Hot Number

by V. K. Sykes

  “Shit, that jerk in the suit looks like he wants trouble,” Todd groaned.

  “He’s hotel security,” Cassie told him, not bothering to repress her grin. “I really don’t think he’s somebody you guys want to mess with.”

  The guys cast wary looks at each other.

  As Saxon headed straight for their day-bed, other women’s heads turned as he strode down the length of the sparkling pool. One young blonde quickly rolled from her stomach onto her back, offering him a full view of her impressive, evenly-tanned breasts. For an instant, Sadie contemplated drenching the woman with her mojito. Fortunately, Saxon saved her from wasting her drink by striding past without the slightest turn of his head.

  Way to go, Sheriff.

  First, Saxon stopped to talk with the women who’d been bumped and splashed. Their eyes threw daggers at Todd as they told the sheriff what he’d obviously already witnessed. He called over two of the poolside servers and got them started on the cleanup, then thanked the women for their patience before turning to confront the guilty parties. Legs planted wide apart, he stood like a modern-day cowboy, blocking out the sun with his tall, muscled body. Every bone inside Sadie seemed to dissolve into a puddle of warm honey.

  After a polite nod to Cassie and Sadie, Saxon zeroed in on the three stooges. The guys had stood as he approached, and now shifted nervously on their feet. She couldn’t see the sheriff’s eyes behind the shades, but knew from his body language—and the tension shimmering in the air around him—that his testosterone had spiked into the red zone.

  Sadie pushed her sunglasses up on her head and let her gaze drift up the body of the incredibly hot man standing next to their day-bed. Damned if his groin wasn’t at her eye level. Like they’d been glued, her eyeballs seemed stuck in place, inspecting the tantalizing bulge below his black leather belt as she waited for him to rain down the fire.

  Todd finally piped up, his voice climbing into a range not much below a squeak. “Is there a problem, man? We’re just hanging out and having a good time with these ladies.”

  Saxon’s lip actually curled, his attitude akin to a panther eying a field mouse. Insignificant and not worth eating.

  God. Even the sheriff’s arrogance turned her on. She almost finished melting right there on the spot.

  “Yeah, I’d say there’s a problem when some jackass knocks a couple of women over and scares the wits out of them.” His voice sounded as sharp and cold as a steel blade. “You created a disturbance and, according to the two ladies you inconvenienced, it was obviously caused by an excess of alcohol.”

  “Hell, it was an accident,” Todd mumbled. “I didn’t mean to bump into her chair.”

  “Right. An accident that happened after you stuck your hand somewhere it didn’t belong,” Nick snapped. He stared at each of the men in turn. “You three will want to be running along now. Go have a workout, or do something else to work off the booze.”

  Todd glowered at him, looking like a sulky kid. The other two guys glanced nervously at each other, but nobody moved.

  Saxon slowly pulled off his sunglasses and the temperature around the pool dropped by several degrees. His glare was like an ice pick. Maybe even an ice axe. Sadie had to bite the inside of her cheeks not to laugh at the effect it had on the stooges.

  “Do I really need to ask you again to leave?”

  Though the sheriff didn’t raise his voice, Todd and his buddies picked up their drinks and slunk off, muttering to each other and casting dirty looks at Saxon over their shoulders.

  Sadie let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks. You saved us the trouble of getting rid of those idiots ourselves. They were as dense as granite.”

  “I’m glad to have been of service, ma’am.” He turned his eyes toward Cassie. “I’ve met your friend, but we haven’t been properly introduced.”

  It didn’t make any sense, but she liked the way the sheriff called her ‘ma’am’. Somehow, he managed to make it sound both sexy and respectful. “Nick Saxon, Cassie Hearn,” she said, nodding toward each of them in turn.

  Cassie didn’t waste any time. “Hello, Nick. May I call you Nick?”

  His lips twitched, and he nodded.

  “Thanks a bunch for the timely pest control, but would you mind blocking someone else’s sun? You’re about as big as a redwood.” Cassie flashed a smile to show she was just sticking a needle in him.

