I wrapped myself in a towel and headed to the bathroom where I’d kept my clothing, not bothering with the stockings, just the bra, panties, and dress. I grabbed my shoes—which I would not be wearing to work—and made for the kitchen to see Dean with a slice of toast in his hand. He pointed towards the other.
“I didn’t know what you would like on it, so there is just a little butter.”
“Thanks.”
“There is jam in the fridge and peanut butter.” He pointed towards a large tub of peanut butter on the counter.
I grabbed a knife, which had clearly been used for peanut butter, and slathered a thin layer on the toast.
“So, are you planning to stay in Vegas long?” It came out sounding wrong. I realized it as soon as I’d said it. It came out sounding like I was trying to get a gauge on how long the relationship would last. “I mean … with the whole casino thing, you’re eventually going to move on, right? Do you already have somewhere picked out?”
“Actually, if I wanted to settle down, this would be the best place to do it.” He took another bite of toast, chewed and swallowed. “You were right in your interview; this city is filled with them. I can always keep growing out here. I can buy out other casinos; I can grow them, and I can change them.”
“Have you ever thought about doing anything other than working with casinos?”
“Of course.” He smirked. “And maybe one day I will, but right now …” he paused. “It’s what someone I know would have wanted.”
So, it was someone else’s passion that he was living out for them. I knew what that was like—I mean, who didn’t?
“Well, you’re young. There is lots of time for that.” I took a bite of my toast, waiting to see if he would give me an idea of how old he was.
“That’s my line of thought.”
Damn it. So it wasn’t going to be that easy. Fine. I leaned against the counter with one hip and looked him up and down.
“Just how old are you?”
Dean smirked. “Worried I’m old enough to be your dad?”
“No, just worried you’re older than him. I have a strict rule about not having sex with men who are older than my dad.” I gave him a grin, so he knew I was joking.
“I’m only 36.”
“Oh.” I thought about it quickly. He was a little bit older than me; ’kay, more than a little, but it’s not like he was too old. “Well, then, I guess you’re safe. Definitely not older than my dad.”
***
Dean and I sat at the bar. No one was around since we’d had to come early to open up.
“So, do I get another date with you?” he asked, his eyes sparkling as if he already knew the answer.
“I guess I could give it one more shot.” I smiled, letting him know I was only being playful about the one more shot part. “When did you have in mind?”
Truth ways, I wanted to give him way more than just one shot.
“How about … this weekend? If I remember right, you’ve actually got the weekend off, right?”
“I think so yea.”
“Good.” Dean grinned. He looked past me and cleared his throat. “Anyways, I’ve got to get to work.” He glanced down at his watch, and as I caught sight of it, I realized what had just happened. I spun to see Melina standing there. People had started arriving for their shift. Dean stood, and as he passed her, he gave Melina a quick nod. She watched him leave the room then turned her attention to me.
“So, he asked you out did he?”
“I ... No!” I paused, but guessing by the smile on her face, she wasn’t buying it. My cheeks flushed. I could feel the embarrassment spread up to the tip of my ears. “Is it really that noticeable?”
“To someone who knows him as well as I do? Absolutely. To everyone else, probably not.”
What was their relationship? Dean still hadn’t really told me.
“Have you dated him before?”
She laughed softly.
“No need to be jealous; Dean and I are just friends. I’ve been with my boyfriend since I met him.” Her eyes sparkled.
“So, you’re just his really good friend?”
Melina paused. Her head tilted to the left as she thought about my question.
“I’m … I’m part of the reason he is still sane, honestly. I keep him grounded and give him someone to talk to, despite the fact my boyfriend hates the long hours I spend with Dean, and as much as I’ve tried to get him to make new friends, he’s just not interested in it. He doesn’t want to meet anyone else; he doesn’t want to give anyone else a shot.” She looked at me. “Did you ask him out? He normally avoids girls that work for him like they are a plague.”
“I don’t blame him,” I muttered. Melina chuckled. “But no,” I said realizing I hadn’t actually answered her question. “I didn’t ask him out. He asked me out.”
“Really?” She tried to control her reaction as she nodded, but I could tell that was a big deal for some reason. Why?
Was it just that he didn’t normally date girls who worked for him.
“Really.” I nodded. “Should that be surprising?”
“Honestly? Yes. I’m quite surprised by that.” She looked me up and down. “But, he will tell you all about that when he is ready to tell you about that.”
I smirked. “That’s the worst part about relationships, isn’t it? Waiting for them to open up to you.”
Melina laughed. “No. Sharing the bed and the food is.”
I snorted. She had a point.
Our conversation was cut short as Natalie walked into the room. Melina’s eyes lit up as she glanced from me to Natalie and opened her mouth. “So ...” My heart sank to the pit of my stomach. Was she actually going to out me? “How’s the hunt going?”
“He still hasn’t said yes, if that’s what you’re asking.” Natalie didn’t sound defeated. “But he will soon.”
“Are you sure about that? I thought I heard him talking to a girl the other night.”
