“Why are you sorry?”
I looked at him. He was partway under the blankets, covered at the waist but still beautiful. “I feel like I led you on,” I said.
“I’m sure you didn’t mean to.”
“How do you know that?”
“You’re a good person.” He paused. “You don’t have to apologize for crying over someone you love.”
“Why are you taking this so well?”
“Because I doubt anyone’s ever cried over me.” He lit a cigarette and stared at the ceiling. “Is he here? He must be or you wouldn’t be so upset.”
“He’s here.”
“Is he with someone else?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
Russ found his watch and checked the time. He took one last hit of his cigarette and put it out. “It’s late, I better sleep. Grab your clothes and the money and get a taxi downstairs. Don’t even think of leaving the crowd at the door unless you’re in a cab. I left some smaller bills on the living room table. Don’t share a cab no matter how much someone begs you to. Remember, in this town, always take your own taxi.”
“I understand.” I began to pick up my clothes. “Will I see you again?”
“That’s up to you. Take the key I gave you. I can always call down to the front desk for another. Come by whenever you want.” He added quietly, “Or else come by when you don’t know what else to do.”
“Russ?”
“Just do what I say.” He turned away, wrapping himself in a blanket. “I really have to sleep,” he whispered.
His breathing had altered by the time I was dressed. He was out cold—not snoring, but far from this world. I collected my purse, his key, the cash he had left on the table, and the leather bag crammed with a hundred thousand dollars. Swinging it over my shoulders by its straps, I felt as if I discovered golden wings that could fly me to a new destiny. Only I knew this was Las Vegas, the City of Sin, and that the gold here was really colored green.
There was a line for taxis at the door. I was tempted to set off for the MGM on foot. But I remembered Russ’s warning, and there were a few dark spots between the two hotels, areas where someone wicked who had been spying on me earlier, and knew what I had won, could stage a surprise attack. I forced myself to wait for a taxi. Finally, when my turn came, the driver was annoyed I was only going a few blocks. He wanted to pick up the couple behind me as well.
“No,” I said. “Take me alone.”
He was old, grouchy, burned-out from too many years under the desert sun. “I’ve waited thirty minutes. I can’t make any money off your fare.”
“Hey, babe, we don’t mind riding with ya,” the guy behind me said.
His girl kissed him. “We like threesomes.”
I ignored them, spoke to the driver. “You have to take me alone, those are the city rules. But I promise to give you a big tip.”
“How big?” the taxi driver demanded.
I opened the door and jumped in. “Shut up and drive,” I said.
We arrived at the MGM in fifteen minutes. The traffic caused the delay. Plus I refused to get out of the cab until the driver took me to the front entrance. Then I opened my purse, not the bag Russ had given me, and gave the driver ten bucks for the fare and another twenty dollars for a tip. He seemed satisfied, although he didn’t thank me. He had no idea the kind of tip he would have received if he’d been the least bit polite.
Inside, I checked at the front desk and asked if they had a vault with private lockers where I could store an important bag. Of course they had just the place; they were used to people with valuables. A guard led me to a room lined with lockers and handed me a key. I opened the locker and put the bag inside and relocked it.
“Does anyone come down here without an escort?” I asked.
“No, ma’am. They need a key and have to be with me or one of the other guards to get in here.”
“What if I lose the key and someone else finds it?”
“You have to show ID to get in this room. Don’t worry, ma’am, your bag is completely safe.”
“Thank you,” I said.
Upstairs I found Jimmy sitting outside my door on the hallway floor. He was dozing, with his head on his knees, but he heard me approach and stood quickly. He looked happy to see me. Of course the reverse—times a thousand—was also true.
“How long have you been waiting here?” I asked.
“I don’t know. A while.”
“You couldn’t share a room with Ted?”
“No. I mean, yes, he loaned me his key.” Jimmy added, nodding toward my suite, “He’s inside, with Debbie.”
