He took a step back.
Delaney frowned. “Nash, what’s wrong?”
He could not speak.
Her brows rose. “Is there danger?” Her gaze flew around the crowded casino. “Some sort of threat?”
Fuck, no. He would never step back if there was a threat. He frowned at her. Then he put another hundred in the machine as a credit.
“What are you doing?”
He’d been hoping to hear her laugh again. Because it was a sound he’d missed far more than he’d ever realized. “You want more money?”
“No!” She pushed his hand away from the machine. “This is more than enough. In fact, it’s too much.”
The woman was an heiress. Granted, she was the heiress to a crime fortune, but an heiress nonetheless. Two hundred dollars was not too much in her world.
“Do I have to play it all?” Delaney fretted. “Can we get some of it back?”
A guy in khaki pants and a polo walked by, his gaze sliding down Delaney’s legs.
Nash moved into his path. “Really? You gonna stare at my wife like that with me right the hell next to her?”
All of the color fled from the man’s face. He turned and practically ran away.
“Nash!”
Right. Dammit. Jaw locking, he looked at his wife. His real wife. He’d told her, twice, that they were truly married, but she hadn’t understood. Should he go for a third time?
“Nash, can we get some of the money back?”
Screw the money. “Play it all.”
“All? At once?” She nibbled on her lower lip. “That feels like a lot.”
“There are max and minimum bets. You don’t have to play it all. But if you want to, have the hell at it.” He scraped a hand over his jaw. Felt the stubble there and realized that he needed to shave soon. Especially if he was planning to get close to her delicate skin again. And he was. Definitely planning that.
She crept closer to the machine. “Do I just pull this big lever?”
“You can. Or you can just hit this button.” He pointed to the button near the front of the machine.
Her nose scrunched again. “Why would you hit the little button when you can pull this giant lever?”
She did pull the giant lever. While on the max bet. Because he didn’t think she understood how to change the amount she was betting. She pulled the lever, let out a gasp of actual delight even though they were on a mission that should have terrified her, and, for that brief moment, as she scooted back and her body brushed against his, as she grabbed his hand and they watched the screen spin on that massive machine, Nash felt normal. Like, it was all real. They were honeymooning, and Delaney was happy. She was holding his hand, and she was his again.
A loud alarm blared, cutting through the entire casino. The lights weren’t a pale white at the top of the big machine any longer. They were rolling in a bright red, continuous wave.
And…
Holy hell.
All eyes were on them because the machine was going wild. Wild because Delaney had just won.
“What is happening?” Delaney bounced. “Did we win? We did, didn’t we? How much did we win?”
His jaw was on the floor.
She hugged him. “We won!” Delaney waved to the people who were rushing to gather around them. A whole lot of people. “We won!” Delaney hugged Nash again. Her body pressed tightly to him.
