Page 77 of Gin & Jewels

“Did you pack me a swimsuit?”

I grinned as I looked over at her. “No.”

Cassie chuckled. “Then how can I go swimming?”

My grin widened. “People are far away from us. Just take off your clothes.”

“Yeah, right!” She laughed and pushed at my shoulder playfully.

“Oh, come on. It’s just me.”

“And if someone shows up?”

“We’ll make a run for it. We’ll never see any of these people again.”

“Unless you know them,” she pointed out.

I did know a lot of people in the area. “True.”

“But”—she sat up—“I can always swim in my bra and panties.”

I sat up too. “So, is that a yes?”

“What about my stitches?”

My shoulders fell. “Oh, right.”

While she could shower and get her stitches wet—they were almost completely healed—I didn’t think it would be a good idea to swim in the lake water. We couldn’t chance her incision getting infected or something.

“Are there places in Vegas like this?”

“I’m not sure. I just know about Lake Mead. But”—I grinned—“I have a pool at my house.”

Her blue eyes widened. “You do?”

“I think every house has a pool in Vegas.”

“Not mine.” She stuck out her bottom lip.

“More of a reason to sell it and get the place you want.”

Even though I was talking about Cassie finding her own home to buy, I kind of wanted her to move in with me. We’d spent the last thirteen days together. While most of those were in the hospital, it was still like we were rooming together. And since the night she asked me to lay with her until she fell asleep, I hadn’t slept on the couch, and I couldn’t imagine going to bed alone anymore.

“You’ll call me when you land?” Mom asked as she got out of the car at the departures terminal.

“Yes,” I assured her, wrapping her in my arms. Daryl had let us know that the case regarding the shooting was closed. The DA wasn’t going to prosecute me for killing Micky because it was ruled self-defense. Holly was a witness, and Micky was the one who brought the gun and shot two other people before I disarmed him. We still had to deal with the robbery case in Vegas, though.

“You take care of Cassie,” Mom ordered.

I smiled at Cassie as I continued hugging my mom. “I will. Don’t worry. You raised me right.”

We broke apart, and Mom moved to wrap her arms around Cassie. “And you call me if you need anything at all.”

“I will,” Cassie replied.

Security was eyeing us. “We need to go, Mom, before they yell at us.”

She pulled away from Cassie. “I know. I’m just going to miss you guys.”