“I’ll stay,” she replied, moving back to the couch.
“No, there’s nothing you can do to help. Go outside and enjoy the sunshine. We’ll hit the casino again tonight, do a bit more sight-seeing tomorrow and see how we all feel about flying home after that.”
She hesitated again, and he lifted one of those darkly sardonic eyebrows again. “Fine!” she grumbled. “I’ll leave you to your hermit-like existence and go outside to revel in the sunshine, thinking about you holed up in the dark hotel suite making another billion dollars.”
With that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, smiling at his laughter which followed her out.
Chapter 10
Josh watched Sloane as she walked gracefully along the edge of the pool towards her sisters, the revelations of earlier today hitting him hard. No one. No other man had ever touched her! It wasn’t so much that he wanted to be her first, it was more that he wanted to be her last. The thought of being her first lover hadn’t even occurred to him, but now…knowing that no other man had made love to her humbled him.
Those soft blushes had startled him. Plus the way she’d leaned into him over and over, the long looks, the intensity that was thick in the air whenever they were alone…or when they blocked out the world…all of it added up to interest. Intense interest, he realized. Apparently, he wasn’t alone in his desire for something more than just a working relationship.
Not that they were merely co-workers. He considered her a friend and loved teasing her. She was a bit of a control freak and, although he understood her control issues, he still loved to tease her about them. She also loved herbal tea, refused to purchase anything at a clothing or shoe store unless it had been marked down several times, ate healthy foods until she couldn’t stand them any longer and then binged on something unhealthy, loved M&Ms and ate them one color at a time, then move on to the next color – and the browns were always the first to go. Oh, and she loved her sisters intensely.
And that was just the superficial stuff. He knew that she loved taking care of people, but didn’t let anyone abuse her. Some of the employees he’d hired over the past eight years had tried to take advantage of her generous heart and she’d easily put them in their place. Josh had gotten rid of those people pretty quickly, not wanting abusive personalities in his company, no matter how much profit they brought in.
Josh also knew that she was concerned about Jefferson and Wilma, treating them like her grandparents and visiting them whenever she could. She ran errands for Wilma, played chess with Jefferson, teased the old man about his drinking, and helped Wilma with the dishes whenever she ate at the main house.
As he contemplated her finer qualities, Josh watched as she lifted the sundress up and over her head, revealing a two piece bathing suit. Her figure was stunning! She was slender, but what she had was…perfect! Small breasts, tiny waist, and legs that seemed to go on forever. As he watched her spread the towel out over the lounge chair beside her sisters, Josh was dazed by her curves, his hands tightening on the concrete bannister of his balcony. His eyes burned and he realized that he hadn’t blinked in too long. Rubbing his eyes, he groaned at the ache just looking at her produced.
Turning away, he walked back into the suite…but couldn’t get the image of Sloane’s perfect, slender curves out of his mind.
Chapter 11
“This is…amazing!” Pepper whispered, her eyes wide as she took in all of the glamour of the casino. “It’s just…!” she paused and looked around. “I think I was too overwhelmed last night to really appreciate everything. But after lazing around by the pool all afternoon, I’m fully capable of recognizing the beauty of this room.”
Sloane reached over and hugged Pepper, then glanced over her shoulder at Josh, who watched them with his usual brotherly amusement.
As usual, Rayne was silent as she took everything in, standing still…well, “still” relative to Pepper who was practically vibrating with excitement. Rayne wasn’t bouncing, but anyone watching her would still see the excitement underneath her outwardly calm demeanor.
Rayne and Pepper couldn’t hide their excitement and Sloane couldn’t hide her happiness because her sisters were so excited at being here. She again looked for Josh. When he caught her eye, Sloane was startled at the blush that stole up her neck. A blush? How childish! And yet, she couldn’t seem to stop the red flush from stealing higher along her cheeks.