“Really? Who?” Natalie looked around the room as if the girl was here. I stood there waiting for it because, really, what else was I going to do?
“I have no clue. It was on the phone. But I mean, maybe it was just his mom or a friend or something. I’m sure he has female friends.” Melina shrugged, but the look on her face told me she was enjoying this far too much. I glared at her.
So it might be difficult to make this work, but after last night I knew that I wanted to try—wanted to give it all I had—not just one more date but actually give him a shot. Katie was right; I couldn’t hold Brad against him, and I wasn’t trying to, but it was something Melina said, well more so what she didn’t say.
It was a big deal that Dean had asked me out, and I was going to give him the chance he deserved. Not because I fully trusted him, I’d just met him and that would be stupid of me, but because I wanted to let him gain my trust.
And I’d had a lot of fun with him last night. I wonder what he has planned for next weekend.
***
I took a deep breath and grinned. I got her for the entire weekend. My mind raced with ideas of what we were going to do as I pulled my email open.
My heart dropped as I stared at the screen. How did he find me?
I closed the computer quickly, but that didn’t shake the mental image of that email sitting there. Taking a deep breath, I opened the screen back up—whatever it was, however they’d found me, I was going to have to face it.
The Billionaire’s Casino 2
Sarah J. Brooks
Chapter One
“I’m sorry babe; I’ve got to work tonight.”
I blew out a deep breath of disappointment. Yea, I was hearing that a lot recently. “Okay.” I leaned over his desk and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll see you later.”
As I walked out of Dean’s office, I wasn’t sure when I would actually see him, but I did know it would be eventually. Of course, even though we got to work together, I hardly actually got time with him when we we
re at work because people still didn’t know we were dating, but I didn’t mind that. I didn’t want them to know we were dating. After having experienced that in the past, I wasn’t interested in seeing if it was going to be different.
Melina gave me a smile as I entered the lobby.
“Staying late?” I didn’t mean it to come out as bitchy as it did, but how could part of me not be jealous? She actually got more time with him than I did these days.
“No, John is on his way to pick me up.” We’d given Melina a ride today, which meant she didn’t have her car here. “He says he has something special planned, so I’m looking forward to figuring out what it is.” Her eyes sparkled as we strode to the door together. “Are you okay?”
“Yea, I’m fine,” I lied.
“You know … this is what he’s always been like. It’s why he can’t get a girlfriend. He doesn’t take hints very well, and no matter how many times I try to tell him something, he just doesn’t understand that he’s pushing people away. He doesn’t believe me and just tells me that someone will tell him if they think that, but he doesn’t see any of the hints.”
Melina shook her head as we stepped out into what Las Vegas considered fresh air. I bit my lip. I knew she was trying to make me feel better, but it wasn’t helping much.
“I’m just saying,” Melina continued. “Sometimes you have to just come out and say it. He doesn’t see the little things. He … he’s not that smart.” Melina shot me a grin.
“How many businesses does he own?”
“Oh, that has nothing to do with him being smart. That’s another kind of smart.”
Melina was the only one we worked with that knew Dean and I had been together for a week, and I had to give her credit, she seemed to pick up on a lot of things. I was impressed she’d realized we were dating—back then she’d said something that still rang in my ears. Well, it wasn’t so much what she said, but the meaning behind it.
It was a big deal that he asked me out. I have no clue why. Melina wouldn’t tell me and said Dean would when he was ready to, but the thing is, after our second date we really hadn’t had much time together.
The entire weekend had been spent naked—well, mostly naked. And then that was it. Come Monday, he was back to work, and that seemed like all he ever did these days.
“Oh, that’s your ride, right?” I’d seen the blue car pick her up or drop her off before.
“Yup.” Melina gave me a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, and don’t worry about him too much. He’s probably just stressed with next weekend being the big launch.”
The casino was new; though it was open, we still hadn’t had a big opening night kinda thing. Dean said he was waiting for us to get a bit of a following before doing anything major. This week was the first major night. A big MMA fight was going down, so we had the TVs ready to go and were expecting to be slammed. The past four days, Dean had done nothing but run press and meet with interviewers. I made my way to the back of the parking lot where Katie was waiting for me in my car. She smiled.
Living across the hall from my best friend had benefits—one of those was she could borrow my car and pick me up from work when she was done with it. I slid into the passenger seat, and she gunned the engine.
“How’s the boy toy?”
It was the same question every day after work.
“He’s good … still working.”
“Again? He works late a lot.”
“Yea, I’m hoping it will change after this weekend, but I’m not so sure it will honestly.” I bit my lip, trying to tell myself not to worry about it. Of course, that didn’t help.
“I’m sure it will. He’s got to be under a lot of stress right now; I mean, you said you’re doing some big thing on the weekend, right?”
“Yea. Saturday is some MMA fight night. We’re expecting to be packed. He’s been working nonstop on it, and with the renos still going on, I know he’s been super stressed.”
“You should try to help with that stress.”
I snorted. “I have.” I’d done everything from offering to help him with work and give him a blow job. He wasn’t interested in it. I didn’t mention that part because it was way too embarrassing.
