Authors: Deborah Bladon
Ellie
"We can skip the magic show, Ellie." Adley scans the floor of the casino. "You put on a kick ass show of your own back there in Meadow."
I watch as she tightens the elastic that is securing her high ponytail in place. I've always admired Adley York's effortless beauty. Not one blonde hair on her head is out of place. Her makeup has held up through early evening drinks, our drawn out dinner at Meadow and a quick stop to play the slots. Lady Luck may not be shining her bright light on us tonight, but spending time with my best friend feels like winning the jackpot to me.
"You told me you've always wanted to see that magician. That's why I bought tickets." I wave to Jersey, a gray-haired man who arrives like clockwork at the same time each night to play a twenty on his favorite penny slot machine. I've been assigned the late shift virtually every day I've worked here. I tell myself it's because they want the brightest and best on the floor during the casino's prime hours. The truth is that the senior security guards pull rank and take the early shifts so they can be home when the clock strikes midnight.
"I know I did," she concedes with a nod of her head. "I get that you spent your hard earned money on those tickets, but we haven't celebrated our birthdays yet. You haven't forgotten that we weren't together on my birthday last month, have you? It was my twenty-fourth. I only get one of those."
"We weren't together on my twenty-fourth birthday last week either," I point out with a wink. "I thought the whole purpose of this trip was so that we could have dinner at Meadow to celebrate my big day."
"Our big days," she corrects. "I'm only here until tomorrow, Bean. We've spent most of my visit playing catch-up. Tonight we need to party."
"Don't call me Bean." I push the
Cash Out
button on the slot machine I've been playing. "I've been asking you to drop that nickname since we were in middle school."
"You're my jelly bean, Ellie Bean," she sing-songs. "I'm never dropping it."
I know she won't. I'm secretly grateful even if I'll never admit it to her. "So you want to ditch the magic show and party instead? Where is this party taking place?"
"You, my very best friend in the entire world, are going to get us into Shade Nightclub."
I hold up the printed slip from the slot machine and wave it in her face. "With the way my luck is going tonight, we won't get anywhere near the inside of Shade."
Her eyes zero in on the paper. "Twenty-seven cents? That blows."
"I lost ten dollars in the blink of an eye," I say on a heavy exhale. "I worked hard for that money and now, poof, it's gone."
She takes the slip of paper from my hand. "Your boss should give you a bonus for catching that woman who stole the wallet in Meadow."
"It's part of my job." I look over at where Jersey is sitting. His left brow is raised. That's a sure sign that he's on a winning streak. "I don't get bonuses for nabbing petty thieves."
Adley frowns. "That's a crime in itself. That poor man would have spent the rest of his vacation trying to replace his credit cards and crying over the lost money in his wallet. You saved him from that headache. You should at least get your picture on a plaque on the wall for the employee of the month."
I smile. When two of the senior security staff arrived at Meadow, I briefed them on what I'd witnessed. They approached Shelby and the owner of the wallet. She was taken to the central security office on the third floor once she realized that she couldn't talk her way out of the fact that the man's wallet was in her purse along with a credit card belonging to another female hotel guest.
I graciously accepted the praise my supervisor gave me along with a hug from the couple who Shelby had duped. Once I'd filled out my incident report, I was free to go.
The wallet is back where it belongs, and Shelby is at a local police precinct, waiting to be booked.
"It's my job, Ad." I pluck the printed slip from the slot machine out of her hand. "I'm going to give this and the tickets to the magic show to my friend Jersey."
"You're talking about Wally Hampton, aren't you?" She wiggles a thumb in Jersey's direction.
"Wally Hampton?" I pause and look at Jersey. He's still winning. The toothy grin on his face is a dead giveaway. "That's Jersey. Does he look like someone you know?"
"He looks like Wally Hampton because he is Wally Hampton. He just so happens to be the greatest quarterback ever to play the game." She shakes her head. "You're going to give him your measly twenty-seven cent voucher and two tickets to a magic show? The man is worth a fortune, Ellie."
"That can't be right," I whisper even though Jersey is out of earshot. "He's never mentioned football to me. He's a big baseball fan. He's always wearing that Yankees ball cap."
"He's retired." She shoots me a look. "Do you know how much his autograph goes for? If you ask him to sign one of his jerseys, you could sell it online and spend your days living the high life in Vegas instead of busting your ass catching purse snatchers and chasing minors out of the casino."
