Chapter Five

She couldn’t believe it! Here she was, sitting in the corporate office of the Jokers Wild Casino, meeting with the three owners. And wasn’t it just perfect that one of the men interviewing her was Casey—the guy she hooked up with the night before.

It looked like she had the same luck her father had, which was to say, none at all. That was why she never placed a bet, never took a chance at anything.

And normally, she didn’t. But Casey… He had those gorgeous eyes, and a body that was made for sin. But he’d been so tempting, and she was so tired of this careful life she was living.

She glanced at the door and thought about running. He arched one eyebrow at her, almost as if he was daring her. But what did he want her to do? Leave? Stay?

She thought of all the things she’d managed to do in her short life, things that might have broken another woman. Like working out a deal with a loan shark to save her grandmother’s home, and going to college at night to finish her degree while working two crappy jobs to make the payments.

Casey was just a one-night stand. Nothing more. But this was her future and she wasn’t about to walk away.

He was very professional during the meeting. She had to give him that. In no way did he indicate that he’d seen her naked the night before, or that she’d kissed every inch of him.

Seeing him in his suit and tie made her realize that he was the full package. And of course, now that she knew his full name, she might have been able to guess at who he was. But he always wore dark shades and a hoodie pulled up around his face during all of the high-stakes matches he’d played. In fact, his promo picture had him posed that way.

So, in a way, it wasn’t her fault.

Ugh.

Now she sounded like her dad, justifying the bad decision she’d made.

“Ms. Spencer?”

“Hmm?” she asked. Was it a rule that all three of the men who owned the casino had to be hot? One of the other partners spoke to her. He had close-cropped hair and eyes that were an icy shade of blue. Dressed all in black, he had a quiet presence about him. Him she knew. If she’d met him in a club, she wouldn’t have slept with Nicholas because his posters actually showed his face.

“We were wondering what ideas you had about building a community aside from the typical gamer rewards,” Nicholas asked.

She got a hold of herself. She was going to get this job. “Well, I’d start by reaching out to other established fan bases, like the magic community and the motocross community. We’ll want to offer them something other than just gambling, because for a lot of them, a Vegas vacation includes their families.”

“Good. I like that,” Nicholas said.

“I like that as well. Darien wants to set up a mid-morning session for anyone interested in learning how the stunts are done, and we are in talks with our insurance company as to how to do it. But we might be able to work with you on that project as well,” Rio Mitchell said. Rio had been introduced to her as Darien’s younger brother.

He was skinny and had the look of someone who hadn’t yet matured into their body. His face was lean and he had a boyishness about him when he smiled.

“Sounds great. This type of community building is something I am really good at,” Talia said. She’d worked as an intern last year for one of the biggest social media marketing firms in the country and had learned a lot from the experience. She planned to use everything she had to get this high paying job.

They continued to question her and she answered everything they threw at her. When the interview was over, Ms. Adana, the hiring manager, escorted her back downstairs. Talia handed over her security badge and thanked her for the interview.

“We will be in touch in the next few days. Everyone wants to move quickly on this and it’s in your favor that you can start as soon as we need you,” Ms. Adana said.

“Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you,” Talia said.

Ms. Adana went back to her office, and Talia turned to leave, not lingering in the hotel lobby section of the casino or glancing at the rows of slot machines just off the lobby. She just needed to get outside so she could breathe. She hadn’t been aware of how tense she’d been until she stepped out into the July Nevada heat and took a deep breath.

She wasn’t getting this job. She knew it now. There was no way that Casey was going to approve hiring someone who had hooked up with him at a night club.

She wouldn’t hire her, either.

She wasn’t interested in getting back in her hot car and driving over to see her Gran, so instead, she walked toward the garden exhibit that was at the back of the Jokers Wild Casino. It was a large hedge maze that changed daily. It was one of the things that appealed to her most about working for the casino. The Jokers Wild wasn’t just about gambling—not that the other casinos and hotels in Vegas were, either. They all seemed to pull out the stops to ensure that they were reaching the largest possible audience.

The maze was just one of the things she liked. It was indoors, but it seemed like it was outside. The air conditioning was a welcome relief as she walked through the maze. It was quiet at this time of day.

She found a bench nestled in between the hedges and sat down. It was time to come up with plan…what was she on now, plan Z? It seemed like every time she really felt that she had an opportunity, it fell through.

“Mind if join you?”

Casey.

Mr. Waltham.

“Sure,” she said.

…

Casey had been surprised to discover that Talia’s name was on the list of candidates, but he hadn’t really put it together—realized what it meant—until she’d walked in the room. He had a hard time concentrating on anything other than remembering how she’d felt naked in his arms the night before. But he had seen the horror in her eyes when she recognized him and then the way all the color had left her face.