“With Debbie?” I had to laugh. “How long have they . . . oh, never mind. Do you know where Alex is?”
“I haven’t seen her. Wasn’t she with you?”
“We were together but she got annoyed and ran off. You know her.”
“Yeah.”
“What brings you here?”
Jimmy took a breath. He went to answer but then his pain got in the way of the words and his face crumpled. He stopped breathing; the air around him seemed to go numb.
“I don’t know why Huck died,” he said finally. “He was small and frail. He had come early, a few weeks, but the doctors said that wasn’t the reason he died. They wanted to do an autopsy but I didn’t want them cutting him up. Kari felt the same way. We wrapped him in a blanket and took him away and had a private funeral for him and that was that.”
“How long ago was this?”
Jimmy looked dazed. He counted on his fingers. “A month ago, I’m not sure.” He added as a tear ran over his cheek, “I’m sorry, I should have told you earlier.”
“Oh, Jimmy, don’t say that. You did nothing wrong.” I hugged him and held him for what seemed like forever. Then he kissed me and I kissed him and it was okay that I had been with another man less than an hour ago. Because Russ had been a dream, I realized, while Jimmy was the only real thing in my life. I loved him, God how I loved him.
CHAPTER FIVE
TWO SURPRISES GREETED JIMMY AND ME THE FOLLOWING morning.
First, Debbie and Ted joined us for room service in our suite and neither of them said a harsh word to me about my drunken behavior the night before. Indeed, they were both glowing so brightly I wouldn’t have been surprised if they thanked me. They were barely dressed and it was clear Ted had spent the night.
So much for Ted’s undying love for me.
The second surprise, which should have been no surprise at all, was that Alex didn’t return to our suite until we were halfway through our pancakes. She didn’t act embarrassed or ashamed, but it was obvious she was exhausted. However, just before she went to bed, she yanked me into her room and closed the door.
“What happened after I left?” she asked as we sat together on her bed.
I shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit. I tried calling you ten times and got no answer.”
“I didn’t get your calls. You said it yourself, cells don’t work very well on the casino floors.”
“So you stayed and played with Russ?”
“We played twenty-one.”
“Anything else?”
“A few hands of twenty-two.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind. Look, nothing happened between us, nothing sexual.”
Alex studied me. “You’re lying.”
Damn, I hated how she could read me.
“We made out, that’s all,” I said. “Then I thought of Jimmy and I stopped.”
“If you made out, you must have gone back to his room.”
“We went to his room to split our winnings.”
She saw I was serious. “How much?”
“A lot. I’ll tell you about it later. The main thing is Jimmy was waiting for me when I got back. And he spent the night.”
“So you’re back together?”
“Yes.”
“You sound confident. Need I remind you this is the same guy who dumped yo
u for no reason.”
“You’re the one who put us in the same car. I thought you wanted us to get back together.”
“Maybe. But I wanted you to make him beg a little.”
“Plus he had a reason why he went back to Kari, a good one.”
“What?”
“We can talk about that later as well. Now I’m tired of your questions, and you look like you’re ready to collapse. Where were you all night?”
“The Mirage. The top floor, corner suite.”
“Russ has a suite on the top floor of the Mandalay Bay. We could have waved to each other. So what’s his name, how old is he, is he rich, and what’s his favorite position?”
“Alfred Summon, but I call him Al. He’s younger than Russ and older than Jimmy. He has money, he sells drugs to doctors who in turn sell them to their patients. I don’t know if I’d call him rich. He told me he doesn’t have a favorite position, only a favorite girl, and last night I was her.”
“Was it a one-night thing?”
The question gave Alex reason to pause. “I hope not.”
“You say that like you care.”
Again, she hesitated. “I know this will sound totally lame but I think I do. There’s something about this guy. He’s not like anyone I ever met before.”
I could have said exactly the same thing about Russ.
“How did you meet?” I asked.
“In a bar. Downstairs.”
“Who approached who?”
