“You didn’t have to do that for me,” she said.
“What? Defend your honor?”
“That’s one way of putting it.” She stood near a mister, the light spray of water cutting through the dry heat. “It’s not that I’m ungrateful, but really, punches weren’t needed. I’ve dealt with that sort of boorish behavior before.”
He bristled, and her heart gave a tiny leap because he seemed to be getting protective again. It gave her some pleasure to imagine how he would’ve thumped Ted Genhaven in the office that day, even though she’d managed on her own.
“When have you dealt with it?” he asked.
“Back in San Diego. My boss was a pig. He came on to me in a slightly more disgusting way than this cretin, and I put him in his place.” She did sound awesome and capable.
“How?”
“I poured ice on his . . . dick.”
Cash seemed relieved that he had something to laugh at. He hadn’t lit up his cigarette yet, toying with it instead. “Dick. That word just doesn’t seem natural coming from you.”
“I say it all the time.”
“Just like tits and ass.”
“Hey, at least I didn’t lay my enemy out on the floor.”
Cash’s laugh disappeared, and he slowly nodded, idly twirling the cigarette through his long fingers. “I apologize for that. Lost my cool. But what he said to you . . . and how he touched you, like you were there to be fondled . . . He had no right.”
She wrestled away another blush. “I’m sure it happens with every girl you bring around here.”
“No,” he said, fixing his gaze on hers. Piercing, too clear to be lying. “I would if I had to, but there’s never been a . . . need.”
She smoothed down her skirt, suddenly nervous and out of sorts. Had Jesse thought she could come out here and talk him down because she was different from Cash’s other women? Did she do something to Cash that no other woman did?
Maybe she should post that tidbit on match.com—“Able to tame even the most savage of men”—and it’d get her a soul mate or something.
Time to lighten things up. “I think the drunk guy was taking advantage because I was sitting in the middle of a strip joint, and he just assumed I wasn’t much of a lady.”
When Cash looked at her this time, she thought she saw remorse in his gaze. Was it because he’d been testing her limits and matters had gone too far?
Little by little, though, she was wondering if maybe she liked how he tested her. If she was feeling more and more comfortable with Cash when she shouldn’t be.
He said, “That happen to you a lot? Assholes hitting on you? I mean, besides the one you met at the Rough and Tumble yesterday?”
A laugh escaped her. “I’m not a big bar or party person, so I can’t say.”
Embarrassed, she smoothed down her skirt again.
This time, he glanced pointedly at her hand. “You’re doing it.”
She stopped.
“It’s your tell,” he reminded her.
“Nothing to tell.”
He chuckled softly and stuck the cigarette in the side of his mouth, still not lighting it. Was this one of his tells? He’d done the same thing back at the Rough & Tumble when he was trying to be unaffected. The fact that he wasn’t asking her to elaborate made her even more anxious around him, and she found herself talking.
“It’s just a habit,” she said. “When I was a child, I was . . . you could say socially awkward. I related more to my books than anything or anyone on the playground, mostly because the other kids were . . . well, they were kids, if you get my meaning.”
“Nope.”
“They could be cruel. You know how it is.”
“Not really.”
She could imagine Cash Campbell taking no shit from anyone back in school. Not so much with her.
“It’s just that my parents had high hopes for me and my older sister,” Molly said, trying not to fiddle with her dress again. “They didn’t make much money, but they wanted us to go to a better school than the one in our neighborhood. So we were bused in, wearing our ‘vintage’ clothes, which were even more vintage for me since I got everything Margaret had worn before.”
“And the kids made fun of what the nerd in class wore,” he said.
Molly waved off his comment. “It was a long time ago, and everything got better as the years went on.”
“You became less of a nerd?”
“No—probably an even bigger one, but—”
“You got pretty, then the guys stopped making fun of you and the girls started hating you.” The cigarette had been bobbing with every word. “But you’re still the girl in those clothes, worried about how others think about you. It comes out every so often with your tell.” He stared at her, intense and all-knowing. “Remember, I can read you. I’d also bet that you worked hard never to be that poor girl again.”
“Maybe I did.”
“Don’t we all.”
Her intrigue radar blipped, but he clearly wasn’t going to embark on a soul-baring session with her, and this was all she was going to give him. She wouldn’t say anything about how her stomach still churned when she thought about needing this new job, how much Margaret needed the support, especially since they only had each other after their parents had died.
Cash leaned back against the latticed wall, considering her. Another blush suffused her, tingly and wrong and making her want to paste her body against his.
How did he know what buttons to push with her? How did he seemingly see through all her bookish armor to the woman beneath?
And the sex . . . God help her if she started to think about that again.
“You grew up real nice,” he finally said. “Has anyone ever told you that?”
There he went—charming her into ignoring common sense, because there were other things they should be talking about. Important things she was having a hard time remembering.
But . . . the drunk businessman he’d punched. That was the reason she’d come out here. To smooth Cash over as Jesse had wanted.
“So,” she said, ignoring his comment, “is your friend Jesse going to banish you from the club from now on?”
