Once Upon a Kiss Read online

  “I do.”

  I groaned. “I could just tell him I’m done with all of this, but I don’t want to, is that bad?”

  “Do you think it is bad?”

  I groaned again, but louder. “Don’t be so reasonable.”

  “It’s my job as the only reasonable person you know.” I detected the not so subtle humor he was finding in all of this.

  “No, besides being kind of embarrassed, the bet was fun?”

  “Of course you would say that!” I heard Arthur distantly; he must have been listening in still.

  “He hasn’t proposed another one and I’ve worked there almost two weeks now. It could even be a one-time thing.” I knew that was a lie and I doubted Lance or Arthur believed me.

  “As long as he doesn’t ask you to do anything dangerous or make you do something you don’t want to, then have fun.”

  “That’s your advice?” I heard Arthur yell.

  “It is,” Lance said gruffly. “I think Gavin has found someone as stubborn and obsessed with games as he is.”

  “I’m not obsessed with games.”

  “I remember the illegal card game ring in college. Don’t you?”

  “I think the dean calling it “a ring” was a bit harsh, we were just having fun,” I muttered. “Anyway. I said I wanted to move out here to add some excitement to my life, so far it has been living up to it.”

  “Have you caught sight of your mystery man?” I heard Arthur ask.

  “No, but anytime I’m walking around I keep my eyes peeled.” I glanced at people on the bus, the customers at my tables, and anyone else I came across for those eyes. I hadn’t met all the staff at The Green Chapel yet so I was holding out hope that he was just another dealer and our schedules hadn’t lined up yet.

  “Just please stay out of trouble, for my sake.” Arthur sighed. “Or just don’t tell me about it.”

  “Will do.”

  “We’ll call you tomorrow,” Lance promised.

  “Tomorrow. Bye.”

  They hung up and I tossed my phone onto my bed and stared at all the laundry that still needed folding. But I wasn’t thinking about it, I was thinking about Mr. Bertrand Knight. I was getting eager for him to propose another deal. Not because my pay stub that week was ridiculous, but because of the thrill. I didn’t realize there were so many different things I could be given that I’d have to give back. When I first agreed, advice or a kiss were the furthest things from my mind. I was thinking about that kiss a lot actually. I wanted excitement. I didn’t want anyone to think I was boring ever again. Mr. Knight seemed to think I was interesting.

  I found my stole in the pile of laundry and held it to my chest.

  ***

  “Blackjack!” Claudia clapped as I grabbed her cards and shook my head.

  My table was currently empty due to some kind of event going on with the slot machines. A lot of them were discounted for the day, so all the traffic was directed there.

  After fifteen minutes of random stragglers coming in and out, Claudia had sat down and was keeping me busy playing hands without chips. She knew the game and won handily. Although she also seemed to have just pure luck on her side.

  This wasn’t the first time Claudia played at my table. Whenever I had a space open when she passed by, she sat down and played a few rounds. She had an exciting energy that made the other people at the table risk a little more and take losses a little better which meant better tips. She was quickly becoming a friend. I hoped she thought of me that way too. She always seemed to appear in the breakroom when I had lunch and would sit with me and talk. At first, I was suspicious that she was somehow working with her brother so he could win our bet. I asked her about it once.

  She giggled at my accusation. “Oh Gavin. I want to see you win,” she admitted. “Bertrand never seems to lose and I think he needs to be taken down a peg or two.”

  “Are you that confident in me?”

  “That, and I have a side bet with him that you’ll win. So, if you do, I win”

  They certainly were siblings.

  That afternoon I dealt another hand and I could tell by the way she looked at me that she was going to ask me to do something. She and her brother had similar “I want a favor” or “let’s make a deal” faces.

  “Gavin, did you hear about the ball we’re having next month to celebrate the casino’s 30th anniversary?”

  “Yeah. I have that night off because of it. They’re only having a few tables open for the hors-d’oeuvres section of the evening and then the rest of it is the party, right? The other dealers I’ve talked to are excited; they usually get the best tips.”

  “We haven’t had such a big bash in five years, I just can’t pick an outfit.”

  “You always look nice,” I offered. I didn’t know it was possible to own so many different dresses. I’d never seen her repeat one in the almost month I’d worked there.

  “I was thinking Gavin, you could come with me to pick something out.”

  “Really? You want me? You know when I’m not in uniform, I wear sweatpants.”

  “That’s not important. I want you to come because I was also hoping you’d come to the event with me.”

  I dropped all the cards in my hands. “You want me to go with you?”

  “Is there a problem?”

  “It’s just that I’m not really interested in women like that,” I said. “I like you, but I’m gay.”

  She giggled like wind chimes. “I wasn’t asking you to be my date like that.”

  “Oh.” I burned red.

  She looked at her crimson nails and picked at them as she spoke. “I’ve never really been interested in a relationship so I don’t have a partner for the evening. I’ve gone alone most anniversaries, but I thought it would be nice to have someone around this year to talk to.”

  “And you want it to be me?”

  “You aren’t a bore.”

  “Wow, thanks for that shining praise.”

  “I would even say you are fun to talk to.”

