Page 9 of My Billionaire Casino Boss

“I know. I don’t know what she wants, but I told her to leave.”

I thought—hoped—she had deleted my number from her phone, but later, I get a text from her. She’s staying in my hotel and wants to have lunch. Not a chance.

I go about my day, noting that Lily isn’t working today at the front desk. I’m not a stalker that knows her schedule by heart, but I still wonder how she is. Eric will probably call her today if he can, but I don’t know how Lily will respond to that. She seemed angry last night.

I make my way throughout the building over the afternoon, handling the daily tasks. I am involved in every part of this place, and some might say I micromanage, but I want things done right.

There’s a reason it’s the most successful casino in Lake Tahoe.

During dinner, Eric asks about Hillary. I didn’t see her at all today and hope she left. I don’t want to deal with her.

Eric asks if I’ve seen Lily today, and I find out she didn’t answer her phone when he called her. She gets fed up with Eric periodically and they go through this, but last night seemed to get to her a lot. At some point, she was just going to go off, and I knew she had it in her.

I grew up with Lily, which would make it uncomfortable to admit we slept together even if Eric weren’t her brother. When we were kids, Lily was just my best friend’s annoying little sister, but somewhere along the way, I started to want more from her. She got prettier as she grew up, and now she’s downright beautiful. At some point when we were teenagers, there started to be an attraction between us. It’s a strong connection that didn’t stop when we walked away from each other. Not for me, anyway. I can see in her eyes that Lily still feels something, but we’re both fighting it.

Hillary shows up in the restaurant as we’re leaving, acting like she’s Eric’s best friend. He steps back from her, looking between us with a frown.

“Thomas has moved on,” he tells her, holding his hands up.

Hillary ignores this and turns to me. “I’m back for a while. I’m thinking of staying.” She smiles, and I groan. “We don’t need to be serious, Thomas. I just want to see you.”

“That didn’t work before. I don’t do repeats,” I say, looking around. The last thing I need is this getting around my hotel. These people talk enough as it is. I keep as much as I can out of this building as possible. “I think you should stay in a different place, Hillary. This is where I work.”

I walk away with Eric, raking a hand through my short hair.

“I don’t need this,” I tell Eric, glancing at him.

“You’ve got to calm down as it is. What’s up with you?” Eric asks and I look at him with a frown. “I haven’t seen you with a woman in a few weeks. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve been busy with work,” I say, trying to brush him off.

“You might want to find a date, so Hillary leaves you alone. She looks like she wants to rekindle things, Thomas.” Eric shakes his head. “If she sees you with another woman, she’ll get the hint.”

“I guess,” I say, not sure who I should even try to see. Nobody in my past appeals to me now except Lily, and that won’t happen. “It’s worth a try.”

The next day, Hillary sends me a text, and I find out she’s still in the hotel. Telling her I’m not interested does not seem to sink in, so I need to show her.

Eric and I make plans to go for drinks at another hotel, and I decide I’ll leave with a woman. Hillary may or may not see it, but hopefully, she’ll hear about it and give up on her attempts to lure me back. She’s not dangerous or anything, so it’s not like I can get a restraining order. No, it’ll have to be more subtle than that.

I go to meet Eric after work, still wearing my suit. My heart isn’t in this at all after seeing Lily today, but it needs to be done. Eric is looking forward to this, and I grudgingly walk through the doors, hearing the music pulsing through the club. There’s a good chance Hillary will be here because it’s a place we went to together.

I already want to go home, but I find Eric talking to a group of women by the bar. As I make my way over, I scan the room to see if Hillary is here. I want this over and done with.

Luckily, I see her in the corner and know what I have to do. I walk over to Eric, clapping him on the back with a smile. He introduces me to the group, clearly having a thing for the blonde, and I fixate on the brunette. Her name is Naomi and she’s already smiling and standing close, and I know this will be easy. I just have to be myself.

We get some drinks, and I act like I’m having a great time with the group. I dance with my girl and make it look sexy, even though I feel nothing. I want to pull away immediately—I used to do this all the time. I can’t do this. What’s different now?

Lily.

I put on a show at the club, but I don’t want to sleep with this girl. She’s pretty and eager, but I feel like it might hurt her if I take this too far, so I explain my plan to Eric, and we leave in a group of four.

James drops Eric and Violet at his house and then I take Naomi home. We stop in front of her apartment building, and I look into her brown eyes.

“Tonight was a good time, but I don’t want to hurt you,” I tell her, and she frowns. “I’ll walk you to your door to make sure you get there safely.”

She unlocks her door and glances at me as I wait for her to walk inside.

“Goodnight,” I tell her, and she nods and closes the door behind her. I should want her. There isn’t anything wrong with her, but I just wasn’t feeling it.

---