“I don’t know, I was drunk. Does it matter?”
“Is he here on a medical convention?”
“How did you know that?”
“It’s why Russ is here.”
“Well, maybe they’re friends. Are you going to see Russ again?”
“I’d like to, he’s a fascinating guy, but I don’t want to risk anything with Jimmy.” I paused. “That reminds me. Can I borrow your car? Jimmy and I want to take a ride out to Lake Mead and rent a boat.”
Alex held out her keys. “Sure. But I think you’re risking more by not seeing Russ again. Jimmy’s let you down before. He can do it again. He might take you more seriously if he knows he has competition.”
“You know I’m not into mind games. I love Jimmy, I’m not going to do anything to hurt him.” I stood. “And before you start on another lecture, try sleeping for eight hours. You look like shit.”
Alex plopped back on the bed, closed her eyes, and sighed. “I don’t care, it was worth it. Al, it’s hard to explain . . . it’s like he’s got some kind of magic.”
Just like Russ. I gave Alex a quick kiss on the forehead and left her to rest. She was snoring before I closed her door.
While the others were finishing breakfast, I ran downstairs and withdrew twenty-five hundred bucks from my bag. I felt guilty not telling Jimmy about the money but I didn’t want to have to explain how I got it.
At the same time, I needed clothes. When we had checked in to the hotel the day before, we had passed a row of stores that had made my eyes bug out of my head. That was, until I saw the prices.
I was beyond happy to be back with Jimmy and was desperate to look my best. But the sad truth was my wardrobe sucked. My bimonthly checks from the Apple Valley Library averaged eighty bucks after taxes, which left no room for buying sexy clothes. It was no joke—the swimsuit I had brought to Las Vegas was the same suit I had worn to try out for our high-school freshman swim team.
There was this white bikini, though, that had caught my eye the day before, and now I didn’t care what it cost. I just marched into the store and pointed to it and asked them to check in the back for my size. While I was waiting for the saleswoman to return, I spotted a mannequin wearing a red silk blouse and a short black skirt. I didn’t stop to ask the dummy’s permission, I pulled the clothes right off her. When the woman finally did return with the bikini, I was dancing around the dressing room. I had never been so excited about something I had bought.
The three items took the bulk of my cash. $1,874.56. God, normal people couldn’t even walk into such stores.
Two hours later I was floating in sunshine, water, and bliss. After driving to Lake Mead, Jimmy had rented a fast-enough boat that we were able to water-ski behind it—by trading off places, of course. But I wasn’t nearly as physically fit as Jimmy and my arm and chest muscles quickly tired. Taking mercy on me, Jimmy anchored our boat near the Hoover Dam, where the water was at its deepest, and I inflated a raft and floated around on my back with a book in hand while Jimmy snorkeled in circles around me.
The warm water lapped peacefully at my sides. The dam was less than a quarter mile to my right. Jimmy had already snuck up and dunked me once, but under the threat of no sex for a year, I had managed to convince him it would be a bad idea to repeat the trick. Besides not wanting to ruin my paperback, I was covered in SPF 100 sunscreen and was wearing a new pair of sunglasses I had purchased on the way out of the hotel. The price had turned Jimmy’s head—they had cost a hundred bucks. I explained the splurge by saying I had lucked out at the tables the night before.
However, I had to be more careful. The casual remark did not satisfy Jimmy, especially when I unveiled my new bikini. He wasn’t into fashion but he knew money when he saw it. He flipped over how I looked, and in the same breath asked who’d bought it for me.
“My dad. It’s a graduation present,” I said.
“I thought you said he didn’t even call?”
“He didn’t. He just sent the gift.”
“Your father the famous doctor sent you a piece of clothing that has but one purpose, and that is to make every guy in our class want to have sex with you? Sorry, I don’t think so.”
I smiled sweetly. “Okay. I lied. Someone else gave it to me. You don’t need to know who.”