"I happen to like my job." I open my purse and pull out the folded piece of paper I printed our tickets on. "I'm giving him these so he can take his wife to the show."
"He's a huge deal, Ellie. If he wanted to see that magician, he'd just have to show up at the door and they'd seat him in the front row."
"To do that he'd have to be Wally Hampton," I say quietly. "Tonight he can sit in the tenth row and he can just be Jersey. A man on a date with the woman he loves."
***
"I thought that you'd be able to leapfrog the line since this club is technically inside the resort you work at." Adley scrunches her nose. "There are at least a hundred people in front of us."
My gaze wanders down the line of people all waiting to get in Shade. The club opened two months ago in the new wing of the resort along with several high-end boutiques including Belese designer handbags, Whispers of Grace jewelry and the soon-to-be-opened new location for Matiz Cosmetics. Celebrities and their entourages have been descending on the property in droves.
The only impact it's had on my job as a casino security guard is that I have to hover if I'm assigned the task of watching over someone recognizable when they have the urge to gamble.
When a gorgeous actor and his pop star girlfriend indulged in a night of poker last week, I spent my entire shift on a comfortable chair inside Ollie's Room, the high-stakes playground. I lucked out that night, but the actor didn't. He lost more money than I'll make in two years. It didn't seem to faze him. He was all smiles when he walked out of the room with his arm around the woman who has the number one song in the country right now.
"I might know the guy working the door tonight." I half-shrug. "If I do, it'll be an easy in."
"I'll do whatever it takes to get us inside." Adley traces her fingertip along her bottom lip. "If you know what I mean."
I rub at my forehead. "You didn't just tell me that you're willing to blow some random to get inside Shade, did you?"
She nods. "It's the hottest club in Vegas. I want in."
"You told me you hated going down on Leo." I grin at her. "Weren't you the one who said blowjobs are overrated?"
She chews on her lip. "Leo's penis was not appetizing. It scared me."
"You were together for two years, Ad. You were getting it on with his scary dick that entire time."
"We did it in the dark." She glances at two women who join the line behind us. "I saw it on our second date, and after that, we only did it with the lights off."
"I didn't need to know that." I tuck a lock of my hair behind my ear. "I'm going to go see if I can get us in. Promise me you'll stay in line."
She stomps both her heels on the black marble tile. "I'll hold our spot, but I'm counting on you to pull some strings. If you fail, I'll have no choice but to resort to plan B."
"Plan B?"
"A blow for the bouncer," she says it with a straight face. The only indication that she's joking is the faint lift of her right eyebrow.
"Keep your lips together, Ad." I tap her chin. "I'll be right back."
"Roger that, Bean." She offers me a mock salute.
I turn toward the club. All that stands between my best friend and I having an unforgettable last night together in Vegas is the long line of people in front of us all wanting the same thing we do. The temptation of the buzz from a stiff drink and the allure of getting lost in the rhythmic beat of the music are irresistible. I have a feeling this will be a night to remember.
Nolan
"Ellie Madden," I say it without the slightest hint of a variance in my tone. That, in itself, is a fucking miracle. Before I'd said it aloud, I'd whispered her name to myself. Not once, but twice since I left the restaurant an hour ago and went straight to my suite to pour myself a stiff drink. The name is unfamiliar. The exquisite redhead claiming it as her own isn't. "It's my understanding that she works at the resort."
The woman behind the counter laughs. It's not lighthearted and filled with the promise of an entertaining story about Ellie. It's sinister, bordering on that edge of evil most of us have skated on at some point. I'm there now; teetering on the brink of something I instinctively know isn't good for me. "There are strict guidelines in place regarding the privacy of our employees, Mr. Black. You don't expect me to break any rules for you, do you?"
I know she'll cave. The way she's twisting the plain gold band on her ring finger tells me she sees something in me her husband doesn't own. Maybe it's virility or charm. For all I know it's a full head of hair. Whatever it is, this woman wants me to pay to get her to play my game. I want details about the woman who fell into my lap, so I'll up the stakes.
"You remind me of my first girlfriend," I lie. The woman I'm negotiating with is at least fifteen years older than me. My first girlfriend was born three days before I was, which means she's due to celebrate her twenty-ninth birthday a mere six months from now. "Have you ever lived in Manhattan?"