  He grimaced. “Sorry, but you northerners should be careful about how much sun you get, anyway. Especially you, Ms. Bligh. You’re so pale, you’ll burn fast.”

  Well, she certainly felt the burn, but it wasn’t from the sun. Feeling reckless—which seemed to happen every time she laid eyes on him—Sadie decided to play him a bit. “I don’t think so, Mr. Saxon. I’ve applied copious quantities of lotion. Do you think I need some more?” She ran a hand experimentally over the flat of her stomach.

  His eyes narrowed and darkened as he followed her hand.

  “Sade, I’m hot. I think I’ll take a dip.” Cassie jumped up from the bed and, without waiting for Sadie’s reply, swayed over to the side of the pool.

  For a moment, panic swelled at the thought of being alone with Nick, but Sadie willed it down. This was what she wanted. This was precisely what she had come to Vegas for.

  She inclined her head toward Cassie’s vacant spot. “Lots of room on the day-bed if you’d like to rest up a bit, Sheriff. You must be sweltering in that suit. In fact, I’d like to buy you a cool drink in thanks for rescuing us.”

  “Sorry, I can’t do that. I’m on duty. Anyway, I’m used to this weather. I grew up here, and it’s a nice, dry heat.”

  “Are you kidding? So is the heat in my oven, but I don’t want to live inside it.”

  He laughed. “I know. It’s murder on everyone but the locals.”

  Sadie drew her legs up and propped her forearms on her knees. For the first time all day, she was beginning to enjoy herself. “You seem to be here all hours of the day and night. Are you ever off duty?”

  He glanced over his shoulder, as if someone might be watching. “I take my job seriously.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” she responded dryly.

  His smiled faded, his eyes narrowed again, and the sheriff was back on duty. “How does your ankle feel today, ma’am? You gave me the impression it was in pretty bad shape last night, but you seem to have recovered quickly.”

  Sadie started to bristle. Had he come to Skin to check out her body or just rattle her chain some more? Or, and this made her stomach give a sickening little flop, was he just humoring her while he did his job? Granted, she was hopeless at reading men, but she swore that the heat blazing in those onyx eyes clearly signaled he was thinking of stripping off her skimpy bikini bottom, coming down on top of her, and having sex right there on the day-bed. And part of her couldn’t think of anything she’d rather do more.

  As that startling image crowded into her mind, her face flushed with heat. Could he read her thoughts? God, she hoped not. He’d think she was a slut, for sure.

  Time to push back. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m giving the ankle a good rest, as you can see,” she said in a haughty voice. “A little sun and some time in the pool should do wonders.” She rolled over on her side, draping an arm over her bare breasts. “And I’m behaving myself—so far, anyway. Though who knows what the evening may bring.” Okay, now he would probably think she was a slut, but she couldn’t resist taking a parting shot.

  Saxon’s mouth settled into that all-too-familiar hard line as he pushed his sunglasses back on. “You have a good afternoon, Ms. Bligh.”

  He turned and strode away, his long, easy gait carrying him quickly past the beckoning female looks from the poolside. With a sigh, she watched him go, not shifting her gaze until he disappeared into the double sliding doors of the hotel.

  * * *

  Nick strode down the narrow hotel corridor toward the casino floor, mentally kicking himself for venturing into the Skin pool area. No doubt Cars
on would have a report on his desk within hours, if not minutes. Sure, Nick would give the disturbance created by those three losers as his excuse, but both he and Carson knew a little dust-up like that wasn’t an incident requiring intervention by security staff.

  He’d told himself he’d only pop his head in the entrance to see if she did really have the guts to try the topless pool. But when he spotted those three drooling dogs around her and her friend, he’d wanted to chuck them into the water. And when the asshole next to Sadie stuck his mitt on her leg...well, that was it.

  But damned if the little firecracker didn’t up and whack the guy first. She might be trying to convince herself and the rest of Vegas that she was up for anything, but that small action spoke volumes. Then, for no good reason Nick could figure out, he’d turned frosty on her. Maybe it was the very fact that she had actually gone to Skin in the first place, letting her ample assets all hang out, even though he suspected it wasn’t really her thing. And, yes, it had pissed him off to stand there watching those clowns leering at her soft, beautiful breasts. But so what? That failed to explain why he felt...well, jealous was the only word for it. But why over this woman?

