The Little Black Dress (Love in Las Vegas)

10. What is this? The Victorian Era?

Jared

“All I’m saying is that you’re not getting any younger, son.”

And…I’m starting to regret taking the morning off to have an early lunch with Mom. I’ve been here fifteen minutes, and she’s already started pestering me about when I plan to settle down and start a family. I’m not angry. I know she’s only concerned because she loves me and wants me to be happy.

As if the only way I can obtain true happiness is with a wedding ring.

“Don’t you want a family?” she asks when I don’t respond.

“You’re my family,” I counter, giving her a smile.

“I’m not going to be around forever,” she says softly, her face falling as if she immediately regrets the words.

I reach across the table to lay my hand over hers. I know she’s thinking of Dad, and how we both thought we’d have decades more with him before he died. His death was so sudden, so unexpected, it left us both reeling and lost. But at least we had each other. When she passes, God willing it be a long, long time from now, she wants to make sure I don’t suffer in my grief, alone. That I’ll have someone to lean on, someone who’ll be my rock.

“I won’t be alone. I have Deuces,” I say with a grin, hoping to lighten the mood.

It works.

“Oh, pshaw,” she grunts, rolling her eyes. “I’m only sixty, Jared. I’m going to certainly outlive that cat.”

“Then I’ll get a new one.”

I shrug, ignoring the pain that streaks through me at the thought of losing my pet. I found him in the bushes behind the casino as a kitten, all scrawny and scraggly and in need of a flea bath and a few good meals. I took him home with me, and he’s been a stellar companion for the last six years. When he dies, I don’t think I’ll actually be able to get a new cat. There’s no replacing Deuces.

“Jared,” Mom says, her voice filled with impatience. “You’re thirty-five years old. You should be thinking about starting a family. I’d like a grandbaby or two to bounce on my knee, you know.”

“I know, Mom,” I say in an attempt to placate her.

It’s not like I’m against marriage as an institution, I just don’t think it’s in the cards for me…pun intended. The casino has been a blessing in many ways—I get to carry on my father’s legacy, I love what I do, and the money is outrageous, but it’s not without its pitfalls.

The biggest of which is the near-impossibility of forming strong, personal relationships. Sam and Scotty are exceptions. They both offered me friendship despite being my employees, and they are both solid, honest people. Friends who have my back and my best interests at heart, and vice versa.

While forming those bonds was almost effortless, finding the same connection with others has been…difficult. Especially with women.

I dated a lot in my twenties. I even had a couple of serious girlfriends. I thought they cared about me, but the truth always had a way of coming to light. They didn’t want me. They wanted the prestige of being Jared Hart’s girlfriend. The fancy dinners and sparkly gifts. The chance to marry into money and live the lives they’d always dreamed of living.

I’ve become really adept at spotting the light of greed in someone’s eyes. The disingenuous affection in their actions. Some may call me jaded, and I don’t disagree. I am jaded, but with good reason.

“You’re going to need an heir to take over the casino someday,” Mom says, pulling me from my dark thoughts.

“Jesus, Mom. An heir? What is this, the Victorian Era?” I say with a laugh.

“Poke fun all you want, Jared, but you know I’m right.”

“And I’ve got at least twenty years before I even think about retiring,” I counter.

“And your child will have to be twenty-one, at the very least, to take over,” she shoots back with an arched brow.

“Okay,” I say, lifting my palms in surrender, “I see your point. I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I ask,” she says, then cocks her head. “Just keep an open mind, son. You don’t know what you might be missing out on with those walls you’ve built up.”

“You know why,” I say, and she gives me a sad smile.

“Just because you’ve dated a few bad seeds doesn’t mean there are no good ones out there. You’ll find her. I know you will.”