Betting On Love (3 page)

Read Betting On Love Online

Authors: Cheris Hodges

BOOK: Betting On Love
11.62Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
CHAPTER 4
James didn't bother going into the room where his brother and his friends were; he wanted to be alone, so he headed to his hotel suite. Honestly, he wanted to find Jade and apologize for what he'd said to her downtown. He was judging her for what Kenya had done, and that wasn't fair. Still, what was it with women and wanting to get revenge for a broken heart? If he'd subscribed to that kind of thinking, then he would've spent his life trying to get back at women that had tried to use him to get closer to Maurice.
What was it about women and this need to hurt a man after a relationship ended?
They should just move on. I mean, it isn't as if there is a shortage of good men out there. Women just don't know a good man when he's looking them dead in the face,
he thought bitterly.
James had moved on after Annette Pemberton had played “Chopsticks” on his heart. They'd met right after Maurice had been drafted and James had moved to Charlotte with him. She'd seen him and Maurice talking at the draft party, which was held at the posh Westin Hotel in Uptown. Despite the fact that Lauryn had been draped on Maurice like a cheap suit, women had still thrown themselves at him. But Annette had had a better idea: to get to Maurice through his brother. She'd turned her attention to James, latching on to him while she tried her best to get into Maurice's bed and pocket. It hadn't taken long for James to see her game, but it also hadn't taken long for him to grow fond of her. He'd had thoughts of revenge, of humiliating her in front of Maurice and his famous friends, but instead, he'd ignored her calls and she'd gotten the message.
Annette hadn't been the only woman to try and use him to get a piece of Maurice. Several women in Charlotte had tried to get close to him with the hopes of getting next to Maurice. That was why he hadn't sought out anything serious, just a couple of encounters here and there. But casual sex left him feeling empty and like his father, the last person he wanted to be. Richard Goings had been an abusive womanizer who flaunted a string of affairs in his mother's face when he wasn't slapping her around.
James wasn't the kind of guy who believed in soul mates or love conquering all, because at some point, love caused pain. His father had hurt his mother, Maryann; Maurice had hurt Kenya; and he had countless friends who were paying alimony to women who they'd sworn to love forever. He wanted no part of that.
If Jade wanted to play games with her ex, that meant that she'd probably end up back in his arms before it was all over. He'd done the right thing by walking away. Still, for some unknown reason, he wanted to see her again. Well, he knew the reason, but after that scene downtown, he knew there would be no lovemaking in his suite tonight. Standing up, he headed for the door, deciding that it would be better to go into the noisy casino than lie in his suite, fantasizing about a woman he didn't even know. Heading to the casino floor, James figured he could lose a few bills at the slot machines. Picking a machine close to the baccarat room, he didn't pay attention to the bevy of beauties walking out of the gaming area, latched on to a few old men.
“Jade?” a woman said.
James's head snapped up, and he saw Jade heading in the direction of the women.
“I'm going to the room,” Jade said. Then her eyes collided with his. The cold look that she gave him would've frozen the desert on a hundred-degree day.
The three women, who looked as if they could've been cover girls for any magazine, let go of their companions and turned to their girlfriend. Their eyes followed hers to James.
“Come on, girl,” another one of the women said as they turned toward the elevator.
James knew he should just let her walk away, especially since she had the girlfriend network surrounding her. But he left his seat at the slot machine and crossed over to her.
“Excuse me, Jade. Can we talk?” he asked.
“Who are you?” the tallest woman asked, with her hand on her hip and attitude in her voice.
“I think I was talking to Jade,” James replied, with a modest amount of respect in his voice.
“James, we don't have anything left to say to each other,” Jade snapped.
“Then just listen,” he insisted. “I want to apologize for earlier. I didn't mean to come off as a judgmental asshole.”
Jade's face softened as her girlfriends looked confused and perplexed.
“Who is this guy?” one of them asked.
“Serena,” Jade said, “let me handle this.”
James held his hand out to Jade and pulled her away from her girls. “I shouldn't have left you downtown, and what I said to you was out of line. I didn't mean to judge you, but that's exactly what I did.”
“Yes, it was.”
He ran his hand over his face and tried to smile. “May I buy you a drink to make up for the error of my ways?”
She turned and glanced at her girlfriends, who had been watching the conversation intently. “I'd better not.”
“Do I need to buy them drinks, too?” James asked.
“Yes,” the tallest woman said, indicating that they'd been listening to the conversation intently.
James pointed them in the direction of the bar and let them pass.
Jade walked slowly, allowing James to catch up with her and her friends to get out of earshot.
“They are going to eat you alive, and I'm going to let them,” she said, with a sarcastic smile.
“That's mean.”
“So was leaving me at a bus stop downtown,” she said.
“I know that was the wrong thing to do. Anything could've happened to you, and I would've never forgiven myself for that. I'm more of a gentleman than that.”
“A man who admits when he's wrong? I can't believe it.” Jade pushed her hair behind her ears and smiled at him. “Maybe I won't let them beat you up too badly.”
James smirked and pulled a chair out for Jade at the table where her friends had taken up residency. “Ladies,” he said, “what are we drinking?”
“Nothing until you tell us who the heck you are,” the tallest woman said.
Jade cleared her throat. “How rude of me. Ladies, this is James Goings. James, these are my friends.” She pointed to the tall, mouthy one. “Serena.” Then she pointed to a leggy, caramel-colored sister with raven hair. “Kandace.” And finally she pointed to the quietest woman of the trio. “Alicia.”
James extended his hand to the women, who ignored his gesture, then sat down quickly. “Nice to meet you all,” he said.
“So,” Serena said, “I still don't know who you are.”
Jade shot a warning look in her friend's direction. “We met earlier and had a little disagreement.”
“Then why is he here?” Alicia asked, confusion clouding her comely face.
“Because he admitted that he was wrong, and how often have we seen a man do that?” Jade said, causing her friends to break into laughter.
James leaned back in the chair, feeling like the butt of their joke. But from his vantage point, he was able to admire Jade silently. She seemed like a different person with her friends; she was more relaxed, and she smiled a lot more. He imagined that the four of them together were a lot of trouble.
“Then I say Mr. James should order the best bottle of champagne on the menu,” Serena said.
“That's fine,” he replied, feeling as if he and Serena would never be friends. “I can do that.” Waving for the waiter, James ordered a bottle of 1990 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin and oysters on the half shell. The women looked at each other and smiled.
“You have great taste, James,” Kandace said. “Where are you from?”
“Originally from Atlanta, but I live in Charlotte now,” he replied.
“Atlanta? It's a small world,” Alicia said. “We're from Atlanta.”
“He already knows that, I'm sure,” Serena said. “So, what do you do in Charlotte?”
Frowning, he said, “I work for a living.”
Jade threw her hands up. “All right, enough of the third degree. James is all right.”
Serena folded her arms across her chest and sighed. “Whatever.”
“Goings,” Alicia said. “Are you related to Maurice Goings?”
Rolling his eyes, he nodded. “That's my brother.”
“Why does his name sound familiar?” Kandace asked.
Serena snickered. “Remember the guy whose fiancée left him at the altar for another woman? That's him. Oh, and he plays in the NFL.”
“For the Panthers, right?” Alicia said. “I think I planned a few parties for him a couple of years ago.”
Jade stroked her throat and then turned to James. “Once you get to know them, they are very nice.”
“I'll take your word for it,” he said in a tight whisper.
“We're not trying to give you a hard time on purpose,” Alicia said. “It's just that we look out for each other, and we don't want anyone else taking advantage of our girl.”
James knew they were talking about her ex, and he definitely didn't want to have this conversation again. “I totally understand,” he said. “The last thing I want to do is to take advantage of your girl.” His eyes never left Jade's face.
 
