“Where’s your cute friend from yesterday?” one of them asked.
So not the way she wanted to start the conversation. “He’s, uh, working.”
“Too bad. You two made such a cute couple. You need to hold onto him.”
“Thanks.” Even strangers had an easier time of accepting her relationship with Jack than she did. Kamaria lifted her chin and continued to swing her hips in what she hoped was a casual stroll around to the other tables.
“Girl, can you believe it? The casino still smells like cigarettes, wet dog, and a pre-teen girl’s perfume drawer!” What the…?
She slowed her pace to catch more bits and pieces of conversation as she passed. She began to realize that all the whispering had less to do with her and Jack and more with some craziness that had gone down the previous night.
She smiled as she stopped to sign books for some readers who had been missed due to the mob at the book signing. But on the inside, she was a total mess. Her stomach felt like it was full of butterflies. A lump formed in her throat. She hated public speaking. She hated being the center of attention. Why in the world had she agreed to give this speech? Oh yeah, that’s right. Chastity had talked her into it. Kamaria really needed to fire her.
Then she almost stumbled when she could hear bells ringing and people shouting from the casino. She felt her palms dampen. Her throat instantly went dry. That ever-present invisible vice tightened around her chest. She rounded her lips into an O and sucked in a gasp of air. She instantly went from a mild case of stage fright to feeling like she was kneeling before a chopping block.
Deep breath in. Slow breath out. Keep it together.
She pulled Toni, the president of the book club sponsoring the luncheon, by the arm. “Is it possible to close the door to block out the noise from the casino?”
“Oh yes, we’ll be closing them soon. We’re not scheduled to start for another fifteen minutes.” Toni waved her arm toward the tables. “As you can see, only half the attendants have arrived.”
Kamaria gave her a tight smile. “Of course. Thank you.” She was doomed.
She looked around for Jack. He stood by the door, as promised, speaking to one of the more flirtatious convention attendees. The unnaturally pale woman was stroking his arm with her hand. Kamaria clenched her own hands into fists. Yes, there was no official commitment between the two of them. Yes, she had been the one who insisted on an emotion-free, no-strings-attached “sex only” relationship. But, this vampiric woman, in her almost-nothing outfit—really who wore a skirt that short—touching Jack? Kamaria didn’t like it. And, she didn’t like that it affected her so much. But she had no right to say anything. Jack would be free to do whomever he wanted once the convention ended tomorrow. It wasn’t like the little skank would have a chance to bed Jack anytime soon anyway. It was his job to be attached to her side until she checked out in the morning. In all honesty, the woman was doing little more than making a fool of herself.
That didn’t stop Kamaria from wanting to scratch the woman’s eyes out.
She turned her back to that non-drama and stepped onto the dais. Once seated, she took a deep breath as she forced herself to review her note cards. Her eyes began to glaze over the words she had scratched out about throwing caution to the wind and living your dreams. None of it felt true anymore.
One reader scrambled in as they were closing the ballroom doors and yelled, “I won five hundred dollars at poker!” Everybody cheered but Kamaria. Her hands became clammy again. The ever-present tight band around her chest made her breaths short. She stared off in the direction of the door. But beyond Jack. She needed to get in the casino while the tables were hot.
Toni tapped her on the shoulder. “Are you ready, hon?”
She jerked her head back into the present. She must have zoned out for more than a few minutes. She got that way sometimes when the urge to gamble was strong. She poured herself a glass of water.
The book club president’s brow creased with worry. “Are you all right, Ms. Wilson?”
She swallowed a gulp of water. “I’m fine.” She smiled at the woman, but on the inside her heart was racing. “I think I have a little stage fright. There sure are a lot of people here.”
Toni gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You’ll be fine. If it helps, just remember that most of the men in attendance are in their underwear. Literally.” The woman giggled at her own joke. Kamaria forced a laugh. Little did Toni know that hard pecs and sock-enhanced boxer briefs weren’t the only things she craved right now. She wanted Jack by her side.