Looking away, she shifted on her feet, feeling foolish for letting him see how much he affected her. She was his boss! Sloane cursed herself for being so ridiculously foolish whenever he looked at her like that. Or when he did extravagant things such as taking her sisters to a fabulously beautiful country. He was…impossible!
“Sir,” a tuxedoed servant stepped up to Josh with a wooden box, which he opened with an elaborate flourish, revealing gambling chips.
“What’s going on?” Sloane asked, staring at the box of gambling chips. There were significantly more chips than what he’d played with last night.
“These are for you ladies,” Josh said as he took ten chips out of the box, handing them to Pepper, and doing the same for Rayne before trying to hand ten chips to Sloane, who pulled back.
“You’re giving us chips again?” Pepper asked, staring at the gambling chips in her hand with a stunned, wary expression.
“Yes. Go have fun and enjoy yourselves,” he told Pepper and Rayne.
They both stared back down at their hands filled with the square, heavy chips, then up at Josh. “How much are these worth?” Pepper dared to ask.
“They are one dollar chips,” he told them.
Pepper and Rayne visibly relaxed, their smiles brightening. “Cool! Ten dollars!”
They wandered off, diving into the crowds of beautifully dressed people, completely unaware of Sloane’s open-mouthed stare at Josh. But before she could stop them, Rayne and Pepper were gone, happily off to gamble with their “one dollar” chips.
“You lied!” Sloane gasped and turned to glare at Josh. Even the casino employee was a bit astonished, but he hid his reaction better, simply turning with a straight face and walking away, having done his job and probably heading into the servants area to announce the stunning lie one of their patrons told to the ladies in his group.
“What did I lie about?” Josh asked, chuckling at her outraged expression as he took her arm and pulled her to his side, out of the way of others on the main pathway from the casino and bar.
“This casino doesn’t have one dollar chips!” she hissed under her breath. To be honest, she felt a bit breathless with the way his hand lingered on her arm, sliding higher, then lower as he maneuvered them out of the way. It was all a repeat of last night and she was both excited and nervous about how close she wanted to get to him.
“Really?” he asked, lifting her hand and placing several chips in it. “How very silly of me.”
Sloane tried to push the chips back into his hand, but he wouldn’t let her. “You’re never silly, Josh! How much are those chips really worth?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just let them have fun. And you should do the same, Sloane,” he told her, putting a hand to the small of her back. “Just relax and enjoy the night.”
He stopped a passing waiter. “Champagne for the ladies and a whiskey for me.” The waiter nodded and turned, eagerly moving to obey Josh’s order.
Sloane glared up at Josh, not even going to ask how the waiter would know to bring champagne to Pepper and Rayne. A long time ago, she’d stopped trying to figure out how staff at these high end establishments knew things. They just knew.
“How much are these chips really worth?” she repeated.
He guided her over to the roulette table again. “Why don’t you find out?” he suggested as he placed a chip on one of the numbers. “I won with you by my side last night. Perhaps you’ll win with me beside you. We’ll have to discover who is the better risk taker.”
The roulette ball bounced around. The roulette guy, Sloa
ne wasn’t sure what he was called but he looked very stern as the ball bounced, the wheel spun, and everyone placed bets on the numbers on the felt table.
She watched Josh place the chip on a white number and almost choked on her gasp. “Wait! What are you doing?” she gasped.
“All bets final,” the man called, just when Sloane would have grabbed that dang chip right off of the table.
“What have you done?” she sighed, turning away, unable to watch.
“You need to just enjoy the excitement, Sloane,” Josh told her, his lips dangerously close to her ear. She jumped slightly, startled by his proximity. There were a lot of people around, but…could he know? Could he see how the subtle brush of his lips against the shell of her ear caused her to…?
Shiver.
Yes! He caught her reaction! And then…when she glanced up at him, Sloane watched his eyes dilate so that there was almost no green left, his eyes dark with…desire?
“Vingt Huit!” the guy announced.
