My Vegas Groom
by Piper Rayne
Self-Published
Book 3 in The Greene's Series
Waking up next to a stranger wearing a wedding ring was not on the itinerary.
I came to Las Vegas for a quick girl’s trip, but somehow ended up a married woman. What I thought would stay in Vegas followed me back to my small town of Sunrise Bay, Alaska.
Of course, my new husband—MMA champion fighter, Logan Stone—couldn’t find me alone at my house to tell me he wants to give our impromptu nuptials a shot. He has to tell me in front of my entire family and half the town.
The two of us couldn’t be more opposite, but he offers me a deal I can’t refuse which involves me pretending we’re happily married for three months. Yeah, a lot of things can change in that short amount of time, most importantly catching feelings for a man whose lifestyle I despise.
Genre:
Darn it! My Vegas Groom had so much potential!
It was okay. Just okay. There were things I really liked about it, and things I didn't.
Let's start with what I liked.
Logan.
I loved Logan.
Now, it's funny, because in real life, I'm not attracted to beefy guys.
I love a nerd.
An MMA fighter, is beefy. And he is written that way, sure.
But his personality? LOVE IT. Listen, I've read quite a few MMA fighter romances. This is the first time I've ever read one that the character is not your stereotypical jock.
He is a momma's boy.
He believes in destiny and fate. Not that I really believe in that, but I've never read an athlete character that does.
He wants to fall in love. He wants a family. He is kind and patient.
He is almost too perfect.
Another thing I appreciated, was the representation of the effects that infidelity has on the children. Because it was right on point. I was immediently connected to Nikki, because I went through the exact same thing she did. I was sixteen when I had to tell my mother that my father was having an affair. After years of my mother suspecting it, and I standing up for him, it was painful. Watching the pain she was in, and trying to deal with my anger towards my dad. It sucked. It scarred me. My trust in men was destroyed, and I went from believing in unconditional love, to conditional love. That in order to keep the man I loved, I had to sacrifice. I had to bend my will to him. Sexually, emotionally ... it tooks years for me to recognize that and change that about myself. It took a long time to trust my husband, a man who has never done anything to make him untrustworthy. I felt Nikki's character embodied that damage perfectly.
What I didn't like, was that I didn't feel like the chemistry was there. Logan and Nikki felt ... bland. The sex was written hot, but romantically, it was stale.
The ending was also really frustrating. I prefer a story that gradually builds up to the climax, and then dips to a satisfying conclusion. My Vegas Groom ends immediately after the climax. A climax that was so rushed, it barely felt like a climax.
While there were elements I enjoyed about this story, in terms of the series, it's probably going to be my least liked. It didn't feel like it went anywhere, and then, BAM, happily ever after. I needed a bit more of them falling in love, and I needed a bigger climax.
Nikki: “No offense, but just looking at you, I’d say you’re not exactly the poster boy for marriage.”
His expression dims for a split second before he grins.
Logan: “Don’t let the exterior fool you. I have a beating heart inside my chest and everything.” I’m the first to admit I have trust issues because of my father cheating on my mom. But that’s what happens when the first man you love falls so far down from the pedestal you placed him on. You tend to think every man is going to follow. Logan: “Seriously? You think she’s the girl for me because she doesn’t want to be with me?”
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe my mom has lost it.
Mom: “If the girl had stuck around, she would’ve been with you for the wrong reasons. I see those girls when I go to your fights. The ones who hang off you and try to use their bodies to sway you into doing their bidding. You need someone who’s going to challenge you.” Dori: “Can I snap a picture? My grandsons are going to go crazy when I show them.”
Dori hands me her cell phone.
Dori: “Get in, Ethel.”
As I’m positioning Dori’s phone to take the picture, Ethel looks at Logan.
Ethel: “I’m your grandma, by the way.”
He smiles at her.
Ethel: “Lucky me.” Dori: “Come on, let’s go celebrate,”
Dori says, sliding her arm through Logan’s and turning him back toward the brewery.
