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“Do you play?” I asked Sydney.
“Not really,” Sydney said, eyeing a slot machine.
I smiled because I sensed her piqued interest, the curiosity in her stare, her big, wide hazel eyes looking back at me.
Damn it. This woman would be the death of me, just by her cuteness.
She peered around her and bit her bottom lip, unsure of herself.
“You can do the slots.” I pulled her by the hand to the ten-dollar slot machines.
“Ten bucks a pull? What?” Her eyebrows flew to her hairline, as though I had just told her to eat dirt.
“Sydney, sit. I have to make a few calls.” I pulled out five Benjamins and fed them into the machine.
“Austin!”
I pressed a calming hand on her shoulder. “Sit. Play. I’ll be right here, just using the phone.” I leaned in closer, getting eye-level with her. “Will you listen to me, just once?”
She stared up at me, so damn gorgeous, and it took all of my restraint not to kiss her right then and there as people watched and the domed security cameras from the high ceilings recorded the event.
After a few beats, I pulled out my phone, placing it on my ear.
When she sat down and simply stared at the machine in front of her, I pressed the play button and pulled at the lever.
“Sydney, it’s not hard.” I winked, turning to make the call. “Hey, Sylvia. It’s me.”
Sylvia was the team’s personal assistant. She’d have hookups here for sure.
“I’m in Vegas.”
“What the hell are you doing in Vegas? Shouldn’t you be recovering?”
I should have called my personal assistant instead, but she wouldn’t have access to the resources that Sylvia had.
“Hey, I’m here for a charity thing.” I wasn’t exactly lying. “Can you do me a favor? I need security detail here.”
She sighed loudly on the phone. “You’re in Vegas, and you don’t have security? Your fight, breaking your arm, and surgery made national news. And now, you’re in Vegas.” She sounded none too pleased.
“I didn’t break my arm, Sylvia,” I pressed. “And anyway, will you do it?”
She thought I needed it for me when, really, I wanted detail to keep Sydney safe.
“Fine,” she said begrudgingly. “They’re not going to be happy about this.”
I said with my most charming voice, “The GM and whoever else is not going to find out about this because you’re not going to tell them. Christmas is around the corner, Sylvia.”
There was a long pause on the phone until she finally sighed. “Okay, I’ll make a few calls. Keep your phone handy.”
The chiming of a slot machine beside me and Sydney’s high-pitched scream had me turning her way.
“Thanks, Sylvia. I owe you one.”
As I hung up the phone, Sydney reached for my good arm, tugging at it. “I won! I won!”
People crowded around us to see what the commotion was about.
Sydney pointed to the machine, where there were triple bars. I’d thought she’d won the jackpot, given her loud squeal of victory.
