Hustler (25 page)

Who fucking knew why I felt the need to prove something to her, but I did… desperately.

I wanted her to see me not as Gavin Saint, master poker player, but as Gavin, a lonely man who just wants some genuine company. It’s a side of myself I’ve never met before, and if I’m being honest, a side that makes me more than just a tad bit itchy.

I check my watch again and shift my position. I’m leaning against my car with my arms crossed over my chest so I don’t miss her when she pops out of the hotel’s revolving doors. I’ve had many women approach me within the last half hour asking for a ride in my car, but instead of giving in like I normally would, only to have them blow me in some parking lot, I didn’t engage with them. I simply ignored them and peered past their needy bodies in search of Penelope.

“Christ, what’s taking so long?” I mutter to myself, checking my phone again.

Just as I’m about to text Graham again, I see Penelope exit the hotel with Davies by her side. Sticking my phone in my back pocket, I resume my relaxed posture and wait for her to notice me. Laughing at something Davies says, she looks up and stops in her tracks when she catches me leaning against my car. Her mouth drops open slightly as she takes in my entire outfit, her eyes roaming from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head.

“Hey baby,” I say, pushing myself off my car. “Are you free? I’d like to take you out.”

I can tell I caught her completely off guard and I love that I did because I get to see her with that wall lowered just a little. I figured I’d have better luck asking her if she was interested in going out rather than demanding it. She might be more receptive to riding with me.

Davies, the beautiful woman that she is, pushes Penelope toward me so she’s only a foot away. “Sorry chick, something came up, can’t take you to the party now. Looks like Mr. Saint will be able to, though. Have a good night.”

“Davies,” Penelope hisses, looking at her retreating friend.

With my finger, I turn her head so she’s forced to look at me instead. Once her eyes connect with mine, I smile. “You look beautiful. Where were you planning on going tonight?” She’s wearing a yellow sundress and a pair of brown sandals, her hair is still down but the heavy makeup she was wearing in the suite earlier is replaced with a more natural look.

“Um, I was going to go to a party with Davies, but apparently her plans have changed.”

“Good news for me then.” I cup her face gently and stroke my thumb across her cheek. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to upset you about your friends. I get a little… possessive.”

“You think?” she snaps, showing me that fiery side I love so much. “It was totally uncalled for and if anything, you just made yourself look like an ass.” I silence her by putting my finger over her lips.

“I said I was sorry. Let’s leave it at that.” Yeah, so maybe I’m not all that good at apologizing. “Let me make it up to you. Go on a date with me.”

She bites her bottom lip and looks away. Does she not know me at all? Whatever comes out of her mouth next I know will be a blatant lie. “I’m busy.” Yup, a fucking lie, a weak one too.

“Penelope,” I refrain from calling her Miss Prescott, knowing that will only set her off. “You and I both know that’s a lie. Come on, I want to take you somewhere.” I grip her hand and pull her toward my car, opening the door for her like a gentleman. She stops before getting in and pulls out her phone.

“Stand in front of your car.” She holds up her phone.

“Why?”

“I need to get a picture of you in front of it.”

“Really?” I smirk. “You getting some material for future nights when we’re apart and I can’t get you off myself?”

The light of her camera phone goes off as she takes the picture followed by her typing away. “No, I’m sending this picture to Davies and Page so that if I don’t come home, they’ll have adequate information to give to the police.”

She hops in the car as I shut the door on her.

“Charming.”

When I get inside, I notice the look of awe on Penelope’s face. Her hand runs across the dashboard and for some reason, I wish it was my body she was touching rather than my car.

“It’s like butter, so smooth.”

“You like the car?” I reach over and grab her seatbelt, my face extremely close to hers, close enough that I can hear the short intake of breath she sucks in. Buckling her in, I wink at her, put my own seatbelt on, and then start the engine, letting it rev for a second before I take off down the Strip and toward the outskirts of town. It’s time to escape the city lights.

After a little bit of silence, Penelope says, “The car is kind of nice.”

“Kind of nice? If I didn’t have the entire interior polished with Scotch Guard, I’d be worried about the drool dripping out of your mouth.”

