“That's because Ashley was a bitch,” Landon says.
“Hey, talk nice about her,” McQueen says, defending the singing sensation who was Jack's longtime girlfriend.
“To be fair,” Jack says. “She also picked out my clothes if we were going out and refused to let me pee without shutting the door.”
“See,” Landon says. “She was a bitch.”
I'm laughing with the guys when out of the corner of my eye I see Emmy.
I watch her cross the casino floor, a tray in her hand, her feet in those high-ass heels, her thonged cheeks covered in fishnets, the pleather of her uniform pushing her tits up to perfection.
I haven't seen her in days. I swear I get a hard on and she hasn't even looked in my direction.
“Hey, is that your girl?” McQueen says.
Jack punches him in the shoulder.
“What?” McQueen asks. “Just because she kicked you out of her apartment doesn't mean she doesn't still want you.”
“It kind of does,” Jack says. “Which is reason number eighty-nine that you've never had a long term relationship.”
“Like any of us asses, have besides you,” Landon says truthfully.
“That's gonna change,” I say, standing up.
My friends laugh. “What's that mean?” Jack asks. “You just gonna go up to her and force her to be your woman?”
“No, I'm gonna go up to her and remind her why she shouldn't have walked away.”
EMMY
I feel his eyes following me as I cut through the casino floor. I know he's just now noticed I’m here, but I've been watching him move around the place since he walked in an hour ago.
I swear to God my heart is connected to his. Being near him causes my pulse to quicken, and the longing I want to ignore to rise to the surface.
It’s been one hell of a week.
Tomorrow Janie will be taken off life support.
I should be with her now … but I was so tired, so exhausted at being alone in that room, with no one to talk to.
Sure, Claire and Tess have generously sat with me, brought me In-N-Out and Starbucks. They've sat with Janie so I could go home and shower, sat with her so I could cry alone in the chapel, praying to a god I have no faith in. A god I've never believed in.
But I don't want to be alone tonight. I'm tired of crying, tired of sitting in a sterile room. I need to do something. So tonight, I came to work. But my mind isn't on this job. My mind is on the fact it is my sister’s last night on Earth.
And when I decided to come I wasn't even thinking of Ace. Because yeah, he ripped my heart out when he told me he had known my sister, but he isn't my sole reason for living.
Not that I have any clue what is.
“Emmy, stop,” Ace calls out to me.
I keep walking.
“Emmy Rose, wait,” he calls again.
I stop.
Maybe it's because he calls me Emmy Rose, my name falling off his lips so effortlessly, like he’s made to speak my name. Or maybe it’s because I'm so damn tired and confused. Maybe it's because the last time I was lost I fell into the comfort of his arms, and I feel lost again right now.
Last time he held me and I now … now I just need to hold on for dear life.
“Emmy,” he says once more, coming to a stop at the heels of my feet. He doesn't hide the fact he wants me. Me, his employee. Him, the most powerful man in this casino. He doesn't pretend there isn't something between us—the thing I’ve been pretending all week doesn't exist.
He comes up behind me and wraps an arm around my waist. He pushes the hair from my neck and growls in my ear.
“Don't tell me to leave. Don't tell me that ever again.”
“Okay,” I whisper, my chest heaving, my entire body tingling under his tight hold. I nearly drop my tray with the one hand I use to balance it. My other hand grips his forearm tightly; I don't want to let go. He’s keeping me steady, grounded in a way I wish he couldn’t.
But he does.
Oh, fuck me, he does. I feel the way he grounds me by the hardness in his pants, the hardness pressed up against my ass.
I like that when I’m in these heels we’re the same height. It gives me the advantage right now, to feel what his body really wants.
It wants what I want.
He loosens his grip and then grabs the tray of drinks. He sets it down on a table absently, not caring that he’s just screwed up the game some players were betting on. He doesn't see anything because he only has eyes for me.
He takes my hand, holds it so tight. Leading me across the floor, the one I’ve memorized as I’ve worked this room to death for two months straight. I pass Tess, and her eyes bulge out her sockets.
I smile, sheepishly. All week, she's heard the reasons why Ace and I are bad news. She's listened to me berate his cockiness and his insensitivity and his absolute womanizing behavior.