that it might have stung a touch, but she’s fine.
I tilt my head slightly. “Why is Lawton here?”
Her gaze wanders to where our older brother, Dominick, is standing next to a poker table in this crowded casino. Seated to his left is his lifelong best friend.
Daniel Lawton.
I’ve known him for as long as I can remember. I can count on one hand the moments when we haven’t wanted to strangle each other.
“He’s Dominick’s best man,” she points out. “How could I not invite him?”
I tuck a few strands of my long brown hair behind my ear. “You could have given me a heads-up that he’d be here.”
“He said he couldn’t make it,” she explains, shrugging her shoulders. “I guess he decided to make a surprise appearance.”
That’s the type of surprise I can do without.
She glances to the left when the joyous sounds of someone hitting the jackpot on a slot machine fill the air.
I trail her gaze to see a woman dressed in a long white lace gown jumping up and down. Next to her is a man in a black tuxedo, complete with a red bow tie.
“Do you think they’re on their way to one of the chapels to get hitched?” Bella’s hands dart to the middle of her chest. “Or maybe they’re already married, and this is their wedding night.”
My sister is three years younger than me. She’s also happily married with a beautiful daughter.
Bella is a firm believer in true love.
She found it with her husband, and now that Dominick is marrying the love of his life, I’m the focus of my sister’s heart eyes, and wishful dreams.
On her wedding day, she predicted that I’d be married before my twenty-ninth birthday. Since that’s less than a month from now, it’s time for her to face reality.
I’m never walking down the aisle. Love hasn’t been kind to me.
I’ve lost count of how many men have broken my heart. There was a time when I thought I’d find my perfect match, but those days are long gone.
“If they got married here, I give it a week,” I say flippantly. “Las Vegas weddings are a bad idea.”
Bella’s head snaps in my direction. “Don’t be so cynical.”
I skim a hand over the skirt of the short royal blue dress I’m wearing. It was a gift from one of my many sponsors.
When I announced on social media that I was heading to Vegas for the weekend, I was inundated with messages from companies looking to cash in on my online popularity.
I’m an influencer.
My follower count across all platforms is in the tens of millions.
Countless strangers scrutinize every image, video, and review I post. It doesn’t matter if I’m raving about a new lipstick shade or if I’m in the kitchen of my grandmother’s Italian restaurant back in New York City. Everyone has an opinion on my every move.
It’s exhausting.
“I like that dress.” Bella points to what I’m wearing before her gaze drops to her black pencil skirt and pink blouse. “I’m a mom, so I dialed it back.”
I smile. “You look beautiful, Bella.”
She does.
My sister and I share the same hair color, but that’s where our similarities end.
She’s shorter than I am, and her striking blue eyes don’t match mine. I was born with the same shade of brown eyes as our mom.
“We should go over and say hi to Daniel,” she suggests. “When’s the last time we saw him?”
I can’t speak for her, but I know the exact date I last saw Daniel Lawton. I can tell her the time and where I was when he walked away from me. It was just past three on a Wednesday afternoon almost a year ago on the sidewalk at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street in the shadow of the Empire State Building.