Page 34 of One Night Gamble
Normally she wasn’t a huge fan of breakfast, but she had seldom seen Casey looking like this. He had something in mind for this morning, like he was trying to create some perfect image. And she didn’t want to disappoint him. “What are you having?”
“The works.”
“I’ll have scrambled eggs, sliced avocado, and maybe some toast.”
“Perfect. Why don’t you go shower? I’ll have everything ready on the balcony when you come back down. I had some clothes put in the closet in your size,” he said.
“When did you do that?”
“When you accepted the job,” he said. “I’m not going to apologize. If nothing happened between us, you’d never know about it, and since something did, you have some clean clothes to wear here. I was hedging my bets.”
Of course he was. Casey was a gambler at his core. He looked at the odds of everything before he made a decision and she’d be a fool to forget it.
Her joy in the morning dimmed. The way he stood, she had a full-on view of that tattoo of his—as if she needed a reminder of what he was. It had been staring her in the face all night long. But she’d ignored it.
She just nodded and started up the stairs, hearing Casey on the phone ordering their breakfast. The low rumble of his voice gave her goose bumps.
This was where the real danger was. He was charming and she liked charming men. She liked the way they worked a little bit harder to make her feel special. But in the end, would Casey leave her with a broken heart like her father had?
Sure, he’d promised she wouldn’t be out of a job, but that was just his word. She was counting on his honor to compel him to do what he’d promised.
What if he didn’t?
And why was she borrowing trouble?
Why couldn’t she just say thanks for the clothes that would save her from having to order something from the casino shops below herself, or wear last night’s dress?
She took a shower and avoided looking in the mirror as she dried her short hair. Sami always said that Talia’s weakness was thinking she could save everyone, when in reality, she was looking for a way to save herself. But Sami believed that everyone was doomed to fall for the very weakness they were trying to avoid.
She went into the other room and found Casey waiting for her. He’d showered in one of the other bathrooms and was dressed for the day in a pair of blue pants and a powder blue shirt with a tie. The blue made his eyes seem even bluer than they normally were and her heart beat a little faster.
No matter how careful she’d tried to be, she knew it was too late. She was already falling for this man. He owned a place in her heart, whether this worked out or not.
“Breakfast is ready. I had them wait to set it up until you were done,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said. She had dressed in the bathroom and wore a pair of wide-leg white pants with a slim-fitting bandeau top that left her shoulders bare.
“You look good,” he said, coming over to her and her pulse picked up.
She was a goner. Why this man, especially when he was so much like her father?
“You’re just missing one thing,” he said.
“What?”
“This,” he said, pulling a small Tiffany-colored box from behind his back. He handed it to her.
She took it and opened it. It was an olive leaf vine pendant. She shook her head.
“An olive leaf?” she asked. Could he have thought of anything more perfect? It was exactly what she needed to see this morning, when she felt so vulnerable.
“Well I figured I should offer you something to say the clothing was meant for your convenience, and not because I thought you’d be back. Honestly, I want everything to be perfect this time and I feel like I screwed up. I am sorry.”
That.
That, right there, was why she was holding out hope, putting her faith in Casey. “I love it. And it’s okay. It was nice to have something to wear this morning.”
He took the box from her and moved around behind her to fasten the pendent necklace around her neck. Then he leaned down to kiss the spot at the base of her neck where the necklace rested.
