What Happens Here (eBook)

Prologue

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

For the past five years, Jasmine and her three best friends, Candace, Mackenzie, and Savannah have taken an annual girl’s trip to a random destination, either domestic or international, using that time as a way to reconnect and catch up on each other’s lives. These trips were for the ladies only, and that meant, no children, spouses, or significant others were invited.

This year’s trip was special for Jasmine because they would be celebrating her 30th birthday. Due to the significance of the trip, her friends allowed her to pick the destination, which for Jasmine, was a no-brainer. There was only one place that Jasmine wanted to celebrate turning the BIG 3-0…and that was LAS VEGAS!

On the day of the trip, the ladies planned to meet up at a restaurant in the airport before heading to the Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino, where they would be staying for the weekend. Since Jasmine and Mackenzie both live in Charlotte, North Carolina, they decided to fly to Vegas together, while Candace & Savannah flew in from Atlanta and Denver.

Jasmine was extremely excited about the trip, and with it being her birthday, she planned to cut loose, and enjoy herself. That plan included lots of dancing and tons of gambling. After all, no one came to Vegas and didn’t hit at least one roulette table.

It was summer, and as a kindergarten teacher, Jasmine was looking forward to some relaxation, and fun. Both she and Mackenzie worked for the same elementary school in Charlotte, and while Jasmine was a kindergarten teacher there, her best friend Mackenzie worked with the 3rd graders. Although she loved her babies, Jasmine really looked forward to these annual trips with her friends, and after the year she’d had, she needed it more than she cared to admit.

Once their flight had landed, Jasmine and Mackenzie made their way to the restaurant where they would be meeting up with Candace and Van. The flight had been almost five hours, and her bladder was about to burst. After inquiring about the location of the restrooms, she excused herself and headed to the back of the restaurant where the server had indicated.

At the same time….

Ethan’s best friend, business partner, and brother from another mother, Daryl, was getting married that weekend, and being the Best Man, Ethan had flown in from Chicago to Las Vegas for Daryl’s “destination wedding” to his fiancée, Layla Moretti. The wedding was scheduled to take place at the Caesars Palace Hotel & Casino that weekend, and while Ethan waited for Shane’s flight to arrive from Miami, he sat in an airport restaurant having a beer. Ethan and Shane had grown up together, and while they weren’t blood-related, the bond they shared was just as strong, or stronger than any blood ties could ever be.

Daryl and Layla had flown in from Chicago to Las Vegas a few days earlier to meet with their wedding planner, and to ensure that everything would go according to plan. They had arranged for Daryl to meet Ethan and Shane at the airport’s baggage claim area and drive them to the hotel, so they could relax before the rehearsal dinner that night.

After taking another long drink from his beer, Ethan sat the bottle on the table, and lowered his head, so that he could massage the tight muscles at the back of his neck. After working twelve-to-fourteen-hour days at his landscaping company, E & D Landscaping, Ethan was exhausted. Once the weekend was over, he planned to take some much-needed time off, so that he could relax. Although this trip was as close to a vacation as he’d had in four years, he knew there would be a great deal to do, which wouldn’t leave him much down time.

Closing his eyes, he raised his head on an inhale, and caught a whiff of one of the most intoxicating scents that he had ever smelled. Slowly inhaling, Ethan noticed the scent wasn’t strong or overbearing, but instead it was soft, alluring and very feminine. Although the restaurant was busy with patrons, and the aroma of warring scents filled the air, this scent, with its sweet sugary scent filled his nose, taking dominance over the others. Ethan frowned as he turned his head, scanning the room to see if a server had passed by with a dessert tray.

Seeing nothing, but patrons enjoying their meals while engrossed in conversation, Ethan turned more fully in his chair, attempting to locate the source of the alluring scent. His eyes caught the movement of a mocha skinned woman with long dark hair, and a pair of shapely, toned legs as she moved away from him, and towards the back of the restaurant. He caught a brief glimpse of her round ass as it jiggled slightly in the yellow sundress that she wore, but just as he caught sight of her, she was quickly swallowed up by the throng of patrons.

Could it have been her?

Before he could put thought to action, his body was moving of its own accord into the direction that he had last seen the young woman. Ethan made his way through the crowd but was hit with a pang of disappointment when he scanned the area and realized that he had lost sight of her. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair as he released an agitated breath. His agitation was quickly replaced with hope when he caught the lingering traces of the scent once again. Ethan couldn’t help but feel like his grandfather’s old hound dog, Duke, as he lifted his nose, and inhaled deeply, almost locking onto the scent trail.

Ethan was on the hunt...

Moments before….

After telling Mackenzie that she needed to freshen up, Jasmine excused herself before heading to the restroom. Her steps paused briefly as she approached a table that was located by the large window near the front of the restaurant. It was the sight of the very attractive man, sitting alone, that had caught her eye. The man was gorgeous and would have caught the eye of any woman, or man in the room, but it was the look of exhaustion in his handsome features that pulled her up short. She wasn’t sure what had made her notice that about him, but he had the look of a man that was in desperate need of a break. Her heart went out to him when he lowered his head and began to massage his neck.

He had appeared deep in thought, and if the bowed head, and need for a neck massage was any indication of what was on his mind, it appeared to be weighing heavy on him. Shaking her head and dismissing her thoughts about a man that she didn’t know, and about things that weren’t any of her concern, Jasmine gave the man one final glance before she moved past his table as she headed towards the restroom.

After using the facilities, Jasmine washed and dried her hands, before applying more lip balm to her lips. She sighed as she checked her reflection in the mirror, and uselessly ran a hand through her mass of naturally curly hair that seemed to always have a mind of its own, no matter how much she tried to tame it. A little over a year ago, and after ending a six-year relationship, Jasmine had decided to grow it long again. The feeling of the weight of it at the middle of her back, caused her to smirk as she thought of how her ex-douchebag of a fiancée, Marcus, would have, as her Nanna would say, a “shitting cow fit” if he saw how long it had grown. Jasmine laughed to herself, as she turned to the side to admire the length of her hair in the mirror.

Jasmine had once heard that most men loved long hair, but that hadn’t been the case during her six-year relationship with Marcus. Apparently, Marcus preferred her hair short, so she had kept it shorter than she would have liked just to prevent any arguments. Jasmine felt that Marcus had always been overly critical of her. Hell, he had complained about everything! From how she’d worn her hair, her style of clothing, and towards the end of their relationship, he had even complained about how she ate her food, folded her towels and even how she had placed the roll of tissue on the damn spool. Mimicking his voice, she said, “Jasmine, the tissue paper should be rolled over the top, instead of under.” Blah. Blah…fucking blah. Tucking a long section of curly hair behind her ear, she shrugged, and added those items to the long list of things that made Marcus an asshole. Oh yes…did she happen to mention that he had cheated with a woman that had…you guessed it… long hair! Bastard.

Jasmine closed her eyes, inhaling a calming breath, before slowly releasing it as she attempted to mentally shake off those frustrating thoughts. She had ended things with Marcus over a year ago, and she refused to allow him, or thoughts of him to ruin her trip to Vegas. She was finally able to check off an item from the bucket list that she had created after ending things with him, and she was determined to enjoy her birthday weekend.

Knowing that Candace and Van would be arriving soon, Jasmine straightened her spine, and gave herself a mental shake before she plastered a smile on her face and left the restroom. She was slipping her lip balm back into her purse, momentarily oblivious to her surroundings when she collided into a hard, muscled chest….

The life altering collision….

“Oh … I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” Jasmine said, as she looked up into a pair of the most beautiful hazel green eyes that she had ever seen. The breath caught in her lungs, as she...