Page 9 of Austin
Chapter Three
Kristen decided towait until Sunday to call her parents, a time when her dad wasn’t on shift at the hospital and her mother wasn’t busy with her many volunteer projects. That way she could talk to them together. Of course, she would call Whitney first—test the waters. Endure twin wrath, because Whit was not going to be happy.
She woke up feeling edgy and out of sorts, but told herself she’d feel better once this was all behind her. She was not a secret keeper. Should have never tried. Now she would be free of her secret, so maybe meeting Austin in the Silver Bow hadn’t been the worst thing in the world.
No. It had been.
She could have gone a long time without facing off with the man, and damn him for still being sexy. Kristen was certain that she’d dreamed about him that night, though she couldn’t remember anything specific. It wasn’t the first time that had happened. Austin had haunted her dreams and her fantasy life during high school, leaving her feeling frustrated and confused. Irritated with herself.
She’d had big plans, which meant she had no business being attracted to a guy with no goals. A guy who didn’t care about his future enough to regularly attend classes. A charismatic risk taker who didn’t follow strict plans or fit into a neat box—both of which characterized her life. Strict plans. Neat boxes.
But what if he changed? What if he became more serious? Noticed her? Liked her?
Changed forher.
Her knack for mathematics told her that the odds were not in her favor, even if he had talked to her a time or two, and helped her with spilled papers in the hall. After the paper incident, her Austin awareness had intensified, as had the guilt for being attracted to him in the first place. He was not her type, didn’t fit into her world…but she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
The push and pull continued throughout their senior year, right up until one of her friends had announced that Austin had called her an ice princess—he was asking her to prom to see if he could melt her.
Melt her.
There was no mistaking what her friends thought “melting” entailed, and she’d been beyond embarrassed thinking about Austin laughing about her with his friends. Had he figured out that he was the object of her fantasies? Was he ridiculing her?
In the face of that horror, Kristen had done the only thing she could and sent her message via the Marietta School grapevine, which had done its work in its usual efficient fashion. Austin was a loser and she wanted nothing to do with him. Thus, the face-off and thus the most mortifying moment of her life.
Thank you, Austin.
Five hours later, Kristen parked her roommate’s car in her usual spot and headed for the rear entrance of the casino, where she and Austin had their uncomfortable confrontation the night before. Her first indication that something was wrong was when Deke glanced down instead of making eye contact as she walked past his office on her way to punch in. The second was when Hanna, her manager, came into the staff room and told her not to bother changing from her flats into her torturous bootie shoes.
Kristen blinked at her. “Is there a problem?”
Hanna gave a slow nod. “This isn’t working, Kristen.” There was no note of apology in her voice. She was stating a fact.
“I don’t understand.” She was only six days into her probationary two weeks.
“When there’s an issue with a customer, your options are to either see me to resolve it, or to muscle through. That is a non-negotiable. Yesterday, you did neither. You ignored the table until they left, which tells me that you either don’t understand, or don’t care about, customer protocol and the reputation of the Silver Bow Casino.”
“It was one incident.”
Hanna’s mouth tightened. “It’s more than that. You aren’t comfortable with the customers, Kristen. It shows.”
“I’m polite with all the customers.”
“You’re distant. You don’t smile.” Hanna spoke as if that were a major crime.
Maybe she didn’t smile as much as she should, but she wasn’t unpleasant. She was trying to smile. “I’ll improve if you give me another chance.” She’d smile her butt off, even at the people who said rude things to her if it kept a paycheck coming in.
Hanna gave her a weary look. “I don’t see this getting better, and it’s not fair to the rest of the staff to keep you on the off chance it will. I need to hire someone suited to the position sooner rather than later. HR has already been informed and will mail you your final check.”
She hadn’t even gotten a first check.
“Hanna…”
“I’m sorry, Kristen. Gather your things. Deke will make certain you get out of the building okay.” As if leaving the building okay was an issue. He was going to make certain she left without making a scene.
Feeling numb, Kristen shouldered her tote bag and followed Hanna out of the staff room. Deke was waiting at the hallway leading to the parking lot entrance, hands on his utility belt.
“You’re lucky,” he said in a low voice as she passed in front of him. “The last girl they let go, they did it at the end of her shift.”
