Love's Wager. J.M. Jeffries
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he’d shared with the family in the apartment below.
Danny Esposito opened a closet and looked inside. Danny was a tall, lean man with wavy black hair, deceptively calm brown eyes and olive skin showing his Latin parentage. They had met in Iraq and been friends ever since. When Danny jumped from military security to private security by starting his own firm, Scott had gone with him.
“Looks like you have everything,” Danny said closing the closet door.
“Not much to show for three years in one place.” Scott wondered how his footprint could be so small in such a large world.
“I’m the same way,” Danny replied. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” Scott opened the door and Danny maneuvered the dolly, piled with the boxes, through the door.
“I’m going to miss you, Scott,” Danny said.
“Yeah, me, too.” They reached his SUV parked in the carport to the side of the apartment building. Scott unlocked it and opened the rear hatch. The two of them shoved boxes in. After he closed the rear hatch, he and Danny leaned against it for a moment.
The day was warm, but overcast. Scott heard the distant rumble of thunder and knew the predicted storm was on its way. A few tentative drops splashed the asphalt.
“Reno is the ends of the earth, man,” Danny said.
“No,” Scott replied. “The Hindu Kush is the ends of the earth.”
Danny chuckled. Silence fell between them. Scott listened to the sounds of traffic on the roadway outside along with the distant roll of thunder.
Washington, DC, was a city that didn’t sleep. In a way, Scott would miss the energy, the sense of history being made and the undercurrent of power pervading the city. He wouldn’t miss the traffic, the crowds or the politicians who too often made his life miserable.
“Why Reno?”
“Because you’ve never met my grandmother.” Scott pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “When she wants something, it happens.” And right now she needed him. After spending the last few weeks at the casino, studying it, looking for ways to improve security, Scott could almost understand why his grandmother wanted it. “Reno and Miss E. have a lot in common. Reno has this sense of being wild and untamed. My grandmother is sort of the same.”
“I don’t know, Scott.” Danny shook his head.
“Come for a visit and take a look at the city. You’ll see. Reno is just different. And I like it. I didn’t think I would, but I do.” The pace was different and the people were different. Reno had no illusions about what kind of city it was. Washington, DC, was all about illusions.
A rumble of thunder sounded again. The rain increased in intensity until the sound of it on the metal roof of the carport sounded like gunshots.
Scott didn’t regret quitting his job. He was tired of self-important senators who thought they could get away with anything. He was tired of the political games that made the government look like Saturday Night Live. At times he felt like he was dealing with five-year-olds in ten-thousand-dollar suits. And watching their bratty, over-privileged children was like riding herd on Chihuahuas.
Suddenly he was anxious to get on the road. The drive to Reno would take four days, driving ten hours a day. He planned to make it in three.
He and Danny shook hands. Scott watched Danny climb into his SUV and drive away. Scott stood in the alley looking up at his apartment. He’d made his decision to leave. He’d lived a gypsy lifestyle long enough. The time had come to settle into something more stable. He’d felt for a while that something was missing in his life, he just wasn’t sure what.
A Cadillac Escalade roared down the alley and slammed to a stop in front of him. Water sprayed his shoes and he glanced down in irritation. The driver’s door opened and Anastasia Parrish jumped out.
“My father told me you quit your job and you’re leaving Washington.”
Scott’s eyes narrowed. Twenty-five-year-old Anastasia Parrish, daughter of Senator Richard Parrish, was tall with pixie-cut brown hair, brown eyes with a touch of green and skin the color of braised almonds. She was also crazy. Scott had been hired to keep her out of trouble while her father ran for re-election. Keeping her out of trouble had turned into a job and a half.
“How do you know where I live?”
She shrugged elegant shoulders. “I looked you up on Google.”
“Then Google your way home.”
“How can you leave me? I’m in the middle of a crisis.” Drama poured off her in waves.
“Of your own making,” Scott said.
“But Scott, I need you.” She touched his arm.
Scott stepped away. “Get back in your car and go home, Miss Parrish.” Pretty as a picture and crazy as a loon, that was Anastasia Parrish in a nutshell.
“Let me come with you.” She looked dejected. “You’re the only one who understands me. You saved me from that stalker.”
“And your stalker is in jail, you’re safe, and my job is done.”
“What do I do if he escapes?” She turned desperate eyes on him.
“Tell your dad and he’ll hire protection. The company I used to work for will be happy to help you again.”
“But I want you.”
“I don’t work for them any longer.”
Tears gathered in her eyes and dripped down her cheeks. “You can work for me privately.”
A lot of the guys he’d worked with would have been happy to be Princess Anastasia’s sex toy. Scott wasn’t one of them. Behind that gorgeous face, beautiful body and designer wardrobe was a lost little girl with major daddy issues and his job wasn’t to find her.
“But, Scott,” she pleaded.
“Go home, Miss Parrish, call your therapist and talk to him.” He opened the car door.
“Please, don’t go. Daddy needs you. I need you. I think I love you.”
What she needed was a good psychiatrist. Though he was probably better than the rock singer, the polo champion, the reality star or the football player she was frequently seen with—at least he wouldn’t take advantage of her.
He took her by the arm and led her back to her car, rain pouring down on them. “Go home, Miss Parrish.” He opened the car door and pushed her inside. He closed the door and walked back to his car.
She stared at him for a moment, then started the car, put it in gear and drove off.
He stood in the rain watching her drive away. Water dripped down the back of his jacket, plastering his shirt to his skin. He felt sorry for Anastasia Parrish. She had everything money could buy, but she didn’t have what she needed, a father who cared about her and a mother who didn’t brush her off and tell her to make an appointment.
He got in his SUV, started the engine and backed out of the carport. Time to get on the road. Miss E. was waiting.
Nina had never been to Reno. The closest she’d been was Lake Tahoe, where her parents used to rent a cabin during the summer months for a family getaway. From the moment the cab deposited her in front of the hotel, she knew she was going to love Reno.
The challenge of bringing a casino back to life excited her. She loved the thrill of new jobs. Though her previous jobs had been in the arena of up-and-coming actors or new movie releases, the idea of taking on a casino was another door opening in her career. Another opportunity that put her a step further away from her ex-husband who’d weighed in on not taking this job. Nina