Page 19 of One Night Gamble
“He had a problem?” Casey asked. A lot of people—himself included—could get sucked in by a streak. But Casey had always known that his mom was waiting at home and he needed to stop while he still had money in his pocket. He’d never gambled everything.
“Yeah. He had a heart attack and died about seven years ago. Ever since then, I’ve been working hard to fix some of the problems his gambling caused,” she said.
“Like what?”
“Like that’s personal. Tell me why you decided to open a casino. Do you know anything about running one?”
“I do. While I was playing poker, I took classes at the online university and got a degree in hotel management. Casinos are a subset of that, but I have spent a lot of time in them, so I know what works and what doesn’t.”
She took another sip of her coffee. “Why did you take college courses? I read that you won your first million-dollar jackpot when you were eighteen.”
He tried not to let it matter that she’d read up on him, but it did. He liked her, and what he felt went beyond sex. Not that he had time for anything other than casual, but he was used to bluffing and playing a solo game, where he was the only one who took risks. But because they’d hooked up, he and Talia were on the same team, whether either of them wanted that or not. They were both playing a hand they hoped would turn out to be a winner, but if cards and life had taught him anything, it was that things seldom worked out the way he wished they would.
“You grew up with a gambler,” he said. “You know that’s not a solid path to a normal life.”
“And you want normal?”
There was a note in her tone that made him believe she thought he couldn’t do normal. Of course that’s what he wanted. No one wanted to spend their life hiding behind dark glasses and running the numbers in their head. Or, at least, he didn’t. He’d never wanted that life, but he was good at it.
“Yeah. Don’t you?”
She nodded. “But you’re different. You have all of this. Is this normal?”
He shrugged. He was a long way from being the kid who’d dealt three-card monte on the street and watched for the cops. He liked his penthouse apartment and the hotel he had convinced his buddies to invest in. They were all living much different lives than the ones they’d had in the halfway house where they’d met. Casey had been there because his mom had dumped him and ran. Nick had run away one too many times, and his parents had been tired of bailing him out. And Dare…well, he’d just been too much for his mother to handle after his dad had died. But one thing Casey knew for sure—they’d all been ready to stop running the con.
“I want normal,” she admitted. “That’s why this job is so important to me.”
“You seemed in a hurry the day we met,” he said, his tone leading, the question implied.
“I have been working two jobs lately—one as a sales clerk at the mall and the other at a fast food chain,” she said. “I had to run out and pick up something for my grandmother before my next shift.”
“Ah, that explains it. Why two jobs?”
“I couldn’t have a full-time gig while I was still in school because my class schedule was erratic, so I just took the ones that were flexible but paid enough to take care of my bills.”
She was young and still in school… How many bills could she have?
Her phone pinged and she glanced down at it. “That’s Rio. He’s meeting with me this morning to discuss his social media ideas.”
“Then I’ll let you get to it. If you’re free tonight, I’d like to introduce you to some of our regular players.”
“I can’t tonight,” she said.
“Fair enough. I’ll give you access to my calendar. Take a look and let me know a good time. How well do you know the world of high-stakes poker?”
“Not at all. But I’ve started to do some reading on the actual game, although not the players.”
“Yoshi Takamori is one of the best right now. He and I traded the top spot on and off for a few years while I was still playing, but lately, I’ve been more focused on opening the Jokers Wild. Yoshi is heading back to Singapore for a game on Thursday, and I’d like you to meet him before he leaves.”
She jotted something on the notepad she’d brought with her. “I will get it on the agenda today.”
“Thanks,” he said, looking down at his computer screen as she got up to leave. He tried not to notice that the skirt she wore today was flouncy, with the hem dancing at mid-thigh. Her legs were long, toned, and tanned and he knew he needed to ignore them. Needed to treat her the way he did Nick or Dare. But he couldn’t. He didn’t want to see either of his friends naked, but he’d seen Talia completely bare, her curves and her limbs wrapped around him. The image was burned into his mind.
He couldn’t forget it.
But he would do his best to ignore her for now. Her story had touched him. She was another kid that Vegas had used hard and she was trying to fix the problems her dad had left her. He had to respect that.
“Have a good day.”