“Okay, sugar. You’re up.” The book club president went up to the podium to call the room to order. She didn’t hear any of the woman’s remarks nor her introduction. The muffled cheers coming from the casino kept her enraptured. Luckily, Chastity was right beside Kamaria to nudge her out of her daze.
“Hey, Mari. You don’t look so good.”
Even Jack, who had pried his eyes away from his female admirer, was now looking at her with concern in his eyes. How sweet of him to start acting like he cared again. Kamaria tossed her note cards to the side. She pushed herself to her feet. “I’m fine.”
She stood behind the microphone for a moment. She cleared her throat. “Sorry, I’m not much of a public speaker. For those of you who follow me on social media, you know that I do my best talking with a keyboard.”
That quip generated a few laughs. Kamaria felt some of the tension in her neck loosen. “I wanted to speak to you today about going out on a limb to live your dreams and all that stuff…”
Her eyes went back to the doorway again. Jack was still there but he was no longer looking in her direction, but at the floor. He had his finger to his ear, like he was blocking out her voice. His head whipped toward the hallway. Then, he ran out. Her heart plummeted. Using a man as her security blanket was the stupidest thing ever. She was on her own now.
She swallowed. She returned her attention to her audience. Everything she planned to say evaporated from her mind. She looked over to Chastity, who was on the verge of popping up to rescue her. She held up her hand. “No, Chastity. I don’t need you to save me anymore. I got this.”
She adjusted the microphone, as much out of nervousness as the need to adjust to her short stature. “The truth is…I shouldn’t be here. In Las Vegas, I mean. I have a gambling problem. My grandmother raised me on her own after my parents died. There were days when there wasn’t enough money for food. I started playing poker in high school as a way to keep my grandma’s belly full and her medicine cabinet stocked. When you grow up like that and you can make a thousand dollars in a few rounds of cards, there’s no such thing as winning enough. I always needed ‘just one more’ hand.
“My ‘just one more time’ obsession caused my grandma to die alone. When the hospital called to tell me that Grandma was dying and asking for me, I was here in Vegas playing ‘one more hand’ of poker. That was three years ago. I hadn’t played again until yesterday.
“My grandma loved reading romance novels. I started writing my own books to honor her in light of the horrible thing I had done. For some strange reason, you wonderful people chose to read those books, over and over again. I don’t deserve the attention and accolades you as readers have bestowed upon me.
“So, today I stand before you as the recently crowned bestselling author that you all made me. But the plain old truth is my name is Kamaria Wilson…and I’m a gambling addict. Standing here with that casino floor mere footsteps away is killing me, you guys. But it was important to me to thank you, the readers, for supporting me like you have. I love you all. Thank you.”
To her amazement, everyone stood and applauded. A sense of acceptance filled the room and embraced her. She had revealed her shameful secret and no one seemed to think she was some horrible person. As a matter of fact, they seemed to regard her as Jack had all weekend—with admiration.
This realization caused all the tension to leave her body. The love she received in return for her p
ublic admission? That sent her soaring into the clouds. The pull of the casino was no more. She was free, at least for today. She had to tell Jack. He might not “want” her or to take their relationship further, but he’d been an integral part in helping her find her strength and he deserved her thanks.
Kamaria left the dais, then ran out of the ballroom. She stood in the middle of the hallway looking every which way for Jack. She remembered he had mentioned something about a possible problem in the casino. Maybe he had gone there. She jogged down the stairs leading into the casino without any thought. Just past the entrance to the poker pit, she could see a number of the security staff, Jack included, wrestling a man to the ground. Curiosity got the better of her as she inched closer to the tussle. Too close, actually. A wild arm flew out of the melee, sending her flailing backward. She stumbled a few steps until she walked into an unoccupied chair and plopped down on it heavily.
