It shouldn’t surprise me. Or piss me off more.
But it does.
“Why don’t you tell me?” I nod to Ethan as he comes strolling back from the bathroom.
She gives me a funny look but resumes her games with Ethan.
With the few minutes we have left, I turn around and scan the crowd. There’s a cute blonde across the bar, glancing at the tables hesitantly. Like she wants to play, but isn’t sure how.
I catch her attention and gesture for her to come closer.
She does.
“Care to join me, sweetheart?” I ask, laying on the accent real thick. “You look like ye could use a good dose of fun.”
She gives me a tentative smile, and a deliberate moment of hesitation even though we both know she was sold the second she saw me across the room.
“Okay.” She agrees and takes a seat beside me.
Across the table, Scarlett’s eyes move over my new companion. But they are flat, as always, emotionless, and I can’t read her.
I genuinely don’t know if the woman really is capable of feeling anything.
But I’m about to find out.
Childish, maybe. But I’m a bloke. We never fully grow up.
Blondie introduces herself as Charlotte, and she becomes my new best friend as the game begins again. She’s laying it on real thick too, with her sweet charm and pretty smile. She keeps leaning close to me, brushing her arm against mine before I wrap mine around her shoulders and start whispering in her ear.
I’m raking in the chips now and cleaning out the table.
And I’m proud of myself for not once checking in Scarlett’s direction. Her laughter has died down, and the conversation between her and Ethan seems to be diminishing as well, much to my satisfaction.
When the game is finished and I’ve raked in my winnings, Charlotte tells me she has a hotel room upstairs, wondering if I’d like to join her.
Before I can give her an answer, Scarlett is beside me.
I glance down at her, still jacked up over her antics. But her face is soft now, her eyes open. She doesn’t spare Charlotte a glance as she grabs my shirt collar and pulls my face to hers.
“I’ve decided that I don’t like this game anymore,” she says. “And I’d like to play another.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. And I’ve decided I need a new good luck charm. So what do you say, old sport?”
I give Charlotte an apologetic smile, and it was a dick move of me to bring her into this so my apology is sincere too. I tell Charlotte I’m going to keep trying my luck at the tables.
“No big deal,” she says, eyeing Scarlett as she slips me a card from her purse. “It was fun. Let me know if you want to do it again sometime.”
Scarlett drags me from the table and then stops in the middle of the floor. I can’t tell what she’s thinking. She’s locked down tighter than a battleship right now, giving nothing away.
“I have to go to the powder room,” she announces.
“Alright. I’ll be here waiting for ye.”
She leaves, and I grab another drink from the bar.
But by the time I’ve finished it, she still hasn’t returned. I take a walk around the club and ask a couple of ladies who leave the bathroom if they’ve seen her, but they say no.
