Page 73 of I Need You Tonight
I pushed myself to sit and listened for any indication he was in the bathroom. When I couldn’t hear anything, I climbed out of bed and clicked the bathroom light on. There were no signs that anyone had used it since we’d checked in.
I examined the room again. Still nothing to indicate Mason had even come into the room last night. Maybe he had decided to let me sleep, and he’d slept in my room instead of his own. I checked my phone, but he hadn’t left me a text, nor had he phoned me.
I grabbed a change of clothes and my toiletries and hit the shower. Once I had scrubbed off the two days of travel and dried my hair, I checked my phone again to see if Mason had tried to contact me while I was showering. Still nothing.
I sent him a text.Where are you? Missed waking up to you in bed.
When I didn’t get a reply, I sent Nolan a text, asking if he had seen Mason this morning. He responded a few minutes later that he hadn’t. Neither had any of the other guys when I texted them.
Jared suggested that Mason was still sleeping in his room, since we had arrived so late. I didn’t want to admit that I was in Mason’s room and he hadn’t shown up.
But if you see him,Jared texted,tell him “Without You” hit #1!!!!
Congrats!I texted back. I wasn’t too surprised. It was one of my favorite songs from their latest album.
Unable to stand not knowing where Mason was, I grabbed my purse and went downstairs. My plan had been to ask at the front desk if Mason had asked for a second key to my room after all. But as I walked past the casino, something made me glance toward the blackjack tables, and my breath stalled in my chest.
Mason was sitting at a table with a tall, gorgeous blonde next to him. She was holding what could’ve been either orange juice or some sort of alcoholic beverage. He had a bottle of beer. She didn’t appear to have been there all night; she looked like she was freshly showered and ready to spend the day with the drummer.
Anger surged through me, tempered only slightly by the realization that I could not make a scene. The band didn’t need that. It was also kept in check by the fact that Mason wasn’t even paying attention to her, his focus instead on the game he was playing.
From what I could tell, he wasn’t a novice at the game. But he also wasn’t winning a huge amount of money. Just how long had he been here? How much had he lost?
I walked up to him. “Mason? What’s going on?” Hurt bled into my words, even though I had been aiming for a casual, non-accusatory tone.
“He’s with me,” the blonde said, as if that explained everything. Her voice was smooth and sexy, much like her dress, which was a complete contrast to my jeans, lacy white tank top, denim jacket, and cowboy boots. She gave me a once-over, clearly deciding that my outfit was cute but not suitable for hanging out with a rock star.
“Actually,” I said, “he’s with me.”
She peered at Mason for confirmation, but he was too busy to notice her. He nodded at the dealer to indicate that he wanted another card. “Hit me.” Three of hearts. “Stay.”
The dealer’s next card was a ten. He lost; Mason won.
I expected him to keep playing, the way my father would have, but he just gathered his winnings and turned his sexy smile on me. “What time is it?”
Like it always did whenever Mason smiled at me that way, my heart beat like the tail of an overly excited puppy. “Almost noon. Have you been here all night?”
“Sorry, I didn’t wanna upset you, what with your father’s history and all. I wanted to play a hand or two, and did better than I expected.”
“So you didn’t lose any money?”
“Nope. I bet a small amount and got lucky. Don’t worry, I’m not like your father.” His gaze drifted back to the table for a moment before returning to me. The woman hanging around him continued to stare at him, as if imagining him naked. Couldn’t say I blamed her for that. “And I’m finished. Let me just cash out.”
“Who’s the woman?” I asked as we walked away from the table. By some small miracle, I kept myself from sounding like a jealous girlfriend. I was trying to come across like a colleague who wasn’t screwing around with her boss and was curious, nothing more.
Mason blinked and glanced back at the table, as if he had no idea what I was talking about. A sensual smile grew on her face that made me want to step on her toes—purely accidentally, of course. Her smile dimmed at Mason’s indifferent expression.
“I have no idea,” he said. “I think she was hitting on me at one point, but I wasn’t paying attention. She was only interested in me because she recognized me from the band and because I was winning.” He flashed me the sexy one-sided grin that made all my girlie parts hum. “Besides, she’s not you.” That got them really revved up.
While he went to cash in his winnings, I sent Nolan a text, letting him know that I’d found Mason. He replied that the guys were heading over to the hotel’s Tex-Mex restaurant and they’d meet us there.
I told Mason this once he returned from the cashier. “I guess lunch is on you,” I said with a smirk. “How much did you win?”
“Three hundred and fifty dollars.”
I stopped short. “Are you kidding me?”
He shrugged. “Like I said, I got lucky.”
