Lucky in Love

by Kristen Ethridge

  A loud plastic scratch sounded in the distance. Lisa jumped back at the sound of the keycard in the door.

  She smoothed a hand over her hair, unruly from Ryan’s exploration. “Oh my goodness, what would Nana have said if she’d walked in on that?”

  Ryan tried to force his breathing to slow and take his pounding heart with it. He grinned, almost as much at the thought of getting caught by two Social Security chaperones as he was from the memory of the soft exploration of Lisa’s mouth, and his hands roaming the curves of her body as they were guarded by shapeless cotton.

  “I don’t know what your Nana would say, but I’m pretty sure Pops would have given me two thumbs up.”

  Chapter Six

  The trip to Lake Mead had been moved to after lunch, thanks to Nana’s big night out with Bill. The two grandparents had returned from their slot machine and buffet date night and not even batted an eye at Lisa and Ryan waiting together for their return. They’d said hi, Pops had given Nana a good night kiss, and Nana had trotted off to bed without any further word.

  Ryan told Lisa good night—words only, no more kissing—and said he would escort Pops back to his room on the next floor down. Before she knew it, Lisa stood alone in the expansive suite, and within a few minutes, she could hear soft snoring coming from Nana’s room.

  At least someone in the suite could sleep. Lisa sure couldn’t. She’d tossed and turned, thinking of how Ryan had turned her in his arms and how her heart rate had gotten tossed into the stratosphere the moment his lips touched hers.

  This kiss had been so different from the one for the TV cameras. That had been a stunt, a joke. But alone, with the lights of Vegas spilling a glow across the living room of the suite, no one had been laughing.

  And then Lisa’d spent all night reliving it. By the time the sun started to glow through the crack in the curtains, she gave up, called room service, and ordered a croissant with chocolate hazelnut spread and a full carafe of very strong coffee.

  By her fourth cup of coffee, she started to wake up and as she pulled the front section of hair off her face and secured it with a clip, she couldn’t help but compare the buzz from the coffee off the buzz she’d gotten from the kiss with Ryan.

  “What a mess,” she muttered to her reflection in the mirror.

  “What mess?” Nana padded into the bathroom, brow furrowed as she scanned the room in search of something. “Have you seen my toothpaste? I can’t find it and I need minty fresh breath for today.”

  Lisa stuck her hand in her travel bag of toiletries. “Here, use mine. You’ve renewed your commitment to dental hygiene?”

  Nana nodded and grinned. “Bill says my smile reminds him of when we were eighteen. He says it hasn’t changed a bit.”

  “I can’t argue with that, Nana. You’ve always had a beautiful smile.” Lisa went back to brushing her hair.

  Nana stepped over to the second sink and turned on the tap. “You have the same smile, girlie. But it’s hiding today. Don’t you know this is the happiest place on earth?”

  “That’s Disneyland, Nana. Head a few hours to the west. This is Las Vegas. Sin City.”

  “Whmpmvr.” Her response was muffled by the suds and bubbles covering her teeth. She spit the toothpaste in the sink, picked up a glass, and rinsed. “It’s my happiest place on earth. And tomorrow is my wedding day!”

  Even though Lisa’s misgivings about Nana’s impending wedding loomed as high as the mountains in the Nevada desert around them, there was no denying the joy in Nana’s voice. She hadn’t heard that simple happiness in a while. The sweet sound lightened Lisa’s heart.

  “But something’s bothering you, my dear. I can tell. What is it?”

  Lisa tried to wave off Nana’s concern. She wasn’t even sure Nana would really understand. “It’s nothing.”

  “Yes, it is. Don’t lie to me, Lisa Marie.”

  Lisa leaned forward and watched carefully in the mirror as she applied her lipstick. She took more time than usual, trying to decide what she would say to Nana.

  “I wasn’t lying, Nana, not really. It’s just...well...it’s Ryan McBride. But it’s really nothing.”

  “Bill says Ryan’s unhappy.” Nana reached out her hand. “Let me use your lipstick, dearie.”

