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“My driver, I take it?”
He nodded.
“Well, try not scaring the crap out of me next time. I have a poker game to play, and I can’t afford the anxiety.”
He cracked a small smile. “So noted, Miss Colton. If you’ll follow me, please?”
Before she realized what he was doing, he lifted her suitcase out of her hand and headed for the exit that led to the parking garage. There, he led her to a sleek black SUV and put her bag in the back.
“Mind if I ride up front?” she asked when he opened the back door.
He looked uncomfortable but gave a shrug and moved to open the front instead. She beat him to it, and he scowled.
“Sorry. I just hate people trying to make me feel fancier than I am. I don’t mind opening my own doors. Barely broke a sweat.”
The stiff driver shut her door and rounded the front of the car to slide into the driver’s seat. He cast her one more disapproving glance before he started the car, but she ignored him by putting in her headphones. She pressed play on her soothing playlist and closed her eyes again.
The drive to the strip took about twenty minutes, and they were soon parking in one of Hunter Novak’s exclusive resort parking garages. This was a place she could never afford unless she won a few big pots at the poker table. Even then, she probably wouldn’t blow her money on it. One of Hunter’s infamous kink parties on the other hand? She would drop money on that in a heartbeat—if she had it to drop. She’d been able to afford one ticket in her life, and it was her goal to attend them regularly.
When the car was parked, she hopped out and headed for the back to grab her bag.
The nameless driver beat her to it though, and she was almost sure he smirked as he walked toward the entrance with her bag in hand.
With a shake of her head, she followed him inside. Hunter was waiting for her in the lobby. They’d said hello once at one of his famous parties, but she hadn’t been expecting a personal greeting. She really didn’t expect him to remember her at all to be honest.
“Rylee,” Hunter said with a smile. “Welcome to the Pink Sapphire. We’re happy you could make it. Lunch is just about to be served upstairs and the players will want to meet you.”
She flashed him a lopsided grin. “Tell Jeeves here I want my bag back.”
Hunter narrowed his eyes at her. “Jeeves?”
“The butler?” She shook her head. “Never mind.”
“I’ll place it in your room, Miss Colton,” the driver said.
Hunter’s hand landed at the small of her back and together, they walked down the corridor to a bank of elevators. Rylee noticed how the staff scurried a little faster or stood a little straighter as Hunter passed.
“Some of them are itching to learn but don’t let their egos get to you. They’ll try to convince you that you’re wrong.”
Rylee shrugged. “They win a tournament they can tell me I’m wrong. Doesn’t mean I am, but if they can’t win, I don’t have to listen to them.”
He laughed. “I think you’ll do just fine.”
They rode to the top of the building where Hunter said Memphis had rented the entire floor for the next week to celebrate his friend and business partner’s upcoming wedding.
“I don’t know why Memphis thinks he needs lessons,” Hunter said as they stepped into the opulent foyer of the twenty-first floor.
“Maybe it’s just a gift he’s buying his friends. He paid enough.”
Hunter strode to a door midway down the hall and pulled a small envelope out of his pocket. “This is your room.”
“Wait, I’m staying up here with the hot shots?”
“Why would I put you anywhere else?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Just figured you’d have me sleeping with the help or something.”
“I don’t know what that means. Get freshened up, I’ll tell Memphis and the others you’re here.”
