The Sure Thing (3 page)

She dove into the first cab she saw and hunched her body in the corner of the backseat. 
After giving
the cabbie her address,
she
proceeded to cry in earnest, her tears coming in a torrent, as if they might never stop.  She tried to analyze where all this emotion was coming from
. Was it
her fear
of
being in the casino, the blissful but equally terrifying feelings she was having for Nick, the stress of wondering how the hell was going to pay for this damn cab ride
?
  It was all
too much.

She arrived home at midnight, exhausted and emotionally spent. 
Noticing
a missed c
all from Katie on her cell, she
listened to the message as she pulled a Twinkie from the pantry
. I
t was time for some comfort food.  Katie's message was short but frantic
.
 

“
Where
are you
?  Nick
is
worried.  He was afraid he'd done something wrong.  Please call.
”

Becca opened her keyboard and sent Katie a quick text, letting her know she'd made it home safely.  Her sticky fingers paused over the keys.  Finally, she added
,
Tell Nick thank you, and that he did nothing wrong. I'm sorry.
  Then she hit send, and fell asleep on the couch.

Which
was
where she found herself when the stray dogs came to
liberate her trash from its metal prison.
  She was picking up the last pile of debris with her gloved hands when she saw a familiar car pull up and heard the sharp, quick beep of its horn.  It was Gabe, his red Jeep Wrangler blaring top forty hits, shattering the quiet blanketing the block.

“What the hell are you doing?  Did your birth control pills fall in the trash
can again
?” 

“Shut up and help me, this is disgusting.  Oh, and I got you a stray dog for your birthday.  You're welcome.”

Gabe was Becca's best
Las Vegas
friend.  They met when she was still a line chef at Hugo's Cellar, and when
she
decided to go out on her own as a caterer she hired Gabe as her pastry chef and general right-hand man.  Gabe and his partner Logan pretty much adopted Becca after her break-up with Kevin, and she knew that if it weren't for them she'd either be in jail or back in Asheville.  She didn't know which prospect was worse, but she would be forever thankful for their friendship.

“So where were you last night?” Gabe
asked as they righted the trash
can and walked back to the apartment.  “Logan and I came by to kidnap you, but you were gone.  Since when do you go out, especially without your car?”

“I have a life, you know.”  Gabe's eyebrow arched sharply. 
Look who you're talking to
.

“Where did you go?  Tell the truth, or I'll tell everyone you went to that pole-dancing for Jesus class.”

“If you must know, I was out with a guy.  A man.”

“A
man
?”  Gabe clutched his invisible pearls.  “Becca Ellison out with a man?  The over-under odds on you being a lesbian just took quite a hit.”

“Not just a man, a
dentist
,” she said smugly. 

Gabe raised his face to the sky and laughed.  “God, the drill jokes alone will take me up to lunchtime.  So what did you and Dr. Dreamy do?  He is dreamy, right?”

“Very much so.”

“Good,
I won't accept less.  Did you get lucky?  Were you searching for your dignity in that trash
can?”

“No, nothing like that.  He's a groomsman in Katie and Jordan's wedding.  He's...”

“Ye-e-e-s-s?”

Becca grinned.  “He's a good kisser.”  Gabe's eyebrows shot up an inch.  “And funny.  And smart.  And a pretty good blackjack player, from what I could tell.”  Becca turned to the kitchen and washed her hands as she let that little nugget of information sink in.

“Shut the front door!  You went to a casino?”  Gabe tossed her a hand towel, his face a mask of incredulity.  “Did you...”

“No!  Of course not.  I just watched.  And then he asked me to play some slots with him.  That's when I panicked and ran.”

“Literally?”

“Yes, I freaked
…
ran out of there like the bank was after me...Wait, the bank
is
after me.”

“Stay on task here, Becca. What on earth made you agree to go to a casino with him?”

“I don't know...” she whined.  “He was so hot, and so sweet, and he said 'Hey, come with me to this party at the Venetian', and I was like 'Oh, no, I'm busy', and he was like 'Come on, it'll be fun, I'll have you home early', and then I was like...'Okay'...”  She took a deep breath.  “I have no excuse.  I'm such a girl.”

“
I'm
a girl--you're an idiot.  You should have called me
.
 
I would
have come for you.”

“Gabe, how long can you keep rescuing me?  I need to grow up at some point.  Anyway, no damage was done.  I got out of there just in time.”

“What about the dentist?  Are you going to see him again?”

“Doubtful.  I'm sure he thinks I'm= a nutcase.”

“Becca, listen.  No more joking here.  This is the first time I've seen you excited about a guy in, like, forever.  If you like him, call him up and tell him the truth.  If he's as good a guy as you say he is, he'll understand.  And then maybe you'll finally get laid.”

“Shut up.  I got laid last summer.”

“Yeah, by that circus freak.”

“Don't call him that.”

“Becca, he was literally in the circus!”

“So?  He was cute.  And flexible.”

“And gone in a week.”  Becca rolled her eyes.  “Look, all I'm saying is, a dentist might be nice.  No drama.  No crazy.  No tightrope injuries.”

“Well, don't get your hopes up.  After my little display last night, he probably hopped the first plane back to LA.”  She turned and focused on folding the perfect hand towel so Gabe wouldn't see how much that thought hurt her.