Nikki: “Logan and I aren’t done talking,”
I say to their retreating backs. Ethel puts her arm around me.
Ethel: “Relax. Have some fun. Though last I heard, you might’ve had a little too much fun recently.”
She looks ahead of us.
Ethel: “Great ass.”
Nikki: “Ethel!”
I screech. She laughs.
Ethel: “Don’t make me crush a Xanax in your drink to get you to loosen up.”
Nikki: “Nice. You’re talking about drugging me? How grandmotherly of you.”
Ethel: “Technically, I’m your step-grandma, so I’m more fun.”
She winks. Nikki: “You can stop the Romeo act now,”
Logan: “Romeo act?”
Nikki: “You just pranced in here on your white horse, ready to save me.”
Logan: “I think those are two different love stories,”
I say, earning a glare that could make a serial killer run for his life.
Logan: “I’m just saying.” Nikki: “Do you like it?”
Nikki asks while looking at me through the mirror.
Logan: “I could show you how much I like it, but we’d be arrested for public indecency.” Logan: "Hell, I married you the first night we met. What does that tell you?”
Nikki: “That you probably shouldn’t drink tequila again.”
I grin.
Logan: “Ah, I think I make good decisions when I drink tequila. Hank: “Next question, and we’ll start with you, Nikki. How did you know your spouse was the one?”
Adam: “After the fourth tequila shot?”
Adam says sarcastically. I narrow my eyes and he laughs while Lucy hits him in the stomach.
Adam: “Come on. You can’t get drunk-married in Vegas and expect people not to make fun of it.” Dori walks away but is quickly swallowed up by a group of small kids.
Ethel: “Those are her great-grandkids. Did you know that I don’t have any great-grandkids yet?”
Ethel says to me.
Ethel: “I’m sick of not having anything to brag about at the retirement home. Do you get what I’m saying?”
She nudges me with her elbow.
Mom: “She wants you and Nikki to have kids, Log,”
my mom fills me in as though I can’t figure it out on my own.
Logan: “I get what she’s saying,”
I say to my mom, annoyed over how this entire conversation is going.
Ethel: “Don’t worry, I understand you can’t be using all your energy to get Nikki knocked up right now. After the fight, I’ll really start putting the pressure on." Woman: “That’s your grandson?”
a woman asks, and I turn to see someone I don’t know sitting with Ethel.
Ethel: “Yep. And see that girl in the braids? He likes her.”
Hank: “Mom,”
Ethel: “What? We all know it. He’s twelve, dear. When you were twelve, you were taking long showers.”
Cade: “Can we please not do this here? We embarrass the kid enough.”
Jed: “Isn’t that the truth. A twelve-year-old’s alone time isn’t something to joke about.”
Jed laughs. Ethel smacks Cade on the back of the head.
Cade: “I’m way too old for you to be doing that,”
Ethel: “As long as I have two feet above the ground, you’re not too old for me to take you over my knee.”
Apparently concerned, Cade quiets down. Nikki: “Let’s get this show on the road.”
I strip off my sweatshirt and drop it on a table, then I walk to the mat and take off my shoes.
Nikki: “Flip me around,”
I tell Logan.
Man: “That’s what she said,”
a man says, and everyone laughs. Leann: “Isaac and Midge, be quiet and let the poor man show you how to defend yourself,”
Leann, the activities director, scolds them. Isaac stands with the aid of his cane.
Isaac: “You want to know how I defend myself?”
He pulls out the top of his cane to show a knife. A sizable one that looks shiny and sharp. Logan instinctively moves back and throws an arm around my waist like a mom does in a car when she brakes too fast.
Isaac: “We’re not young like you.”
The man looks to a few men for confirmation and they all nod, holding up their canes. I better warn Ethel and Dori to cool it with the sarcasm around here.
Leann: “Oh boy, I’m not sure you’re allowed to have those in here.”
