Chapter 1 – The dare.
Vegas didn't keep secrets, it sold them to the highest bidders and tonight Ashley came to sell a little of herself, the worry, the bills, the bad news.
" Be stupid." Brooke had said. "For once in your life be stupid." So Ashley turned off her brain. As she put on the shiniest gown she owned, she let her curls run amok ready to drown in alcohol and forget.
As she stepped into The Bellagio, her phone buzzed, " Touch down yet? Don't forget, turn your brain off.
Across the room, he watched her. Quiet, reserved, composed a Man in his element. He didn't raise his voice, he didn't need to because every movement, every tilt of his head, carried authority and control.
The kind that demanded immediate attention, respect, and compliance.
"You really want to do this?" His voice when it came, was deceptively soft, but there was a steel undertone beneath it.
Almost like a warning. " You've been staring at the phone all night, contemplating joining the party or not?" He said as he handed her a cocktail, like she were his companion.
Ashley met his gaze and swallowed hard, he was too gorgeous a man to be ignored.
" Do you always hit on strangers at the bar?" she responded, deliberately playful.
"Why? Do you think I'm hitting on you? A spark lit in his eyes, sharp, witty, and unyielding.
His question felt more like a challenge or dare.
" I'm Ashley Ashford and you are?" she said, extending her hand.
" Julian, nice to meet you." He gripped them in a very firm handshake, which took her by surprise.
He didn't bother with his last name, she noticed.
It felt more like a deliberate omission.
He toasted, " Here's to questionable judgment and a yes-night".
She smiled and they drank.
Her instincts told her to run, but she was feeling particularly mischievous tonight. Wasn't that the point? To unwind and let go.
She was fully vested in seeing how far the night would go. The possibilities, all too tempting.
"Come lose money with me," he said casually.
They adjourned to the table. He didn't hover, he played like a man who enjoyed the game and the dare more.
Ashley matched him, keeping her promise to Brooke.
After a series of dares together, she whispered "This is insane,".
He stepped closer, closing the distance with unnerving ease. "Yes. But I can tell you're interested, aren't you? "
"Are you sure you can handle another one?" he quizzed further, without waiting for her response. The corner of his mouth lifted in a teasing curve.
The heat rushed up her neck. "I've handled worse," she lied, shrugging her shoulders in an attempt to sound chilled and casual.
He was everything she shouldn't want. Unpredictable, attractive, an air of mystery, handsome, his presence alone sent her pulse racing. What could go wrong?
"Good," he said, nearer now.
The air between them thickened with tension so sharp it almost made her knees wobbly. He smelled of expensive cologne and something else, something primal, dangerous, and thrilling.
Ashley tossed back another shot, the burning liquid, shot down her throat, and she felt bold enough to meet his teasing look.
Julian's smirk widened, as if he had been waiting for this challenge all night. "You're braver than you look," he murmured, his voice low and rough.
Brave. Bold. Reckless. In his mouth, they sounded like invitations. Ashley swallowed the lump in her throat and found herself leaning just a little closer.
Her pulse thundered against her ribcage as the chemistry between them became impossible to ignore. His eyes found hers, dark and unsettlingly focused, and the world around her blurred. Time narrowed.
Heartbeats became deafening. She didn't just feel watched, she felt assessed, measured, and found desirable.
Julian smiled at her knowingly, like he was letting her in on a secret she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"Tonight… nothing is safe."
"I'm not here to gamble," she whispered, almost to herself, doubt suddenly creeping in.
"Everything's a gamble," he said, voice low enough that her stomach tightened with tension. "Every choice. Every mistake. Every heartbeat."
"Okay," she said, trying to sound confident, "what's your game, Julian?"
"No game for now," he replied smoothly. "We'll just continue with a truth or dare."
"You're playing with fire," she warned even as her mouth tipped up.
"And I'm enjoying it," he countered, his smirk progressing into something darker and intimate.
The kind of smirk that promised trouble… and pleasure.
Then came the kiss.
One fleeting, electric brush of lips that seared her senses. It was nothing like she'd expected.
Julian's kiss wasn't tentative, it was bold, claiming, daring, and full of reckless abandon.
Ashley's knees buckled slightly, and she had to grab the edge of the counter to steady herself. Heat flared in places she hadn't known could feel this alive.
She pulled back, gasping for breath, and he didn't release her. His hands framed her face with gentle insistence, thumbs brushing her cheekbones. "Don't fight it," he murmured. "Not tonight."
Ashley laughed, breathless. "You make it sound like a rule."
"Rules," he said, tilting his head as his gaze darkened with intent, "are for people who don't really want what they can't have."
Something inside her twisted.
She did want him, and God, it terrified her. But tonight wasn't about fear. Tonight was about surrender, about the thrill and fun, even if just for a few hours.
There was something wild about Julian Blackwood, untamed, and addictive. And for the first time in her life, Ashley Ashford wanted to live in the moment and let go of the weight crushing her, after all that was why she'd come to Vegas.
The reckless, thrill-seeking part of her in collaboration with her heart, screamed yes!
Yes to bad decisions.
Yes to excitement.
Yes to a man who made every nerve ending in her body hum with tension and anticipation.
Yes, because she was tired of rules.
Yes, because she wanted the spark, the fire, the impossible thrill that Julian Blackwood offered easily.
They kissed again, by the time she came back to her overly conscious senses, her hands were already on his muscular chest, hard under linen, tracing the lines of his shirt beneath her fingers, memorizing parts of him that she had no business memorizing.
Julian's hands slid down her arms, over the curve of her waist, and she shivered, melting under his touch.
Every nerve in her body came alive in a way she'd never experienced before. Leaving no room for doubt. Her heart raced, and she realized with startling clarity that she had no control over this night, the man, or the reckless path she had stepped into.
They didn't see the headline waiting with their names, which only needed the right photo,
As he broke the kiss, he leaned in closer and whispered something into her ear that stunned her.
"What?" she asked, needing to be sure.
"Marry me," he repeated, his smirk replaced by a dangerous seriousness.