by Celia Loren
“Alright,” Blaze said in a seductive tone, and leaning towards all three women. “Let’s get this started. I’m going to help you girls make some serious cash.”
“What?” Liz turned to stare at him, and Quinn froze with her glass to her mouth. Suddenly, Blaze swept his enormous pile of chips off the table and left his seat to stand behind the three women.
As the dealer stared a new hand, Blaze began to give the girls tips. He was turning out to be an excellent blackjack player, and with his advice on when to hit, split, stand, and double-down, Noelle, Liz and Quinn were suddenly doing phenomenally well, each of them amassing a steadily growing pile of chips.
“Oh my god,” Noelle murmured, “I think I have over three thousand dollars here.”
“I think I have nearly five thousand,” Liz squealed, while Quinn just shook her head with wonder.
“Now listen up,” Blaze whispered, leaning towards Noelle, his mouth a mere inches from her ear. Noelle felt a delicious shiver go up her spine with Blaze so close by. She could smell his aftershave, and she knew if she turned her head just slightly, her lips would be close enough to press against Blake’s mouth.
Taking a deep breath to steady her thoughts, she tried to focus on what Blaze was about to say.
“I want you to stand after this next one.”
Noelle obeyed and sure enough she came out with twenty.
“Yes!” she cried excitedly and she looked over to see Blaze smiling, his sexy mouth turned up at the corners.
“Very good,” he whispered. He continued to help Liz and Quinn, but he seemed to pay special attention to Noelle.
The drinks continue to come, and Noelle realized that the drinks Blaze had ordered were much stronger than the vodka and cranberries she had been drinking. Quinn and Liz seemed to be having a blast, and though the women were occasionally losing money, they were making far more than their losses.
Everything seemed slightly blurry around the edges due to the alcohol, and Noelle felt like she was in some sort of movie. This kind of thing didn’t happen to her. She was the sensible girl who lived a quiet life with her boyfriend, not the girl who ran off to Vegas at the last minute, and played blackjack with sexy strangers as she raked in money.
“You girls are doing fantastic!” Blaze complimented, his arm gently resting on Noelle’s shoulder. Noelle didn’t miss the slight touching. Could it be that this charismatic and wildly attractive man could be interested in her?
Or perhaps it was just the alcohol.
Blaze was entirely out of her league, and even though Noelle hadn’t played the dating game in years, she still had a firm grasp on the kind of man she could attract and the kind of man that was just a dream.
And Blaze was just a dream.
Someone as handsome, sexy and mysterious as him would never be interested in Noelle.
Noelle pictured herself in her scrubs, her makeup-free face and her hair pulled back in a ponytail. That was how she was used to seeing herself.
But tonight was different.
Tonight Noelle didn’t look like the Noelle she was accustomed to seeing in the mirror.
Tonight, Noelle’s hair was down and styled, and she was wearing makeup. And not only that, but Noelle was wearing a sexy dress. Maybe Vegas-Noelle was someone Blaze would be interested in, she suddenly felt bolder and more confident in herself.
This was Vegas after all. And how great would it be if she could go home knowing that she had a sexy one-night-stand with Blaze? It would make for a great story.
And it was so out of character for Noelle that it felt liberating.
Of course, she knew that she was at risk for making impulsive, foolish choices, but she didn’t think this choice was part of her illness.
Illness.
Noelle pushed the word out of her mind.
She wasn’t going to think about her mental illness. And she had been doing so well lately, that she practically felt cured.
Blaze smiled at the women. “I think we’re ready for bigger and better things, ladies. What do you say we cash in our chips and head to the high roller room now? Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.”
Noelle was hanging on every word, but Quinn and Liz looked more skeptical.
“I can help you win even more money,” he promised, “and the odds are better. Plus, all the free top shelf liquor you can drink.” He poked at one of Noelle’s empty cranberry and vodka glasses as if it was something rotten. “No more of this cheap, watered down shit.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Liz said, guarding her pile of chips.