"Manhattan?" Her face lights up like Times Square on New Year's Eve. "I've lived in Nevada all my life. I've always thought about taking a trip to New York."
"Stop thinking and do it," I cajole. "You haven't lived until you've seen the city. A woman like you will fit right in there."
I have no idea where this bullshit I'm saying is coming from. All I know is that her beaming smile just got brighter. I'm gaining ground and I'm not about to lose traction now.
"Would you show me around, Mr. Black?" She licks her red lipstick stained lips. She's wearing that cheap all day lip tint that never wears off. She would have gotten better results with a red permanent marker and a magnifying mirror. Coloring within the lines isn't her strong suit. Apparently, being coy isn't either.
"Show you around?" I volley back. "As in, take you to see the tourist hot spots?"
"That's not what I meant." She pauses to bite the corner of her lip, imprinting an uneven red line on her two front teeth. "As in, show me around your place."
"You don't beat around the bush, do you?" I ask with an entirely straight face. Encouraging this woman to visit me in New York will only complicate this exchange. All I'm searching for is something trivial that will lead me to Ellie Madden. I want to know when her next shift is. I'll settle for the name of her boss.
I view this awkward conversation as a shortcut to my end goal. I need details about the woman I've never forgotten, even if she acted like she doesn't remember me.
"We're both adults." She adjusts the name tag pinned to the lapel of her resort-issued black blazer. "There's no need to waste time. I'm not big on foreplay. I'd rather get to the meat of the matter."
There's no fucking way I'm acknowledging any of that.
I scan her name tag, realizing her name doesn't suit her at all. "Lacy? I can call you that, right?"
"Oh yes." She squirms on the stool she's perched on. "Your voice is so deep. I've never heard my name said that way before."
I resist the overwhelming urge to roll my eyes. "I was supposed to meet a friend at Shade ten minutes ago. If you tell me where in the resort Ms. Madden works, I'll be on my way."
"I can do one better than that, Mr. Black." She stands and quickly rounds the counter. "My shift just ended. You can buy me a drink at Shade and I'll tell you everything you want to know about Ellie."
***
Her offer was too enticing to resist. I waited while she reapplied her lipstick, again missing the natural contours of her mouth. In addition, she went for a layer of eyeshadow. The color isn't on any palette I've ever seen. This woman is a living, heavily breathing example of the
before
picture in a cosmetics ad.
"Well, damn." Lacy stops in place when we near the entrance to Shade. "Look at that line to get in. We may have to go to my place for a drink."
I never say never to a threesome unless the second is this woman and the third her husband. I'd bring up the fact that she's still sporting a wedding ring, but I'm not crossing any lines with her. Visiting Lacy's place is penciled in my never-going-to-fucking-happen calendar.
"I'm on the VIP list," I say in a low voice. "I'll buy you one drink. I'm not promising more than that."
"You say that now, but wait until we slow dance."
"I don't dance," I quip. "I have two left feet."
She looks down at my shoes. "Those cost a mint. You're loaded, aren't you?"
"I can spare enough to buy you one drink," I say gruffly. "One drink, Lacy. That was our agreement."
"You're kind of bossy." Her legs twitch. "It does things to me."
There's no way in hell uncovering the truth about Ellie Madden is worth this much bullshit. I need to cut this woman loose now before my buddy Crew sees me with her. I'll never live this down. This will trump the time I asked Marilyn Finnegan to prom in high school. Crew still brings that up and it's been ten years.
Dinner without me may not be what Lacy's after, but it's the only consolation prize I'm offering. I want this woman far away from me. Now.
"What's the name of your favorite restaurant in Vegas?" I shove both my hands in the front pockets of my pants. "If you could eat anything tonight, what would it be?"
Her eyes fall to my belt and then drop lower. There's no subtlety at all. "You're setting me up, aren't you? Do I have to come out and say that I want to …"
"Get your hands off of her, you jerk! Do it now!"
That voice. The voice yelling those words is the same throaty voice I heard earlier in Meadow Grill.
I turn away from Lacy as she lists the things she wants to do to me and I turn toward the voice of the woman I can't stop thinking about.
Dressed exactly as she was earlier, Ellie's long red hair is flying over her shoulder as she single-handily drops a man double her weight to the floor.