Naughty and Nice

by Sarah J. Brooks

  The oversized purse held everything necessary during my shift, including makeup, lunch, a change of clothes and my favorite perfume that made me smell like an apple pie.

  I reached for the handle of the door as nervousness pooled in the pit of my stomach. I’d killed time outside so as not to look crazy for arriving way too early, but I was careful to get into the casino a few minutes before my shift started.

  “Rebecca,” Dean smiled as he caught sight of me. He stood at the front desk talking to a girl. “Just give me a few seconds, and then I’ll be yours.”

  “Take your time.” I had to try hard not to take that in a sexual way and swallowed dryly. Why did he have to be so attractive? Why couldn’t he be 70 and old? I waited a few feet away so the girl and he could talk without me overhearing them but couldn’t help glancing over there every now and then. My eyes locked on his behind. Despite the fact he was wearing a suit, it was well fitted, and his ass looked damn fine. I mentally shook myself and forced myself to look down at my feet so I didn’t check my boss out. First day, and I’m already being unprofessional. My brow furrowed. You know better than that.

  Anyways, hitting on the boss was wayyy out of line and not anywhere close to an option for me. I was a professional woman. I wasn’t going to be that girl.

  We’d all heard of the girl who dated her boss to get ahead, Hell, I’d been there once and wasn’t stupid enough to make that mistake again. I’d lost all respect from my co-workers and that hadn’t even been the worst part. That wasn’t an option for me. I had to work here for years and wanted to stay on people’s good side.

  It didn’t take long for Dean to approach me with a welcoming smile. “How are you doing today?”

  “I’m good. Yourself?”

  “I’ve been worse.” But his smile widened. “Come on, I’ve got a couple uniforms for you to pick between; it’s just the shirt, but I know sometimes sizing varies between brands so I wanted to give you options.” He motioned for me to follow him, and I did so. “I’ll show you around and give you the basics, but it’s Melina who will actually be training you.”

  “Alright.” I mostly just wanted him to know that I was listening.

  “She’s one of my bets girls. I brought her over from New York, and she’s been with me for years now; of course, she’s promised me she won’t tell anyone any embarrassing stories.” He laughed softly.

  We came to a stop in front of a change room. “They are in there already; please feel free to take whatever one you feel will be best, and we’ll order you a couple more shirts in that size. As for bottoms, you are welcome to wear whatever you like as long as it is black.”

  I nodded. “Alright.”

  He opened the change room door for me, and I stepped past him into the change room. I looked around; there were four shirts. Reaching for the one with S on the label, I slipped into it. I got lucky; it fit well, and I didn’t need to try any others on. But I didn’t go back out to Dean right away, taking a couple seconds to look myself over.

  The shirt was green and black plaid. It actually looked kinda cute; the casino’s name was scribbled across my chest, and turning to look at the back, I realized there were four aces stitched on the back.

  All in all, considering it was uniform, it was actually really nice. I’d had much worse.

  I tied my black hair into a ponytail and left the change room.

  “It’s a small,” I said, my cheeks flushing. It felt a little odd to be telling him what size I was, but what could I do? He needed to know, and it wasn’t like my outfit yesterday had fooled him, there was no way he was actually thinking I was large anywhere—especially my chest.

  But hey, small boobs got you picked on less going into a job like this from what my friends told me. The smaller the boobs, the less girls thought you would be a threat to their games with clients. And most girls had games they played whether they admitted it or not. Most of them wouldn’t share though so it would be up to me to figure it out on my own.

  “Perfect, I’ll be sure to tell Amanda to order you in a few.” He looked me up and down. “I have to admit, I think the uniform suits you well.” Without another word, he turned on his heel and headed down the hall and into a back room. “This, is the kitchen.”

  Not that he really needed to tell me that. It looked recently upgraded and clean. There were only three people in the kitchen right now; all of them looked up as Dean spoke.

  “How’s it going, John?”

  “It’s fine; we’re just working on a new burger to add to the menu during the winter season.”

  “Wonderful.” Dean nodded and then kept walking. “You’ll start off at the bar, just getting people more drinks, but eventually, you will probably get trained to work with the kitchen staff. It’s important to me that all my staff know how to work with one another in case they ever need to be switched up.” I nodded, listening. “Have you ever worked at a bar?”

  “No, but my mom paid for me to take a bartending course with her when I was younger.” And I was still good at it.

  Dean eyed me. “Interesting.” He motioned to the slots. “This will be where you spend a lot of time.” Then his hand pointed towards another room. “That is the card room.” I could have figured that out, seeing as there was a sign hanging above the door that said Card Room, but I didn’t say as much. “And over there,” again he pointed to another room. “Is where the fights are.”

  There were fights there? Oh, my God that was actually really cool.

  “How often are the fights?”

  “Every two or three weeks normally. Those are busy nights, and you’ll need a special uniform for that; I’ll be sure Amanda orders you one before the next fight night.”

  I nodded.

  “Any questions?”

  “Not that I can think of, no.”

