Page 6 of Wife By Accident

Leo hung up the phone and turned the keys in the ignition. The car roared to life, and he smiled to himself. Leo was going to have a good evening. He was going to put all thoughts of his past, his future, even his brother out of his mind and just have fun. He hadn’t been to Vegas in years, but he knew it was the perfect place to forget.

Instead of hitting the interstate, Leo took backroads through gorgeous natural scenery, just like he would have done with Kyle. He sang to the classic rock on the radio and kept the windows down. It took a little longer, but it was worth it — by the time he caught sight of the Vegas take on the Eiffel Tower in the distance, he was no longer feeling so emotional.

Leo parked outside of one of the casinos, tossed his key to a valet with a polite “Thanks!” and headed in. He was immediately surrounded by the cacophony of the casino floor — flashing slot machines, waitresses in tight dresses carrying trays of drinks, and tables where poker, blackjack, roulette, and more were being played.

Leo bought a large stack of chips from the cashier and found his way to the Texas Hold’em poker tables. He flagged down a waitress to ask for a drink as he took an open spot at the next table.

“Whiskey,” he said. “Neat. Thanks.”

The waitress smiled and hurried off to get his drink while the dealer dealt Leo in. “Come here often?” he asked.

“Not much.” Leo glanced at his cards. They weren’t great, but they weren’t that bad, either. “But if it’s all right with you, I’m not here to chat. I’m here to gamble.”

The dealer chuckled. “We can certainly make that happen.”

And with that, Leo let himself be pulled into the glitzy, flashy, high-stakes world of Las Vegas.

CHAPTER 4

OLIVIA

“That table needs to be here,” Marley said, pointing. “And put a wide range of our products up there. Not just the nicest cameras. Some people refuse to go for quality, but we can still convince them for quantity. Samples, too!”

Mr. Marley wore a suit and sat in a folding chair with a large cup of takeout coffee. Olivia, in a blue dress and heels, blinked the sleep from her eyes as she smoothed a banner over the table. It was six thirty-five on the first morning of the conference and, so far, she and Marley were the only people at their table.

“I’m happy to get the samples set up, but could you help me lift the heavier boxes? My back is a little messed up, and I’m worried heavy lifting might make it worse.” Not to mention that the red-eye flight had made her back much worse and left her exhausted. She’d crashed for about four hours in the company hotel room before stumbling down here to work on setup.

“Sorry, too busy.”

Olivia’s eyes narrowed. As a rule, she avoided talking back to her boss, since it just made things worse. But this was too egregious. What exactly was he busy doing?

“Tell me if I’m wrong, but it looks like you’re just sitting there.”

“I’m working up here.” Marley tapped the side of his balding temple with a single finger. “Executives like me do most of our work in the mind. I know that might be hard for you to understand, but it’s just as important as setting up the table. More so.”

“Okay…” Olivia paused. “Can I at least wait for Gabe and Juan to come down?” She’d expected that her colleagues would be here too.

“I wouldn’t.” Marley shook his head. “I gave the boys time to sleep in. They need to be rested and on their game for networking.”

And what — I don’t? Olivia bit back her retort. She just needed to hang on a little longer, until she could find a better job or at least more respect from her boss.

“Fine.” She began unpacking the heavy boxes of cameras and equipment. Around her, the conference hall was slowly filling up with other vendors. The woman at the next table jogged over to help with one large piece of equipment, but was called away before Olivia started setting up the samples. Some of the camera equipment was heavy and awkward, and her back twinged in protest.

“Not there,” Marley complained as she set up a capture array. “Put that on the left. Don’t you know this by now?”

“Faster,” he added as Olivia was arranging the final business cards. “This needs to be ready by the time people start arriving.”

They still had more than twenty minutes before the conference officially started. Olivia just focused on her work and tried not to let Marley’s nitpicking bother her. She’d gotten a lot of practice with that over the last few years.

Once the setup was done, Olivia excused herself to grab a coffee. In the hall, she pulled out the plastic bottle of pain medicine Rachel had given her for her back the day before. She rarely took medicine for anything, but she was going to need something strong to get through today. She popped a few pills and washed them down with a swig of water.

Back in the hall, Juan and Gabe showed up just as the first few clients were entering. Olivia took her place by the table and smiled, and after a few minutes, an older man in slacks and a button-down sauntered over.

“Hi there,” he said to Olivia. “I run a photography school here in Vegas, and I’m looking for something reliable I can recommend to students. Can you help me?”

“Of course.” Olivia scanned the table and indicated one of the cameras. “This one is great for students — the learning curve isn’t too steep, but it has lots of great features for different photography styles and lighting conditions. And⁠—”

Just then, Marley appeared at her shoulder. “I can take it from here, Olivia. Go make sure we have enough donuts. And I need another coffee.”