Leann steps forward. Isaac puts the knife back, holding the cane to his body. He laughs again.
Logan: “This is the most fun I’ve had since I got here.”
I tilt my head.
Nikki: “Why’s that?”
Logan: “Because I get to fling you around. There’s only one bad part.”
Nikki: “Do I even want to know?”
Logan: “We’re fully clothed.” Nikki: “Thanks, Grandma and Dori. Hope you enjoyed Logan.”
Midge: “Not as much as you’re going to.”
Midge lowers her glasses and checks me out.
Midge: “I wish I had a quarter to bounce off that butt.”
Nikki: “Midge!”
Nikki squeaks and her eyes widen.
Midge: “I might be old and wrinkly, but I’m still a woman.”
She pushes her glasses back up. She blows out a breath.
Nikki: “You don’t even remember marrying me.”
Logan: “Yet here I am!”
I open my arms wide for her.
Logan: “Waiting for you to want anything to do with me. Waiting for you to admit that there’s something here that neither of us can put into words and that it’s good, with the potential to be really fucking great.” Molly: “Hey, girl.”
From the sounds of it, she’s still at the brewery.
Nikki: “Busy?” I ask, shrugging out of my yoga pants and panties, replacing them with my pajama set bottoms.
Molly: “For you, never.”
Cade: “No need for work to interfere,”
Cade says in the background.
Molly: “Don’t worry, I flipped him off for you.” Nikki: “Is that Cade again?"
Molly: “Jed.”
Nikki: “I’ll let you go. I don’t want him to—”
I hear them wrestling over the phone.
Molly: “Sorry!”
Molly screams in the background which means…
Jed: “Nik, get your head out of your ass. Our dad’s an asshole, so what? I’m a decent guy,”
Molly: “That’s the argument you’re going with?”
Molly says behind him.
Jed: “I am a good guy.”
Molly: “Um… you’re a great flirt. Give me the phone. I’m the one who can talk sense into her.”
Jed: “No way. I’m her brother, we share the same dipshit father.”
They continue having their own conversation.
Nikki: “I’m gonna go, you guys,”
Jed: “Give the guy a chance. Hell, give any guy a chance to prove you wrong. If Logan’s that bad of a guy, I’ll be here for you and I promise to pick you up and dust you off.”
Molly: “You should be offering to kick his ass if he breaks her heart,”
Jed: “Have you seen the guy?”
Jed asks incredulously. Nikki: “Please… just don’t hurt me,”
I whisper. His arm wraps around my waist and he pulls me to him, under the stream of water, soaking my pajamas so they stick to me like a second skin.
Logan: “I’ll protect your heart with my life.” When we’re about to retire inside the tent, a shooting star falls from the sky.
Logan: “Make a wish, Nik,”
he says, using my shortened name and something about that feels oh so right. I close my eyes and silently wish that this marriage works out. My eyes open to find Logan smiling at me, then he takes my head in his hand.
Logan: “Me too,”
he whispers and his lips land on mine. Nikki: “Just an FYI then, I’m not an outdoorsy person.”
Logan: “I figured that out last night when you wouldn’t leave the tent to pee.” She walks into the room and rears back in horror.
Mom: “You don’t have hemorrhoids again, do you?”
Nikki: “I’m tapping out,”
Logan: “Jesus, Mom, I’ve never had hemorrhoids. And please leave.”
He throws his head into the pillow and screams.
Logan: “I swear, Nikki, I’ve never had hemorrhoids.” Nikki: “I’ve fallen for you, Logan Stone, and it scares the crap out of me.”
He chuckles.
Logan: “Join the party, but it’s all going to be okay. I promise to never break your heart.” Logan: “I want a life. A life with you, my wife. Where we go to duo nights, and sit on the porch, and watch movies and… what do you people do in the winter?”
Ethel: “Make babies!”
Ethel screams. I look toward the back of the room and laugh before turning my attention back to Nikki.
Logan: “Make babies. Lots and lots of babies.”
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