Chapter 7

Jason was right, she did feel relaxed on the island. After a late night flight, Elizabeth had a good night's sleep. Despite the strange feelings of the day, she had slept beside him in his bed. Then she woke early as Jason was leaving to go to work. She took a long walk on the beach, enjoying the soft whisper the waves made as they collided with the beach. The sky was crystal blue as was the ocean, they both reminded her of the sapphire blue color or Jason's eyes.

She returned to the house after a few hours and was tired from her long walk. She changed into her bathing suit and grabbed her ipod and a blanket. For the rest of the day she laid on the beach. She napped, sang along with her music and even cried a few times as her thoughts became overwhelming. Less then a week ago there was a child growing inside her and even though it was so early in the pregnancy, she still lost something that was part of her.

When she finally returned to the house it was close to dinner time. Jason had texted her that he was going to be back late and, of course, he apologized that she was alone. She replied that she was fine and enjoying herself. After grabbing a bite for dinner, she curled up on the large swing on the back porch with a book she had bought at the airport. Next thing she knew, she woke in Jason's arms. He must have found her outside and carried her into the house. She woke long enough to lift her head, smile and apologize for falling asleep again.

Hours later Elizabeth woke again when a chill ran through her body. She sat up and looked around the room, Jason was not in there. It had to be the middle of the night so she wondered why he wasn't in bed. When he had carried her in, he had laid her in his bed and she fell back to sleep so fast that she never knew that he did not climb in beside her. She peaked around the corner into the Livingroom and saw him stretched across the oversized couch, sound asleep with a pile of papers on the floor beside him. Quietly, she picked up the papers and placed them on the table then sat on the small section on the edge of the couch. His eyes slowly blinked open but closed again, "Hey." He mumbled in a hoarse voice and without another word he scooted his body back and lifted his arm. Elizabeth laid her body beside his, her back to his chest and his arm folded down around her. She was warm, the chill had left her body and she fell back to sleep.

"Hello?"

"Hey, how is your day?"

Elizabeth laughed, "It's horrible."

"No it's not." Jason teased.

"I know. I just got back from the beach and I think I may go for a swim in the pool now."

Jason shifted the phone to his other ear as he signed some papers that one of his employees placed in front of him. "I'm glad you are enjoying yourself and relaxing." Jason looked at the clock. "How about you hold off on the pool till tomorrow."

"Why?"

"I should be out of here within the hour. I can pick you up and we can head over to the casino. You can lose a bunch of my money like old times." He taunted.

Elizabeth laughed, "That sounds… oh crap… I didn't bring anything to wear."

"Who cares, I'm not going to wear anything different."

"That's because all you own is 5 t-shirts, 3 pairs of jeans and a dusty tuxedo."

Jason laughed, "Are you making fun of me?"

"No, just your wardrobe. To be fair, I don't think I'd be able to get used to you in a suit or even a Gap sweater."

"Gap?" Jason questioned.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and smiled, "It's a store in the mall. I forgot you don't go there. I'll find something to wear."

"I'll be there in about an hour." Jason said and closed his phone with a smile on his face.

An hour later Elizabeth was slipping a pair of sandals on her feet as Jason walked in the door. "I thought you didn't bring anything fancy?"

Elizabeth stood from the chair, "Is it ok?"

Jason let his eyes trail up and down her petite figure. Since she asked he figured that there was no harm in looking but he regretted it the minute his glance went below her shoulders. Over the past day and a half her skin had gotten a golden glow and it was highlighted when the light hit the upper curve of her chest. Her dress had no straps and hugged her body snugly. It was a thin white fabric, Jason wondered if it was silk but he didn't want to touch it to find out. It was a simple dress, something he was sure that she had worn many times, but today she looked even more beautiful.

He swallowed in an attempt to rid of the dryness that was suddenly in his throat. "Wh-where did you find that dress?" he stumbled out.

"I found it in my bag. My stuff was so all over at your place and it must have been in one of the piles that I threw in the bag."

Jason stepped away, if he did not get control of himself, this was going to be a long night. "The… uhh… the dress is good… you look good, don't worry." He disappeared into the kitchen and Elizabeth could hear him clicking the lock on the back door. "Ready?" he asked when he appeared again.

