Page 3 of Don't Bet On It
“He basically said that I couldn’t prove sexual harassment,” I said. “He’s right, though. It’s my word against Jay’s word. And he likes Jay,” I added glumly as I took a long drink of my martini. “He’s never liked me.”
“That’s still not okay.” Olivia’s eyes were glassy with tears. “What are you going to do?”
I shrugged. “Well, I’m pretty sure the two weeks’ severance isn’t coming in.” I was rueful. “I kind of regret punching Carlton.” The problem is, I kind of didn’t regret it too. “I’m going to be short for my rent. My landlord said if I was late again…” I didn’t finish my sentence.
“You can borrow from me.” Olivia blurted it out as if it was a natural suggestion. “How much do you need?” She scrambled for her purse, which was in the corner of the booth.
“Don’t.” I felt pathetic when I shook my head. “I can’t take your money, and you know it.”
“But you don’t have any other options.”
I didn’t. Not really. “I guess I could try to find Sharon.” Even saying it was difficult.
Olivia looked horrified. “You can’t.”
“Who is Sharon?” Zach asked. He was calm. He was always calm. As Olivia’s hormones had started to swing with her pregnancy, he’d taken everything in stride. He even said he liked it when she was a little wacky. He was the perfect guy. For her. He was too straitlaced for the likes of me. For her, though, he was perfect.
“Sharon Jackson,” I replied flatly. “My mother.”
Surprise registered on Zach’s features. “Your mother?”
Olivia was already frowning. “She’s a bad woman. Tallulah doesn’t see her.”
“You make her sound as if she’s trafficking teenagers to Canada,” I said on a hollow laugh. “She’s not that bad.”
No, she was worse. She’d done nothing but undermine me my entire life. She competed with me when I got old enough to have boyfriends and tried to sleep with all of them. She was a cocktail waitress back then, although still bitter about the showgirl lifestyle she’d had to give up when she got pregnant with me. She still had her looks, so she made decent money. She never put any of that money away, of course. There was nothing for me when it came time for college. I’d been forced to follow her example and get a job as a server because I had zero options.
Nothing was wrong with being a server. I didn’t even hate it. I was good at it. But somewhere in the back of my mind, I always wondered if I was destined for something else. I’d had aspirations at one time. I thought I would become a world-famous painter and leave Vegas in the dust.
Vegas hadn’t been the problem, though. It had never been the problem. I actually loved the city. I didn’t love my prospects.
Zach was careful not to dig into my past, but he could read people well. I had no doubt that he would ask Olivia about it later. He would’ve registered the concern in her voice. Olivia would tell him all the awful things Sharon had done over the years.
I visibly shuddered at the thought. I didn’t want to be pitied. “I might be able to move in with her for a bit,” I said lamely. The only thing that would propel me to do that would be homelessness. Living on the streets of Vegas was not safe.
“Zach.” Olivia’s voice was shrill, and there was no misinterpreting her intent. She wanted her husband to swoop in and save me, as he had her.
“Take a breath,” Zach said calmly, rubbing his hand over his wife’s back. “Just sip your tea.” He kissed her temple before looking at me. “You can’t move in with your mother.” He said it in such a way that there could be no argument. It was simply a fact.
I frowned at him. “I don’t have a lot of other options. The severance would have gotten me another six weeks in my place, but that’s not going to happen now.”
Zach was matter of fact. “Well, then you’re going to have to be open to accepting help.”
My lips immediately turned down. “I’m not a charity project.”
Olivia made a distressed sound, and Zach soothed her with another kiss to her temple. He was serious when he turned back to me. “Olivia is going to melt down if you don’t take a breath and open yourself up to other possibilities. Now, I need you to be serious for a second and talk to me as if I’m an adult.”
“Then don’t talk to me as if I’m a child,” I muttered under my breath.
Contrition flooded Zach’s features. “Sorry. I’m used to putting out small fires in the casino all day. I forget sometimes.”
I sighed. He obviously hadn’t meant to be condescending. “I’m sorry. It’s just been a rough day.”
“I know.” He didn’t tell me that I should have thought before punching. He didn’t dig for dirt on Sharon. He simply stared medown. “You need a job. There are openings in various bars and restaurants here.”
I was thrown. “You want me to work here?” I looked around, as if seeing the bar with fresh eyes.
“If you want to work at this bar, I can arrange it,” he assured me. “I know the sports bar in the high rollers section of the casino needs a server, though.” He hesitated but only for a split second. “The tips there are pretty solid.”