  He slowed down, pausing outside the main casino floor as he tried to shrug the tension from his shoulders. Maybe he should swing by Starbucks and grab a coffee. Try to ease down his jacked-up hormones, since they were clearly to blame for catapulting him into this screwed-up state. Since he’d come back to Vegas four months ago, he’d been too busy taking care of his mother and working crazy casino hours to have much of a sex life. Sure, he could have settled for a few one-night stands with horny tourists on the prowl, or taken up some of the spoken and unspoken invitations thrown his way by hostesses and dealers, but nothing had felt remotely right.

  Until Sadie Bligh. Somehow, she felt kind of right. And that realization had caught him completely off-guard. He could be wrong, but he’d finally pegged her as a shy geek trying to masquerade as a wild child. Though that wasn’t exactly an endangered species in Vegas, she seemed different—her cheeky verve and her oddly encyclopedic vocabulary, all layered over a shy clumsiness. There was something really endearing about that. At least to him.

  Okay, and then there was her body. Man, was she hot. Last night in the interview room had been hard enough on his system. Today, watching her at the pool had tested every bit of his self-control. In fact, when she’d draped herself across that poolside bed—funny how she’d lost her shyness once he’d showed up—he hadn’t been able to repress a particularly stimulating fantasy, one that involved her luscious tits and a bottle of suntan lotion. And the way her gaze had latched onto his zipper, she’d damn well noticed his cock stirring in response.

  Like it was stirring now, just thinking about her.

  Shit. He was so screwed. Nick knew there was no chance he’d be able to leave Sadie Bligh to the pack of horny jackals that would be trailing her around Vegas all week. Buzz Carson be damned.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Of course Nick’s interested in you!” Cassie shook her blond, perfectly coiffed mane in obvious exasperation. “You really think it was a coincidence that he showed up at the pool this afternoon?”

  Sadie started scanning the crowd as they passed into the flashing chaos of the casino, pretending she didn’t give a hoot what Nick Saxon felt. “Maybe. But if the sheriff really is interested, he’s got a perplexing manner of demonstrating it. I’m convinced he just disapproves of me, plain and simple. Like I’m some pain in the butt, trailing trouble in my wake.”

  “Well, there’s that…”

  Cassie had to dodge Sadie’s quick punch.

  “Don’t laugh,” Sadie said, grimacing. “I feel like that cartoon character that goes around with a black cloud over his head. That’s probably what Saxon sees when he’s anywhere near me. Monstrous, doom-laden thunder clouds.” She shouldn’t let it bother her, but just once she wished she wouldn’t make such a fool of herself around a cute guy.

  Grimly determined to have a good time, Sadie forged her way through the craps tables toward the blackjack pit. No matter whether the sheriff disapproved or not, she would have a great time if she had to kill herself trying.

  Cassie hurried to keep up with her. “You are so wrong, Sade. Trust me. You are hands down the smartest person I’ve ever known, but you get a D-minus when it comes to figuring out guys. You totally turn Saxon on. Anybody with eyes can see that.”

  Craning her neck, Sadie checked out the blackjack tables for one that had two empty chairs side-by-side. “Let’s try that one,” she said, pointing to a ten-dollar table. “Look, I hope you’re right. I really do. But I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for him to make a move. We’re here to have a good time, and Nick Saxon sure isn’t the only hot guy in this town.”

  Cassie grinned. “Atta girl. You’re right. We always have to be open to the gifts presented by the universe.”

  Sadie nodded in stout agreement as they took the two vacant middle seats at an otherwise full table. She asked for two hundred in chips. Cassie, looking dubious, asked for fifty.

  “I know I’m going to regret this, Sade. I don’t know a thing about this game, other than apparently a lot of people get pissed off at you if you don’t play exactly the right way.”