“Nah.” Cash gave her a long, steamy look, then absently took the cigarette out of his mouth, sticking it behind his ear, Joe Cool once again. “Fights happen, shit happens, he handles all of it. Comes with the territory of owning a club.”
“This is a normal thing, then. You fighting.”
He shrugged, and it struck her that this was another tell of his, just like her fidgeting with her clothes. There was something more profound going on with him, something that had brought out his temper.
Why did she want to find out what that was?
He seemed to intuit that she was wondering about him, and he changed the subject. “Jesse gets in a few scraps himself, but never here. Always at the Rough and Tumble when he makes it out there.”
“Does he fight about girls, too?”
Cash held back a smile then said, “Jesse doesn’t fight for any emotional reasons, especially about women. You won’t find a more closed-off man when it comes to females than that guy.”
Molly was stuck on the doesn’t-fight-for-any-emotional-reasons part. Was Cash saying that he’d thrown those punches for emotional reasons in the strip club and not just because she’d been insulted?
She had to have misheard. But it was as if Cash had caught his misstatement, too, and he moved away from the wall. “We have work to do, Miss Molly. I’ve got to handle one Jimmy Beetles and you’ve got an intervention to stage for Arden.”
Okay. Changing the subject one more time.
She went along with him. “Is an intervention a Gambler’s Anonymous step?”
“I wouldn’t know. My gambling comes out of necessity, not addiction.”
> “What’s the difference?”
“Food on the table and gas in the car. And good tips for those who deserve them.”
Hmm.
“Molly, I’ve got friends who’d tell me if I was crossing any lines. Believe that. And I’ve already mentioned that there’re signs with your friend that need some attention.”
He was right. It wasn’t as if he was her responsibility anyway. If he wanted to gamble, he could gamble. After today, she’d never see him again. But Arden?
Arden was hers. It’d been that way since college, when they’d propped each other up and become family, along with Sofia.
Molly felt a hollowness in her chest, but she wasn’t sure of the reason. Because she wouldn’t see Cash after this? Couldn’t be.
But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t welcome what he had to say before he drove off into the sunset.
“What do you recommend Sof and I do with Arden?” Molly asked.
Cash lowered his voice. “Having her take responsibility would be a good start, and I say that as a guy who’s been taking advantage of how you’ve been covering for Arden. I’m thankful for all her mistakes, but the next guy she loses to might not be so nice.”
The way he said it tugged at Molly. It was almost as if he was the kind of man who ached for what he didn’t have, and he realized that the only reason he’d had Molly was because of Arden’s gambling. There was something behind the green of his eyes—something painful.
Once again, he seemed to read her curiosity, and he began to walk toward a swinging gate that led to the parking lot.
“We’ll talk about it in the car after I pick you up an In-N-Out burger, ,” he said, opening the gate. “Although there’re much more exciting things I’d rather be doing in the T-bird.”
She didn’t know what to say. So this was it? No funny stuff? No driving off the road and turning off the engine so he could have one more shot at her?
Why had he brought her to lunch if he hadn’t wanted to . . . Hadn’t been planning on . . . ?
Confused, Molly walked toward the open gate, getting near enough to him so she felt her skin prickle in his presence. She’d had enough last night and, obviously, he had, too.
And she kept repeating that on the walk to the Thunderbird.
***
Later that afternoon, Sofia sat with Arden and Molly in her Prius in front of the Rough & Tumble, the sun filtering through the windshield and competing with the running air conditioner.
“You good?” Sofia asked Arden.
Arden offered a thumbs-up before she reclined against the headrest, her short red hair slicked back. Sofia looked in the rearview mirror, connecting gazes with Molly in the backseat.
You ready for this? Sofia thought.
Molly shot her a thumbs-up that matched Arden’s.
Sofia felt pretty good about this plan Molly had come up with while she’d been with Cash—better than she had about anything else on this trip. It was just that Molly had been incredibly tight-lipped about everything when it came to their new gambler friend, including their time together this afternoon. Cash had taken Molly to a Tex-Mex place to sort out the details of Arden’s problem. It seemed like Cash had some perspective on gambling addictions, although Molly hadn’t gone into details when she’d gotten back to the hotel, but how weird was it that Cash had taken Molly out to play counselor? Talk about totally misreading a guy.
After Molly had gotten back from meeting him, she’d sat with Sofia and Arden in the room. That was when Arden had shared with Molly what she’d told Sofia when they’d been at the pool, finding a patch of shade and relaxing on loungers. She’d admitted that she’d gotten too enthusiastic about the gambling lately, but she’d stop. It’d only been during the past year she’d started to go to more poker games and Harrah’s in San Diego, racking up the comp points she’d been using for this trip. When Molly had suggested that Arden actually be responsible for handing Jimmy Beetles the money she owed instead of staying hidden away from him and the situation she’d created, Sofia had been all for it. Arden had agreed, too, thank God.
Right now, Cash was even inside the Rough & Tumble, ready and willing to facilitate the meeting.
Turning off the car, Sofia took one more glance at Molly. She’d changed somehow . . . even within a day. Her cheeks were pink, making her green-blue eyes gleam, a secretive smile capturing her mouth every so often. And her hair . . . not only was it down around her shoulders, but it was big. Or maybe that wasn’t the word. Bigger. Freer. Like it wasn’t going to stick to any rules anymore.
