Page 18 of Castle's Cards

“I just don’t think I know you well enough to be discussing personal matters.” I shuffle the deck in my hand before putting it in the actual card shuffler and holding down the button. Thalia comes around the table and leans in to whisper in my ear.

“We all know it. One of the girls saw you and Carter leave the club together the other night.”

I turn to look Thalia in the eyes. There’s something I can’t read in them, like jealousy or annoyance.

“I don’t really see why that would be of any concern to you.”

Thalia sighs and shakes her head.

“I’m not trying to be mean. I’m trying to warn you.”

“Warn me about what? Carter?”

“Exactly. I’m sure you know about his reputation. But I don’t think you know what you’re getting into.”

“I’m old enough to handle my own relationships, but thank you.”

“Come on, don’t be like this. Nobody wants to get hurt.”

“What makes you think he’s going to hurt me?” I ask, whirling to look at her. She doesn’t flinch at my movement.

“Because that’s what Carter Castledoes. He wines you and dines you, makes you feel special, buys you everything you want so he can see you ‘happy’ and then leaves you for the next best thing that walks in here with a pair of legs and tits.”

I swallow, staring at Thalia. While I don’t want to believe what she’s saying, that is exactly what has happened with Carter so far.

“I don’t want to discuss this with you.” My voice is shaky as I turn away from her. She lingers for a few more moments.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I let out a breath when she walks away, relieved to be out of her presence.

“Here you go, Addy.” Horace comes back and hands me a bottle of water. I’m grateful it’s a bottled one from behind the bar. Upon being hired I was instructed to never, ever accept a drink that I didn’t get from the bar myself.

I break the seal and take a gulp, eager to at least have something to wash down my nerves. When I bring the bottle back down I take a peek.

“Wow. Half the bottle. You really were thirsty, huh?” Horace grins before sitting down at the table.

“I must have been. Thank you for grabbing it.”

I get back to work, moving to the next table and shuffling the second deck. After a moment the table fills up with players preparing to start, and Carter coming over to join them.

He smiles at me but says nothing else, since we’re not supposed to reveal that we’re dating. If the other patrons think that we’re together, there would be suspicions about him cheating and that’s something we don’t want to deal with.

It works out fine today since I’m still reeling from what Thalia told me. I can’t help but think about all the things that Carter has done so far. Buying Izzy’s horse, buying groceries, helping fix my car. All things that he did because “he wanted to see me happy.” Is it possible that all of these things have been done before, some even with women in this club?

I know he has a reputation as a womanizer around the club, but as far as I’ve heard from anyone else his main reputation has been in sleeping with women as opposed to actually dating them. But has he dated more than one woman in this club? And was Thalia one of them?

My eyes flit to her as she talks to another hostess down the way. Her curly blonde hair stops midway down her back, her curves accentuated by her skimpy outfit.

If he was with her, I can’t imagine him choosing me over her. I know I’m pretty -- I’ve been told so by many men and women alike -- but Thalia issexy. When I look back to the table Carter is looking at me curiously, glancing back at Thalia. Did he see us having a conversation?

I smile at him as other players gather around the table. The game starts, the dealer running the game efficiently as each player acts in turn. Chips move across the table in piles, toward the middle of the table when bet, and to the winner when the hand is complete.

Halfway through the tournament, the players pause for a brief break. Carter is pulled away by Cade to talk about something, so I head back to the break room to take a moment and gather myself mentally after what Thalia said. The break room is quiet as a couple of other hostesses come in and settle in opposite corners of the room. Even though we all like each other well enough, this job is very socially exhausting and during breaks we simply tend to spend some quiet time on our own.

I take a sip from the water bottle that Horace brought me. The door to the break room opens and I watch a familiar woman walk in with a cardboard box full of stuff.

“Cassie?” I call out, my brows knitting together. She turns and grins at me, walking my way with the box. The other hostesses look up briefly before going back to their phones.

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