Once Upon a Kiss Read online

  “Have you ever danced before?” He asked.

  I rolled my eyes. “I learned how to square dance in gym class when I was in the fourth grade. But, no.”

  “You are keeping up remarkably well.”

  “Well I was kind of thrown into this.” I hopped on one foot to avoid stepping on one of his. “It’s kind of sink or swim here.”

  Then, he was distracting me with his voice and his...everything. I was hyper aware of his hand on my waist and the one in my hand. His skin was soft against my rough hands and our bodies were so close I could feel his heat. His outfit was also amazing. It was a white suit but there were delicate leaf patterns sewn into the fabric and looking closer I noticed there were actual leaves among the embroidery. It was all so seamless that if I weren’t up close, I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell what was real and what was fake.

  “Have you enjoyed your time?”

  “I ate some good food, got to ride in a limo, that was pretty cool,” I started listing things off. I was having a weird, but fun evening.

  “Sorry.” He shook his head. “I meant in general. Are you enjoying working at the casino?”

  That was easy. “Yeah. I love it here. Everything is exciting. I’ve never come here, do a shift and go home without having at least one stand out memory. When I worked as an accountant, sometimes I would work a shift, go home, and have no memory of the entire day. It all blended together. And before you ask, no that’s not why I moved out here. I probably would have let it happen for years and years if not for… the reason.”

  “It must be a special reason,” he said thoughtfully, his gaze far away.

  “But you won’t get it out of me this easy, you can’t make me emotional and expect me to spill,” I said.

  I felt his grip strengthen slightly and I did the same.

  “Do you think…no. Never mind.” He smiled to himself. But it wasn’t one of his trickster smiles, it was almost sad.

  “What?”

  “I’ll tell you if you tell me.”

  I huffed and smiled back. Although I was tempted to think otherwise, I didn’t think it was some cheap attempt for him to get my secret out of me. He was better than that. He wanted to tell me something but stopped. What was it?

  “But, Mr. Griffin, I’ve learned some information that has made me want to offer you a chance to get out of our deal.”

  “What?”

  “If you don’t want to give me what you received tonight, I will forget that we ever made it in the first place.”

  Did Claudia tell him about what I did for her? And the kiss?

  “Do you want to end the deal?” I watched his eyes carefully.

  “No.”

  I shivered. With how close we were, I bet he could feel it.

  “Well?” His eyes were intense.

  “I don’t want to end the deal. I want to continue,” I said with as much force as I could manage.

  I saw shock pass over his face. I’d never seen him so expressive. He cleared his throat and got his expression under control. “I’ll go first this time.”

  He let go for a moment and took a ring off one of his hands and handed it to me.

  “What is this?”

  “It’s made out of bore tusks.”

  “That’s...something?”

  “My father sent it as a gift for the anniversary. He thought it suited my disposition.”

  “I don’t see you as a bone person, or a person who owns bones. More of a tree person.”

  “What gave that away?” He said wryly.

  “It was just a guess.”

  “It is a reference to a childhood nickname.”

  “Oh?”

  “He used to call me Death.”

  I could have choked. “What?”

  “Death Knight I believe was the joke. I was a rather serious child.”

  The more I learned about this guy, their dad, the less I wanted to ever meet him. When I watched all those informational videos about him, he seemed eccentric but otherwise normal.

  “That’s a bad nickname,” I decided.

  “What do you suggest?”

  “Burt.”

  He tilted his head.

  “Isn’t that the normal nickname for people named Bertrand?” Not that I met other people with that name.

  “That’s almost worse,” he said with a smirk.

  I frowned, blushed, and looked away. “I was put on the spot.”

  “Now. What did you receive this evening?”

  I steeled myself and shook myself out. “A dance first of all, which I already paid for.”

  He nodded. “And what else?”

  I looked him in his green eyes. They really were beautiful eyes. The green was so natural like he was made from the earth. I liked looking at them.

  I didn’t wait any longer. I leaned up on my tip toes, my hand cradling his chin and kissed his forehead.

  I’d made out with people before. I’d made out with people for hours in intense and messy ways. Nothing was as intimate as me kissing Mr. Knight on the forehead. None of them even came close.

  I was probably redder than I’d ever been when I moved away. He gave me an out and I still wanted to go through with it because I wanted to kiss him. Last time was just so electric I had to do it again, to see if it was a fluke or real. It was even more intense this time.

  “Thank you.” Mr. Knight bowed his head to me slightly. “For your gifts.”

  I slipped the ring on my right hand. “Uh. Thanks too.”

  “There you two are.”

  Claudia arrived and I felt all the tension that was building slowly ease away.

  “How was your dance?” She asked.

  “Good,” I blurted out.

  “I had a fine time,” Mr. Knight said.

  “I’m glad. Do you mind if I speak to my brother, alone for a moment? It’s a business matter.”

  “Of course not.”

  “If you head to the dessert tables, I’ll find you so I can take you home,” Claudia promised.

  “And I’ll eat as many of those mini cupcakes as I can in the meantime,” I promised back.

  She giggled. “It won’t be long.”

