Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
A/N - Hello! This is a lengthy version of a flash fic I wrote based on the song Hotel California by the Eagles. I don't expect it to be too long, but in my head, it's a lot of fun. And who doesn't love a weekend in Vegas?
This is a Jacob/Bella fic, make no mistake. But as a thank you to some of the other writers who aren't as into Jacob as I am, but who write, read and review politely anyway, there will be some bonus bits with other members of the pack, as well. I could tell you those pairings, but won't it be more fun to find out who hooks up over the weekend, as it happens?
Anyway, hope you enjoy it! If you do, I'd love to hear about it in that box at the bottom. :)
Feeling Lucky
"Damn! Double Damn!" I cursed, glaring at the display board that showed my cancelled flight. My friends were already in Vegas for MY birthday weekend and I'm stranded at LAX. All because my stupid boss and his stupid wife decided to go on a spontaneous couple's weekend, thereby over-riding my vacation day, which was scheduled two months ago! And now the damn plane was grounded for mechanical issues and it was the last scheduled flight for the night. Damn! Damn! Damn! I resisted the strong urge to stamp my foot, but it was difficult.
While the other non-passengers left the gate, I was trying to decide what to do and not break down in tears while I thought. I glanced up and saw a man whose face resembled how I felt. As I took him in, I realized he was insanely good looking. Seriously, he could be a model, he was that gorgeous. Tall with black hair standing up because he'd been running his hands through it, beautiful big brown eyes and a perfect mouth… he had lips that were made to be kissed. My gaze, finally leaving that sinful pucker, drifted over his ridiculously broad shoulders and the outline of… oh, god, is that an 8-pack showing through his tight t-shirt? I bit my lip, holding back an appreciative groan. As I was ogling him, he was furiously working his smartphone and his head jerked up and then fell back, with his eyes closed and he was mumbling, "Yes! Oh, you're one lucky motherfucker, Black!" and then he was back to poking and pushing on his cell screen.
I sighed heavily, and pulled my own cell out so I could text Angela and tell her I was going to have to wait and take a flight in the morning. I couldn't help but pout. I should be sipping cocktails and feeding quarters into a slot machine by now! Or half-drunk, wearing my new purple mini-dress and dancing my ass off in some club! With my lip out as far as it could go, I sent the text to Ange, and gathered my things to go outside and find a shuttle back to my apartment.
Just then, the hot guy said, "Dammit! This is total bullshit!" I looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. He glanced up and happened to catch my eye. Suddenly, his eyebrows shot up and he marched over to me with a desperate, crazy look in his eyes. My eyes must have shown my wariness at this strange attitude, because he started smiling and showed me his hands, palm up. Before I could react, he was talking, "Hi, my name is Jacob Black. You were supposed to be on the flight to Vegas, right?" I nodded, and he kept going, "I really need to be in Vegas by morning and you looked pretty upset that the flight was cancelled, too. I was able to reserve a car and it's only a few hours drive from here. How would you feel about sharing the ride?" I thought about it quickly. He was a stranger. He could be a serial killer. Or a rapist. But when I looked at him, I didn't think he'd actually have to rape anyone. I could always give Angela all his info, so if I went missing, they'd know where to start looking. And I really did want to get to Vegas tonight.
I looked up at him and he was waiting for me to say something. "Hi, I'm Bella," I introduced myself with a smile, "So, how much is the rental car?"
He said, "It's nice to meet you, Bella. And have I got a deal for you! See, you have to have a credit card to rent the car and I don't have one with me. I'll pay for the car, I have the cash, but we'd have to put it on your credit card, if you have one," he stared at me, hopefully.
I liked this idea. He'd have to give up his info at the rental counter and there would be a paper trail tying us together. And I could go to Vegas tonight. I felt much better about this whole thing. "Yes! I have a card! Let's do it!" His smile broke out like the sun coming out from behind the clouds, "Great! Thank you so much! This is good, let's go to the rental counter, so we can hit the road as soon as possible!" I grabbed my rolling overnight case and my backpack and we took off through the airport.
Half an hour later, he was throwing our bags in the trunk and I asked him if he wanted me to drive first. He shook his head, and said, "I'm good, I'm so pumped on adrenalin right now, I need to drive." I nodded, and headed for the passenger seat. Somehow, we ended up with a convertible, and he put the top down. I put my hair in a ponytail, and we took off.
Before long, we were on the 15, driving through the desert with the wind whipping through our hair. It was a beautiful summer night, a crystal clear sky blanketed in stars and a full moon following us. I could smell the desert flowers perfuming the air as we drove. I was relaxed and feeling cheerful. This had been a great idea. I turned to look at Jacob and asked him why he had to be in Vegas by morning. He kept his eyes on the road and said, "I have to be at a wedding in the morning."