  “Perfect,” he said as he led me towards the bar. “Because this,” he came to a stop in front of a girl with brown hair that fell to her lower back, although halfway down her back, the hair turned blonde. She looked me up and down with her blue eyes. “Is Melina, she’ll be teaching you everything you need to know.”

  “It’s nice to meet you. Dean said I’d be training today.”

  “Nice to meet you too.” We shook hands quickly.

  “If you two have any trouble, just let me know, and I’ll come sort it out.” He looked at Melina as he said it.

  “Sure thing, boss.” She gave him a wicked grin that he returned a little.

  I wonder if they’re together. The thought caught me off guard. He did say that she’d been with him for a long time, but I’d assumed it was just business, maybe I was wrong.

  “You two behave.” Dean turned to me. “If you have any questions, Melina will be happy to answer them.”

  Neither Melina nor I spoke until he was gone, then she turned to me, and a smile spread over her face. My heart skipped a beat for a fraction of a second because I wasn’t sure if she was going to be nice to me or not. Oh, God please say I’m not stuck with a bitch. That would be just my luck.

  “So, I’m guessing you don’t have any experience with any of this, do you?”

  “Nope, sorry. I’ve got experience in retail and the food industry, but I can’t say I’ve ever worked at a casino.”

  “So, a total noob on my hands.” Her smile widened. “That’s alright; I’m sure you’ll learn quick!”

  A deep breath passed through my lips, looks like she wasn’t going to be a bitch. Thank God. She stepped away from the bar. “Come on, I’ll show you the ropes. Dean will be in to check on us in an hour or so—he always does it.”

  Melina and I spent three hours together, and like she predicted, Dean did show up about an hour into it. I still couldn’t get a read for the kind of relationship they had, as far as I could tell they had some sort of deep connection, be it friends or lovers I wasn’t quite sure, but they had inside jokes, and the way they smiled at each other gave me the idea that there were feelings there. Dean seemed impressed whe
n he came to see how things were going, whether she was lying or not I’m not sure, but Melina said I was better than anyone else she’d trained here since they’d come to town—and I couldn’t help feeling good about that, and with the promise I’d be in the next morning to start my first official shift. Melina would still be keeping an eye on me, but I’d mostly be working by myself unless I needed help.

  With a wide grin, I slipped out of my uniform, tucked it into my oversized purse and made my way out to the parking lot. By now the sun was beginning to set, but it was still a warm day, all in all. The air was dry and humid, but it was better than some past days this week.

  My car was parked at the back of the parking lot just like we’d agreed on, and God it felt good to see that car.

  I tossed my purse into the passenger seat and pressed a button before circling around to the front of the car and lifting the hood.

  My little 1999 Ford Escort was getting old and had a leak I couldn’t afford to fix, so I just had to make sure the oil was topped up.

  “Is everything alright?”

  I spun to face him. Dean stood there watching me carefully.

  “Oh.” I felt a flush rise to my cheeks. “Yes. I just wanted to check my oil before getting on the road.”

  “You really should do that when it’s warm.”

  “I was banking on it still being warm from when my friend drove it here.”

  His eyes sparkled, but he didn’t say anything. Why? What was he going to say? He glanced behind me at my beaten up little car. “She looks like she’s been through a lot.”

  It wasn’t that she was dented or anything, hell the paint was even in reasonable condition considering it was Vegas, but she was old and faded, and I probably drove her too much.

  “She’s been around for a long time.”

  It always took guys off guard when I referred to my car as ‘she’; it’s like it’s a man only kinda thing and whenever a girl does it they are shocked. Honestly, it’s not that I’m super into cars or anything, I just spent a lot of time in the garage with my dad when I was little.

  “So you’re alright? You don’t need me to give you a ride anywhere?”

  “I’m fine, but thank you for asking.”

  “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He smiled before turning on his heels. My jaw dropped as I saw the car he was heading towards. Red, sleek, and the kind of car that guys only dreamt about. One day I’m going to get a better look at that, I promised myself before turning back to my green Escort.

  “Don’t worry Jade,” I cooed to the car as I walked to the back seat and pulled the oil out. “I still love you.”

  I was thankful no one was around to hear me talking to my car.

  Chapter Two

  “So, how did it go?” Katie didn’t bother knocking on the door anymore.

  “It wasn’t bad actually.” I grinned thinking about my day. It had been good honestly.

  “So, get to spend much time with your hot boss?” She wiggled her eyebrows dramatically.

  “No,” I snapped. I shouldn’t have told her how hot he was, but I mean she was going to find out sooner or later so it didn’t really matter. Eventually, she’d see a picture of him. “I trained with some girl today …” I paused. “I think they might be together.”

  Katie made herself at home, flicking the kettle on and rummaging through my cupboards for my mint hot chocolate, her favorite flavor that I made.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “He brought her from New York first of all.”

  “Oh, yea that could be a good sign.”

  “And I don’t know … it’s the way they look at each other.”

  Katie grinned as she caught my eye. “You sound jealous.”

  I snorted. “Jealous?” Why would I be jealous?” I mean sure, no one liked being around a couple of love birds, and that had felt pretty awkward, but it wasn’t that big a deal. “I don’t need to be jealous; she’s the one who has issues if she’s dating him. I bet girls just throw themselves at him every second they can.”