  I turned. “Goodbye Mr. Knight, thank you for the dance.”

  “I think it is appropriate for you to call me Bertrand.”

  “Then you can call me Gavin.” Suddenly, everything was different between me and him.

  “See you on Monday Gavin, for lunch?”

  I grinned. “See you Monday.”

  I started walking away and I didn’t mean to listen in, it was like I said before, people talking in a hushed voice always drew my attention.

  “He was here,” I heard Claudia say in a tense tone.

  “Whatever he’s planning…”

  The rest I didn’t catch. Who was this “he”? And why did Bertrand sound so upset hearing about him? As I headed to the dessert table, in the crowd, I caught the eyes of a man. They were a brilliant green. My Green Man’s green.

  He disappeared in the crowd before I could chase after him. But he was here. He was at the Green Chapel Casino.

  Chapter Ten

  “You seem distracted.”

  “What?” I said, looking up from the deck I was opening.

  Claudia frowned at me. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

  I started dealing for the table, ignoring her for now. When I got to her hand I waited.

  “Hit. But I’ve been watching you all day. You’ve been zoning out staring at the casino.”

  “I guess I didn’t sleep well last night.” It was a lame excuse but it wasn’t entirely wrong. It had been two weeks since the gala and I hadn’t seen that man again but I wanted to keep my eye out just in case. And I had been getting less sleep thinking about it. I still wanted to find that Green Man, but I was starting to feel conflicted.

  Part of me thought, as unlikely and fairytale-ish it was, that maybe the Green Man and I were meant to be together. Like at midnight on
New Year’s, that was now four months away, we’d meet, and it would be like a true love’s kiss. But the way my lips pressed against Bertrand’s cheek and then his forehead appeared in my mind every time I thought about the New Year’s kiss. Maybe I’d already found the magic I was looking for.

  “Both you and Bertrand have been in a mood lately,” Claudia sighed loudly as I turned over another blackjack for her.

  She was right about that. I’d had lunch with him a few times. No deals, just lunch. And he didn’t seem very animated. I didn’t mention what I had overheard, but I had a feeling that it was related.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked. Maybe she’d shed some light on things.

  “He’s just being Bertrand,” she said lightly. “He has his moods.”

  So, she wasn’t going to tell me either.

  “You should talk to him,” she said pushing her winnings toward me as a tip. She stood up from my table and winked at me. “He always seems to feel better after he talks to you.”

  I couldn’t help the heat that rose to my face and the smile that tugged at my lips. I liked being around Bertrand too.

  After my shift I headed straight to his office. He had a meeting or something so we didn’t have lunch together. This was the first time I’d seen him all day.

  Before, I might have balked at the door but I headed straight in without a second thought. He was sitting at his desk with an intense frown on his face. He was looking over something on his phone that seemed to be upsetting him.

  “Bertrand?”

  He looked up and his frown was hidden away with his pleasant playful look he always seemed to put on when he was talking to customers. I could tell he was faking it at least partly. “Gavin Griffin. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”

  “I just wanted to talk,” I said. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “It’s been a day,” Bertrand said in a deadpan voice.

  “Too long.” I sat down in the chair in front of his desk. “How are you doing Bertrand?”

  I saw his calm demeanor slip a little as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m dealing with some matters, financial ones.”

  “Is it something bad?”

  She shook his head and smiled again. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  “I know you can,” I said and tried to give him a reassuring look.

  “It’s fortunate that you stopped by, I had a question for you.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Would you like to come to dinner tonight at my residence?”

  My eyes widened. “Dinner?”

  “Yes, with me and Claudia. I feel terrible that I had to cancel our lunch date.”

  The word date sent a rush through me.

  “You don’t have to feel bad; I understand needing to do business now and then.” I didn’t want him to feel terrible just for missing me, but part of me felt a secret thrill at hearing it.

  “Do you accept my invitation?”

  “Of course,” I said. “I wouldn’t miss it. But can I have your address? I need to figure out the bus routes.”

  He shook his hand. “I can arrange for you to be picked up tonight around six?”

  That was in a few hours, enough time for me to get home and figure out whatever was the nicest outfit I owned. “That works for me.”

  “I’ll see you tonight Gavin, I’m sure it will be a lovely evening.”

  “Yeah,” I said awkwardly. “Lovely.”

  ***

  Unfortunately, the nicest thing I owned was the suit I wore to the gala. It somehow seemed tacky for me to wear it again even though I couldn’t actually come up with a reason why it was tacky.

  Instead I rooted around for a sandy colored suit jacket I got for a beach wedding that never happened and matching slacks. It was a little too big for me so I rolled up the sleeves a little and used a belt to keep my pants up. I was going to get it adjusted but since the wedding was called off, into storage it went. I checked myself in the mirror and tried not to feel like I was a kid in my dad’s suit.

  At six exactly I heard a knock on my door. I opened it, expecting a driver or maybe Claudia. Instead it was Bertrand standing in the doorway of my little apartment. He was wearing a beautiful mint suit jacket that was obviously well tailored to fit him in all the right ways. He certainly wasn’t wearing this when I saw him earlier so he must have changed for the occasion.