  “I’m feeling the love.” I leaned my elbows on the table and looked at her. “I have a feeling there’s more to this.”

  “I am genuine about wanting to hang out with you,” she said looking slightly offended.

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “And I think it would vex my brother.”

  “There it is.”

  “Don’t act like that. I’ve seen you the past few weeks. He hasn’t offered you any more deals and you can’t take it much longer. And I know this will get his attention.”

  Did I want to get his attention? If I was honest with myself, a little. I had stopped by his office more than a few times over the past few weeks hoping for a challenge but he’d just asked about my work and nothing else.

  “Okay, but only because I like you the best,” I promised.

  She clapped her hands together again. “We will have to go out and get matching outfits. It will drive him crazy.”

  I nodded but realized later that she might be hoping I’d catch his attention in more ways than one.

  Chapter Eight

  “Mr. Griffin.”

  I glanced up from tying my shoes in the breakroom to see Mr. Knight. I’d just finished a long shift and was ready to head home. I finished tying my shoe and stood up. I wanted to be on an even playing field when talking to him. He may have been an inch or two taller than me, but I was taller in attitude and confidence. Or at least I liked to tell myself that.

  “Evening boss,” I said with a smile. I didn’t feel the need to be formal around this man any longer. Not after the deal.

  “I’ve heard from a little bird that you’ve been invited to the anniversary gala.”

  “Did that little bird tell you they invited me and I graciously accepted.”

  “They happened to mention that.”

  “Did you come here to kick me off the guest list?”

  “I would never do anything like that.” I recognized the playful expression o
n his face. “I wanted to offer you a challenge.”

  I felt my adrenaline begin to flow through me. Was it because of the deal? Or was it just what Mr. Knight did to me? “What is it this time?”

  “It is similar to the last. Except, instead of a normal shift, I want you to give me everything you receive at the party and I’ll give you everything I receive at that same party. We’ll do the exchange during the final dance.”

  Same game but different enough to make me wonder if I’d gone in too deep once again. I wouldn’t be getting a paycheck or tips at a party. There’d probably be party favors, but fancy ones that he’d take from me since the host usually didn’t get them. Everything else was up in the air and that interested me. But this party might be my chance to find the Green Man. If I found him, what I had to give to Mr. Knight might become complicated. And yet… I still wanted to say yes to his deal.

  “Let’s shake on it,” I said and then the deal was confirmed.

  Why did I say yes? I had wanted to play another wager for a whole month. I couldn’t turn it down once I’d finally gotten what I wanted. Besides, I had a gut feeling, which I didn’t often trust, that somehow Mr. Knight would lead me to my Green Man. I’d have to keep going along with these deals if it were true.

  “Can you promise me that you won’t tell Claudia about our deal?”

  “I had already planned on keeping it a secret between us two. She has a tendency to...meddle.” He smiled fondly. I bet he usually enjoyed her meddling.

  Well, she’d already meddled, which was why I was going to this event anyway. I didn’t want her to plan to give me things at the party that I would then have to give to Mr. Knight. I had a feeling she’d find plenty of ways to exploit the deal. She was as clever as her brother after all.

  “I’ll be seeing you Mr. Griffin.”

  He insisted on calling me by my last name and I hadn’t stopped him yet. I had gotten comfortable around him, but I didn’t want to let my guard down too much. There was still the bigger wager between us that I had to think about. How I was supposed to find out if he knew anything about the Green Man while not revealing why I moved out here would be a great challenge. Luckily, I loved challenges.

  ***

  Claudia picked me up from my apartment in a limo the night of the gala. I’d never been in one before and was nervous when an actual doorman let me in. When Claudia and I went dress and suit shopping, I quickly realized that I had agreed to this without realizing how out of my league everything about this party was. What would I even talk to other guests about? My yacht? I didn’t even own a car.

  I stepped into the car and sat beside Claudia, but not too close because the bottom of her dress was taking up a space. The dress she went with had a very toned-down bodice of a dark chocolate brown with a heart neckline. The skirt was where it went off the rails. It was poufy and there were individual fabric yellow flowers strung together and layered until you couldn’t see the fabric beneath. The lady who was sizing Claudia said it was thousands of hand sewn flowers. My suit, of course, had to match. I was wearing a suit that was a matching brown and had individual yellow flowers dotting the jacket. The flowers were spread out and it was much more toned down on me. I asked the woman selling us the clothes, and by us I meant Claudia, for one of her extra flowers and I had it tucked firmly behind my ear for the night. I had to admit that even though I still felt out of place, I never looked nicer.

  “Are you excited for tonight Gavin?”

  I looked out the tinted windows as the Las Vegas lights brightened the night as we passed. “I’m nervous.”

  “Don’t worry,” she said, putting a hand to her heart. “I won’t let you out of my sight.”

  That did make me feel a little better. She could handle the fancy conversations and I could just listen. But that didn’t solve everything. I still had the deal to worry about.