The dealer at the table took her sitting there as a sign that she wanted to play. He held out his hand to take her bet. “Welcome to the table, little lady! How much are you playing for today?” She held her hands over the table, almost like she was covering a hand of cards. “No, wait…”
She looked up and saw a disheveled Jack standing behind the dealer. His chest heaved up and down like he was out of breath. But his eyes shone with utter disappointment.
Jack came around the table. He hoisted her up by the arm. “I leave you alone one time… Did you really just walk out on your speech to come in here?”
“Yes, I did. I…”
“Kamaria Wilson, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the premises. Immediately…”
A single tear streamed out of the corner of her eye. Now she understood why Jack dismissed her suggestion about spending a few more days together. It could never work out between them. Not as long as he made his home here in Las Vegas. He would always see her as an addict who needed a babysitter.
She swiped the tear away with the back of her hand. “You’re right, Jack. I don’t belong here.”
Yanking her arm free of his grasp, she dashed out of the casino toward the elevator bank. She smashed the button repeatedly until the door opened. Her heart hurt, not because of Jack’s knee-jerk reaction to what he saw, but because she had no say in how “what could have been” ended. Just like every other major change in her life. The end of her life as a professional gambler. Leaving Las Vegas in defeat instead of victory. Allowing herself to fall for Jack, a man she could never have, had been a bad bet.
She entered the elevator that would take her back to her suite with her head hung low. Her legs trembled. She slid down until she was sitting on the elevator floor. She cradled her head between her arms and opened her mouth to sob. But nothing came out.
Now that the pull of the casino was gone, she felt completely empty.
Chapter Eight
A few weeks later, Jack was back doing “just one more favor” for Ben, filling in for one of the guys who had called in sick. They had just caught some guy counting cards. Jack was in the process of throwing the scumbag into a metal folding chair in the security office.
Ben had to grab Jack by the shoulders to haul him off the guy. “Whoa there, Alderisi. What bug crawled up your ass?”
Jack yanked his shoulder out of Ben’s grasp. He shot both Ben and the perp an evil eye. “He lied to me,” he ground out between clenched teeth. “I don’t like it when they lie.”
Ben was now standing between the two men, with one hand on each man to keep them apart.
“You, asshole. In the chair. Now.” Ben pushed the perp down into the chair and handcuffed his hands behind his back. Then he turned toward Jack. “You. Outside.”
Once they were in the hallway, Ben read Jack the riot act. “What is your deal? You’ve been a grumpy bastard for weeks now.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. Not since that romance convention ended. Have you called her yet?”
“Who?”
Ben fumbled inside his desk drawer and produced a business card. He handed it to Jack. “You know who.”
It was Chastity Rollin’s card. Kamaria’s agent. “It didn’t work out between us. Leave it alone, Ben.”
“If you don’t call, I will.”
“Fine.” He had never gotten Kamaria’s phone number. Sending her an email through her author website felt too creepy. Chastity had all but thrown them together. Maybe she would help him find her. He grabbed his suit jacket and headed for the door. “You look like you can handle it without me.”
Ben called out after him, “Yeah. Now get your shit together.”
Jack stomped down the hallway toward the employee parking area. He slammed the door behind him. Once he was in his truck, he loosened his tie. He was done with these part-time weekend security gigs anyway. He was at a point of turning away home renovation jobs during the week.
He pulled his cell phone out of the inner lining pocket of his jacket. He didn’t want to think about Kamaria anymore. Or her big brown eyes. Or her seductive smile. Or how, despite his resemblance to the hero on her book, he failed to be the hero she needed him to be in real life. He wanted to hold her. Use his hands and his mouth to show her how sorry he was. He hadn’t been able to think about anything else since she left town. And, damn it, he missed her.
His cell phone vibrated in his hand. It was his sister Sofia. He swiped the screen to answer it.
“What?” he barked into the phone.
“Hello to you too, big brother.” Sofia sounded way too cheery.
