Page 3 of Alluring

He had come every night since they met on Wednesday. He usually stayed for about an hour, watching her work from some random spot in the casino. He hadn't tried talking to her again, and she found that odd. Why would he keep coming, if not to talk to her? She knew he didn't need to work up his nerve. That man didn't have an ounce of insecurity in him. So what was the issue? She had to find out. Maybe it was stupid to approach him, but he became impossible to ignore.

She went to the bar and clocked out for her fifteen minute break. She took the long way around a bank of slot machines to approach Mr. Gorgeous from the side, stopping a few feet from him. She had butterflies in her stomach, nervous to talk with him. She never approached or started conversations with men. She didn't fear him. He wasn't creepy in any way. Just the opposite in fact. He made her feel jittery and out of sorts. Like a school girl, talking to her long time crush for the first time.

He was scanning the room.

"Looking for someone?" She asked, her nerves making her voice sound throaty. She couldn't keep her fingers still, and her heart, with it's frantic beating, felt as if it was about to explode.

He turned to her and smiled. The smile was her undoing. God, she couldn't believe how utterly magnificent he was. He nearly turned her into a puddle on the floor. She had to pull herself together.

"I think I've found her."

She gave him a wry smile. "You think?"

His devastating smile never faltered. "I know I've found her."

"Seems to me, she found you." Her expression turned serious. "Why are you watching me?" She straightened her spine and gave him a hard look, challenging him to produce a good reason for watching her every night.

He gazed at her a moment, rubbed the back of his neck then looked down at the floor. He pondered a moment before shaking his head and sighing. He looked up. "Truth?"

Alexis couldn't help it, she smirked. "That would be nice."

"I like watching you." At her expression he laughed. "Not in an alarming way. As in, when someone looks at a beautiful painting. They buy it, hang it on their wall so they can stare at it for hours. That's how I feel about you. I can't seem to stay away." He gave her a boyish grin. "I really like the view."

Alexis knew how he felt, for while he watched her, she had watched him, knowing she would never get tried of doing so. Every night, when he left, she felt a pang in her chest.

But she also knew this behavior was wrong. She had to put a stop to his surveillance. Nothing good would come of it. He was still that guy, looking for a good time, and she was still that girl, not looking for anything.

"Can I see your phone?"

He frowned at her random request but pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to her.

She fiddled with the buttons, pulling up the camera, then snapped a picture of herself. She held out the phone. "Here, now you can look all you want, but please don't come back here."

He took the phone from her hand, sending electricity shooting up her arm from where their fingers touched. He looked down at the picture and laughed. "You surprise me. That doesn't happen, often. But you're right, we're looking for two different things. I'll stay away."

He turned to go, then stopped himself. "Can I have a name to go with my picture?"

She thought for a moment but didn't see the harm. "Alexis."

He gave her a nod. "Jack."

She gave a slight nod back, turned on her heel, and walked away. She felt his eyes on her and forced herself not to look back.

"What about this one?" Steph asked, holding up a scarlet-red dress with tiny rhinestones down the front and fringe at the hem.

As promised, Steph had shown up at Alexis's door at nine the following Saturday morning, two vanilla lattes in her hands and a smile on her face, ready for a day of shopping.

The week had gone by extraordinarily slow. Even though she had told Jack not to come back, her eyes couldn't help scanning the casino floor, looking for him. He had kept his word and stayed away. She didn't know why but that made her extremely sad. Well, maybe she did know why, she just didn't want to admit to herself that she was devastated he had given up. Not that she had expected anything less, after all, he had said it himself, they wanted two different things.

But a girl could fantasize. And in her fantasies, Jack was the relentless suitor, breaking down her door, and whisking her away to live happily ever after. Alexis giggled to herself. Talk about an unrealistic fantasy.

Alexis looked up from the sale rack she was browsing through. "It's too flashy. Can't you find something ... I don't know ... plainer?"

Steph rolled her eyes. "You are such a bore."

"You know," Alexis said, placing a finger on her chin, "that dress would look perfect on you."

Steph held the dress up in front of her and looked down. "You think so? Maybe I'll try it on." She folded the dress over her arm and continued her search.

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