But hadn’t that been the point of this trip? To get Molly’s mojo going?
When exactly had that happened, though?
As Sofia opened her door and got out, she wasn’t sure she knew either of her friends all that well right now. Molly was keeping things to herself, and Sofia had absolutely no idea who Arden was or how she could’ve hidden a gambling problem from her two best friends.
Sofia locked the car after everyone had climbed out. She didn’t even freak at the sight of the motorcycles in front of the saloon. Been there, done that, whoopee-ding-dong in comparison to everything else that’d been happening lately. She was so going to warn everyone about this place on her blog.
She led the way to the door, opening it to a rush of rock music and the same old crowd at the bar from yesterday.
“Little girl!” called Hooper, Arden’s handlebar-mustached poker card dealer.
The rest of the teddy bear biker contingent welcomed them, and Sofia waved before she walked with purpose over to the other side of the room, where Cash was sitting with a scummy biker wearing a blue bandana and sunglasses on his head.
Yuck. Must be Jimmy Beetles.
Sofia barely noticed Cash’s leisurely look at Molly as Arden came to her side, her arm touching Sofia’s.
She pressed against Arden, too. I’ve got your back.
Molly didn’t seem to notice the whole stand-and-be-strong thing, because she slid into a seat next to Cash. They made an odd but striking sight—him with his scruffy hair and stubble and who-cares wardrobe, her with a fashionable sundress and Nordstrom sandals.
Why were they about ten times more relaxed around each other than they’d been yesterday?
No, Sofia thought. No way anything had happened between them. That wasn’t Molly, and she’d been telling herself so the entire day.
Or maybe . . .
When Jimmy Beetles started to get out of his chair to shake Arden’s hand in greeting, Sofia linked arms with Arden and pulled her back from the table.
Jimmy Beetles laughed and sat down. “I get it. All business. Sorry that losing these bills is gonna hurt so much, babe.”
Arden’s arm muscle clenched, and Sofia held on to her.
Cash was as mellow as ever. “How about you stop giving her a hard time, Jimmy? They need to be out of here before the sundown crowd shows up.”
“You’ll be around to benefit from Leighton’s bad play, though, right? That is, if he can remember your face. He was real wasted that night.”
Cash gave him an extralong look, as if he was telling him an unqualified Who cares?
Sofia didn’t know who Leighton was, but she wanted to leave as much as Cash wanted them to go. She leaned against Arden, urging her to give him the money already.
Arden did Sofia proud, reaching into the front pocket of her denim skirt and stepping forward in those cowboy boots she liked to wear. She handed a wad of bills—mostly Cash’s—to the biker.
“Every dollar is there,” she said.
Jimmy Beetles began to count it out. It took him a few minutes, and Sofia wondered if he was being stupid, flashing his money around. But she also wondered if this scenario hadn’t happened before because no one around them seemed to notice except for a few tourists at the bar.
He finished and smirked a
t Arden before stuffing the wad in his sleeveless leather jacket pocket. “Did you hear about the game going on tonight in the backroom with Leighton? He sucks as a player, and you’re sure to score some money back from him.”
Arden stuffed her hands in her front pockets, pulling at Sofia’s linked arm. When Sofia glanced at her face, her teeth were gritted, like she was resisting the lure of a game. Molly and Sofia looked at each other.
Damn Jimmy Beetles.
Cash obviously thought so, too, because he said, “Knock it off, Beetles.”
The other man let out a belly laugh. “I had to try. Damn, is this a tough room or what? Then again, I wouldn’t be laughing either if I lost all that money to me.”
Arden spoke up. “It’s not going to happen again. Ever.”
“Sure, sweet-ass,” Jimmy said. “You can tell me that when you’re back here tonight. Hell, if you weren’t a gambling gal, you wouldn’t have bet the farm on that poker or baseball game.”
Arden whirled around with Sofia still connected to her, going for the door.
Sofia was pissed. “He could’ve been nicer about that.” When she realized Molly wasn’t next to them, she looked behind her to see where their friend was.
Much to her surprise, Molly was still at the table, a stricken expression on her face.
Why? Dang it, they needed to leave the Rough & Tumble, pack up their room, and put Vegas behind them so Arden wouldn’t be so tempted by the gaming.
But when Molly looked at Cash and he looked at her, the truth kicked at Sofia like a stubborn mule that’d just been untied.
Maybe Molly had become an even bigger stranger than Arden.
14
Cash wasn’t sure if he was seeing straight.
Molly’s friends were waiting for her near the door, but she hadn’t gotten out of her seat yet. Was there some sort of important good-bye she needed to say to him?
That had to be what she was thinking—there was no way she was hesitating because she wanted to stay here with him. Molly had better things to get back to, and he’d only been one item on her Vegas to-do list. That’s all. More to the point, though, Cash didn’t like women who couldn’t get up and go. Good-byes were a pain in the ass. It’d been that way for years, ever since a certain good-bye had almost taken him down, but that didn’t matter anymore. He wouldn’t let it.
Rough and Tumble Page 16