"Yours?" I questioned.
He chuckled warmly, "Nope. My best friend, Embry, is getting married and I'm the best man. I have the rings, and he's worried that I won't get there in time. Right now, there are about 9 guys, who look a lot like me, stampeding the strip clubs disguised as a bachelor party. And about half that many women hitting up the dance clubs in tiara's and bachelorette banners scamming free drinks out of every guy they bump into. What about you, Bella? What's waiting in Vegas for you?"
I looked out the window, and sighed, "A few of my friends are there waiting for me. We planned this weekend for my birthday a couple of months ago, but I got stuck working today at the last minute. So, my friends are having my birthday without me."
"Is your birthday today or tomorrow?" Jacob asked.
"It's tomorrow," I told him.
"That's great! Happy Birthday, Bella! What are you doing to celebrate?" Jacob asked.
"Well, we were going to gamble tonight. I'm planning on baking myself by the pool tomorrow and then my girlfriends are treating us to some spa treatments before we go out tomorrow night. I don't know which club they decided on; I think they were going to get the concierge to recommend somewhere."
"Hey, maybe we can meet up for a drink tomorrow evening! The wedding is early in the day, and then there will be a lunch reception. I'm sure Embry and Chrissi will disappear after a few hours and we should all be on our own by 7. Not all of us have a girlfriend or a wife, so the other single guys and I were planning on going out. Why don't you let me know what club you end up at, and my brothers and I will meet you and your friends there," Jacob said, excitedly.
I could not believe that he was single. That was blowing my mind. He was totally hot, sexy as hell, and if that wasn't enough, he was sweet. A genuinely nice guy who was funny and friendly and, like a birthday gift from God, he was available! The whole concept boggled my mind. I never got this lucky, especially on my birthday. It's too bizarre.
I guess I was taking too long to answer, because he looked at me nervously and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to try and crash your birthday party. I'm sure you'd rather just be with your friends. "
I blinked as I absorbed his words, and then jumped to try and fix it before I lost my chance. "No! I'm sorry; I was just trying to think about what time we might be going out! Absolutely, I would love it if you and your friends met us at a club! The more the merrier, right? It'll be fun!" And if his friends look anything like him, my friends will be thrilled, I thought.
He smiled at me, then, and I swear I was like a deer caught in the headlights. He had the brightest smile I'd ever seen on anyone. It was dazzling. I struggled to clear my head so I could say something. "Oh, wait, are they your friends or your brothers?"
He chuckled, and even that was sexy. I was beginning to feel like a perv, I couldn't stop thinking inappropriate things about him! He spoke, "Well, they're friends, technically, but we've all known each other since we were in diapers, practically. We're like family, and often refer to ourselves as brothers."
"And the women you mentioned? Are they only the wives and girlfriends? They wouldn't want to join us all?" I said, trying to get information, while being polite.
"Mostly, yeah," he said, "Okay, so Embry is the groom, I told you that, right? And Chrissi is his bride. They're high school sweethearts. Then there's Quil, who makes the third musketeer, as everyone has referred to us since grade school. He's single. And Sam, who's a few years older than us, his wife, Leah, her little brother Seth, who is a couple years younger than us, but a really great kid. Can't forget Paul, also a couple years older and single; he can be kind of an ass, but he's crazy loyal and would jump in front of a bus for any of us. Jared, who is Paul's age, but he's dating Kim, who is Chrissi's best friend. Collin and Brady are the youngest in our pack, and single, too. Collin is my cousin, and Brady is Leah and Seth's cousin. Oh, and Emily is also Leah and Seth's cousin. I think she's dating someone though. She lives on a different reservation than we do, so I don't really know her that well. I imagine if she is dating someone, she probably brought him with, right?" he shrugged his shoulders then, "Whatever. Anyway, that's all of us."
"Wow! That's a big group! Hey, did you say you all lived on a reservation? I didn't know there were any reservations in LA," I questioned.
He re-situated himself in the seat and said, "Well, I don't actually know if there are or aren't reservations in LA. We're all from La Push, Washington. It's a small reservation on the Pacific Coast, practically in Canada."
Oh. Oh. He isn't from LA. Bummer. That's more like my luck, I thought. But, wait, "Oh, so you're from Washington? Then, why were you flying out of LA?"
"Well, actually everyone flew out of LA, sort of. Most flights from Seattle to Vegas change planes or stop at LAX, so most everyone flew through LAX today. I'm actually working in LA right now, so I was just flying out later than the rest of them, because I was working in a client's office all day today," Jacob answered.
"But you don't live in LA?" I probed.
