“Nothing’s fair in Vegas.”
A thought wriggled at the corner of my mind, and then all of a sudden, coalesced into a full-blown realization.
“Wait a minute,” I gasped. “Is that why you were bidding me up last night, just to get a higher cut?”
I could almost hear the smirk. “Well, it’d crossed my mind.”
“You’re a fucking creep, Mac. The money was supposed to all be for the girls. I’m not gonna sponsor your godforsaken deviancy. Don’t call me again.”
“I’ll collect this money. One way or another, you’ll pay up.”
“Don’t hold your breath. Or, on second thought, do.”
With that, I hung up the phone.
CHAPTER 22
Kiki
AS I KEYED in my employee code on the Dazzlers computer, officially clocking on for the day — fuck, did I have a whole day ahead of me? My head swum with possibilities and dreams from the morning, wavering in my mind like a moon on the water.
Had that really just happened?
Had I actually lost my virginity to Tate?
Pulling on a spare employee uniform as I hadn’t had time to go home, I ran my tongue over the memories, tasting them like they were freshwater pearls.
I dimly regretted barking at Tate when we first met, but then again, I think we both were astounded by the connection between us. Had either of us anticipated feeling so much? Hell, on my end, I really hadn’t thought we would sleep together. When I told him a night of just talking, I meant it. But then he’d batted those big eyes at me, and been so warm and inviting…
And now here we were, in this predicament. Even putting the money aside, he was my boss. Shit was complicated. Not to mention, I was as broke as I was when I’d started this whole process. Sure, it would’ve been nice to take the million, but that would’ve sullied my otherwise perfect virginity experience. Can you put a price on a wonderful moment?
Yeah, my logical brain replied wryly. You totally can.
Maybe I was being a foolish romantic. But not a lot of romantic things happened in my life, and when they did, it felt nice to put aside all the adult cares that had addled me since I was a small kid.
Though, as I clocked on to what was destined to be a long shift with zero sleep, I wondered if I’d made the right choice. Was this really the hill I wanted to die on?
There was a tap on my shoulder, and I turned around to see Sonia, lasciviously licking her lips.
“Somebody’s glowing,” she said, giving me a little tickle under the arm.
I darted my head away, hoping she couldn’t see the blush spreading on my cheeks.
“Come on, spill!” Sonia begged. “I’ve been waiting all night by the phone, hoping you’d call. Who was it, what was he like? Was he old? No hold on, you look happy, so he must’ve been young. Was he hot? Ugh, tell me everything!”
I looked around, making sure we didn’t have an audience, then I gestured her in closer.
In a low, secretive voice, I told Sonia:
“It was Tate.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t hear you. What?”
“Tate. As in, Dazzlers Tate.”
Sonia staggered back, mouth so wide a whole bird could fly inside.
“No way.”
“Yes way.”
She sat down on a nearby worn leather chair in front of a genie-themed slot machine.
“Okay,” she said slowly, trying to get her bearings. “You’re gonna need to start at the beginning. And make sure not to leave anything out. We only have ten minutes ‘til the shift starts, so get to talking.”
I pulled a chair from one machine over — a diamond-themed one that I’m told hadn’t cashed out in twenty years, and as quickly as possible, without sacrificing detail, recounted the entire previous evening. Sonia oo’d and ahh’d appreciatively as needed, and booed when appropriate, especially to the end.
After several long minutes, I finally arrived up to the present moment.
“So,” I finished. “I’m tired as fuck, running on zero sleep, but mostly? Mostly, it was amazing. I still feel a little uncomfortable about some of the money stuff, but the further I get away from the night, the more I’m like, wow, I had the time of my life.”
“I literally cannot fathom a single word of this story,” Sonia marveled. “This is like Cinderella, but with glass lingerie instead of a glass slipper.”
I wasn’t sure her analogy held up, but I didn’t press it.
She went on. “There’s no need to worry about the money stuff now, though. Like, it’s okay that you passed on the million, because it made you look like you didn’t care about his cash, which is super-hot to rich guys. And now you’ve got a wealthy boyfriend who will take care of your debt anyways. So everyone wins!”
“Wait… what?” I said, scrunching my eyebrows together. “No, that’s not… no.”