Page 90 of Don't Bet On It
“She’s still your boss,” Zach argued.
“Don’t go there.” Rex jabbed a warning finger in his direction. “We’re on even footing.”
Zach’s eye roll was pronounced. “If you say so.”
I felt better about the situation—despite their ribbing—but I was still bothered by something. “Does everybody know the fraternization rule is bunk?”
“It’s not something we spread around,” Zach replied. “Nobody has ever been fired over it since I’ve been with the company, though.”
“We work weird hours,” Rex interjected. “It’s Vegas. If you’re not allowed to date coworkers, the population will die out because nobody will ever hook up again.”
It made a strange sort of sense and still… “Kyla stressed to Tallulah and me that fraternization is not allowed.”
“Kyla has never met a great time she didn’t want to kill,” Zach replied. “She’s a good worker, but she wants to suck the fun out of life for everybody. Don’t listen to Kyla.” He caught himself. “On this topic. Even if she tries to fire you guys, I wouldn’t allow it. That won’t be an issue.”
“Huh.” I’d come in here prepared to argue to get what I wanted. It had been handed to me on a silver platter. I had no idea how to react. “Well, that is just … great.”
“You don’t act as if you think it’s great,” Zach countered.
“I thought you guys were going to fight me on this,” I admitted. “Now, I realize I have a clear path.”
“And the big fight is with her,” Zach surmised. His smile was so wide, it threatened to swallow his entire face. “You’re going to be okay.”
“How do you know that?” I needed to hear the answer.
“Because Tallulah is a good girl, and you’re a great guy. It’s not just you who stares with adoration. It’s her too. I’ve never seen her so happy.”
I let loose the breath I didn’t even know I was holding. “You act as if it will be easy.”
“Oh, Tallulah isn’t easy.” He shook his head. “Something tells me she’s going to be worth the effort for you, though.”
Something told me he was right. I took another sip of the beer and braced myself for the other thing I needed to tell him. “You’re right about the pear being too sweet,” I announced. “It’s actually kind of gross.”
Zach nodded. “That’s what I was thinking.”
“Also, I’ve seen my father with your father a handful of times in the past two months. It’s always in weird places, like Superfrico, and they always have their heads together, as if they’re plotting.”
Zach’s eyes went wide. “That’s quite the transition, my friend.”
“I figured it was better to just blurt it out.”
“Yeah.” Zach dragged a hand through his hair. “Let’s get more beer. I think I’m going to need it for this story.”
“That’s probably a good idea.”
25
TWENTY-FIVE
Olivia’s inability to go out for cocktails—a sport all its own in Las Vegas—meant we were going on different outings in order to spend time together these days. Today’s outing was a simple one to the Stone spa. Olivia wanted the works—she claimed once again that because she was pregnant with a Stone, the baby’s head would be extra big, and she deserved every treatment that was coming her way—and she invited Ruby and me along for the ride.
“I love spa days,” Ruby said as she relaxed in a chair. We were side by side, having our feet soaked, buffed, scraped, and polished. Since I normally did this stuff for myself, it was an odd experience. I found I enjoyed it very much.
“It is kind of nice,” I admitted even as I squirmed, thanks to the scraper being run across the bottom of my feet. I was both fascinated and horrified at the sloughs of skin coming off. “That is gross.”
“But in a good way, right?” Olivia prodded.
“Of course,” I said automatically.