Jason moved a stack of chips to the betting circle. He wasn't sure how many chips were there but it looked like there was about 10 chips.

"Umm, are you seriously betting a grand on one hand?" Elizabeth whispered from behind him.

He leaned back in his chair and angled his head, bringing himself closer to her. Her scent was intoxicating, her normal vanilla but it had a bit of cocoa butter since they arrived on the island. All he could manage was a wink before the dealer distributed the cards. Elizabeth watched as he focused on the cards being dealt and was obviously analyzing his options. She watched his hands tap on the green felt table if he wanted another card or he would firmly wave the dealer away when he wanted no more. She admired his calmness. He would quickly and decisively make his decision and stick to it, usually winning the hand. She found herself thinking about what an attractive characteristic of his that it was.

After a quite few hands Jason had greatly added to his stacks of chips. "Want to play?" He asked.

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, I'm not good at blackjack… you know that. I just get the people sitting to the left of me very angry for my choices."

"Oh, one guy yelled at you, that was years ago."

"It was Sonny! He was pissed cause I got his card and I busted anyway." She shook her head again. "No, I'm fine just watching."

Jason looked back at the table and gathered his chips. He tossed one of the hundred dollar chips across the table to the dealer then slipped the rest in his pocket. "Well we are going to go play something that you want. Where to?"

Elizabeth smile and looked around the casino, "Roulette."

Jason rolled his eyes. He hated roulette, it was a game of luck and no skill was really needed, he found it boring. Elizabeth on the other hand liked it for the same reasons. She could just pick a number or color then wait to see what happens.

"What are we betting?" he asked when they arrived at the table.

Elizabeth chewed on her lower lip as she thought about it then said, "21 and 3."

Jason pulled some chips out of his pocket and put a small stack on each number. She watched anxiously as the small white ball began its track around the spinning wheel. Jason sighed as it seemed like forever before the marble began hopping from number to number, finally landing on the 21. Elizabeth screeched and jumped, raising her hands in the air. She hugged him, "Yes!"

Jason nodded his head, surprised that one of their numbers actually came out then he saw the large stacks of chips being pushed across the table. He definitely could see the appeal of the game because of the large payout but still did not like it.

Elizabeth's eyes widened at the size of the stacks of chips. "Jason, how… how much did you put on the numbers?"

"Five on each." He plainly answered.

"Th-that's 35 times 500. I can't figure that out in my head but its over fifteen grand. Oh my god! You just won a lot of money."

He shook his head, "You picked the numbers so you won the money."

"I can't take that much money. That's insane, that's more then I make in a few months."

"All the more reason that you should take it."

"Jason, I'm not taking the mon…" Elizabeth stopped when she saw the ball bounce into 21 again. Her eyes darted to the green felt and searched out the number 21 that still had the five hundred dollar bet on it from the last spin. "Oh my god, it just hit again!"

Jason turned back to the table and saw the dealers pawn sitting on the stack of chips over the 21 square. His mouth turned up in a grin. "If I am not mistaken, we have just made thirty five thousand… how about we split it, I can deal with that… so that means that you just made seventeen five."

Elizabeth's hands were shaking as Jason handed her one of the plastic racks holding their chips. "Jason, I c… I can't take this money."

"You are taking it. If you don't then I will give it away to someone that will just gamble it away. You picked the numbers, I only put up the money." He watched the wheel out of the corner of his eyes as the ball began to spin again.

"I didn't pick the numbers, well I did but it's not like I had this flash… I picked my birth date and yours. Yours won, so it really IS your money."

Elizabeth followed Jason's gaze to the wheel as the ball landed on the 4 which was right next to the 21. Jason shrugged his shoulders, "I guess the streak is over. You are taking half now shut up and take the damn money."

"This isn't over Jason but I am not going to argue with you in the middle of a casino." She growled then spun around, her hair whipping him in the arm, and hurried toward the cashier.

As she stomped away, Jason could not hide the grin that formed as he watched her stomping away like an angry child… he also could not stop himself from watching the way her hips swayed and the way the dress hugged her curves. His grin quickly disappeared as his heart rate increased in acknowledgement of his bodies reaction to hers. "Fuck" he growled as he took off following her across the casino, making every attempt (unsuccessfully) to focus his attention on anything then the way her ass looked in that dress.