  The limo pulled up to the front steps of the Green Chapel Casino. I stepped out with Claudia to the flash of cameras. Claudia took this in stride and breezed up the front steps and I awkwardly tried to keep up. The security guard waved us in and we entered the main floor. I worked here almost every day and if it weren’t for the chapel still in the center of it all, I wouldn’t have recognized it. All the slot machines had been moved to who knows where and there were only a few tables on the edges of the room where people were playing games and drinking a lot of wine. The other floors probably looked similar and if this floor was crowded, how many people were here exactly?

  “Do you know all of these people?”

  Claudia smiled and waved to people as we passed. “Not a one.”

  “Is your father here?”

  She laughed. “After he gave the Casino to dear Bertrand, he ran off with his third wife to a private island and told us not to talk to him for at least fifteen years.”

  “That’s awful.”

  Claudia didn’t seem to hear me and kept walking through the crowd that seemed to part around her.

  I kept my eyes peeled for green eyes but at some point, I gave up, resting my eyes. There were just too many people. I tried to look for Mr. Knight next, but he was probably busy with being the host of the party. How he expected me to find him to exchange our “earnings” was beyond me.

  Claudia and I found her reserved table and told one of the waitstaff scurrying around if we wanted our steaks rare, medium, or well done. The people in the tables around us seemed to know Claudia and she chatted with them as if she knew them. But from what she said before, I wondered how much of it was an act.

  “Oh, you will have to excuse me Gavin.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’ll be back, will you be alright on your own?”

  “I think I can handle not moving from this table,” I promised.

  “Wonderful.”

  She headed off, her dress swaying behind her.

  I waited for her to return and played with my silverware in a way that was probably undignified.

  “Did you see her?”

  My ears pricked up as the table beside me began talking in hushed tones. That always made me want to listen closer than if they were speaking plainly.

  “I can’t believe Mr. Knight lets her run around the casino.”

  Were they talking about Claudia?

  “I think it’s very charitable of him to let his father’s bastard child have a place to stay. Especially since she’s too strange to marry off.”

  “If it were my child, I would have sent her away years ago once I learned how crazy she was. It’s not worth putting up with it for the illegitimate ones.”

  “Hey. Shut the fuck up.” It was out of my mouth before I could consider decorum.

  “Excuse me?” The couple who was sitting behind me and talking shit about Claudia, turned around.

  “You heard me. Shut the fuck up or get out of here.”

  “Why, who are you?” The woman said with contempt in her voice.

  “I’m Gavin Griffin, I’m a dealer. I work here.”

  “You know I can talk to Mr. Knight about you. I will get you fired,” she promised, sneering at me.

  “And I’ll go ask him right now to kick you out of this party for being a complete asshole. How dare you talk about Claudia that way. You don’t even know her. If you did, you’d be ashamed of what you called her.”

  “What a good idea Gavin.”

  I turned to see Claudia had returned, her makeup freshened up and her face much more serene than mine would be in this situation. “I’ll have to ask you two to leave.”

  “Your employee was making some very crude remarks to my wife and now is lying to cover up his behavior,” the husband butted in at last just to lie.

  “Gavin is my date to this event and he’s not a liar.”

  “Well,” the husband started sputtering like an old car and his wife was turning a new shade of red that probably had never been seen before.

  Claudia waved over a security guard who quickly escorted the couple away.

 
; “Those people sucked,” I told her.

  She smiled, but it was slightly sad. “I bet I’ve heard worse, and to my face.”

  I had no idea about Claudia’s parentage, but honestly, I didn’t care, Mr. Knight seemed to love her. And she was my friend. I’d yell at a hundred old bags for her.

  “Thank you for defending me.” She leaned forward and gave me a gentle kiss on my forehead.

  I blushed.

  “And I owe you a dance.”

  I was so caught up in the moment, I didn’t realize until later what I now owed someone else.

  Chapter Nine

  Claudia was a fast dancer. We swirled all around the floor not quite to the rhythm in a kind of frantic pace. It was both exhilarating and terrifying. I didn’t know how to dance so I let her lead, but I had a feeling she didn’t know how to either. Claudia seemed to be in high spirits which I was relieved to see. I was worried that awful couple had ruined her good mood. I was glad that she had let their comments slide right off of her.

  Claudia grabbed my hand and I flew out. She pulled me back in, twirled me, and once I stopped spinning, we stumbled and I started laughing. She giggled too and I’m sure we looked funny laughing in the middle of a slow song.

  “Excuse me.”

  I felt a tap on my shoulder and tensed up worried we’d get yelled at by some other pompous guest. I turned around and there was Mr. Knight.

  “Hello Bertrand.” Claudia did a curtsey that somehow felt like she was making fun of him.

  “I was hoping I could steal your date?”

  “Only if he wants to be stolen.”

  “He will dance with you and he thinks you could have just asked,” I spoke up; I didn’t like being talked about in the third person.

  He smiled in a way that I could only describe as devious and offered me his hand. I took it and let him lead. Before we walked off, Claudia snuck around to the other side and whispered something to Mr. Knight. Whatever she told him, nothing about his expression changed and he nodded to her before leading me further into the dancing crowd as Claudia slipped away.

  With the nod of his head, he helped me figure out where I was supposed to put my hands and soon, we began moving with the beat of the song. I tripped behind him, not entirely sure of the foot movements.