So he’d played it cool.

Using all the skills he’d honed over the years as a poker player, he’d bluffed for all he was worth. He was even careful to hide his tells, which he knew Nicholas would recognize. Thankfully, Nicholas had been focused on his list of questions, so Casey did his best to put that incredible night out of his mind.

That was one of the downsides to doing business with men he’d known since they were all ten years old. They knew each other very well. Understood each other’s hot buttons.

Still, every once in a while, he’d catch a whiff of her jasmine-scented perfume and when she spoke, that low husky timbre of her voice brushed over his senses and reminded him of the moment when she’d said his name against his abdomen before moving lower.

He shifted his legs as his body reacted to the erotic memory.

If he needed a reason not to hire her, it was that.

But as she left, he knew he wasn’t being fair to her. They’d met in the club as two strangers, neither of them knowing their paths would ever cross again. She had told him of her plans to get out of Vegas, to take a job to get the experience she needed and then move to Los Angeles. That was her goal.

And that was another mark against hiring her. They wanted to build a solid relationship with the people they hired, hoping that they would be lifelong employees of the Jokers Wild Casino. But Talia hadn’t told her plans to her possible employer. She’d told the guy she had slept with the night before.

He knew there was a moral line here. Something that he had to be very careful not to cross. But how could he do that?

“I liked her,” Rio said. “She’s got some great ideas. I could see implementing a few of them into the Mitchel Stunt Spectacular. Hell, if you guys don’t hire her for the casino, I’m tempted to ask her to come and work for us.”

Was that the solution? Let her go and work directly for Darien and Rio? Keep himself out of the picture? He hated that idea. He wanted her here. In his casino. In his world. In his bed. He knew that he had to be careful with that last part.

“She is really well qualified,” Casey said. He would see what Nicholas’s opinion was, then go with the majority.

“I liked her, too,” Nicholas said. “Why don’t you go and call Darien, Rio? See what he thinks.”

“Good idea,” Rio said, then walked out of the room.

“Okay, so what is there between you?”

Of course Nicholas would pick up on that.

“What?”

“You and I have always been straight with each other. I don’t use my mind tricks on you and you don’t bluff me,” Nicholas said.

Fuck.

Just fuck.

“We hooked up at a club last night,” Casey said. “But I like her for this role. I mean if we hadn’t, well, got together, she would be my top pick.”

“I like her, but this is a big investment for us, Case. I don’t want to take a chance on a lawsuit or anything like that,” Nick said.

“It was one night,” Casey said, feeling a tightness in the back of his neck as he said it. He was trying to bluff Nick, trying to convince his old friend that Talia meant nothing to him.

Why did he do this? What was it about him that made it impossible for him to ever be straight with anyone when it came to emotion?

His mom.

He didn’t need a therapist to tell him his own story. He knew the answer and as much as he always liked to think he wasn’t like her, he knew there was more of her in him than he let on.

Nick put his hand on Casey’s shoulder. “It won’t be. If I didn’t know you, I would almost believe you were done with her, but she’s different. She’s funny and cute and exactly what you need.”

“How do you figure?”

“She’s all the feels that you keep hidden away. I wonder if that’s the appeal for you,” Nick said.

“Stop trying to analyze me.”

“Fine. Shall we let the cards decide?” Nick said.

“Yes, but my deck, not yours.” Nick was a master illusionist and his deck was always marked.

“I’m wounded.”

“As if.”

Casey walked over to the credenza and pulled out a fresh deck with the Jokers Wild logo on the back. He broke the seal, tossed the box aside, and took a deep breath. He loved the way new cards smelled. He cracked his neck and then started shuffling the deck. The sound of the cards folding into each other soothed him and he freely admitted to himself that shuffling was his panacea.

He’d learned to play from one of his mom’s boyfriends when he had been five or six. The guy had shown him how to shuffle and then taught him the rules of the game. When Casey looked back on the time with his mom, those moments—when that guy, Joe, had taken time to play with him—were always his best. Of course, Joe had always allowed Casey to win, though it was only when he was older that he’d realized it. But it had started him thinking that cards might be his way out of poverty. And he’d been right.

“High card decides if she gets the job or not,” Casey said.

“If that’s what you want, then okay,” Nick said.

Casey looked at the intensity in his friend’s silvery eyes, then shook his head and turned back to the cards in his hands. Nick wasn’t above playing him. And Casey was confident he’d get the high card. He’d always been lucky at cards.

And unlucky at love. But that could be as much about the fact that he didn’t trust emotion, that he’d never let any woman close to him.

The words whispered through his mind as a reminder of the few times he’d struck out. He’d sort of half-heartedly tried relationships once or twice but he’d needed his space and frankly, he hadn’t met a woman who could compete with cards.

