Thanks, Sara
ONTO THE CHAPTER
Chapter Fourteen
LAINEY was a natural at baccarat. Jax watched as his pile became smaller and hers got bigger.
"Here you go," Luke said, passing Jax a flute of champagne. "Looks like you need this."
Jax said to Ned, "You have been teaching her, don't deny it." He smiled.
"Nope, she's just got the instinct." Ned said
"You catch on to things quick, doc." Robert said "Ever think of moonlighting? I could always use a pretty face by my side in my line of work."
Anna cleared her throat.
"And I have one in my lovely ex," Robert quickly added "Still maybe we could hit Vegas together and you could use some of your luck to win us all a fortune."
Anna shook her head at him, "Have many times do I have to tell you? No threesomes."
"She had told you that before." Luke said "I've heard her."
Lainey's eyes were wide. Then they all busted out laughing.
"Time to go home," Anna told Robert "You are done for the night."
"But I have to win my stake back."
"Some other time," Anna said "Unless you want to send me home to sleep alone?"
"No, no, I'm ready to go."
Lainey watched as they left, hand in hand. She admired that they could reunite after so much had happened between them. If only she could find a love like that for herself...
If only she could feel brave enough to take that sort of risk. Her eyes drifted over to Ned. He seemed the perfect mix of safe and rowdy, wild and reliable. Could she open her heart a little and see if he could sneak in?
The dealer asked for bets.
Lainey pushed all of her chips in. "Everything on the player."
"You sure?" asked Ned
"Let her gamble," Luke said "I could use to make some profit tonight."
Jax pulled out some cash, pushed in his chips and matched her bet. "All in on the house."
Carly joked, "Don't let the stakes get any higher, okay? I like the Metro Court and don't feel like losing it."
"This hand is mine," Jax said.
The dealer called "All bets final."
He dealt two hands. "Closest to nine wins."
The dealer flipped over one card for Lainey, a 3.
He flipped over one for Jax, a 5.
"Come on, four." Jax said
Ned whispered to Lainey, "You feeling lucky?"
"I'm here with you. Hell yeah, I am." she said, letting the drinks, and excitement of the night make her bolder than usual.
The dealer flipped another card for Lainey, a four.
"Seven for the player," he said.
He flipped over Jax's card, a 7.
"2 for the house," the dealer said. In baccarat once the two cards are added, for Jax that was 5 and 7, if the number is higher than ten then the last digit in the number is dropped. So the twelve Jax had became two.
"Player wins," the dealer announced
"Congrats, Lainey!" Ned said
She turned and hugged him, excitedly. "Wow! I love this game."
"I hate this game." Jax said
Carly told him, "Lets go home. I am sure we can think of some game to play that you do still like."
Jax smiled at her. Then he said to Lainey, "You are a shark. You and Ned should come to Monte Carlo with me sometime. Of course, I'll have to remember to never play against you again. But it would be fun to watch you clean out my old gambling buddies."
"And the shopping there is amazing." Carly said " We should plan a trip for spring."
Usually Carly got along just fine without any girlfriends but she did feel close to Lainey since the psychiatrist got her through her breakdown.
"It's a date," Ned said.
Lainey just looked at him.
"All right, clear off my boat." Luke bellowed "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here!"
ROBIN looked at the Outback Restaurant. "Good, they are still open."
They walked inside and noticed that people were sitting at tables, facing a stage, where Dara Jensen was singing. They took a seat and ordered some soft drinks.
"My uncle used to own this place." Robin told Cruz "and when I was a little girl I always thought that this is where everything exciting in the world took place. You could fall in love here or make a dream come true. But I always had to go to bed early and miss out on all the exciting things I imagined went on in here."
"And does the reality live up to the hype?"
Robin looked around. "I liked it better when Mac owned it. But it will do."
Cruz studied her face, trying to figure out a way to make this night not be the last one they spent together.
"Do you like blues music?" he asked
"Grew up on it. Between here and Luke's Club I heard plenty of it. But I listen mainly to rock now."
"You pick a group and I'll get us tickets to a concert."
"Yeah?"
"I could use to get out more often. Just not on Thursday nights."
Robin laughed."You could Tivo Grey's Anatomy."
Cruz shook his head."Won't work. Lucky will be talking about it the next day at work and spill everything that happened."
"You guys have a whole secret world we know nothing about, don't you?"
"Don't you women?"
Robin shrugged. "I'll never tell."
"Oh, I think you will." he flirted with her "I'm a trained professional in getting people to spill their secrets."
"And I am the daughter of international spies. So all you will get is name, number and... the occasional emotional outburst."
He smiled.
ELIZABETH slid the key into the lock, turned, and then opened the door to her apartment.
Pete said, " Thank you for agreeing to go with me tonight. I don't know many people in town. And honestly, of all the women I have met since I moved, you're the only one I could stand to spend this many consecutive hours with."
Liz smiled, then turned around. "I think that is a compliment, right?"
"It is. I enjoyed myself tonight, Elizabeth. I know it started off rocky but I hope you can say the same thing."
"I haven't been on a date in years. My... husband... we knew each other since high school so when we got back together it wasn't like this... all the first date getting to know each other weirdness." she said "So I should be thanking you for getting me through my first night back" she raised both eyebrows "out there."
Softly, he told her, "Out there can be pretty scary, if you aren't with the right person."
"Yeah."
She was looking at him, wondering if he would lean down and try to kiss her. There were moments she saw gentleness in his gaze, a longing to connect, and times his words made her want to strangle him.
But right in this moment, with him standing so close, smelling unfamiliar but good, everything in the world seemed far away from them.
And only this second mattered.
She was not the scorned woman who Lucky cheated on. She was not struggling to hang on, to make it through another day. She was only a woman who wanted to be touched.
She titled her head up, "Pete..."
His dark eyes sparked with awareness, his eyes darted to her lips.
Then he averted his gaze and looked over her shoulder into her apartment. "Got any alcohol in there?"
The spell was broken.
She cleared her throat. "Huh...um, yeah, I think there's some vodka in the freezer."
He eased past her and into her apartment. "Cool."
She closed her eyes for a moment, letting herself picture him kissing her, him being the Pete that needed her as much as she needed him.
Then she turned and followed him inside, ready to confront The Other Pete, the one who annoyed the hell out of her.
Still, on her face, a secret smile resided, because even seeing The Other Pete couldn't erase the feeling she had in the moment she thought he might kiss her.
Pete had the bottle in his hand, and was standing by her CD player. He flipped it on, and the song on the radio played, "There are secrets that we still have left to find. There have been mysteries from the beginning of time.
There are answers we're not wise enough to see ...He said... "You looking for a clue? I love you free..." ( Five for Fighting)
Author's note- The only things I know about baccarat I read online, so if the scene was a little off from a real game, please forgive me.