Free Vegas Two-Step by Liz Talley

urbane.
    Nellie took a sip of the beer. It tasted way better than the champagne. And no sneezing.
    Jack held his beer bottle toward her. “To us. To our second date.”
    Nellie clinked her bottle against his. “To our second date. And to Earl’s pancakes.”
    That made him laugh. She decided she liked making him laugh.

    “S O WHERE DO YOU LIVE in Dallas, Elle?”
    Nellie took a huge gulp of wine, certain someone was about to jump out from behind the lush foliage beside the table and yell, Liar!
    “Well, I have an old house in the center of town. Very trendy area.”
    Jack smiled. “Must be nice. Which area? University? Or near the West End—what’s the new place? Victory…”
    “Park,” Nellie finished for him, thankful she’d read an article about the artsy community near the American Airlines Center. “No, I live in an older neighborhood.”
    “Do you like living there?”
    Nellie hardly ever went to Dallas, but she remembered the shady streets in the heart of Dallas and the pricey homes there. She couldn’t be too rich, or could she? Jack didn’t know her from Adam so she could be anything she wanted to be, right? Yet it would probably be better to stick closer to the truth—less chance of screwing her story up.
    “I love living there. Um…it’s the city, of course, but at times it’s quiet, simple.” Nellie smiled and raised a forkful of chicken to her mouth.
    “I’ve been to Dallas several times. I have two sisters who live in Texas. Houston and San Antonio.”
    Well, that probably explained his being in Texas when she’d sloshed her drink on him the first time. The time he blew her off. “Really? Older or younger?”
    “Hmm? Oh, older. I’m the baby of the family. The only boy. How ’bout you?”
    “I have a younger half sister, Anne Marie. She’s fifteen and lives in Tyler with my father and his wife. My mother’s not really in the picture. She’s mentally ill.” God, why had she volunteered that information? What a downer.
    “Sorry.” Jack shot Nellie a compassionate look. “That must be hard.”
    Nellie nodded. What could she say? It had been hard, but she’d been loved by her feisty grandmother, the same woman who would have padlocked her in her room if she’d known Nellie had gone off with a virtual stranger and then made out with him in the parking lot of a pancake house.
    They both took a sip of wine. She could see Jack searching for something to say, something not so personal as a parent being off her rocker.
    “Well, I know what you mean about enjoying the simplicity of a quiet neighborhood. I like to escape from the hubbub of the city myself. That’s why I bought a place out in Henderson. Most find it odd that a guy like me would prefer suburbia, but I need a retreat every now and then. Sometimes all of this gets to me.” Jack gestured toward the awesome view afforded by the open balcony doors of the French restaurant perched on the side of the Forty Palms Hotel, twenty-two flights up. Vegas nightlife winked below them, unceasing and tireless.
    “I totally get it,” Nellie said. “Everyone needs some peace, huh?”
    Peace. Exactly, Jack thought. And that was what he felt with Elle. Along with excitement, joy and wonder. Lord, he hadn’t felt like this in forever. And it felt good.
    It felt good to be himself. To not have to be so slick, so witty and “in the know.” He felt relaxed, better than he had in months, maybe years.
    And at the same time there was an undercurrent, a sort of hum of sexual tension. He wanted her, that much was true, but it felt good to let things run their course.
    Yet with Elle studying his mouth, her own lips parted, her eyes reflecting something deeply mysterious, he wanted to rush her through dinner. And through this mini-courtship.
    Shit. Was that what he was doing? Dating a girl who would be leaving in a day or two? Setting himself up for failure?
    No. Again, he reminded himself to trust his gut.
    “Sir, is there anything else I