“Yeah,” Quinn agreed, “I just hit five thousand. I could do so much with this.”
Blaze fixed his gaze on Noelle, his eyes boring into her. “What do you say?”
Without thinking, Noelle smiled.
“I’m in.”
“Noelle,” Liz hissed, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
Noelle flashed Liz a smile. “It’s totally fine, I swear. Plus, I want to make more money! How can I resist?”
Quinn looked hesitant, too. “I don’t know, Noelle. I kind of agree with Liz. Let’s just take our winnings and head back to our room.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s nearly 2am. We can order some room service, then go to bed.”
Noelle seemed to consider the offer for a moment, and then glanced back at Blaze. He stood a few feet away, looking dark and mysterious.
“I think I’m going to go with him. I need this.”
“Need what?” Quinn asked, rolling her eyes. “The money or a night with a hot guy?”
Noelle laughed, feeling the alcohol. “Both. C’mon girls, this is good for me.”
Liz bit her lip. “I don’t know, Noelle. I don’t like the idea of leaving you here alone with someone we just met.”
At that, Blaze jumped in, gently placing his hand on the small of Noelle’s back and making her jump at the intimate touch.
“Ladies, I promise I will take good care of Noelle and deposit her back at your hotel room before the sun rises.”
Quinn and Liz exchanged looks, and finally Liz gave a small shrug.
“Fine, but be careful.”
Noelle grabbed her chips, and her clutch before giving Quinn and Liz a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Don’t wait up for me,” she whispered.
As Quinn and Liz disappeared towards the cashier, Noelle took Blaze’s outstretched hand.
“You won’t regret this,” he whispered, pulling her body close to his. The proximity to another man was both unfamiliar and thrilling. Todd had been handsome in the safe, clean-cut kind of way, but Blaze was sexy in the kind of way that made warning bells go off in Noelle’s head.
She couldn’t stay away.
Blaze wound his way through the bustling casino, keeping Noelle close to him. Blaze led them to a discreet elevator tucked away in the corner, and he pressed the glowing red button. The doors slid open and he gestured for Noelle to enter first.
She stepped inside the sleek elevator, noting the luxurious black material that covered all the walls. Blaze pressed a button and the elevator moved swiftly upwards. When the doors slid open, Noelle was face to face with a dimly lit, opulent hallway with glowing lights.
“Do you play here a lot?” She couldn’t help asking.
Blaze gave her a devilish grin. “Maybe.”
Normally that kind of elusiveness would annoy her, but she found it sexy and attractive in Blaze.
They came to a door with the number three on it, and Blaze knocked twice. A beautiful woman who had long, flowing auburn hair, opened it. She was wearing a provocative red dress that left little to the imagination.
“Good evening,” she said silkily, “Please come in.” She produced a card and handed it discreetly to Blaze.
Blaze glanced at the card and nodded. “That won’t be a problem.”
The hostess nodded, and led Noelle and Blaze towards a dark, velvet curtain. She pulled the curtain back, and Noelle saw that they were in a small
room that consisted of four blackjack tables. It was mostly men playing, but Noelle noticed a few women as well. For some reason, she expected everyone in the high roller room to be older, but there were a good number of young people, and some of the younger women were dripping in jewels.
Noelle suddenly felt completely out of her element.
“I don’t think I can do this,” she whispered nervously. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Shh, I’ll take care of you. You don’t have to play. Just sit with me.”
Biting her lip, she nodded and took a seat next to Blaze. He nodded at the dealer, and then put down a huge chunk of bills. The dealer counted the money and then slid a huge pile of chips across the table to Blaze.
Noelle looked next to her and saw another young man who seemed to glance at Blaze and then look away. He was also dressed in a nice suit, yet Noelle noticed a tiny black streak at the top of his neck. A neck tattoo? It didn’t fit his clean-cut business look at all.
