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“You’re almost late. Najette said she couldn’t find you.”
He shifted on his feet as I stared some more, feeling no need to explain myself.
His face reddened, and he directed his attention to Vinh. “You again? Aren’t you the guy who was harassing Miss Barb?”
Vinh met his gaze, making a show of looking him up and down before turning to me, dismissing AJ entirely. His dark eyes locked with mine as he murmured, just loud enough for AJ to hear, “Cody did good.” He studied my expression intently for a moment before adding, “And I’ll follow his example if you’re spoken to disrespectfully again.” He turned his attention to AJ. “Yeah?”
I didn’t even care to look at AJ’s reaction as Vinh tugged me forward and toward the center of the casino floor, keeping the pace slow for my sake.
Vinh smiled down at me and as we reached the wheel, he held out my blindfold that I didn’t remember dropping. Then he let my hand go with a squeeze before asking, “Meet me after the show? I’ll be nearby until you’re done.”
I glanced around the room, taking in the gamblers milling about, each in their own world. I’d like to do the same with Vinh. And soon.
“Would you like to go for a swim when I’m done?”
His smile was pleased, picking up on my implied invitation for him to stick around. “I would.”
The PA sounded, announcing the beginning of the raffle as Najette materialized nearby between a row of slots. “There you are. Here, I’ll guide you up the steps once you put that back on.” She gestured to the material in my hands.
I gave Vinh one more smile as he mouthed, “Good luck” before turning and melting into the crowd.
36
BREE
BABES OF THE BAY
ARTISTIC SWIMMING CLASS (55+)
IN PROGRESS
DO NOT DISTURB
Iattached the sign to the door, freeing the smile I’d been dying to let loose the entire time I’d stood at the Big Wheel. I’d managed to hold it back, mostly for fear of triggering a horde of gamblers who thought I was an actual deity who held sway over their fortunes.
Vinh had whisked me away much the same way he’d done before, and we made our way to the resort side of Fortuna in record time. We stopped once for him to pick up a pair of swim shorts from the gift shop and once more when we entered the sky bridge. Unfortunately, it hadn’t been deserted this time, so the reminiscence was cut shorter than either of us would’ve liked.
I tossed my T-shirt and athletic shorts onto a poolside table and dove in, thankful for heated saltwater pools and waterproof mascara. I did a few laps, the exercise doing wonders for my tension—physical and otherwise. The door opened quietly, or as quietly as anything can happen in a room like this, and Vinh walked in, a broad smile on his face as he came to stand poolside and put his hands on his hips.
“Ma’am.” His beautiful, deep voice reverberated around the room. “You don’t look a day over fifty. Are you sure you’re in the right place?”
“Uh-huh,” I answered distractedly, gaze fixed on his thighs, bewitched by the hard muscle exposed by his much-shorter-than-expected Fortuna-branded swim trunks.
Vinh cleared his throat in an obvious way, and I went underwater, kicking off the side of the pool and swimming straight to the other side. An equally effective and awkward strategy for when you get caught objectifying your… boyfriend?
I resurfaced just in time to catch Vinh’s perfect, graceful arc as he dove into the pool. He emerged right in front of me and slicked back his hair, making it mirror the style he had this evening.
Which transported me right back to the elevator.
I clumsily backstroked away, somehow both primed and unready to deal with anything, my gaze lazily tracing the ceiling’s wooden crossbeams.
“You okay over there?”
“Just warming up for my routine. Can’t have Gladys and Louise thinking I’m slacking.” My actions belied my words, though, when I stopped swimming and let my legs float all the way to the surface so I could drift around on my back instead.
He chuckled, swimming over to me in three long strokes. I breathed a sigh of relief as his hand caressed my lower back, adding just enough pressure to aid my float.
“I thought you were going to dunk me for a second. I’ve been conditioned to prepare for surprise-not-surprise dunkings.”