"No, I don't. I'm just here on business right now. I will likely be flying back and forth between LA and home for a while, since the project is just getting going."
Interesting. "And what is it that you do? What's your business project?" I asked. I was enjoying getting to know him. I wanted to know more; I wanted to know everything.
Jacob glanced at me again, "I'm an architect. I designed an office building for a company that was opening a branch in Seattle. The CEO really liked my designs, and we got along really well while the project was going on. When it was done, he contracted me to design a home for him and his wife." He got a twinkle in his eye and made eye contact with me for a moment before he turned back to the road, "Um, Bella, is it my turn to ask questions, yet? Because I'm sort of starting to feel like I'm at an interview."
I blushed a little, but thankfully he wouldn't be able to see it in the dark. I had been asking a lot of questions, but I was so curious about this hunky man who fell into my life. Ok, maybe not my life, but certainly into the middle of my birthday weekend. And my girls had made me promise I would step outside my comfort zone this weekend, because what happened in Vegas, stayed in Vegas. I smothered a giggle remembering that conversation. But if I was being honest, I actually wanted to do something a little different, a little wild… something not like me at all. I tend to get stuck in my rut and forget that most people my age are partying every weekend and dating a different guy every week. Not me; I'm a responsible girl. I eat a balanced diet, get a good night's sleep every night, and I definitely don't sleep around. Which translates to boring. And I felt boring. But I wanted to feel sexy and fun and the more I watched Jacob and listened to him talk about his life and his friends, the more I thought I would really like to feel sexy and fun with him, in particular. Aside from the fact that he's walking around like sex-on-a-stick, he's a total sweetheart of a guy and I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something sort of fated about our meeting the way we did.
He was waiting for an answer and I was lost in my head again. "Yes, Jacob, of course you can ask me questions," I giggled, "I'm sorry if I was interrogating you. I'm just curious about the stranger driving through the middle of the desert with me. What would you like to know? Fire away," I offered. I twisted in my seat, and pulled my legs under me, so that I was sort of facing him, and waited for him to ask his questions.
He shifted his weight in the seat and grinned, "Let's start with you and your friends. Who are you meeting up with when we arrive?"
"That would be my girl-crew, Angela, Amanda and Jessica. We met in college and I'm not allowed to do anything remotely fun without one or all of them with me. It's a rule," I giggled, "Oh, and Mike will be there, too."
He turned his head sharply at that and asked, "Mike? Who's Mike? Is he your boyfriend? "
I laughed, "No! Mike is not a boyfriend. He's our friend, and our token escort. See, when women go to clubs by themselves, they often find groups of men descending like hungry wolves after a flock of lambs. If you have a man in the group, you get less group attacks, and more of an individual approach. It's less threatening. Plus, we can pretend he's a boyfriend, if a guy won't take no for an answer."
"Huh," Jacob said, "I had no idea women did that kind of thing. I feel like I'm getting some insider info here," he grinned. "So, Mike doesn't have an actual girlfriend, then, I guess."
"Uh, that's a no, Mike definitely does not have an actual girlfriend," I laughed. "What else do you want to ask me?"
"I presume you do live in LA, right? What do you do?" Jacob queried.
"Yes, I do live in LA. I'm an Assistant Zoologist at the LA Zoo." I told him, with a proud smile. I love my job and people always wanted to talk about it with me.
"Wow, that's really cool! So, you work with the animals, huh? Are you like a veterinarian or a trainer or what?" Jake asked, genuinely intrigued.
I grinned, "No, not a trainer. I'm kind of like a Junior Zoo Keeper, so I help maintain the animal's habitat and specialize in the care and maintenance of small carnivorous mammals. I'm just finishing my first year, but I'm actually thinking of going back to get my DVM degree. After working at the Zoo for a while, I think I'd rather be more involved in the actual medical care of the animals. It bothers me when one of the animals I take care of gets ill and then it goes to a different building and I don't get to be involved anymore until it, hopefully, comes back to the habitat."
Jacob seemed impressed. "That sounds amazing! What's a DVM degree? And what would a small carnivorous mammal be? Which ones do you work with?"
"A DVM degree is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. There are lots of small carnivorous animals, but I work with hyenas, foxes and wolves, right now," I told him.
Jacob was guzzling out of a water bottle at that moment and totally choked, water spluttering out of his mouth, as he coughed and tried to catch his breath. I sat up, concerned, and tried patting him on the back while he was leaning over the steering wheel, coughing and trying to keep the car on the road. He finally caught his breath, and I asked him if he was okay. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, and told me he was fine. "Are you alright? What happened?" I asked him.
