Page 59 of The Little Black Book

She balks, at first, stammering something about causing trouble and getting fired, and I take a moment to calm her down and assure her she isnotin trouble. That this kind of behavior will not be tolerated from anyone. With a slow nod, she shuffles out of the hallway and points to a guy sitting at one of the blackjack tables with stacks of chips in front of him and a wide smile on his face.

I know Jared will back me up on this, so I don’t bother trying to contact him before I stalk out onto the floor. Catching the eye of one of our plain-clothes security officers, I jerk my head as a sign for him to follow me.

“I need you to come with us,” I say when we reach the man, my hands clenched into fists to stop myself from throttling him in front of the other guests.

“Not happening. I’m on a streak here,” the asshole replies, his words slurring roughly.

He’s obviously hammered––despite the fact that it’s barely after noon––but his intoxication does not excuse him from his unacceptable behavior. I nod toward the security guard, and he wastes no time snatching the man off the stool by the back of his shirt. The man shouts, causing a scene, but I ignore his outburst while I gather up his chips.

Another guard approaches, and I pass the chips to him with instructions to cash them in and bring the money to the security office. Then I follow the loud, obnoxious asshole being dragged in that direction. When I step inside, the guard is already pushing the man into a chair facing the large monitors on the wall.

Another guard pulls up the footage I request, and the dickhead finally settles down when he sees himself on the screen.

“What is this? What’s going on here?” he demands, but no one responds as we watch Tabitha approach him, a tray in her hand.

There’s no sound, but we can clearly see him smile as he reaches out and slips a hand beneath her skirt to touch her ass.

“You mother fucker,” I grit out, the urge to slam his face into the table in front of him nearly choking me.

“What’s the big deal?” he asks. “A little ass grope never hurt anybody.”

“Get the fuck out of here,” I say, snatching him up from the chair and shoving him toward the door. “Don’t come back. You’re not welcome atThe Black Hartanymore.”

“I want my money, fuckers,” he slurs, stumbling away when I snatch the door open.

The guard I sent to cash in his chips appears, and I take the money and shove it into the guys chest with much more force than is necessary. He grunts at the impact, but doesn’t say anything else before scurrying out. I send one guard to follow him, telling him to report back to me when the man leaves, then to find Tabitha and bring her here.

Picking up the phone, I call Jared’s office and tell his assistant to have him meet me here as soon as his meeting is over. Then I call Helen, our VP of Casino Operations and ask her to come with someone from the human resources department. We’re going to have to give Tabitha some paid leave to recover from this incident, considering her state of mind earlier, and we’ll need to come up with a plan of action to make sure nothing like this happens to her, or anyone else employed by the casino, ever again.

It’s going to be a long day, which means I might have to postpone my conversation with Zoey. But itwillhappen.

Even if I have to wake her up in the middle of the night to have it.

Chapter25

A Sugar Coma

Zoey

“Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.”

I whisper the admonishment to myself over and over again as I leave the casino and run back out to my car. God, I hate myself so much right now.

After my lunch with the girls, I decided to go straight to Sam and tell him how I feel. That I want to be with him, and no one else. I knew coming to his work wasn’t the best idea, but I just couldn’t wait. I needed to know if he feels the same way about me.

Well, I guess I have my answer.

I saw him step out of the elevator, and my heart lit up like the fourth of July. This was it. Then a pretty woman in a waitress’s uniform bumped into him. He put his arm around her and led her to somewhere more private, and her body swayed into his like it wasn’t the first time he’d held her like that.

And like an idiot, I followed. I watched as she looked toward the floor. Her back was to me, so I couldn’t see her face, but I imagined a coy smile playing about her lips. Then Sam dipped his head as if to kiss her…and I ran away.

“Stupid,” I spit as I crank my car and back out of the parking spot. “So fucking stupid.”

I knew this thing between us wasn’t serious. I know Sam has been playing the field, dating different women until he finds Ms. Right. And obviously, I’m nother.

Sure, the sex has been great, but that’s all it is for him––sex.

By the time I get home, I’ve done a pretty good job of convincing myself this is for the best. Seeing him with that woman showed me the disparity between our feelings for each other before I made things awkward by blurting mine and asking him to be exclusive. Even though I know Sam, and I know he’d let me down gently, it would cause irreparable damage to our friendship. It would always be there between us, and invisible barrier that grows wider with every stilted encounter.

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