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“He tried a nine-to-five once. He did it for my mom, worked with Grandpa’s company for about a year, but it was too boring for him. He missed the noise and the people and the lights and the fun of the casino.”
“What about you? Did you ever have a regular career, like your mom had wanted for you?”
“Not exactly.” Beau sighed. “I’ve dabbled in some businesses, invested as a silent partner. It’s worked out fairly well for me. Still, it’s the casino life, the gambling, the excitement that I’ve always loved. Hard to get that rush from any other career.”
“I understand that. When I have too much office work in a day, I get bored. I love going to the gaming floor. People come to Vegas for the twenty-four-hour excitement, so even if they’re losing, they always seem to being smiling. I love the energy; it keeps me going.”
“Yes, you do understand. And it seems like you have the best of both worlds. You have what most would say is a ‘normal’ job, but your normal is surrounded by people and joy and excitement and winning—something you get to be a part of every day. You’re lucky,” Beau reflected.
Alessandra nodded. “I guess I am. My job is everything to me. I would lose myself if I lost my career. It seemed like such a big deal back in my twenties when I was fired. But now…? What I’ve built would be far more devastating to lose. And I wouldn’t have time to rebuild. My mother has always been passionate about her career, too. I saw what she went through when my dad almost ruined it. And I vowed going forward, to always protect my career—to never let other distractions take me away from my passion. And you helped me learn that lesson, actually.”
Beau looked at her questioningly. “At least there was an upside, then. But what happened to your dad? The only thing heard was that he had stolen some money to gamble, and that’s why he went to prison.”
Alessandra considered not telling Beau what had happened. But he had shared about his father, so she would share about hers. The way he looked at her, with both curiosity and compassion, allowed her to trust him with this piece of information she usually kept to herself.
“It’s true what you heard. The other part was the way he stole the money. He got Mom’s passwords to the bank. He was able to log in to her vice president account and authorize some transfers. It was enough to get him the felony charge, and my mom was almost fired for not securing the information on her laptop. I would say it also slowed her career trajectory—she would probably be the president of Las Vegas State bank by now if that hadn’t happened.”
“I see. No wonder you’re so protective of your career—that’s something you should be proud of. You’ve worked hard to get to where you are. Don’t let anything threaten your success.”
She believed Beau got where she was coming from. What he didn’t realize was that he himself—attractive, charming, engaging—might be a current threat to her career once again, just in a different way this time. She needed him to lose, and that meant ensuring that most of his time was spent gambling. She also wanted to talk with him more, find out what he’d been doing over the past twenty years. And she again imagined the possibility of the two of them in his suite’s bedroom, their bodies sweaty and entwined after an evening of sex.
Normally, a one-night stand wouldn’t impact her career focus at all. She knew, however, that Beau Brooks was different. A one-night stand with him wouldn’t satisfy her need—and any other time with him would take away from his gambling. Even worse, if she didn’t get her feelings under control soon, she’d be putting her career at risk again, just like she had in the past, and just like her mother had.
Beau wanted to head to the craps table after dinner. “Do you want me to get you a private table?” Alessandra asked. Because he was a high-stakes player, it was customary to offer him his own table to play at, even in The Benson’s high-limit room. An added benefit was that if he was the only player, he would gamble more.
“No, I like to play craps with other people; it’s more fun that way. Sometimes I even like to play in the regular room, with $100 limits,” he answered.
“It’s too busy at the regular tables,” Alessandra responded. $100 bets were not going to get her revenue up. “How about $10,000? Is that too much?” She knew he would consider it a challenge with the way she had asked.
“Not at all,” Beau said. The way craps was played, with multiple bets on the table at one time, the amount he’d be betting on one roll was what some people paid to buy a house. “I’m looking forward to it.”
He smiled at her, looking directly into her eyes. She realized he was talking about more than playing craps—he was talking about spending time with her. How he looked at her, even when making a seemingly innocent comment, made her senses come alive. He’d always had that impact on her. It was scary how he could make her feel with just one look.
She told herself to relax a little, to just have fun with this friend from the past, this friend who intrigued her so much. One night enjoying herself couldn’t be that risky, could it? Sure, she wanted to smell his smoky scent up close again, to feel his wide shoulders brush against hers as she stood next to him at the table. He was handsome, so who wouldn’t want that? But she could manage herself.
And she wouldn’t have any problem managing Beau, either. He was flirting with her, but so far, it was just friendly banter. Besides, it was important that he now saw her as a friend. She had to keep their personal connection if he was going to keep gambling.
Aside from losing his large sports bets—which he hadn’t yet—Beau spending his time at the craps table was the only way he would eventually lose to the casino. And that was the only way Alessandra might have a chance to avoid Wyatt selling The Benson. Having fun with him wasn’t just what she wanted to do. It was what she had to do. It was part of her job, so why not enjoy it?
When they first arrived at the craps table, Beau was the only one playing. He had two dice rolls, winning both. Two other players joined them, a couple she guessed to be in their mid-forties. Alessandra thought she knew all the high-rollers at the casino, but she hadn’t yet met these two. That was unusual, since anyone at a $10,000 craps table should be on their radar.
She saw the pit boss had taken the players’ loyalty cards from them. She would ask for their names later to ensure they had a casino host assigned to them. She wondered if they had their own casino host already but didn’t want to let on who she was.
Normally she would introduce herself as the CEO of The Benson, make them feel important. She decided against it because she was drinking and didn’t know them yet. There wasn’t a rule that said she couldn’t drink with the customers, but Alessandra didn’t know how they would react. She thought it best to keep her role at The Benson private, for now.
She smiled at the woman. “I’m Alessandra, and this is Beau.”
The woman smiled back at Alessandra warmly. Both the woman and her male companion were gambling, but there was a slight lull in the action while winning bets were being paid. “I’m Kim, and my husband is Jon. Don’t you play craps, too?”
“I do like to play, but I’m just watching tonight,” Alessandra answered. It wasn’t unusual for craps players to have non-playing friends standing by them. As long as there was room at the table, no one cared.
Beau was still rolling the dice. He hadn’t yet rolled a seven, which would have lost them all their bets on the table and passed his roll to Jon. Beau had bet $10,000 that he would roll his main number—called ‘the point’—before rolling a seven. Then he bet another $40,000 to make an additional bet on the point bet. Beau had also laid down another $22,000, betting he would roll other safe numbers before rolling a seven.
After hitting the point and other numbers three more times, Alessandra could tell Beau was ahead by nearly $300,000. He lost one roll, and the dice passed to Jon. Jon had an equally successful run at the dice. When he finally crapped out, all three players were winning. Beau was about $650,000 ahead, and the other two—who were betting less than Beau—were probably about $300,000 ahead.
Kim took the dice. After the two men had done well, the three were betting heavily on another good dice roll, but it didn’t happen. Right after everyone placed their multiple bets all over the table, Kim rolled a seven. And just like that, everyone gave back some of what they’d won to the casino.
The excitement of winning was contagious, but Alessandra was somewhat relieved. The Benson could afford to lose money in the hundred millions, but at this one moment, Alessandra needed the house to win.