He took a deep breath. “What can I do for you?”
“I just wanted to remind you that my graduation is coming up in a few weeks. Since you handled most of my tuition, I wanted to give you first dibs on tickets. But it sounds like you’d rather not be bothered. I’ll let you go.”
“Wait. My bad. You just caught me at a bad time. Your graduation is important.” Jack forced his voice to soften. “Of course I’ll be there.”
“What’s her name? Should I put you down for two tickets?”
“What makes you think there’s a ‘her’?”
“It’s me, Jack.”
“Okay, fine. She’s one of those romance authors…”
“Which one?”
“Her name is Kamaria…”
“Oh my God, you met Kamaria Wilson? Why didn’t you tell me?” Sofia made a high-pitched “ee” sound. Jack had to hold the device away from his ear until she finished.
“Yeah, her.”
“Why’d you say ‘her’ like you’re PMSing?
“Sofia,” Jack warned.
“Oh my God, you’re sprung, aren’t you? This is so freaking cool. My brother is in love with Kamaria Wilson. You totally have to bring her to my graduation. I’m telling Mama.”
“Sofia!”
“I gotta go anyway. Whatever you did to screw it up with her, fix it. I can’t wait to meet my future sister-in-law. Bye!”
Jack threw his phone onto the passenger side seat. Great. Knowing Sofia, she and their mother would have a wedding all planned and booked by the time he saw them at graduation. He started the ignition and pulled out of the parking space. Traffic exiting the property onto the Strip was backed up. It looked like it wouldn’t be moving anytime soon. Chastity’s business card was still sitting on his lap.
He imagined Sofia’s pout if he showed up at her graduation without Kamaria on his arm. So he had to invite her, right?
Besides, he could see Kamaria becoming fast friends with his sister. She would adore his tough-as-nails mother. Mama didn’t let anyone push her around anymore, either. And then his grandmother… He could see Nonna giving Kamaria the secret family cannoli recipe as soon as she laid eyes on her.
He snatched up his phone. He was such a sucker. His little sister had him wrapped around her finger, even from three thousand miles away. Not that he could really blame Sofia, it was Kamaria that had him tied in knots. Yes, he’d been a bastard lately, but only because he’d been hur
ting for any excuse to go after her. “Christ, fine. I’ll call.”
He didn’t need to look at the card. This wasn’t his first time dialing the number on it. But, this was the first time he stayed on the line long enough for someone to answer.
“Tough Ta-Tas Literary Management.”
Jack took a deep breath. “Chastity, it’s Jack Alderisi.”
“You say that like I should know who you are.” From the tone of her voice, she knew exactly who he was. And she didn’t sound too happy to hear from him. He steeled himself for an uphill battle.
“The security guy you hired,” he replied slowly. “From Vegas.”
Silence.
“Where is she?” Jack winced as he blurted out the question. He sounded desperate, even to himself.
“Oh, Mr. Alderisi. It’s been so long I figured you weren’t ever going to call.”
Her snarky jab hit him in the chest. “I deserve that.”
“Yes, you do. I was disappointed with how you handled my client at the end of that weekend. My gut told me you were the man for the job. I’ve never been wrong before… Too bad. ’Cause you have a really nice butt. Did Mari ever tell you that she has a thing for nice butts?”
Jack could tell that Chastity was smiling now. He released the breath he had been holding. “I know I fucked up. I have no idea how to fix it. I need your help.”
“I thought you’d never ask.” He could hear her ruffling through some papers on the other end. “Kamaria mentioned that you do home renovations. Is that true?”
“Yes, ma’am. But what does that have to do with Kamaria?”
“She’s at my family’s property in Arizona. The place could use some work. It’s several hours from Vegas by car. I doubt she’ll open the door for you if you’re only there to say you’re sorry. But she might if you tell her you’re there to do an estimate on the warped floor for me.”
Calling Her Bluff (What Happens in Vegas) Page 8
