Trust (24 page)

His
lips touch my
neck as he chuckles deeply and his
fingers push past my outer defenses and breach my core causing my eyelids to
flutter in response.

“
Okay, well
I’ll
take that to mean you understand,
”
I say, breathing deeply,
“
and
I’ll
stop talking now and let you get on
with your original plan.
” 

After
all, we have a lot to take care of before the food arrives.

The
shopping in Macau is out of this world, and after a whole day of it with Chase
I
’
m mentally exhausted.  It took me a few
hours to completely get ove
r worrying about what
everything cost and the fact that he was buying it all for me, but eventually I
just gave up and let him spoil me. 
I’ve
never had a man treat me so well. 

Now
that we
’
re both decked out and after another day
of relaxation, Chase is
on his way to the casino
today, leaving me to a day at the hotel spa.  Since we
’
re staying in the same hotel that
he’s
playing at, I ride down to the casino
with him to have a look.  So far from what I can tell, the casinos here look
and sound very much l
ike the casinos in Las Vegas. 
That is, all identical to each other.  Flashy, loud, and over the top.  Chase
might disagree.

“
Oh
,
oh
.
 
I better call the guys to come play. 
Everyone always likes to know when there
’
s a big fish in town
…”

I
spin on my heel
s at the gravelly voice I hear coming
from behind me to see an old man in a wheel chair roll up behind us.  He
’
s wearing a big cowboy hat and has on a
cream colored button down shirt that looks as if he
’
d been wearing it at least one day too
long.  He
’
s go
t a big
smile on his face, though, and when he sees me look at him he winks.

“
Please do call them,
”
Chase responds with an equally large
smile on his face. 
“
We just did a lot of shopping and I can
use the dead money they
’
ll bring.
”

I
have no idea what t
hese guys are talking about. 
Fish?  Dead money?  I wish Evelyn was here to translate for me.

The
two of them break off their teasing to shake hands after which Chase motions to
me. 
“
Texas Tom, this here is my girlfriend
Lila Hunter.  S
he’s
not a player,
so keep your eyes
off her purse.
” 
It
’
s silly, but my stomach gets butterflies
when I hear him refer to me as his girlfriend.

“
Lila, this here is Texas Tom.  One of
the oldest players you
’
ll ever meet.  It
’
s rumored he had a hand in not only
inventing po
ker, but cards in general.
”

Texas Tom
’
s barking laughter causes more than a
few heads to turn and look at us, even over the sounds of the nearby slot
machines. 
“
Oh come on, I
’
m not that old!
”  Tom
’
s wheelchair inches forward and I offer
my hand as he rea
ches for it.  He surprises me by
giving the back of it a little kiss and a squeeze. 
“
Hello darling.  I knew Chase was overly
lucky in cards, but
it’s
not fair that
he’s
so lucky with women as well.  Where did
he find you?
”

This
time
it’s
my turn to laugh
, although I can feel my cheeks get a little warm as well.  Chase smiles
at me in a way that tells me Tom is harmless.

“
You can
’
t be from Vegas,
”
he continues. 
“
I know all the pretty girls in Vegas.
”

“
I bet you do,
”
I laugh back. 
“
And you
’
re right.  I
’
m from Toronto.
”

“
Canada?  Now there
’
s got to be a story there that I
’
m sure I want to hear.
” 
Tom has a big wrinkled smile that
’
s impossible not to find endearing.  He
gives my hand one more squeeze before letting go.

“
Well, why don
’
t you tell it while
I go to the cashier and get my money sorted out,
”
Chase says, putting a hand on my back. 
He leans toward me and then says in a whisper clearly intended for Tom to hear
as well
“Don
’
t worry,
he’s
too old to be a danger.
”

He
then walks away toward the cash
ier
’
s cage to get the chips he needs to
play.

“
Are you playing as well today?
”
I ask Tom.

“
I’ve
been playing all night,
”
the old man replies. 
“I
’
m actually on my way back to my room for
a nap.  Getting old is no fun, my dear.  I would suggest you avoid
it at all costs.  Used to be I could play for two days
straight before I
’
d even think about having a meal, never mind a nap.  Now I
can barely make it through a single night without feeling like I
’
m going to collapse.  Let me tell you a
little secret,
”
he
leans
forward in his chair now, but
he’s
not really whispering. 
“
This chair is more for lugging my big
behind around because I
’
m old and tired than because I have any real issue.  But no
one questions an old guy in a wheelchair.
”

He
winks at me and I lau
gh again. 

“
Although that
’
s not to say I
’
m a
picture of perfect health.  That’s
why I have to play poker.  Chase plays
so he can maintain his playboy lifestyle, but guys like me have to play just to
pay for our medical bills.  We don
’
t all live in Canada
with free
doctors and such.  Speaking of which, tell me your story.  How does a Canadian
meet the famous Chase
Anderson?
  Did you come to Vegas with a bachelorette party and meet
him at one of those fancy clubs
he’s
always going to?
”

My
face turns into a
grimace now, but I sigh it away. 
It
’
s more of a habit than a real feeling of
loss now. 
“
Not quite.  I was there with my
boyfriend at the time.  The short version is that it turned out he was a jerk
and Chase was there to save me from him.
”

“
Ah, the kni
ght
in shining armor routine.  That gets them every time.
”

“
So you think it was an act?
”
I ask, playing along.  Seems no matter
how old a man is, he still takes pleasure in needling his friends even when
they
aren’t
around.

“
Well, you do know
he’s
a prof
essional
liar, don’
t you?
”

“
Oh, I thought he was a professional
poker player.
”

“
Do you think there
’
s a difference?
”

I
purse my lips to suppress my smile.  It
’
s funny how it sounds now, coming from
him, but how serious I was when I was saying essentially
the same thing back when I met Chase. 
“
So you think I should watch out for him,
then?  He
’
s bad news?
”

Tom
belts out a laugh again, his round stomach quivering in front of him as he
does. 
“Honey,
I’ll
be honest with you because you
’
re Canadian and I th
ink honesty is part of your national identity.  If you were
ever going to trust a poker player, you
couldn’t
have picked a better one to trust than
Chase Anderson.
”

I
smile at him in agreement. 

“
But, that being said, he is a poker
player, and a damn go
od one.  You don
’
t win millions if your opponent knows
what you
’
re thinking, if they even suspect which
cards you
’
re really holding.  If a poker player
wants to lie to you, you can be sure you
’
ll never even suspect it.
”