Last night had been about heat and passion. Today was about getting the best person in place for the job.

He pushed the deck to Nick and his friend lifted a section of the cards. Casey reached out and did the same.

“What’d you get?” Casey asked, looking down to see he’d pulled the Jack of Hearts.

“Eight of spades,” Nick said.

“Jack,” Casey said, showing his card. “She can start on Monday.”

Rio came back in and confirmed that he, too, wanted Talia on board. He’d discussed her with Darien as well, so it was unanimous. Casey left the boardroom and went to his office, pulling up the security camera footage. He clicked around on the different camera views and saw a familiar brunette walking through the maze behind the casino. She was still here. His luck was holding when it came to Talia, and he wasn’t one to ignore something like that.

…

He sat down next to her and she caught a whiff of his cologne. She remembered how much stronger the scent had been, right in the dead center of his chest. She closed her eyes and then fumbled in her purse for her shades. She should have hightailed it back to the Glen View, instead of staying here trying to collect her thoughts.

She could be doing Hot Zumba with Gran at a Silver Sneakers session, working out her frustration at herself and the karmic universe that seemed to be always having a chuckle at her expense. But instead, she was sitting next to Casey and reliving everything they’d done the night before. And if she was totally honest, she didn’t regret a second of it.

“So…obviously last night, I didn’t know who you were,” she said. “I mean, in your publicity photo, you’re wearing a hoodie and dark glasses.”

“I know. It never occurred to me that you were anyone other than Brown Eyes.”

She flushed. It was a silly nickname and last night she’d liked it. Okay, she still did. “Yeah. I wish…I could regret everything but to be honest it was fun, and I needed it. I’m guessing I didn’t get the job.”

Casey leaned back, spreading his legs. “We want you for the role. You are definitely qualified, and we like your ideas as well as the social media plan you brought to us. I don’t want you to let last night stand between either one of us making a solid business decision.”

Business decision… She looked at him, trying to figure out what was going on here. Had she really gotten the job?

“Me either,” she admitted. “I’d really like to work for the Jokers Wild. You guys are creating something that’s so much bigger than just a normal casino.”

He nodded. “I have to be straight with you, Talia. I don’t know that last night was a one-off. I still want you.”

“Is that part of the job offer?” she asked.

He shook his head and straightened up from his relaxed pose. “No. That’s why I’m out here with you. I want you in the role and I want you in my bed, but the two are mutually exclusive. Your job here, if you want it, will require professionalism. You’ll essentially have three bosses. Dare will probably delegate a lot of stuff to Rio. He’s very rough around the edges with no filter, so he usually stays away from the staff.”

“While I’m at work…I’d just be doing my job, right? There’d be no calling me into your office to try any kinky fantasies you have?” she asked.

“Only if you were on a lunch break and it was something you wanted,” he said with a wink. “But seriously. I want you to know that in the workplace we would be nothing more than employer and employee. In the interview, you were polished and professional. I saw the moment you thought about bolting but you stayed and muscled through it. I respect that.”

She shrugged. What could she say to that? “I’m not a quitter. But I don’t want to make things awkward for you, either.”

He put his arms along the edge of the bench and she noticed how careful he was being. Last night she’d seen him out of control only once, and it had been a brief instant when he’d been inside of her. If she hadn’t opened her eyes at that moment, she would have missed it.

She realized how much he concealed from the world. It was probably a smarter way to approach life.

“I promise that if you want the job, I’m not going to be pervy around you and I’m not going to talk to the other guys about anything personal between us.”

She wanted to believe him. But he was a gambler. A poker player renowned for not giving away a damned thing. Was she fooling herself? Was this like when she’d been eight, and she’d believed her dad when he said he’d could double the allowance her mom gave her?

God, she hoped not.

It would truly suck if it turned out she still had the same soft, gullible heart she had as a child.

“If I said yes, I would need to focus on this job. So, no dating. Okay?”

He pulled the dark sunglasses she’d only seen him wear in his promo poster and put them on. “Of course, Brown Eyes.”

He stood up and started to walk away.

“Gambler?”

“Yes?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

“Don’t call me Brown Eyes.”

He laughed, shook his head, and walked away. She just sat there, watching him. She’d just taken a chance. And it wasn’t on the slots or the horses. It was on a man.

What the f—?

But her heart said he was different and she needed this job. She wanted out of Vegas, needed to be free from the chains of her past. And this was the type of high-profile job that would help her make her move. So really, she’d had no choice.

There weren’t many new casinos opening up and the Jokers Wild was her best bet. Now all she had to do was play this through to the end. But she’d have to remember that Casey Waltham was an expert at winning. If he wanted her, he’d have her. So she’d just have to make sure that he was on her side…even though he was with the house. And life had taught her that the house always won.