“You won,” his lips whispered, huskily. She’d heard that grumbling sound several times over the past eight years and had always assumed it meant Josh was in a bad mood. But he didn’t look grumpy now. What did it mean?
“I won what?” she asked, her gaze dropping to his lips, wondering what it would feel like if he kissed her. Dangerous, pointless thought but…she couldn’t stop wondering about it.
“About ten thousand dollars,” he replied.
Sloane blinked. “Excuse me?” she demanded, and turned to look down at the table. Sure enough, where her single chip had previously rested, there was a stack of those square chips! “What?” she gasped, looking around? But the ball was spinning again. How long had she stood there staring up at Josh? Had anyone else noticed?
She started to reach out to pull those chips away, not wanting to lose any of Josh’s money.
He took her hand in his, pulling her hand back. “You can’t pull the bet now, Sloane. You’ll have to let it ride.”
The ball bounced and clanked, slowing and Sloane almost expired from lack of oxygen as she waited tensely for the ball to finally stop.
“Trente et un!” the man called out, and with a swoop of an L shaped-like cane, he pulled all of the chips away.
“Wait!” she cried, then stopped when she heard Josh’s bark of laughter. “But I didn’t mean to bet anything!”
“You win and lose,” he told her. He handed her another chip. “Here, choose another number.”
“No!” she gasped, curling her fingers around the chip, holding it close to her breast. “I won’t do it.”
He grinned when she frowned up at him, daring him. And of course, this was Josh, and he always dared. He placed another chip on the number twenty-six. “There. Your age. That should be good luck.”
She shook her head and backed up a step, right into his hard chest. His hands moved to her hips, resting heavily on her body and she shivered again. Sloane looked up at him over her shoulder, about to move away but his hands tightened, not allowing her to move even an inch.
“Stay where you are,” he ordered in that grumpy voice again.
“Why?” she whispered, then he shifted and she knew! She felt his body’s reaction and her mouth fell open, shocked that she could…that he would…!
“Vingt-six!” the man announced, startling them. All the other chips were whisked away, but Sloane’s chip remained. A moment later, twenty more chips were added to it.
“Good grief!” she gasped and pulled the chips closer, having learned her lesson on the last bet and not waiting for that speedy man to fling that metal ball once again.
“I’m not betting again,” she told him firmly.
“Fine,” he replied easily. Sloane might have sighed with relief, but she knew that look. It was a dangerous look. One that foretold he was going to get her to do something she wasn’t going to like.
Sure enough, he led her away from the roulette table and over to another table. “Have a seat.”
Sloane sat down, feeling a huge amount of relief. Sitting meant she was free from gambling, right?
Nope!
“Chips please,” he said to the dealer.
Immediately, the dealer pulled ten of the red chips out of her box and handed them to her, then slid an electronic tablet towards him. Josh signed the receipt as if he were buying a pack of gum!
“It’s blackjack. I know that you know how to play this because we’ve played it on the plane.”
Sloane nodded, feeling a little better. At least with blackjack, there was a touch of skill to it.
And yet, fifteen minutes later, all of her chips were gone while there was a huge stack of chips sitting in front of Josh.
“Here,” he gave her another ten chips.
“No!” She shook her head. “I’m not gambling anymore.”
Josh nodded to the dealer. Since they were the only two people at this table, there was a bit more leeway. If the table were full, the dealer would be stricter about the pace of play, the other gamblers demanding a faster pace.
He didn’t let her quit. She won some hands and lost others, but Josh won consistently, his stack increasing steadily while her stack remained pretty much the same. But at least she didn’t lose any money.
Every time she checked her fluted glass, it seemed to be full, no matter how much she drank. But after a few hours, she didn’t want any more. And even more surprising, she was actually having a good time! Josh teased her whenever she pulled back on a hand, trying to coax her into being more adventurous. But she remained cautious with his money, shaking her head as he continued to win.