He gave me another sidelong glance, "Nothing, I'm fine. Sorry, I just tried to breathe and swallow at the same time; it went down the wrong pipe."
"But you're okay, now?" I confirmed.
"Yes, I'm fine, thanks. So, you were saying? Please, continue," he said.
I settled back into my seat again, "Well, that was pretty much it, really. I love what I do, and I love all my little fur-babies," I giggled. That's what Amanda called the animals I worked with, because I would come home gushing about them.
"Fur-babies?" Jacob chuckled, "you make them sound like little fuzzy bunnies or something."
"Well, they're not exactly that cuddly, but they really do have their own personalities, especially the foxes and the wolves. The hyenas are a little more…," I paused as I tried to find the right word, "feral. The foxes get used to the people they interact with regularly and the wolves even get attached to some of us, but with the hyenas you can never let your guard down. They're scavengers and they are always kinda twitchy, so to speak. With the wolves, for example, they become used to the routine of us entering and exiting their enclosure and then they get kind of friendly, almost like dogs. It's still a wild animal, and you can't ever forget that, but they do like to play with us and will let us groom or pet them without too much difficulty. The foxes don't like a lot of physical interaction but they will be playful. But the hyenas are different. I always insist on another keeper to be with me when I have to go into their habitats."
Jacob kept looking at me like I was insane. "What?" I asked him.
"These are your fur-babies? Foxes and wolves? You play with wolves? Like, fetch, or something?"
"Well, yeah. I just told you the wolves are like big dogs after they get comfortable with us. There's one who's really great, he's my special buddy! His name is George, and he loves it when I brush his fur. Every time I go into his enclosure, he comes running up to me and runs circles around me. He likes to make sure he has my full attention and gets his pets before he lets me into the habitat," I laughed, thinking about my Georgie-boy.
Jacob had the strangest look on his face when I told him that; almost like he was jealous. That didn't really make sense, though, so I shrugged it off. "What else would you like to know?"
Jacob thought for a moment, "What are your friends like?"
I laughed out loud at that question. How could I describe my crazy girl-crew? "They're really great. Angela is really smart, and beautiful, but really shy and sweet. Jessica is really cute and friendly and can make anyone feel comfortable with no effort. She's our social secretary, always making plans for us all to do something fun together. And then there's Amanda," I laughed again, "Amanda is something else! She's the strongest woman I know. She's completely fearless, she's really protective of us all; she's smart, sassy and sexy. She's the total package. You and your friends will be fighting over who gets to hit on her."
Jacob looked at me. He said, "Bells, you may not realize this, but so far, I think you're the total package. You are smart, confident, beautiful, kind, very sexy, and you have a cool job where you play with wolves. I can't imagine anyone being more interesting to me than you."
I looked out the window, blushing furiously. I didn't know how to respond to him. This whole thing was so surreal, a road trip to Vegas with a stranger who didn't feel like a stranger. I really do have the oddest luck. As I thought about what he said, my head snapped up, "Hey! Did you call me 'Bells'?"
"Um, yeah?" he said, sounding perplexed. "Is that not okay?"
"No, it's fine, it's just, no one else has ever called me that, besides my father." I looked over at him, "What made you think of it?"
Jacob looked at me with a tilted eyebrow, "I don't know. It just… came out. I won't call you Bells again if you don't want me to. Is it a special nickname for your dad only?"
"No," I smiled, "you can call me Bells. It's fine."
We made eye contact and suddenly I was feeling really warm, even though the night air was quite cool. Jacob turned his face to look out the windshield again, and said, "Hey, look, I can see the city lights! We'll be there soon."
"That's great! Are you still fine driving, or did you want me to take a turn?"
Jacob shook his head, "No, I'm fine, and we'll be there before much longer. Are you and your friends staying on the Strip or Downtown?"
"We're on the Strip. We're staying at Caesar's Palace," I told him.
He chuckled, and then it turned into a hearty laugh. I asked him what was so funny. He said, "You're not going to believe this, Bells, but that's where we're staying, too."
My mouth fell open, "Are you serious?"
He nodded his head, "This is crazy. Bells, do you believe in destiny?"
I looked over at him, thinking about all the unusual and unlikely events that had transpired to bring us to this point, and now, on top of all that, we're staying at the same hotel, out of all the hotels on the Strip. It was so bizarre. It really did feel like destiny. I thought about how to answer him. "I believe that certain people, certain things, and certain moments are fated. How we get to those moments, though, is all by chance."
He looked over at me again, with an approving smile. I guess I answered his question correctly. I turned back towards the window, looking out with a smile. This may turn out to be the best birthday I've ever had. It was already the luckiest, I thought to myself, I've met Jacob and we have plans to meet up tomorrow night.
