“Done. Now take a seat. What can I order you?”
“I can get something,” she says, not allowing me to help her. “I just need to flag down a waitress.”
“I assure you Miss…” I catch myself and swallow my words just as she starts to stand. I clear my throat and start again. “I assure you,
Penelope
, I can have a drink ordered and delivered faster than you can flag someone down. What would you like?”
She eyes me skeptically and then says, “What’s your friend drinking, it looks good.”
Glancing at Scott, I take in the froo froo beverage he’s drinking shamelessly.
“Pina colada with a strawberry infused lava flow.”
She lights up. “Sounds good.”
Of course she would want a froo froo drink.
“Davies, would you like anything to drink?” I ask interrupting her conversation with Scott. She waves me off.
“I’ll have whatever this hunk of meat is having.”
Taking in his diminishing beverage, I ask, “Another drink for you, too, princess?”
The middle finger that is gripping his drink turns up at me, causing me to chuckle. He nods at me, still engaged in his conversation with Davies. Poor sucker, he’s in for a ride if he’s interested in Davies. Then again, little does Davies know, the man is balls to the walls relationship. He will fork the hell out of you and then spoon you to daylight. Davies doesn’t read as one of those kinds of girls to me.
Quickly texting in my order, I add another drink for myself and then put my phone down, bringing my attention to Penelope who I just so happen to catch staring at my chest.
“See something you like?”
“What?” Her eyes shoot up from my bare skin and to my eyes. Flipping her sunglasses over her eyes, she crosses her hands over her chest again and looks away from me. “Nope, don’t see anything.”
I can’t help but chuckle, loving the way the vibrations feel in my body. It’s not very often a girl can get me to laugh, but Penelope has that effect on me.
Wanting her to pay attention to me, I scoot closer and pull on her arm so she’s forced to face me. “Hey now, I’m playing by your rules, why don’t you give me the decency of at least letting me look at that beautiful face of yours?”
The tension coiling in her body eases slightly at my words. One of her legs bends and lays against the seat cushion as she turns to face me.
“Fine, this better?”
“Much,” I smile, scanning her up and down, appreciating how exposed she seems to me now. “So where’s Page? She didn’t want to get free drinks by the pool today?”
“She’s prepping for a dinner tonight, or else she would have been here. You know all too well how much she enjoys her mimosas.”
I chuckle. Yup, Page and her mimosas. That’s why I wish she were here, so I could get some more information out of her, knowing full well some free drinks by the pool would do just that.
But that reminds me, I still have to call Page about my dinner party. If anything, just to fuck with Graham now. That and any excuse to get close to Penelope.
“Yes, I do love talking to Page when she’s had a few mimosas in her stomach.”
“I’m sure you do.” I don’t need to see Penelope’s eyes to know she’s rolling them right now. “She’s a pretty blonde, anyone would like that.”
Picking her hand up, I trace her palm and look directly at her. “I meant, I like when she drinks because she gives me valuable information that, normally, I wouldn’t be privy to. You know, the kind of information that helps me break up dates that should never happen.”
Lucky for me, Penelope doesn’t take her hand away, she lets me run my fingers along her palm. For some foreign reason, I love the way her skin feels against mine.
“You ruined that entire date for me, you know that right?”
“Good,” I smirk. “If you’re looking for me to feel guilty over my actions, I have no remorse. Sorry about that, sweetheart. You and I both know that date was a disaster from the beginning, and do you know why?”
“Why?” she asks breathlessly, staring at our hands.
“Because, even though your body was on a date with Nick, your mind was thinking about me the entire time.”
“Not true,” she answers, one of her fingers grazing mine.
“Let’s not lie to each other, Penelope.”
She glances up at me through her sunglasses, tearing her eyes off of our physical connection. “It’s true. You weren’t on my mind the
entire
time.”
A smile tugs at the corner of my lips just as our drinks arrive. Penelope scoots back on the chair, removing her hand from my grasp. I immediately feel the loss, it’s a strange feeling for me, but I choose to ignore it.
“Three lava flows and a Dos Equis.” I flip a twenty from my money clip that’s resting on the table for her tip and thank the server.