“How do you do that?” she asked when the dealer slid over another large stack of chips. She had no idea how much money was in front of him now, but she suspected that it was well over her annual salary.
There was a crowd cheering in one corner and Sloane looked over at the table. “Oh no!” she gasped, seeing Rayne and Pepper in the crowd. But upon closer inspection, Sloane realized that they weren’t in the crowd, the crowd seemed to be surrounding her sisters!
“What’s going on?” Sloane asked Josh, missing the look of heat that flared back to life in his green eyes when she touched his arm.
“I don’t know. Let’s go find out,” he said and lifted his hand. Immediately, a servant appeared with one of those wooden boxes, but this time, it was empty.
“Cashing out,” he said to the man, who bowed…actually bowed!
He handed over Sloane’s chips too. “Ms. Abbot is cashing in as well.”
She shook her head. “I’m not cashing in anything. Those aren’t my chips, they are yours.”
Josh ignored her, nodding to the servant who immediately moved away with all of their winnings.
“You won them,” he argued, putting that hot hand to the small of her back again.
“Umm…not really,” she whispered, wondering if he were burning a hole in the simple, black dress she was wearing. His hand…she could feel each of his fingers and the slight pressure that he applied in order to tell her which way to go. And because it was Josh, she followed his silent instructions until they reached the table in question.
It was craps, she realized. This was one of the more complicated games, in her opinion. There was no skill. Just pure luck.
The crowd seemed to magically part when Josh stepped closer. Sloane almost snickered at the quick respect he garnered, but that hand smoothed up her back. In warning? She looked up at him and saw that he watching Rayne and Pepper.
“Do it again, Pepper!” Rayne exclaimed, her cheeks bright with excitement.
Pepper bounced, of course, and blew on the dice, then tossed them down the craps table. There was a long moment of breathlessness as everyone waited, watching the dice as they tumbled to a halt against the back wall of the table. Then there was a huge roar of applause and surprise when the dice turned up as sixes.
“Was that good?” Sloane whispered to Josh.
He leaned down and murmured, “They’ve
just doubled their money as well as everyone else’s.”
Pepper was jumping up and down, completely unconcerned with her lack of sophistication. Even Rayne was almost bouncing. Both were grinning from ear to ear and looked a bit dazed.
“Again?” Pepper asked, glancing at Rayne.
Rayne bit her lower lip, then laughed, both of them shaking their heads. “No. We’ve probably won about a hundred dollars now, so let’s quit while we’re ahead.”
Both of them scooped up their winnings and laughed as the rest of the crowd tried to get them to change their mind. “You can’t stop when you’re on a streak,” one man protested.
Pepper and Rayne simply smiled, beguiling the men and causing the women to gnash their teeth in jealousy.
The staff member with the odd looking box returned, looking expectantly at Rayne and Pepper.
Josh stepped forward, explaining. “If you give this man your chips, he will cash them in for you. He’ll have a cashier’s check waiting for you when you’re ready to leave.”
Rayne’s eyes widened. “Oh, um…well, can’t we just get cash? I mean, it’s just…it’s only about a hundred dollars, right?”
Sloane carefully watched the casino employee’s reaction. His lips quirked upwards at the corners ever so slightly. Bingo!
“You are a horrible man!” she hissed, emphasizing each word.
“You wound me with your harsh words, my dear,” he replied, but the glint in those devilish eyes told her more than his words. He didn’t give her a chance to argue. He turned to the box-man with a curt nod. Immediately, Pepper and Rayne dumped their chips into the box.
“But how will we know how much we won?” Pepper asked, her eyes following the box as the man closed the lid and left.
“You each won just over one hundred thousand dollars,” he explained. “Sloane won about twenty thousand because she didn’t get as into the spirit of the evening as you two did.” He put a hand on Sloane’s back, nudging her forward slightly. “I think it is time to adjourn to the bar for a drink. Shall we?”
The Tycoon's Baby Revelation (The Abbot Sisters Book 1) Page 8