 
When is that champagne coming?
Jade thought. The looks that James kept giving her did nothing but make her burn like a slow, smoldering fire. The fact that he had apologized to her had made her realize that she hadn't been wrong about him. He wasn't a total pig, and he was still sexy as all get out. The way he looked at her made her heart beat like a Congo drum.
“So, what are you doing in Las Vegas, James?” Alicia asked, causing Jade to stop thinking about tasting James's lips.
“Vacation with the guys,” James said, looking away from Jade for the first time in what seemed like hours. “I guess it was luck that I ran into Jade when I did.”
“Why's that?” Kandace asked, smiling, as if she knew something naughty had happened.
James turned to Jade and reached for her hand. “She's a hell of a poker player.”
The women laughed. “Yes, she is,” Alicia said.
The waiter walked over to the table and placed a bucket of ice with a bottle of champagne in it and the oysters in the middle of the table. Jade wanted to pour the contents of the bucket in her lap; maybe then she'd cool off.
After the group finished the champagne and the food, Jade allowed James to walk her over to the hotel where she and her friends were staying. “That was really nice of you to buy us that champagne, but it wasn't necessary,” Jade said.
“I know, but I figured if they drank and ate, they'd stay off my back,” he said, with a laugh. “But I was wrong. Serena's tough.”
“She's a pussycat once you get to know her,” Jade replied.
James extended his arm to her as they came to the intersection. “I wouldn't want you to get hit by a car,” he said. “Your friends would hunt me down and kill me. You don't often find women as close as you all seem.”
“Women have to stick together,” she said, though the only thing she wanted to see together was the two of them. “Listen, about before and what I was saying about my ex ...”
“We were having such a great evening, and now you're trying to mess it up,” James said.
“What I'm trying to say is, I'm not some psycho ex-girlfriend with an ax to grind. I made a business deal with a man that I thought I was going to marry, and he took my money and cut me out of the business. That's not fair, and to allow him to get away with that would be wrong.”
“I guess I can see why you're miffed. But still, why get revenge? Just get a lawyer.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “That would be too easy, and there isn't anything in writing. It's going to be my word against his.”
“I know a great attorney that can help you. My sister-in-law specializes in contract law.”
Jade shook her head. “I'm not ready to go there yet. And I don't want to talk about it anymore.”
Once they reached the door of the hotel, James was ready to tell her good night, but Jade didn't want him to walk away.
“You know,” she said, “I never gave you your share of the poker money.”
James smiled. “Keep it. Seeing the looks on those guys' faces was enough payment for me.”
“So this is it, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“Chances are we're probably never going to see each other again.”
He nodded. “That's a shame.”
Looping her arms around his waist, she looked up at him. “So, what are we going to do about it?”

Other books

Raggy Maggie by Barry Hutchison
In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
Annabelle's Angel by Therese M. Travis
Dark Tides by Chris Ewan
The Watson Brothers by Lori Foster
Eating by Jason Epstein
Heroes R Us by Mainak Dhar
Men For Hire by Tina Donahue, Bella Settarra, Michelle Roth, Jennifeer Denys
Summer Fling by Billie Rae