Noelle brought her attention back to Blaze and her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the numbers on the chips that Blaze was playing. They were one thousand dollar chips for Christ's sake.
“Oh my god,” she exclaimed, eyeing the orange chips. Blaze gave her a small smile, and then shifted his attention back to the game.
What was Noelle thinking by coming here? She should have gone home with Liz and Quinn. Not only was she out of her element, but also she could never play high-stakes games such as this.
“I should go,” she whispered.
“Hey, hey,” he said softly, taking her hand.
Noelle almost pulled her hand away, but didn’t.
It felt too good to be touched by him.
And she would be lying if she didn’t hope that something might happen with Blaze tonight. Though, certainly nothing would happen if she were to leave now.
“I know this seems like a lot to you. I promise, I will take care of you. There is no reason why you can’t be here.”
Noelle nodded, taking a deep breath. She was acting like a baby. She needed to get over herself and play the part, act like she's been there before.
At that moment, the cocktail waitress appeared.
“Let’s get a drink,” Blaze said, “That'll make this more fun.”
He ordered two drinks that Noelle had never heard of, but she was certain they would contain the best liquor available. The waitress was back in record time, and Noelle was not disappointed. Blaze certainly knew his alcohol.
“There, is that better?” he asked softly, carefully watching Noelle’s reaction.
“Yes, thank you.” For some reason, Noelle suddenly felt shy. She took another large sip of her drink, letting the alcohol warm through her body and she thought of how crazy her life suddenly seemed at this moment. How much things had changed in just a mere twenty-four hours.
“Now, sit back and watch,” Blaze said cockily, his eyes focused intently on the game at hand.
Noelle watched with shock as Blaze began to play, quickly gathering a large pile of the orange chips—he called them pumpkins—in front of him. She looked around the room and saw that the other players had similar piles of chips. It amazed her that these people had so much money that they were able to throw it around like it was nothing during a card game. Losing a thousand dollars or more in less than thirty seconds...it blew her mind.
It made her wonder what Blaze did for a living.
“So, what do you do?” she asked, unable to hide her curiosity now that more alcohol was coursing through her.
Blaze looked at her sideways, a small smile playing on his lips.
“What do I do?” he repeated.
“You know, for work.”
“Ahh. What do you think I do?”
Noelle hated when people answered a question with a question.
“Well, that was the reason I was asking.”
“No, I’m curious. What do you think I do for a living?”
Since Blaze was so attractive, Noelle decided to play along. After all, she was hoping to sleep with him tonight. She wanted to act as different from her normal self as she possibly could.
“Hmm,” she wondered, toying with the stirrer in her drink and licking her lower lip. Her flirting felt out of practice, but she didn’t miss Blaze’s eyes going to her mouth. “I would imagine that you are...some kind of business man.”
She looked down at his shiny shoes. Even his shoes screamed of money.
Blaze gave her a wicked grin. “Not a bad guess.”
“Am I right?”
“I’m not telling.”
“That’s not fair,” she pouted, “I already shared part of my history with you earlier tonight.” She thought of how she had uncharacteristically opened up about her sister, Vivienne.
“And I appreciate that.”
“That’s it? You appreciate it?”
Blaze licked his lips, his eyes hardening slightly. “Yes.” It was clear that Blaze was not disclosing any information. “So, tell me. What is it that you do?”
“Oh no! I’m not sharing any more with you if you’re not going to share with me.”
Blaze shrugged, unbothered. “I could probably guess. I’m pretty good at reading people.”
The cocktail waitress appeared with fresh drinks, and Noelle took hers, sipping it greedily. She had been drunk earlier, but she had started to sober up once they came to the high roller room. Now she could feel the warm effects of another buzz beginning. And, realizing this could be her last chance to ever drink top shelf, she started to let loose a little.
“Go ahead. Guess,” she said smugly.