“I picked up some Chinese food, what do you say we go home, make some of that new hot chocolate you’ve been working on, and we watch some chick flicks?”
“Sounds like a perfect way to spend the night.” I closed my eyes, leaning against the headrest. Okay, the perfect way to spend the night would be with Dean, but that wasn’t going to happen, so this was the next perfect.
I opened my eyes, pulled my phone out of my purse and brought up his name. My fingers hovered over the screen trying to decide if I should text him or not.
Hey. How’s work?
I honestly wasn’t expecting him to reply.
*
I watched the cameras for Melina and Rebecca before I pulled my computer open. I’d gotten an email every day since they’d gotten a hold of my email. I took a deep breath and clicked on the newest one.
Dean,
You can’t run forever. We know where you are now and we’re coming. You deserve everything we will do to you—for her.
There was no signature, but I didn’t need it. I could try taking it to the cops, but I’d already called them. They said there wasn’t much that could be done. Who were we? I knew one of them was Keith. It had always been Keith. He’d never liked me, but who else could be involved. It wasn’t fair.
I thought we’d put all this behind us, and I thought I’d put this behind me. I felt a tear prick my eye. My brow furrowed. Now wasn’t the time to be crying.
I hadn’t been lying when I told Rebecca I needed to work late. There were still three interviews I needed to have sent in by tomorrow, and one of the interviewers had six follow-up questions because apparently, my answers weren’t good enough.
I took a deep breath. They are just trying to make you look as good as they can, I reminded myself. Not that it helped much. The fact was, I was stressed.
I managed to get a little bit of work done before my phone went off. Glancing down at it, I bit my lip. I knew I was pushing her away, but I couldn’t help it. I knew if I told her the truth, she would hate me for what I did, and I knew she would be scared of me.
I sighed, staring down at her text. A smile touched my lips, but the tear ran down my cheek, wet and salty as it touched the corner of my lip. I wiped it away quickly as if someone might see it if I didn’t.
Blowing out a deep breath, I texted her back quickly, letting her know how it was going, and that I already missed her.
I hated having to stay late to work on this crap. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, and its benefits, but when Rebecca left my office today, it took everything I had not to follow her out of here.
I knew she was going to get fed up with me soon, and I knew it had been stupid to even ask her out in the first place, but I hadn’t been able to help it. There was something about her that made me want to take that risk; I just wasn’t sure if I should have or not. I’m only going to end up hurting her. And myself in the process, but that didn’t matter to me as much as she mattered.
Grabbing my cell phone, I pulled up our conversation. Instead of typing anything, I hit the button that would allow me to call her.
It rang three times before she picked up.
“Hello?”
“I won’t lie; I was beginning to think you might not answer my call.” I smiled hearing her voice and closed my eyes.
“What’s wrong babe?”
“Nothing … nothing; I just missed you, is that such a bad thing?”
“I can come back to the office if you want.”
“No! There is no point in us both being here. What are your plans for the night?”
“Um, Katie and I are going to watch some movies … Nothing overly special. Are you sure you don’t want me to come in?”
“I’m sure.” I just wanted to hear her voice and to take
a break from work and just talk. “I just missed you that’s all. I wanted to talk.”
“What about?”
“Honestly,” I laughed softly. “I have no fucking clue.”
“Well, why don’t we try to make some time to see each other tomorrow?”
“A real dinner.” I nodded. “It sounds perfect.”
“I can even cook for you if you want.”
“Are you a good cook?”
She laughed on the other end of the phone. “You’ll have to find out tomorrow.”
I blew out a deep breath. God, I missed her right now and shook my head trying to stop thinking like that. “Alright, I’m sorry babe, but my break’s done; I gotta get back to work.”
“It’s alright, I understand. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I opened my mouth to say something then froze. “Um, bye.”
“Bye.”
I hung up and stared at my computer screen, zoning out. I’d almost just told her I loved her. How could I have done that? I swallowed dryly and stood. There was no way I’d actually just done that, was there?
It had only been a week. I couldn’t love her.
*
My brow furrowed as I stood in my bedroom. It wasn’t like him to just randomly call me like that. I hope he’s okay, I thought, tucking my phone back into my pocket and heading into the kitchen.
“Was that Dean?” Katie asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Yea. He um, just wanted to talk, and we made dinner plans for tomorrow night.”
“That’s sweet.” Katie smiled widely.
Yea. But I wasn’t so sure he’d actually just called to talk, and I wasn’t sure the dinner plans would actually go through, but I didn’t voice that. Instead, I headed back to the table and grinned. “Alright, let’s get this down pat.”
Katie and I had been working on my hot chocolate recipes for the past couple nights now. Well, Katie tested them, and I made them.
Right now, we were working on white chocolate and lavender. “So, how’s your life going?” I asked, measuring out the chocolate crumbs into the bowl and dumping them in. We’d learnt it was best to go with a small amount of lavender, it was just a matter of getting the perfect amount. Tonight, we were trying a quarter lavender to chocolate ratio.
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