Holiday with the Millionaire

This was so not him. What was different here?

The croupier gave a nod. ‘All bets placed?’ he said, as he looked around the table.

Ten seconds later his white-gloved hand spun the roulette wheel and sent the ball spinning in the other direction.

Lara was still standing but she backed up against him. ‘My first-ever bet,’ she whispered.

He was surprised. ‘What? You don’t even bet on the Grand National?’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t know a thing about horse racing and wouldn’t have a clue how to put on a bet. I’ve never been in a betting shop in my life. My parents didn’t bother with things like that. I used to just pick my favourite jockey outfit from the newspaper and shout for that horse.’

He liked her. He liked her more and more. And it was beginning to creep around him like a big coiling snake. He’d never really felt that connected to any woman before. And he’d never believed in love at first sight. In his world, that was for fools.

It was ironic really but from that first impact—that first blow on the head and that murky blackness as he’d come round and got his first look at Lara, the giant pink teddy bear, something weird had happened to him. He couldn’t put his finger on it. He couldn’t describe it. Because he didn’t really know what it was.

He just knew that he didn’t like to see her sad. He’d probably do or tell her anything to help her blink back her tears. And he would have been more than happy to knock her ex into next week. It had taken all his self-control not to.

And here in the casino, he could see her attracting attention. But what struck him most was that Lara hadn’t noticed. Her attention was focused entirely on him. And that gave him the biggest buzz in the world.

This place was probably full of billionaires—but that hadn’t even crossed Lara’s mind. She wasn’t calculating. She wasn’t a player. He’d spent the last few years mixing in the wrong circles. Lara was like a breath of fresh air.

She sounded as if she might have been a little flighty in the past but it was clear she loved her job and wanted to do the best she could for Tristan. It was refreshing to find a woman who wanted to pay her own way and take care of herself. And it was more than a little infuriating to know she’d been subsidising and taken advantage of by another man.

The wheel was spinning round and round and his hand slipped around her waist and rested on her stomach. He smiled. She was holding her breath, waiting for the ball to rest in one of the numbers on the roulette wheel. Her fingers were clenched into tight fists.

Watching the ball spin round the roulette wheel was almost mesmerising. He could see how people could become addicted to the game but the only thing he was addicted to right now was the look on Lara’s face.

The wheel started to slow, the ball moving more slowly almost tripping past the numbers. ‘Come on!’ she urged.

Her stomach muscles were clenched under his palm. The ball tripped alongside the last few numbers, moving steadily past twenty-five, then seventeen, then thirty-four, before finally coming to rest on number six.

‘Oh, no.’ Lara sagged back against him and without even thinking he tightened his grip a little. She spun around in his arms, their noses practically touching. It seemed almost natural that her arms lifted and rested on his shoulders. ‘Rats,’ she said. ‘My first bet was a complete doozy. Maybe I should just give up on all this?’

The waiter appeared back with their drinks and set them down on the table next to them. Reuben was conscious of the eyes of people around them watching. They must look like a couple. It was an intimate pose. It spoke of complete and utter knowledge of the other person. And right now he wished that was true.

‘Let’s finish these drinks.’ He smiled. ‘We can place a few more bets and then just people-watch if you want.’

She glanced to the side as a well-known movie actor walked past with his entourage. She tilted her head to the side. ‘Well, I guess if we want to people-watch, this is the place to do it.’

She picked up her lavender fizz and took a sip. She gave a little hiccup as the bubbles caught in her throat. ‘Wow.’ She laughed. ‘It’s delicious.’

He moved forward, this time with him sitting on the stool at the roulette table and positioning her perched against his thigh. It was the oddest feeling but he wanted everyone around—with their admiring glances—to realise that Lara Callaway was with him. Just him.

Lara seemed to rest comfortably there, sipping her cocktail as she watched him place a few bets. The casino was getting busier, the tables more crowded, and the Mediterranean heat was rising.