Page 5 of My Billionaire Casino Boss

“What’s up with you?” Eric asks me over drinks. “You’ve been in a mood for weeks. Is everything okay?”

We’re in a local sports bar that is lower-key than any casino in the area—I needed a break from the chaos, though if I’m honest the chaos is mostly in my head. “Yeah. Just busy at work. I feel like I live there,” I explain, and he nods, looking tired. Eric works a lot during the week, and we try to go out for dinner or drinks on the weekend.

“You do. Might as well have a suite at the hotel,” Eric jokes. It’s hard to admit, but I’ve thought of that myself. I like imagining the possibility of taking Lily to one of them and getting her out of my system. She’s done nothing but tempt me every time our eyes meet.

“Thomas?” Eric snaps his fingers in front of my face, and I blink, taking a long sip of my beer.

“Yeah. I’m considering that idea.” The waitress brings our food, and I thank her. I’ll need to work out a little more tonight after this greasy food, but it’s so good. I have been keeping myself too busy at work to stop and eat, burying myself in work in my office.

“Lily seems to like it. She enjoys being busy and says everyone is cool there,” he tells me, and I look at him, wondering if she’s referring to any specific person, like Jacob. “She also told me you warned her not to date there. Thanks for that. I don’t want to have to worry about my sister dating those guys.”

“It’s a policy I try to enforce. I think it can lead to too many complications.” I nod and look at him again. “Even I follow my own rules.”

“Must be why you’re so popular in the other casinos,” Eric jokes, and I realize I haven’t thought about another woman since Lily started working for me. Normally, I’d have taken one or two up on their flirty text invitations, but lately, I’ve had zero interest.

What the hell?

We eat and talk about upcoming events in the area. While we’re both busy, we try to stay active in the night scene here and get some time on the lakeside course as much as we can. We both enjoy golfing but haven’t been able to go out for a while.

“Want to go out there tomorrow? After eating this garbage, I’ll need it,” he suggests, looking at the half-eaten food.

“Yeah. It’s Sunday. I can take some time off for that.” It’s what I need.

“Good. Let’s get home earlier tonight and meet there at nine. We can grab breakfast at Mountains first.” My best friend is smiling, and I nod eagerly, hoping to work Lily out of my system.

Of course, Lily doesn’t start her shift until ten, so Eric invites her to breakfast with us. I’ve been avoiding Lily, but he can’t know that, so we try to act like we normally do around each other. For us, that involves sarcasm and a lot of ribbing, so I go with it.

We’d been that way for years but something shifted after we slept together.

Lily sits next to her brother in the booth, avoiding my eyes.

“Is this paid for like lunch?” she asks me, smirking as she finally glances at me.

“Of course. You also get a free meal per shift at one of the restaurants. Have you been using that?” I ask her, dreading the answer.

“Yeah. Not always for lunch, but sometimes a few of us grab dinner after work. The food is amazing,” she assures me. All I can think about is who she‘s been grabbing those dinners with, but I don’t ask. “I haven’t used my kitchen on workdays at all.”

“You’re not hanging out with any of the guys, are you?” Eric asks her, and I look at her for an answer. Lily rolls her beautiful big green eyes and bumps his shoulder.

“I’m twenty-five, Eric. Leave me alone,” she shoots back, not answering his question.

A server stops by to say hi to me and Eric. Stephanie is new here. We’ve hooked up, but it’ll never happen again. She smiles at me, evidently not having gotten that memo. She’s clearly still interested in something, and I watch Lily frown at the blond woman.

Eric knows the drill and takes over, flirting heavily with her and taking her attention from me. I let my breath out and sip my coffee, glancing at Lily as something passes through her eyes.

Is she jealous?

I threw myself at every woman I met after she left town, and I’m sure Eric has mentioned that to her, but Lily probably wasn’t a nun in college. She enjoys sex, too, or at least she did with me. I would have happily spent that entire night with Lily if we hadn’t been in a stranger’s room while her brother was across the house.

Wait.Hasshe slept with anyone else? My mind is wandering because the thought of it bothers me so much.

Eric finishes the conversation with Stephanie with plans for a date, grinning as she walks away. “Since she’s off limits to you now, I might as well go out with her.” He smirks, and Lily looks odd, just for a moment.

“You’re such a pig. Both of you are,” she tells us, glaring between us. “At least you don’t seem to sleep with your employees.” Our eyes lock, and we glare at each other.

“No, he doesn’t. But I do,” Eric brags and she turns her glare to him.

“I didn’t miss this part of home at all,” she mutters, reaching for her coffee.

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