Page 18 of One Night Gamble
The woman behind it looked up as Talia approached.
“Good morning. Can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Mr. Waltham. I believe he’s expecting me.”
The receptionist nodded. “Have a seat, I’ll let him know you’re here.”
She did as the woman directed and had no sooner sat down than Casey appeared at the end of the hall. “Talia, come on down.”
She stood up and walked toward him. He wore another one of those designer suits he’d had on in the interview, this time with a shirt in a deep royal-blue color that made his sky-blue eyes seem bluer. She noticed that his aftershave was understated and closed her eyes for only a brief second as she brushed past him into the office.
Her skin felt tighter, more sensitive as she remembered the feeling of having his hands on her body and she knew she was going to have to purge those memories. Maybe she should text Sami and go out tonight. Find another guy to hook up with so that the last man she slept with wasn’t Casey.
But the thought of anyone but him touching her just felt wrong. She wanted him. This feeling wasn’t an itch that could be scratched by just anyone—it had his name on it. Something about him called to her.
“Coffee?”
She nodded.
“I wasn’t sure how you take it, so I brought everything,” he said, handing her a to-go mug and a little bag that had packets of sugar as well as artificial sweeteners, and some little pots of cream.
She wondered what it said that he knew what she looked like naked, but not how she took her coffee. Ugh. This was why she always stuck to a plan. When she went off on her own steam, she always screwed things up.
“Thank you, but I’m not sure we should have coffee together. What if your partners were around?” she said.
“They would assume we were talking business,” he said.
His calm reasoning just made her feel tenser. This was a mistake. Trying to pretend she could work with him was rattling her.
He put his hand on her shoulder and she glanced up into that intense blue gaze of his.
“It will be okay.”
She nodded. She wanted to believe him. Hadn’t that always been her downfall, believing the charming rogues in her life? How many times did she have to fall for a smooth-talking man before she learned?
“Of course it will,” she said. Take control of this, she told herself firmly. “In fact, last night, I started working on a campaign design for the launch of your high-stakes poker room and the first annual Jokers Wild tournament.”
“I look forward to hearing the details,” he said. “But I asked you here this morning before work hours so we could talk.”
“I thought we did that yesterday,” she said. “You mean about the night we had together, right?”
He shrugged and walked over to her, so close the scent of his aftershave sent shivers of remembrance through her. “Yes and no. If you are this…cold and stiff every time I’m in the room, my partners, and frankly even perfect strangers, are going to guess something’s up between us. I’d like to just get a chance to get to know you so that you are more at ease.”
She let out a deep breath. “If I don’t keep my guard up, there is a very good chance you’re going to see that girl who bumped into you in the grocery store.”
“Let’s aim for something in between. I’m not going to pretend that one night was enough to satisfy my longing for you, but I think being friends should be a priority here. I took a gamble on you, Talia, and I am used to winning.”
“I took a chance on you, too, Casey and I’m used to being let down. It’s a streak I’d love to see broken, so if you think being friends will help, I’ll give it a shot.”
…
Casey had spent the last night playing cards with some buddies in an online poker match and losing. He knew he was distracted and Nicholas had stopped by after midnight with his own problems. The world of street magic and illusion was full of backstabbing characters. It had made Casey realize that he had much more at stake here than just his own desire to stop playing poker and make his mark on the world a permanent one. He’d talked his friends into taking a chance on the roll of the dice and he wouldn’t let them down.
“It’s not my intent to con you,” he said. “Let’s start with that. Tell me why you have an aversion to gamblers.”
She took a sip of her coffee and smiled as the first mouthful went down. He knew there was nothing sexual in the way she drank, but he had to admit that everything she did seemed like a turn-on.
“My dad.”
