Chapter 5 Vaughn #2
A pair of happy roulette players stole my attention, drawing my focus away from Nova momentarily. “I’m always glad when I can see something like that,” I admitted as I turned back toward her while their triumphant shouts rang in my ears. “Not like they’re going to bankrupt us.”
What the hell is she so stressed about? Her attention was on anything but me, her eyes darting over the almost hectic casino floor, both hands gripping the strap of her satchel bag tightly for her knuckles to stand out bone-white against her skin.
“Earth to Oxford,” I prompted. “What’s wrong?
What, are you afraid somebody followed you here? ”
I snickered, but she did not respond. If anything, she gripped the strap tighter than before, her chest rising and falling in a rapid rhythm.
It took positioning myself directly in front of her to draw her attention, and even then, it took a second or two for her to meet my gaze. It was as if she went away for a minute, forgetting where she was and who she was with.
That was officially the last straw. “Who are you afraid of?” I demanded because fuck it, I was tired of beating around the bush.
Pretending there was nothing wrong when there so obviously was.
“Because you’re looking around here like you expect the Grim Reaper to pop out from under a blackjack table.
What is your problem? Is somebody after you? ”
After everything I had witnessed, including the bruises on her arm, now covered by a thin cardigan, she had the nerve to scoff.
“Do you always obsess over strangers like this, or is it only the ones you marry in a drunken stupor? Or maybe you had a grandma who exposed you to too many episodes of murder mystery shows when she babysat.”
“That would be a no on all counts,” I fired back as loudly and sharply as I dared, with people passing in a constant stream.
“And I hope you never decide to take up playing poker for a living since you suck at bluffing. I’m standing here, watching you, and you still have the audacity to lie to me.
You’re in trouble. At least tell me about it, so I don’t have to worry about some thug coming in here and causing trouble, Nova Mancini,” I concluded, enunciating her name and then noting how her face fell.
It took no time for her to recover. “Congratulations. You know my last name. Do you think that means something?”
If anything, her reaction told me how close I’d come to the heart of this disaster.
“Did your father send you here, then? If you aren’t running away from someone, that’s the only other explanation for the guilty way you’re acting.
Does he want a good look at how business is going?
I haven’t forgotten how he tried to buy my father out more than once. ”
She looked me up and down, her perfect little button nose wrinkling in disdain. “Now that is truly pathetic. Is that what you think this is about? So much for giving you the courtesy of a face-to-face meeting.”
“Don’t do me any favors, Oxford. I’m sure we would get along much better over text messages.”
“No,” she nearly barked, losing some of her composure before getting a grip. “No. Phone calls only. No texts.”
I paused for a beat, convinced she was attempting a joke. That was supposed to convince me I was wrong about her being in trouble? “Uh, okay. We’ll do it your way. Remind me again how wrong I am about you being in trouble.”
“You know what? I’m wasting my time,” she announced, her troubled gaze sweeping the area around us. “I’d say it was nice seeing you, but you’d know I was lying.”
“Wait.” Before she could get away, I reached out and took hold of her arm. One of those things a person does purely out of reflex—acting before thinking.
I paid for it when she froze stiff, terror filling her eyes, pulling her lips back from her teeth in a horrified grimace.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, releasing her, but I had already seen enough to know I’d been right all along. “Just tell me the truth,” I urged as gently as I knew how.
“What truth?” The girl had the nerve to glare defiantly at me even now. “And why do you care?”
Damn good question, one for which I couldn’t find an answer right away. “You owe me that much,” I decided, knowing how weak it sounded but unable to come up with something better.
“I don’t owe you a damn thing,” she retorted, tossing her head, sending a fresh wave of knee-weakening fragrance my way.
“Are you sure about that?” I countered. “See, I’ve done a lot of thinking these past couple of days, and I finally figured something out.”
Her head cocked to the side, she asked, “You’ve been thinking? No wonder you look so exhausted.”
What the fuck is her problem? I would’ve had a better time going out in the middle of the desert and wrapping my hands around a cactus.
“Yes, Oxford, I’ve been thinking. And I finally figured something out.
You didn’t know anyone at that wedding, did you?
You were a crasher. And when I caught up to you, you looked scared out of your mind.
I didn’t register it as clearly as I should have at the time, thanks to a generous bartender,” I added.
“But I see it now. And here you are, ready to run away, all because I asked you a simple question.”
“A simple loaded question,” she corrected. I noticed she didn’t correct me on the wedding-crasher accusation. “You don’t need to know anything about my personal life.”
That was the thing. I felt like I did. If the woman standing in front of me was my sister, and I suspected someone was hurting her, would I stop at anything to protect her? Hell no. Granted, my feelings toward Nova weren’t exactly familiar, but she was now my wife, according to the State of Nevada.
I wanted to tell her that too. I wanted to explain myself. How if she needed it, I had the resources to help her out, though why couldn’t her wealthy father be the one to protect her?
The impulse to ask that question was almost too strong to ignore, stirring in my chest, opening my mouth to let the words out.
Who was I kidding? She didn’t need to know how much thought I’d given her.
She only would have scoffed if I offered my assistance, anyway.
No doubt scoffing was her major back at Oxford, the self-important pain in the ass.
“Fine.” I took one backward step with my hands raised in surrender. “Have it your way. Walk around looking like you’ve seen a ghost. Remind me not to care.”
“With pleasure,” she replied with a sickeningly sweet smile. “In fact, I’ll schedule a text to be sent your way every day, just in case you forget.”
“Very thoughtful of you, though I thought you were anti-texting.” She needed to leave now, or else this was going to get uglier than it already had. At the moment, I wasn’t sure that was possible with the two of us locked in a staring contest like a couple of bickering kids in the schoolyard.
She blinked first, as it turned out, her gaze darting away from mine, catching something over my shoulder. When I followed the direction of her stare, I found nothing but the usual gamblers and casual visitors milling around, oohing and aahing over the spectacle of a flashing, noisy casino floor.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, turning back to her in time to watch her disappear in the crowd, rushing toward the glass doors leading onto the Strip. “Oxford!” I shouted before cringing at myself.
Who the hell was I? Calling out to a woman as she fled from me.
What happened to my pride? It had taken a vacation, along with my good sense, considering how much I wished we had done much more than sleep in my hotel room whenever I remembered her flashing, dark eyes.