“I’m not drooling,” she defends while turning to the side and wiping her mouth discreetly. Too bad for her, I’m tuned in to everything she’s doing.

Once we get out on the highway and I no longer have to shift, I remove my hand from the stick and rest it on her thigh.

“Hey-o, what are you doing there?” she asks, practically jumping out of her seat.

Chuckling, I answer, “Trying to hold your hand, you okay with that? I can hold other parts of you if you want…” I wiggle my eyebrows at her.

“Hand is fine.” To my surprise, she presses her palm against mine and entwines our fingers. I rest our joint connection on her thigh and wonder when the hell holding hands with a woman became something I wanted to do.

“Where are we going?” she asks, looking out the window.

I rub the back of her hand with my thumb and change lanes so I can go just a tad faster, wanting to show off the speed of the Jag. “It’s a surprise, but I will tell you this, it’s one of my favorite places to unwind.”

“If we’re going to a strip club I’m going to chop your dick off.”

“As tempting as that sounds,” I grin, “We’re not going to a strip club. You have to think better of me than that.”

She shrugs her shoulder. “I don’t know. You do have the whole player vibe going for you.”

I grip her hand tighter and glance over. “Do you think that’s what I’m doing with you? Playing you?”

Is it? I have no fucking clue. I’ve played women before, plenty of times. I’ll admit it but whenever I’ve played them, I’ve never once held their hand or even thought about taking them on a date. There is no way in hell I am playing Penelope, this is something different. But I’ll be damned if I know what the hell it is.

“Sometimes I think it’s all a game to you.”

At her honesty, I nod my head. A few weeks ago she would have been right about that. Fucking women was a game to me. It has
always
been a game to me, one I win at every time. But with Penelope, I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. This is no game; this is a fucking challenge I have to overcome. This is war and she’s putting up one epic battle. For Christ’s sake, I’ve already had her and I’m still begging for more. That has to stand for something, right?

Quietly, I answer, “It’s not a game, Penelope. It’s real fucking life.”

Before she can say anything in return, I turn on the radio and play some music that I can’t even process because there are a million thoughts racing through my mind.

I want to turn around. I want to go back to my apartment and think about what the fuck I’m doing, and why I’m all of the sudden behaving like this.

And then there is another part of me that so desperately wants to open up to Penelope, to tell her everything, to expose myself to the very core, strip myself raw so she can see the real me.

I’m so fucking conflicted that I start to feel a heaviness in my chest. A sweat breaks out on my brow and I wonder if I should pull over because it almost feels like I’m about to have a panic attack.

Shit, what’s happening to me?

I’m seconds away from pulling off on the side of the road when Penelope leans over the center console and rests her head on my shoulder, her fingers still laced with mine. And just like that, the heaviness in my chest disappears, and the anxiety that consumed me just moments ago vanishes.

“Tell me something about you, Gavin. Something no one else knows.”

Her voice is sweet and sincere, a part of Penelope I’ve only seen a few times. She’s letting her guard down a little. I should do the same, right?

“Something no one else knows?” I ask, smelling the top of her head and getting lost in the scent of vanilla and coconut. “Hmm, it took me until I was ten to finally learn how to ride a bike.”

“Ten? Seriously?” she asks, looking up at me.

“I know it’s hard for you to believe that I’m not entirely perfect, but yes, it took me until I was ten because I didn’t have a backyard to practice in. I grew up in a hotel, I learned to ride on the roof with a bunch of security guards.”

“Your mom and dad didn’t teach you?” she asks in a sad awe.

“Mom wasn’t around and Dad was busy,” I answer vaguely. I wasn’t ready to go into great detail about my childhood, or lack thereof.

She’s silent, mulling over that tiny detail I coughed up for her, something I’m regretting now. “I bet you were really cute as a kid.”

Taken aback by her comment, I lightheartedly joke. “Is that right? Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know. You have that devious smile that I could see on a little boy. You probably got away with a lot.”

“I did,” I answer, knowing full well it wasn’t because of my good looks, but because of the lack of parenting. “What about you? Do you think we would have been friends growing up?”