  Sadie briefly touched Cassie’s hand in reassurance. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure people will cut us a break. We can’t be the only blackjack rookies in Vegas.”

  “Yeah, but you told me you studied the game. If I know you, that means you’re damn near an expert by now,” Cassie said with a knowing air.

  Sadie pushed two chips into the rectangle in front of her. “There’s a standard system that’s easy to learn. If you stick to the system, the odds say you’ll still end up losing around a couple of percent over the long run. But on any given night you can be up. Or down. Maybe even by a lot.”

  “So, that means you’ll be okay, but I’ll be screwed. Have I got that right?”

  Sadie laughed. “That’s about the size of it. You have to decide on your limit and walk away when you hit it.”

  “Well, I figure that’ll take about ten minutes. Then I’ll head back to the slots and veg out until it’s time to hit the club.”

  Sadie nodded absently, already focusing on the game. Cassie was right. She probably would be out in about ten minutes, whereas Sadie had every intention of challenging—and beating—the house.

  “Why don’t we meet up in my room at eleven?” she replied. “I’ll need to change, though you look perfect already.”

  Cassie had chosen a lacy camisole and a short, sexy skirt for the casino, while Sadie had opted for jeans and a pink Polo tee shirt. After last night, she had learned her lesson. No more wardrobe malfunctions on the casino floor.

  The dealer whipped cards out of the shoe with lightning fast skill, two to each of the six players, and two dealer cards. Cassie drew a queen and a six, Sadie a nine and an eight. The dealer flipped over his first card, an eight.

  When Cassie’s turn came around, she held up her palm to indicate she’d stand with the sixteen. Sadie cringed, while the guy on her left in the anchor position shook his head with a sigh.

  Sadie waved away the dealer, sticking on seventeen.

  The anchor guy stood too. The dealer flipped over the hole card—a jack.

  As their chips were swept away, Cassie turned to Sadie. “The way that guy reacted I guess I must have screwed that one up.”

  “It’s okay. Standing on sixteen is instinctive for people who don’t know the basic strategy. But the strategy says you should have hit on a dealer eight.”

  “Jesus,” Cassie groaned. “I’d need a freaking chart or something to play this game.”

  “There is a chart you can memorize. It’s in here now.” Sadie pointed a finger at her temple.

  “Ah, yes. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from Professor Genius.”

  Sadie grinned as the dealer laid out the second hand. This time Sadie stood on twelve against the
dealer’s five.

  “Good for you,” the guy next to her said in a low voice. “Nice to see you know what you’re doing, not like some of the airheads around here.”

  Sadie didn’t know whether to thank him for the compliment or jab him in the ribs for taking a shot that was obviously aimed at Cassie. She settled for an imperious glare.

  An hour and a half later, long after Cassie had departed for greener pastures, Sadie hit a winning streak. Her two hundred dollar stake more than doubled. And it didn’t surprise her a bit to find she could remember every card played, and could easily keep a running track of the distribution of high and low cards. According to her research, card counters called that the heat of the shoe.

  When the third shoe hit a plus seventeen, Sadie knew there were a lot of high cards left unplayed and started tripling her bets. After she won four of the next five hands, the anchor guy started following her lead, raising his own bets. She kept her bets at sixty dollars a hand until she got another hot shoe, and then upped them to a hundred. That drew the attention of the pit boss, a pretty stick of a young woman in a black suit that hugged her waif-like form. Petite she might be, but her piercing gaze was pretty much the female version of the sheriff’s stare. She managed to look thoroughly intimidating.

  When Sadie’s stack of chips had tripled in size, with the pit boss looking grimmer by the minute, she decided it was time to switch to a table with a higher minimum bet. That way her moves might attract less attention. She found a hundred dollar table nearby, and ordered another mojito as she took her seat.

  When the two players on her right both pushed out a pair of hundred dollar chips, Sadie followed suit. She’d never been the slightest bit audacious, but coming to Vegas was all about pushing past her limits. So far, audacity had been good strategy, at least when it came to blackjack. She might be striking out in the guy department, but numbers were her life. This she could do.