Sometimes dream crushes do come true.

Vegas Nights, Book 1

Reagan can’t believe her luck—and not in a good way. One minute she’s hanging out with her friends at an exclusive party in Las Vegas. The next, she’s attracted the attention of a famous actor. Not just any actor. Declan Carter, the man on whom she used to—okay, might still—have a fangirl crush. Whose blue eyes leave her embarrassingly tongue tied.

All Declan wants is to meet a nice, normal woman who won’t use him as a stepping stone to fame. Something about Reagan tells him she could be that rare woman, and he follows his instinct to invite her back to his suite—where they proceed to have wild monkey sex. All. Night. Long.

What was supposed to be one night of no-regrets sex stretches out into a blissful weekend of two people who can’t get enough of each other. But when the glamour of Sin City wears off, they’re standing on the edge of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to turn a weekend fling into something lasting. Will they take the jump?

Warning: Smokin’ hot sexy weekend with a gorgeous actor? There shouldn’t be a warning—more like encouragement to indulge your fantasies!

Reckless Nights

Karen Erickson

Dedication

To my friends Melody Grace, Cora Carmack, Lexi Ryan, Jen McLaughlin, Christina Lee, Tammara Webber, Jay Crownover and KP Simmon for hanging out with me in Vegas on a Saturday night. This one’s for you.

Chapter One

Declan Carter was holding her hand. Yes, one of her favorite actors, who had seemed to disappear off the face of the Earth a few years ago when he was on top of his game, was grasping hold of her hand like he never wanted to let it go. His long fingers were strong and warm, his palm pressed against hers. Staring at her with those intense, light blue eyes Reagan remembered being mesmerized by from his movies.

Eyes that seemed to pierce her soul and see right through her, like they never wanted to let her go. They’d had that affect when she watched him on the big screen long ago and they were having that exact effect right now, at this very moment. She parted her lips, eager to say something, anything, but no words wanted to come out. He’d struck her silent with just a look.

He still hadn’t said anything to her either, though she’d uttered a lame “hi” in greeting when James introduced him. Speaking of James…

“Talk, man,” James said under his breath as he sidled up to Declan, giving him a nudge on the shoulder. “Swallowed your tongue or what?” James turned his attention on her. “See? I told you that you look damn good in that dress. He can’t even speak, he’s so enraptured with you. And this man can charm the panties off just about any woman.”

“Shut the fuck up, James,” Declan said, his gaze never leaving Reagan.

Slowly she extracted her hand from his grip. This was getting kind of weird. She felt odd, what with this man staring at her and not saying a word. What was his problem?

And no way was Declan enraptured with her, as James so kindly put it. He could have any woman he wanted. She wasn’t that special.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Reagan said, feeling stupid. Woefully inadequate. Yeah, she was wearing the awesome dress James had convinced her to buy and she’d spent too much money on. It was red and gorgeous and wearing it made her feel sexy, but maybe…

Maybe this was a mistake. Her biggest dream was coming true, meeting Declan Carter, but it didn’t necessarily feel right. First off, he hadn’t really spoken to her. Second, she was a fraud, wearing the expensive red dress when really she was an emergency room nurse. She didn’t wear pricey dresses and attend glamorous parties in Las Vegas. Her normal life consisted of the graveyard shift five days a week, seeing unimaginable things and sleeping throughout the day when normal people went about their business.

Work and sleep. Sleep and work. That was half the reason she and her best friends Andrea and Natalie had planned this girls’ weekend in Vegas in the first place. So they could let loose and have a little fun. Drink fancy cocktails, dance in a crowded club, gamble and flirt with boys. Men.

Sexy, tempting men.

Things hadn’t started out right. Their flight had been delayed—a few times. Their luggage was lost. They met James when they were going shopping for new outfits as they waited for their still-missing luggage and he insisted they buy outrageous cocktail dresses so he could bring them to an exclusive party.

She was thrilled to be at this party, to be in Declan’s presence. But not if he wasn’t going to say anything to her.

“Come with me,” Declan said in a commanding voice, startling her. He wasn’t asking her to come with him—he was telling her.

And she was doing it. Letting him lead her, his hand curved around her elbow, guiding her through the crowd toward the makeshift bar in the corner. The bartender smiled at the both of them, his eyes locking on Declan as his expression turned serious. “Something to drink, sir?”

“Just water for me, thanks,” Declan answered, sliding a look at Reagan. “For you?”

“Um, white wine, please.” How boring. She should’ve asked for some sort of fancy cocktail but she didn’t know the names of any cocktails beyond a Sex on the Beach or a Blow Job shot.

Yeah. That would be moving kind of fast, rattling off dirty-named drinks.

The bartender set the wineglass on the bar and Declan grabbed it, offering it to her, their fingers grazing when she took it from him. A zing shot through her at the simple touch, and his eyes widened the slightest bit before he turned away to accept his glass of water. She took a gulp of her wine, hoping the alcohol would soothe her nerves. This was no big deal, right? Hanging out with an actor, having a drink with him. She could handle it.

Play it cool, Reagan. After all, he’s just a man. He puts his pants on in the morning one leg at a time, just like everyone else.

Yeah. She’d just thought of Declan without his pants on. And that just sent her pulse throbbing.

The moment he turned around to face her once more, that sexy gaze meeting hers, her heart tripped over itself. She brought the glass back to her lips and took a healthy drink, smiling nervously when she found him watching her intently.

“Nervous?” he asked with a raise of his sexy eyebrow.

How can an eyebrow be so damn sexy?

“Thirsty,” she answered. “It’s hot. Here. In Vegas.” Oh God. Could she sound any dumber? She wasn’t out hiking through the desert—she was in an air-conditioned room in a giant hotel.

“Indeed it is,” Declan said, his voice laced with amusement. “Where are you from?”

“Los Angeles.”

“Ah, me too.” Of course. He was an actor, for God’s sake. “It can get fairly hot there too, don’t you think?”

“But this is a much…drier heat.” That they were talking about the weather was totally lame, right? God, she sounded like a complete ninny who didn’t know how to make small talk. “I’ve never been here before.”

“You haven’t?” He looked surprised. “But it’s kind of close.”

She shrugged. “I’ve been busy with school and now work. I don’t get much time off.”

“What do you do?” His question was polite, the tone of his voice almost…bored? Oh no, she’d blown it. He was losing interest because she was babbling like an idiot and talking about the weather.

“I’m an ER nurse.” She finished off her glass of wine, not even worried if he thought she was some sort of lush or whatever. He hadn’t ordered an alcoholic drink and she remembered reading something years ago about him being a total partier. Maybe he’d changed his ways?

“Really? Now, that’s fascinating.” And he sounded sincere. He even moved closer to her, his head dropping, his mouth near her ear. “I just got a new role for a movie, and I’m playing a doctor.”