She laughs. “Definitely not.” I’m slightly insulted before she clarifies. “I grew up doing gymnastics, when I wasn’t at home sleeping or eating, I was in the gym. I didn’t have much time for friends.”

“I see. Well,” I kiss the top of her head, causing her to melt further into me, “I would have made it my mission to be friends with you, even if that meant taking up gymnastics myself.” That makes her full on belly laugh.

“Oh hell, I would have loved to see you in a leotard hopping around on the spring floor.”

Squeezing her hand, I say, “I’m into role play, baby. Who knows, I might just make your dreams come true.”

***

“There is no way you can fit twelve marshmallows in your mouth,” she laughs.

“Scouts honor,” I raise my hand.

“Yeah, twelve mini marshmallows,” she teases.

“Of course mini marshmallows, were you thinking the giant ones? What are you, crazy? I’m not some two-bit tramp down on Freemont.”

“You sure about that?” she laughs just as we pull up to our destination. She looks around then a bright smile crosses her face. “You brought me to Hoover Dam?”

“Yes, and just in time for sunset, come on.”

Wanting to make sure we’re in good position to see the sun set over the red rocks of the desert terrain surrounding the dam, I unbuckle and quickly run around to her side of the car where I open her door for her and offer my hand.

Without hesitation she takes it and stands up next to me, a magical glint reflecting in her eyes, the first ever tell I’ve seen come from those hazel eyes of hers. My breath escapes me and I can’t help the smile that tugs on both sides of my lips.

She’s so fucking beautiful and when she looks up at me like that, it’s pretty much fucking impossible for me to think about anything else besides her.

Clearing my throat, I ask, “You ready for this?”

“I am.”

Holding her hand, I lead her to my special spot and sit her up on the wall that looks over the dam. The colorful lights of the dam are already starting to light up as they prepare for nightfall. The affect makes it impossible to turn your head away. Despite the natural beauty surrounding us, I can’t help but stare at Penelope and the way the lights reflect off her smooth skin.

“Its so beautiful here, Gavin. Do you come here often?” She turns and catches me staring at her. A blush forms on her cheeks, making her that much more irresistible.

“When I need a moment away from the city lights, I come here. It’s always been a safe haven to me, a place to take in the organic beauty of the earth.”

“It’s gorgeous, I can see the appeal.”

Needing to be closer to her, I wrap my arms around her stomach and pull her into my chest. I rest my chin against her shoulder and watch as the sun continues to fall. A mixture of pinks and oranges paint the sky, the last few rays bouncing off the red rocks of the landscape, making the entire scene picturesque.

“If you could paint the sunset with your own colors, what colors would you choose?” I ask her.

“What do you mean?”

I kiss her shoulder and say, “If you could choose the colors of the sunset, what colors would you choose?”

“Hmm.” She thinks about my question, leaning her head against my shoulder and wrapping her hands over mine. “I think I would keep it the same. It’s so beautiful, I wouldn’t want to change anything.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” I answer, not speaking of the sunset, but speaking of the girl enveloped in my arms.

In silence, we watch the top half of the sun slowly disappear behind the desert, turning the sky darker with each passing moment. Usually, I feel the need to talk while in someone’s company. I always need to keep the conversation going, but with Penelope, I’m content just holding her in my arms and listening to the water flowing through the dam. It’s all a foreign feeling to me and I can’t help but like it. Scratch that, I can’t help but crave it.

“Thank you for bringing me here, Gavin. I needed this.”

“So did I,” I answer, kissing the side of her neck and then once again resting my chin on her shoulder, squeezing her a little tighter.

Fuck me. I think I’m letting this little brunette pull away a thick layer of armor I’ve been wearing for several years now. And I’ve never been more terrified in my life.

**NELL**

My head is swimming as I stare out at the last remaining rays of sun kissing the horizon goodnight. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined Gavin could be so sweet, so caring, and his actions this evening have left me no other choice but to fall into his gentle embrace, melting against him. If I’m being honest with myself, I’m not quite sure how to handle this Gavin. Most of my defenses have crumbled in the short amount of time I’ve been with him, and I can’t seem to find it in me to care. I’m too overcome with his presence to do anything other than bask in his adoration.