The remark shut him up. Maybe Alex was right, maybe it was better if there was competition he had to worry about.
He surfaced close to where I floated, after being underwater God knew how long. Jimmy had amazing endurance. Up until his senior year, he’d run long distance for the track team and won every race. His coach had said he had Olympic potential. Yet he had quit the team the last year. Now, with what had happened with Kari, I understood why.
“How’s your book?” he asked.
“The mystery part is excellent but it feels like the author wrote it in a month. All the paragraphs are short and jumpy.”
“If it holds your interest, that’s all that matters.”
“I suppose.” I frowned as I studied the cover. A black snake tooth dripping red venom, or else human blood. I had picked it up because I was sure I had seen the cover before, only I didn’t know where. I continued. “What bugs me is the author is talented. She can turn it on when she wants to, but it’s like she can’t be bothered because she knows she’s only writing for a set amount of money and it doesn’t matter how good the book turns out.”
“Don’t authors get royalties? The more a book sells, the more money they make?”
I waved the book. “You haven’t read about the new trend in publishing. This author pumps out too many books a year to write them all. She just sticks her name on stories that have been ghostwritten.”
“So the ghostwriter could be a he for all you know.”
“That’s right. But I read in a magazine that they never get royalties. They’re just out-of-work writers who need the cash.”
“It sounds like it bugs you.”
“I take back what I said a moment ago. I do respect the ghostwriter. He or she has to live. It’s the woman on the cover I dislike. She’s the one who is whoring her name.”
“Most successful people whore their names. It’s why they’re successful.”
Jimmy swam closer, treading water, his brown hair plastered back by the water. He pushed back his snorkel mask. He had a tan, I was not surprised. When he worked on cars out back of Sears, he often took his shirt off. He looked good—he always looked good. It was ridiculous how nice it was to have him near.
&n
bsp; “A penny for your thoughts,” he said when I fell silent.
I smiled faintly. “I was just thinking of the first time we made love.”
“Damn. And I was hoping you were thinking about last night.”
“Why?”
“I like to think that I’ve improved with practice.”
“Us girls are silly. The first time is always the best time.” I paused. “Do you remember how I didn’t answer the door? I knew it was you. But I knew you’d hear the water running and come in.”
Jimmy rubbed at the water in his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“Do you need a blow-by-blow? That Saturday afternoon. You came over after work. My mother was out and I was in the shower. You said you knocked but I didn’t answer. You stuck your head in my bedroom and called out. You must have known I was in the shower.” I leaned over and kissed him. “You must have known I’d invite you in.”
He didn’t smile like I assumed he would. Instead, he looked puzzled. “No offense, Jessie, but that’s not what happened. I never had sex with you right after work. The first time we did it was at night after we went to the movies. It was late. Your mother was asleep in the next room.”
“Excuse me. We only went to two movies. On our first date and our last.” I pushed him away. “You bastard, you’re thinking of Kari.”
“No. I swear, I’m not.”
“I don’t care. I’m right and you’re wrong.”
“Hold on a second, don’t get mad. Remember back to that afternoon you’re talking about. I came over and asked if I could take a shower in your bathroom. I’d just gotten off work. I’m a mechanic, my hands were covered in oil. Whenever I leave work, I have to soak my hands in a solvent to loosen the oil. Then I have to scrub them with a harsh soap. But you didn’t have all that stuff so my hands were still pretty grimy even after the shower. Think, Jessie, I would never have taken you to bed—especially for the first time—with dirty fingers.”
“Are you saying you didn’t take a shower with me?”
“I did. But it wasn’t after I got off work.”
“Jimmy, this is ridiculous. You can’t be getting senile already. We didn’t jump straight into bed. You joined me in the shower and we washed each other for a long time. I cleaned your hands. You shampooed my hair. That’s what made it so romantic. That’s why it’s such a special memory to me.” My voice cracked, I was getting emotional. “It upsets me you can’t even remember it.”