  “Hey Bertrand, fancy seeing you here.”

  He glanced around my place and then back to me with a curious look on his face. “You have a lovely apartment Gavin.”

  “It’s cozy.” I added, “Cramped.”

  “And you look splendid.”

  That made heat rush to my face. “As long as my pants don’t fall down and my hands aren’t hidden in the sleeves, I will call this evening a success.” I couldn’t take the compliment straight. I had to make a joke.

  He had a mischievous look on his face. “I don’t have the same parameters for success.”

  I didn’t understand what that meant at first. I just followed him to his car. Then I remembered I said I didn’t want my pants to fall down and I was blushing all over again. Maybe that’s not what he meant at all but I couldn't help but take it that way.

  He was the one driving, no limo or driver, just us in his very nice car. I didn’t really know anything about cars but I did know that this one had to be expensive. “So, any deals or games tonight?”

  I saw a smile tug on the side of his face as he kept his eyes on the road. “As tempting as that sounds, I think Claudia would appreciate it if I took a break from the games for one evening.”

  “I thought she liked them too?”

  “She does, she just wants to have a “normal” dinner for once.”

  I wondered what these two’s definition of normal was.

  We got to his house pretty quickly, and by house, I meant mansion. It wasn’t in Las Vegas proper but more on the outskirts. It had lots of desert land around it and a large iron gate that Bertrand had to buzz into to let the guard know to let us inside. We pulled up to the front and got out of the car. Bertrand handed his keys to a man who greeted us at the front door then rushed off to park the car. I was too overwhelmed to speak. I knew Bertrand was rich, but I never really understood what that looked like.

  He led me inside past high walls with art hung on them. We passed a few statues that looked old and I wanted to stop and admire them but Bertrand kept moving like he saw them every day. He probably did see them every day.

  “Hey Bertrand?”

  He paused and turned to me.

  “After dinner, can you tell me about all the art here?” I’d told Claudia before, but I really did love art. It was a secret hobby even though I couldn’t hope to make anything like that.

  “Anything for you.”

  He turned and continued walking but I was having a hard time getting my feet to work after hearing that.

  We finally made our way to a large set of doors. “What’s in there?” I asked.

  “It’s one of our dining rooms,” he said nonchalantly.

  “One of?”

  He shrugged. “The other two are meant for large dinner parties, but since it is only us three tonight.”

  “That makes sense,” I said incredulously.

  He opened the doors and was immediately met by Claudia rushing forward.

  “Why didn’t you respond to my texts?” She said in a harsh whisper.

  “What?” He said, genuinely confused.

  “Has our dear brother arrived?” I heard a voice from inside the dining room.

  Claudia with a great panicked look on her face stepped aside and let us into the room.

  I could feel the energy, the anger barely concealed behind the mask on Bertrand’s face. I looked for the source of the voice and there he was. The Green Man was sitting at the head of the table, waving and smiling at Bertrand and calling him brother.

  Chapter Eleven

  The energy in the room was l
ike breathing in toxic smoke and having to sit there and act like that was a natural thing to do. I numbly followed Bertrand’s lead as he sat down at the table at a place setting. I sat down next to him separated by a seat from the Green Man. His eyes were just how I remembered them: they were like two emerald jewels encrusted in his face. He was a well-built man, broad chested, thick with muscle. He seemed shorter than Bertrand but he had more of a presence than him. He smiled at us as we sat down. I tried to see if he recognized me, but if he did, I couldn’t see it in his eyes and he wasn’t saying anything.

  “You have a guest dear brother, quite rude to not introduce him.”

  “This is Gavin Griffin, one of the dealers who works at the casino, and a dear friend.”

  The animosity between them was thick even as they exchanged pleasant looks. If I hated someone, I usually told them. I wasn’t one for tact after all. But all of this veiled tension seemed worse than just saying what you felt outright.

  “Aren’t you going to introduce me back?”

  I saw Bertrand’s jaw clench for a moment. “Gavin, this is my older brother Felix.”

  “Nice...to...meet...you?” I said, each word more unsure than the last. I had no idea they had another sibling. He looked like them, green eyes auburn brown hair, but it seemed like there was bad blood.

  “Half-brother,” Felix was quick to point out.

  “Half-brother,” Bertrand added tensely.

  “I’m sorry for arriving without much notice, but I was in town for the gala and decided to stick around and see the sights since I haven’t been in Las Vegas in such a long time.”

  “No need to apologize Felix, since you decided to come anyway.”

  I looked at Claudia who was sitting across the table and refusing to make eye contact with anyone. This wasn’t how I pictured how I would meet the Green Man. I thought there would be more horses and roses involved, or something I now realized was an over-romantic daydream. What I wanted now was to escape, but besides running as fast as I could toward the direction of the Vegas Strip, I didn’t really have options.

  Some servants brought out some bowls of soup and it was thankfully silent as we all got settled with our first course. God how many courses could there be for me to suffer through? I wanted to have a nice dinner with Claudia and Bertrand, I was looking forward to it. Now, I was dreading every second. Why did they seem to hate their brother?