“Hmm,” his eyes roved over her. “You’re dressed very sexy tonight, but I get the impression that this isn’t your normal look. Especially after what you shared earlier about your childhood. You have student loans, and I know you’re worried about paying for your condo, so I’m going to assume that you don’t have a very lucrative, high-paying job.”
Noelle narrowed her eyes.
“However, you are very well-spoken and clearly seem educated.” He shook his drink in his hands, allowing the ice cubes to clink together. “I’m going to go with a teacher.”
Noelle burst out laughing. “Very, very close, but not quite. To your credit, I did start out as an education major when I was in college. My two friends are teachers though.”
“Damn! So close!” He focused his attention back to the game for a moment, but then looked back at Noelle. “Not a teacher,” he mused to himself. “And you did go to college,” he trailed off. “Maybe another profession where you help people. But not paid a lot.” He snapped his fingers together. “I know! A nurse!”
Noelle gaped at him.
“Yes! I’m right, aren’t I?”
“How were you able to deduce that from what I told you?”
Blaze tapped his head and gave her a cocky smile. “I told you. I’m very good at reading people, and I pay attention to what people say. Given what I’ve learned about you so far, and how you behave, it’s really quite simple.”
“Well, I don’t know why I told you I had money problems,” Noelle huffed, “that was stupid of me.”
“Not stupid at all,” he said frowning. He didn’t speak for a few minutes, and he seemed to be concentrating extra hard on the game.
He leaned over and whispered to her. “Noelle, do you trust me?”
Warily, Noelle turned her head to look at him. “I suppose so. As much as I can trust a person that I just met a few hours ago.”
“How would you like for all of your problems to go away?”
Noelle gave him a skeptical look.
“You said you trusted me,” he pointed out. “What would you say if I said you could make two-hundred thousand dollars tonight?”
Noelle rolled her eyes, though she hated to admit she was intrigued. “I’d say you were either crazy or an excellent pimp.” It suddenly dawned on Noelle that she was much drunker than she realized. While a few minut
es ago she seemed to have a slight buzz, she now seemed to have quickly crossed over into drunken-slurring territory. Maybe it was just Blaze’s ridiculous proposition that had made the blood suddenly rush to her head.
“I can make it happen,” Blaze assured her. “I can help you. All you have to do is trust me, nothing else.”
In that moment, Noelle knew she would do just about anything to sleep with Blaze. Suddenly sleeping with him seemed like her only goal in life, and she was desperate to do whatever it took to get into bed with him.
“Fine. I trust you.”
Blaze gives her a slow, sexy smile and Noelle knew she made the right choice.
“Good. Just remember. Trust me,” he emphasized.
Then, before Noelle even knew what was happening, Blaze yanked a handgun from the inside of his jacket and roughly grabbed Noelle around her chest.
Noelle screamed, feeling panic rise inside her, and Blaze pushed a blindfold into her hands.
“Put this on!” he demanded. Too frightened to question him, she scrambled to put the blindfold on with trembling fingers.
Six other men jumped up from the tables, drawing their own handguns and producing folded duffle bags from the inside of their sports coats.
“Nobody move!” someone yelled. Noelle turned sharply towards the voice, trying to figure out what was going on.
Blaze had said to trust him, but now she was terrified and she didn’t know how she could have ever trusted Blaze so easily. Clearly, he was a psychopath.
“Remain calm and get your wallets out!” Blaze barked. Two men with guns and duffle bags began circling the room, pointing the guns at each table player and demanding that they empty their wallets into the duffle bags. Wads and wads of cash began to fill the bags.
The four remaining men with guns, descended upon the pit bosses, forcing them to open and empty the cash lock boxes. All the while, Blaze kept the gun up against Noelle’s head.
“What are you doing?” Noelle cried, her body shaking with fear. “Please don’t hurt me.”
“Shut up!” Blaze snapped. “Let’s go!” he yelled, motioning to the other men. “Finish up!”
