I hang up and stand from my chair, going to retrieve my wedges off the floor. Knox stands as well. I look at him. “I’m so sorry, but I have to go. My roommate, Mary, has been left high and dry at my other job and needs help. This is the nightmare hour of the morning. If there aren’t at least two people manning the front it turns into the first ring of hell.”
He shakes his head and comes over to me, placing his hand on my lower back. “No. I understand. Go help. We can get together later. I’m still here until Friday night and then we live in the same building. There will be plenty of time for us to get to know each other better.”
Leaning down, he captures my lips with a sweet kiss that quickly turns deeper. I turn more toward him and wrap my arms around his neck, my fingers go into his hair at the nape. He moans as his tongue parts my lips. My core warms. I want to have him again.
He breaks the kiss and steps back. “You need to go, or I’m going to ravage you, again.”
I nod licking my lips. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He nods. “Definitely.”
I make my way to the door quickly, or I’ll widen my eyes and kiss him again. And then I’ll never get out of here. He moves past me and opens the door for me. I smile at him. “Bye. Thank you for the breakfast, sorry I couldn’t finish my meal.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it. I hope you have a good day. Make sure to rest between jobs if you can.”
I nod. “I’ll nap before I come here, so I’m well-rested for round two tonight,” I smirk and give him a kiss on the cheek. It’s the safest bet. “I’m going to take the employee elevators so I can leave out the back way, it will be faster and I don’t have to worry about my co-workers on shift not judging you or me.”
He nods. “Good plan. Drive safe.”
* * *
The day from there on out goes by in a blur. Sean is supposed to be our manager, so the fact that he didn’t show up to help Mary open is unsettling. I’m the shift lead, but I wasn’t supposed to be working today. I had to call in Holly, our district manager who was supposed to be at a different store today. No one has been able to get ahold of Sean. We don’t know if he quit, or what.
I didn’t have time to get changes out of my dress and since I took the back exit out of the building, I hadn’t had a chance to grab my work shoes from my locker. Let me tell you, wedges are comfortable until you have to stand on them for five hours straight. I also got plenty of side eyes and men hitting on me while I was in my dress.
Mary was beyond relieved when I came to help her. With the two of us working together we managed to get the line moving before too many people got rowdy and aggressive without their caffeine. Holly called in Marcus; an older guy, but who is next in line for the job to take over for her, and I was able to go back to my apartment. I’d went to text Knox and let him know that everything went okay, but then realized we hadn’t exchanged our numbers this morning and I would have no way to reach him until I went into work.
I ended up oversleeping because my alarm didn’t go off and had to run around getting ready for the night before rushing out the door as Mary was coming back. I told her I probably wouldn’t be home tonight and that if she wanted to invite Tyler over she could.
I let out a sigh as I make it into the employee lockers with five minutes to spare. Just enough time to switch out my shoes. Going to my locker, I frown when I notice the lock is off it. Was I so distracted last night that I didn’t put it on? Opening it, my frown deepens when my name tag is missing along with my tip pouch. My heart races. I had nearly six hundred in chips in it last night that I was going to cash tonight throughout the night.
“What the fuck? I move my shoes out of the way and look under them, but neither item is there. I look around the locker room as if expecting to see them just sitting out. It’s not like me not to put the lock on my locker. But I can’t remember if I did it. How did they know I had chips in there? Most people keep their shoes in their locker and maybe deodorant if they need it. I’m going to have to ask my boss for another name tag. I don’t know why anyone would want to take that. I’m the only Carissa that works here, that I know of. Why would they want my name tag? Not only that. I need a new lock, that one wasn’t cheap either. I paid extra for a heavy-duty one because I knew I might be keeping cash tips in my locker during my shift to keep it safe.
I put on my heels, even though I don’t know what to do. I feel terrible most of those chips were from Knox. I should’ve cashed them out while I had a chance. I’m also surprised not to see any other women in here. This is a busy hour for servers to come in.
Leaving the locker room, I go out onto the floor. I need to go to my bosses’ office and tell him what happened. He’s not going to be happy about the chip thing, but it’s not like I took them home with me. Hopefully, he’ll believe me if I tell him I was too tired to cash them out and planned to do it today.
“Carissa Adler?”
I turn around at the sound of my name. One of the security guards has come up behind me. My gaze goes to his name tag, Ben. I’ve seen him around here working, but I haven’t interacted with him. I have to tilt my head back to look him in the eye. He’s a huge man.
“Yes?”
He takes me by the arm. “You need to come with me. The pit manager needs to see you and you’re not allowed to be on the floor.”
I frown as he leads me across the casino floor where the offices are on the other side. I was already going to come this way because I needed to speak to the pit manager anyway about my name tag and the chips. “Not allowed to be on the floor? What are you talking about?”
He doesn’t say a word as we get to the black door with the name plaque of Nicolas Barnes on it. He knocks on the door before opening it. He then shoves me inside and closes the door.
Nicolas sits behind his desk. His white hair is slicked back and his beady black eyes narrow at me. I’ve never liked the guy. He gives me serious creepo vibes, but he’s my boss, so I have to deal with it. “Miss Adler. Have a seat.”
I peer over my shoulder at Ben. He stands in front of the door as if barricading it and keeping me from leaving. My heart hammers. I don’t like being in closed rooms with no way out. I take a seat in the plastic chair in front of his desk. I perch on the end.
“What is this about, sir? I was coming to talk to you. My name tag was taken out of my locker, along with some chips I got tipped with last night. Now I know we’re not supposed to do that. But I was so tired last night after my shift. I swear I was going to get them the second I came in. I didn’t take them out of the casino. Someone has been in?”
He holds up his hand cutting me off. “Miss Adler, do you take me for a fool? We have proof of what you’ve done.”
My brows knit together. I don’t have a clue what he’s talking about. My fingers grip at my pants, as my heart picks up the pace to a hummingbird level. “What I’ve done, sir? I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. I know I shouldn’t have left the chips in my locker, but I honestly didn’t think it would be this big of a deal.”