Taking care of the lovebirds next to us, I hand them their drinks only to be rudely ignored. Scott’s going to have the tables turned on him pretty damn quickly once we get out of here. Bringing my attention back to Penelope, I hold out her drink. She reaches for it, but I pull back.
“Uh uh.” I wave my finger at her. “You have to come a little closer to get this.”
“You’ve got to be kidding? What do you want me to do? Sit on your lap?”
“Actually, that would be preferred.” I adjust my seat and make room for her while patting my lap.
“Not happening,” she bites out.
Knowing it’s a losing bet anyway, I straddle the lounger again, my feet resting on the ground, I deliberately direct my finger at her in a ‘come hither’ motion. “You can at least come closer. I won’t bite.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t still contract an airborne virus from you. Who knows where you’ve been?”
I hand her the drink and watch her press her gorgeous lips around the straw and suck.
Fuck. Me.
“I haven’t been anywhere since I pulled a sexy brunette into the B room for interrogation.”
Realization cascades over her expression mid-sip, her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. After swallowing, she clears her throat. “Um… that’s nice.”
I can’t help but laugh at her response. “Not so smooth all the time, are we Penelope?”
“Never claimed to be.” Her shocked demeanor lightens as she sips some more, taking down her drink faster than I expected.
Knowing she won’t be sitting on my lap anytime soon, or running her hands up my body, I lift the recline in my lounger, sitting upright, and lean against it, one hand behind my head, the other holding the beer that’s resting on the top of my thigh.
“So, tell me, how do you like it in the high roller suite so far?”
She shrugs. “It’s okay. The money is great, the plastics, not so much.”
I could agree with that. I hated that the players were allowed to bring in their boob brigade. There is no point, it’s simply so they can show off how much money they can drop on the table and how much money they will almost definitely lose. I tried addressing this with Graham a couple of times but it was one rule he wouldn’t let up on. He said one of the privileges of being in the high roller suite was to have an entourage of pussy near you. It was one of the reasons we had so many requests to play at Hotel Paragon. It’s a bullshit reason as far as I’m concerned. Why couldn’t it just be for the game? This is why I barely play anymore. To a lot of people, it’s about the show, not how you play.
“Why don’t you ever bring anyone with you when you play?” Penelope asks, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“Don’t need to,” I answer honestly. “Don’t want to.”
“Why’s that?” She nibbles on her straw, not looking me in the eye.
“For one, there’s no reason those women should be in the room, they contribute nothing to the game besides being a nuisance. Secondly, why the fuck would I want to bring a woman into the room when the only woman I want is already in there?”
At my admission she drinks more; long, slurping gulps until her drink bottoms out.
“All done,” she laughs nervously.
Leaning forward, I pull her closer, bringing her right up against the juncture between my thighs, her legs forced to drape over one of mine. I remove the empty drink from her hand and talk seductively into her ear.
“Are you trying to impress me with your sucking abilities, Penelope? Because if you are, it’s sure as shit working.”
Casually, not trying to draw attention, I move her fingers over the fabric of my green swim trunks, letting her lightly graze the hard on I’ve been sporting since the moment she bumped into my chair.
“Holy shit,” she mumbles to herself, unable face me.
With her hand still in mine, I press our palms together and entwine our fingers. For what reason? I have no fucking clue. All I know is that I want to feel more of her warmth, her skin against mine in any way I can have it.
“What are you doing, Gavin?” she practically whispers.
“Convincing you that you should go on a date with me?”
“A date?” she asks, a rise in her voice.
I’m about to answer her when a dark shadow falls over the both of us. I look up to see Ramos standing in front of us, a woman on both arms and a posse behind him.
Christ, one would think the d-bag is trying to emulate some mafia king. Too bad for him, I know better.
“Saint, you came out of your cave. I was starting to think you were becoming a hermit.”
He’s such a fucking tool bag.
Scott and Davies’ conversation ends and their attention is brought over to the jackass standing in front of me. Scott knows all about Ramos and his piss poor attempts to rile me up. He takes every chance he can get to try to dig his way under my skin.
“Ramos, pleasure as always,” I try to dismiss him with a nod but it doesn’t work. He stands firmly in front of us.