  “What about you?” Katie grabbed the kettle just as it popped, and she poured boiling water into the mug waiting for it.

  “What about me?”

  “Are you going to throw yourself at him?”

  I laughed.

  “Of course not. You know I don’t date my bosses.”

  No matter how drop dead sexy they were.

  ***

  “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  Her name was Natalie. She had long blonde hair and brown eyes with super thick lashes that moved up and down as she battered her eyelids.

  “No, thank you.” Dean smiled softly. It looked like he was trying to pretend he couldn’t tell she was hitting on him.

  I stood there trying not to laugh. He caught my eye, and I went still praying he hadn’t noticed my amusement.

  “Alright, but if you ever need me, just let me know.”

  “I’ll be sure to send Melina to get you if I ever need you.” He made sure to emphasise the same word she did.

  The smile vanished from her face as soon as he turned and headed out of the room.

  I tilted my head to the left. Was that him making it clear him and Melina were together? I still hadn’t gotten a read on that situation.

  The girl turned to me and smiled. “We’ve kinda got a thing going,” she said as if she owed me some sort of explanation.

  “You do?” I tried not to laugh at her.

  “I mean, not really. Not yet. I’ve been flirting with him since he got here.” She lowered his voice. “He has a reputation for not dating co-workers.”

  “So why are you flirting with him?” If he didn’t like date co-workers …

  I didn’t want to admit just how happy that made me. I swallowed, pushing the thought away. I wasn’t going to bring up the past. Not now, not here. This was a fresh start for me.

  Okay, maybe I hadn’t been totally honest about my past job experience, but I had been honest about the job experience that I’d given him—you know, in case he checked into it.

  “Because ...” the girl rolled her eyes like it was a stupid question, “... boys always want what they can’t have.” It sounded to me like she was the one who wanted what she couldn’t have. I opened my mouth to say it, but she cut me off before I could even start. “I mean, if he really didn’t want to date his employees then he’d have some sort of written contract, right? It would be against the rules. I’ve looked. It’s not.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.” She nodded gleefully.

  My brow furrowed. “What do you think his relationship with Melina is?” I asked as I stepped away from her. At this time of day, there were a few people sitting at the slot machines, but Natalie and I had lost a game of rock, paper, scissors and ended out back here while two other girls were getting the tips from them.

  “I’ve heard they are just friends.”

  “Is that what you actually think?” I raised an eyebrow. “I mean, have you seen the way he looks at her?”

  Okay, maybe I was pushing buttons, but I just wanted to get someone’s opinions, and I knew Natalie had been here since they opened.

  “I don’t know.” She bit her lip as she thought about it. “I mean, they do sometimes seem to leave together… but I mean they did come here together… I just figured they were keeping each other company.”

  I shrugged. “It would make sense. I mean, I doubt they really have friends here, and that’s gotta be hard.”

  It seemed pretty clear to me that Natalie had no idea what their relationship was, so there really wasn’t any point in talking to her about it any further.

  She glanced down at her watch. “Oh good, only a couple more minutes and then we can get out of here.”

  We didn’t talk much for the rest of the shift, and just like everyone else there, I was quick to change out of my uniform and get out. But still, I was one of the last ones actually out of the casino afte
r my shift was done. Heading back to the parking lot, I caught sight of a shiny red car I’d promised myself I’d get closer to. My head tilted to the left. That hadn’t been there when I parked this morning. I would have remembered that.

  Despite the fact I’d promised myself a closer look, I didn’t go over and check the car out. Instead, I just went over to my little car and slipped into the driver’s seat, grabbing the keys from my purse.

  I groaned as the engine turned over and failed.

  “What’s wrong?” I whispered, popping the hood, stepping out of the car and making my way around to the hood. Not really being all that good with cars and knowing just the basics, there was no point in me even looking at it. But I still tried.

  My brow furrowed as I looked at the engine block and let out a sigh.

  Pushing myself away from the car, I went back to the driver’s side door that was still open, reached in, and grabbed my cell phone from my purse. I heaved another sigh as I opened it and found the number for a tow truck.

  “Everything alright?”

  I smiled as I looked up at Dean. “My car won’t start.”

  “Oh shit, I’m sorry. Do you know what’s wrong with it?”

  “Not a clue,” I admitted as the phone rang and I lifted it to my ear. “One sec.” He nodded.

  “Hello, Jay’s Auto Shop. Jay speaking.”

  “Hi, I um … my car won’t start, and I was hoping I could get a tow.”

  “Sure, what’s the address?”

  I gave him the address, and he said that he’d be there in a few minutes. Hanging up, I dropped the hood of my car and planted my butt on it.

  “You don’t have to stay here,” I said as Dean came over to the hood and sat beside me. “I don’t mind waiting alone.”

  “I know I don’t have to stay, but I don’t mind.” He shrugged. “Anyways, you’ve got to get home somehow, don’t you?”

  “I can just bus.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I can take you.” He gave me a soft smile. “Remember, I know where you live anyways.”

  “Still, I’m sure you have a hot date or something.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Jealous?”