“Hey.”  Becca turned her head when she heard the serious tone in Gabe's voice.  “Don't sell yourself short,
p
rincess.  I'll bet the good doctor is trying to figure out a way to see you again.  You're kind of irresistible.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Nick dropped his toothbrush and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror.  He had to figure out a way to see Becca again.  He knew he could just show up at her apartment, but first he needed to figure out what had gone wrong the night before.  Should he call Katie?  He frowned at his reflection
. H
e doubted =
she would
be of much help since she was as puzzled by Becca's behavior as he was. 
A knock at the door brought him back from his thoughts
.
He hoped it was housekeeping--
Jordan had come back to his room last night and left a mess of empty beer bottles and crusty room
service dishes.  God,
what a slob.  Nick
shuddered with second-hand sympathy for Katie.

As he opened the door, Nick stood at an angle, attempting to hide
his towel-clad body. 

“Becca!”  He kicked his foot against the doorjamb, trying to free his arms so he could tighten the towel around his waist.  “Umm, just a sec, I--”

“No, no, my mistake.  I should have called first, I'm sorry...”  He saw her backing away from the door, and reached out quickly to grab her sleeve and drag her in.

“No way, you're not going anywhere.”  And then they were standing in his hotel room, both a little breathless, staring at each other.  Becca wore a light blue blouse and khaki shorts.  With her hair in a ponytail, Nick thought she looked about fifteen.  He looked down at his towel and blushed.

“I just got out of the shower.  Give me two minutes to get dressed.”

“Okay.  Do you want me to clean up while I wait?  It looks like you had a rave in here.”

“A rave?  Yeah, now that you mention it, I think 1998
did
show up to party last night.”  She laughed, and he beamed.  There was no better feeling than making her laugh. 

“Two minutes, I promise.”  He ran to the bathroom and pulled on boxers, jeans, and a white button-down shirt.  He washed his hands
,
ran his fingers nervously through his unruly curls, then gave up.  He needed to calm down, but he was buzzing, almost trembling with excitement.  She'd come to see him. 
Taking
a deep breath
, he
opened the door.

She was sitting on the fake leather chair at the desk
reading the room service menu
, the sun hitting her blond ponytail through the sheer window coverings.   She was beautiful.

“Okay, I'm ready.”

“You look nice.  Like a grown up.”

“Like a dentist?” he teased.

“No...still not like a dentist.”  She put her fingertip to her chin and pretended to ponder.  “Maybe a shoe salesman?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, like you sell adorable little Mary Janes to toddlers.”  She grinned.  “And then hit on their MILF mothers.” 

He laughed and walked towards her slowly.  She looked surprised when he took her hands in his and pulled her up gently. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, beautiful Becca?  After last night, I thought I'd blown it.”

She dipped her head.  “No, no, you
didn't blow it.  I did.  I'm
sorry.”

“Tell me what's wrong.”  She looked up at him then, her eyes large and solemn, and he ran his finger gently over her eyebrow, tracing its worried shape.  Whatever it was, she was upset, and sad, and it made his heart ache.  “You can tell me, Becca.  It's okay.”

“Well, it's just...”  she trailed off, and he stood silently, waiting.  “May I sit down?”

“Yes, of course.”  He pushed his suitcase back, making room for her at the end of the bed.  She sat then told her story to her lap.

“Umm...about five years ago, I went through kind of a bad time.  My boyfriend broke up with me, and I was broke, and alone, and scared to death.  I made some bad decisions, and got kind of...caught up in gambling.  I lost a lot of money.  A whole lot of money.  It was like I cou
ldn't stop.”  She paused to exhale
a long, stuttering breath.  Nick sat tentatively beside her.

“So, I started acting really irresponsibly.  I borrowed money I knew I couldn't pay back.  I skipped work sometimes to go to the casinos.  I started lying to people about what I was doing and where I was going.  And then, one night, I...I just realized that I had a problem, so I quit.  Cold turkey.  Last night was the first time I've been in a casino in three years.  And I kind of...freaked out a bit.  I'm sorry.  I must have seemed like a lunatic.”  The room was quiet for a long moment.

“May I kiss you?”  He didn't know what else to say.

“Yes,” she whispered.

He leaned in and captured her lips.  It was a soft, lingering kiss.  He moved back a fraction of an inch, and they breathed the same air, staring into each other's eyes. 

“Becca.”  She didn't answer, just swallowed.  “Don't ever be afraid to tell me anything.  It makes me sick to think I forced you into a situation that made you so uncomfortable.  If I'd known
…
”

“I know, I know.  I should have told you.  I just...I didn't want you to think badly of me.” 

“Not possible.” 

“Never?” 

“Nope, never.”

=“So it's okay to tell you about the year I spent selling crystal meth to puppies?  And the time I started that pyramid scheme at the old folks
’
home?”

“What's past is past, Becca.”  She sobered when he didn't take on her joking tone.  “I don't care about the past.” He kissed her again, deeper this time, gathering her in his arms and letting the taste of her fill him.  Finally, he pulled his head back and grasped her shoulders, leaning in to kiss her eyes, her nose, her forehead.  He cupped her cheeks in his hands. 

“Becca, I've got forty-eight hours until I have to go back to LA.  And I want to spend them with you.  Okay?”

“Yes,” she breathed. 

CHAPTER FIVE

Never in the history of the world had there been a more perfect Saturday.  Becca was sure of it.  After lunch, she and Nick drove to
her apartment and met Gabe, who was preparing a cake for an afternoon wedding downtown
.  The three of them climbed into the Wrangler, got the cake set up at the banquet hall,
then
made their way to Gabe's place where they drank cold beer on the patio and played Pictionary. It was so lame it was laughable
.
Nick and Gabe mopped the floor with Becca and Logan, who were so silly and tipsy they kept drawing on themselves instead of the game paper.  Becca laughed until her sides ached.