“Word on the street is Harley’s coming back and he’s out for blood. He’s already starting to call you out.”
Well fuck me. I don’t hold back my eye roll. Harley St. James. The
second
best poker player in the world. He lost to me in Monte Carlo, millions on the line and faltered with one wrong flip of his poker chip. I caught him and called him out on his bluff. Probably the most successful and memorable win to date. Anything after that has been incomparable. Harley was a good competitor, one I wouldn’t mind seeing at the table again.
“I welcome the challenge,” I state, rubbing Penelope’s hand with my thumb. She looks rather tense from Ramos’ sudden appearance, so I try to calm her down.
Looking around at us, Ramos lifts up his glasses once he notices Penelope sitting next to me, focusing on our connected hands. A sardonic smile stretches across his face. “What’s going on here?” he asks, pointing at our hands.
“None of your concern,” I answer as Penelope tries to pull away, but I don’t let her.
Studying us, Ramos rubs his jaw, a thoughtful look in his eyes. “You going to take a tumble like your old man?”
Just like that, he’s dug too deep, hitting me in a place he has no business aiming. Scott shifts in his lounge chair next to me, ready to pounce on my behalf but I hold him back. It’s exactly what Ramos wants, a reaction.
“I suggest you leave, Ramos, before I have Graham take you off the list indefinitely.”
Throwing his head back and laughing, Ramos starts to walk away, but not before calling over his shoulder, “Better watch out Papi. Like father, like son.”
Releasing Penelope’s hand, I grab my beer and take a sip, trying to calm the raging anger that’s boiling inside of me.
Like father, like son
.
Fuck that. I’m nowhere even close to being my dad. Did I want to fuck Penelope? Yeah. Did I want to take her down to The Little White Chapel and proclaim my undying love for her in front of Elvis? Fuck no. I am nothing like my father. I’m not about to lose everything, including my life, over a woman.
“Are you okay?” Penelope asks, pressing her hand against my arm, concern on her face.
“Fine,” I answer gruffly.
Penelope doesn’t let up. “What was he talking about? Is your father okay?”
Standing up abruptly, I toss back the rest of my beer and throw the bottle on the lounger. “I have to bounce. Scotty, I’ll catch you later.” Needing some room to breathe, I take off, calling out a hasty “bye” to Davies and Penelope.
Weaving through the crowd, I find my way to the lobby and head to the elevators. A shower, that’s what I need. A nice cold shower to clear my thoughts. This is exactly what Ramos wanted. And, goddamn it, I shouldn’t let him win.
“Gavin!”
I turn to see Penelope running up behind me, her cute little bikini body shifting with her every move. For some reason, the tension in me eases and I have the urge to wrap her in my arms and bury my face in her soft, sweet smelling hair.
“What’s up?”
Stepping up to me, she grabs my hand, and I love the feel of her skin against mine now, just as much as I had earlier. She rubs her thumb over my palm, mimicking the motions I had been making just minutes ago, sending a shiver up my spine.
“Please tell me I didn’t upset you back there. I didn’t mean to pry.”
With the unoccupied I hand, I bring it up to her face and grip her chin with my thumb and forefinger. Hotel guests, drunkards, and gamblers walk around us, but they all fade into the background as I stare down into Penelope’s almost golden eyes.
“If you did, how would you make it up to me?”
Twisting her lips, she says, “I wouldn’t.”
“Liar,” I reply, stepping closer and running my thumb along her jaw.
Her eyes search mine, scanning them for something, but I know she can’t read them. It’s impossible to read my nearly black irises, it’s a gift I was blessed with, as far as I’m concerned.
“What’s happening?” Her whispered voice rolls over me.
“Something you won’t be able to say no to for very much longer,” I answer back, bringing my lips down to hers, waiting for her to pull away, or better yet, knee me in the fucking balls, like always.
But she doesn’t.
She stands still, waiting for me to make the final move.
So I do. Because I need one more fucking taste.
Pulling her in lightly, my lips gently touch hers, barely connecting. With a soft press, I move my mouth over hers, loving the way her hand grows tighter on mine just from a simple kiss. It’s hardly a caress, more of a graze, a tease to leave her waiting and wanting more.