Page 17 of Gin & Jewels
“Yeah. I’m sure the bus gets tiring.”
I grinned. “It does.”
“Then I’ll be waiting for you.”
“I’ll be getting off about seven now because I’ll be closing the store.”
“The store closes at seven?”
“No, six, but then we have to put all the pieces away.”
Micky grinned. “Don’t worry. I’ll be waiting for you at seven then.”
“Thank you.”
He drove us the rest of the way home. “I need to talk to your brother for a bit, but you want to grab dinner or something?” he asked as I tried to make a break for it by going up the stairs to my room.
“Talk to me about what?” Keith asked, coming around the corner.
I didn’t wait and continued up the stairs to my room, not caring about what the two of them discussed or hearing any of their conversation. I didn’t want anything to do with Micky and would never grab dinner with him.
Plus, I hadVeronica Marsto watch.
I was starting to get comfortable talking about the items we had for sale. I was also starting to get sad because most of the people who came in seemed to be looking for engagement rings. My last boyfriend was in high school before my life changed, and I felt as if I’d never have one again. I was used to being alone, but it was lonely, and I wanted to benormal. I wanted to have friends and hang out and go to the movies and have fun and be anormaltwenty-one-year-old. I wanted to try my first sip of alcohol and dance until closing at a club.
I wanted to feel love again.
It had been a busy day, and I’d sold two engagement rings, a diamond bracelet, and an emerald pendant necklace. The commission I’d earned was enough to pay all the bills for the entire month, though there were some days when I sold nothing, so I knew I had to be smart about everything. The more I thought about getting out from under Keith’s thumb, the more I thought a clean break was the way to go, but I hated to think that the house my mother had baked cookies in—the house where my dad built Keith and me a treehouse in the backyard—was going to turn into a dump. Though it was already getting there since I refused to clean up after Keith andhisroommates.
The door opened as I checked the clock on the wall. We only had twenty minutes until closing. My gaze moved toward the customers, but as I opened my mouth to welcome them, I became lost for words.
When I worked at the casino, I would recognize regulars from time to time because they wereregulars,but there were also a lot of one-time patrons. One night I got asked who I thought would be the next to tie the knot out of the three single men who were celebrating their friend getting married. I never thought I’d see any of those guys again because I’d assumed they were in Vegas just for the bachelor party. Yet Brad, the guy I hadn’t picked to get married next because I found him to be more attractive than the other two guys, and therefore, I didn’twanthim to be the next to get married, just walked into The Velvet Box. With a woman.
My last words to him at the casino has been about breaking my heart, and I didn’t even know why I’d said that.
As the doors closed behind him, his dark gaze met mine, and he hesitated briefly before he slowly smiled. My belly did weird things, and I wasn’t sure why, but I was instantly nervous, and my palms became sweaty.
My gaze turned to my co-workers Ray and Martina, to see if they were going to help him, but Brad stepped closer to me and grinned wider. “Cassie, can you show us engagement rings, please?”
I snorted under my breath. So,hewas the one to settle down next? “Sure, right over here.” I motioned to one of the cases that held the diamond rings, and all three of us walked over, me on the opposite side of the case.
“Show me what you like, hon.”
I waited as the woman peered into the case. When I looked up, Brad was looking at me. He wasn’t looking at his girlfriend as she searched for something that caught her eye, and I wondered why. Was it because he recognized me? My name was on my name tag, so it wasn’t as though he’d remembered it—unless he had? If he remembered me, did he think I would ask him about the bet he had with his friends and was trying to tell me not to bring it up?
“This one is nice.”
I tore my gaze from Brad’s and looked to see what the woman was pointing at. I grabbed the key from around my wrist and unlocked the glass case to take out the one carat, pear-shaped, halo ring. “I love this one,” I stated. “Rose gold is very popular right now, and this is so beautiful.”
“I love all the small diamonds around the bigger one and the small ones on the band,” the woman said.
“Is that the one you’d want?” Brad asked her.
She grinned. “I think so, but I’d love any ringyougave me.” She ran her finger down his chest. A chest that looked hard and muscular beneath his button-down shirt.
My heart clenched. I didn’t know this guy from the next to walk into the store, but if I were honest with myself, he was the first guy I’d been attracted to in … forever. His short hair was dark, almost black. He had dark brown eyes that I swore sparkled like a brown topaz. I wanted to touch his short beard, wanted to feel it against my face as he kissed me. His body looked perfect and fit and strong; I wanted to feel it against mine and know what it felt like to have a man ravish me like I’d seen in romantic movies.
I opened my mouth to talk more about the ring, but my gaze moved past Brad to the door, where I saw what looked like four men coming toward us wearing black ski masks and holding handguns. My heart instantly had another reaction as it started to beat faster in my chest, and once again, I was at a loss for words—not because of the gorgeous man standing in front of me, but because of the terror walking toward us.