  Lisa laughed a little bit. “I guess so. He quit his job yesterday.”

  Nana puckered her lips into an O and dotted the lipstick around, then smoothed it out by pressing her lips together. Just the same way she’d done it Lisa’s whole life. “I’d heard his name mentioned by a lot of people downstairs last night, but I didn’t know what they were talking about.”

  “He announced on TV that he was leaving the Global Poker Challenge tour.”

  “Yes, but people were saying something else too.” Nana handed the lipstick back to Lisa, then shrugged. “But I can’t remember. I wonder what it was.”

  “That he was engaged?” Lisa went with the most obvious choice.

  “Yes! That’s it. He was engaged.” Nana’s eyes sparkled a bit. “I love weddings. I hope he invites Bill and me. Did he say who he was marrying?”

  Lisa took a deep breath. “You’re not getting an invitation, Nana.”

  “And why not? I’m marrying his grandfather.”

  Lisa wanted to laugh at the indignation in Nana’s voice over the perceived slight.

  “Because there’s no wedding.”

  “Lisa Marie, you’re really confusing me. Why would people be saying he was getting married if there was no wedding? Did it already happen?”

  “No. It’s just not going to happen.” For the life of her, Lisa had no idea how to explain this one.

  Nana raised her eyebrow. She was not dropping this until the answers made sense to her. “And why not?”

  May as well just throw it out there. The whole thing was confusing anyway, potential Alzheimer’s or not.

  “Because the people who were talking think I’m Ryan’s fiancée.”

  Nana’s smile returned to her face with a wattage to rival the brightest Vegas neon. “Oh, how wonderful! We can have a double wedding!”

  Lisa opened her mouth to try and explain better, then she shut it abruptly. She couldn’t take that smile off Nana’s face. She just couldn’t.

  She just raised her hands, covered her face, and tried not to think about kissing the man Nana now thought was her fiancé.

  The first few rounds of poker tournaments like this always went slowly, as they narrowed the ranks. Ryan knew it was unprofessional, but he couldn’t keep his thoughts on the game. They kept coming back to Lisa and that kiss.

  He’d first run his mind over the kisses they’d shared in this room yesterday, while the NCN cameras rolled.

  But he didn’t care to focus on those for very long.

  He didn’t care to focus on his cards.

  He just wanted to think about the sweet surrender he tasted in the suite last night when Lisa kissed him back as the lights of Vegas glowed behind them.

  Snap out of it. You’ve got business to take care of. You’re going out after this. You need to go out on top.

  As another round of cards was dealt, Ryan looked at the back of the room.

  A familiar white-haired man in a seersucker suit came in the room, wearing the VIP pass Ryan had left for him. To his right was another cotton-topped VIP, dressed in an oversized floral print blouse and pants that appeared to be of a sturdy, thick knit. She’d put on her pearls for the occasion, Ryan noted, and wore her VIP pass like another necklace.

  Behind them came the face he’d thought about all morning.

  Lisa didn’t look left or right, just slightly down, as she followed straight behind her great-grandmother and her great-grandmother’s fiancé. The loose waves of her hair tumbled like a honey-and-cinnamon waterfall and partly obscured the gentle features of her face.

  Ryan leaned back in his chair and squinted. He wished he’d been able to see her lips. Maybe, like finally hearing an earworm tune, just a small glimpse of her mo
uth would put an end to the revolving kiss-cam in his mind.

  The small group followed the GPC staffer to three empty seats. Of course, they were in front. Of course, they were near his table. The young man probably thought he was doing his job well to sit Ryan’s VIPs down by him.

  Usually, it was good to have Pops in the audience. Pops had taught him his first lessons on cards so many years ago, and having his steady, supportive presence nearby always seemed to bring him a certain amount of luck. Even though the poker world knew Ryan himself as the “Lucky Charm,” Ryan always thought of Pops as his personal secret weapon—the real lucky charm.

  But today, Pops brought baggage. Specifically, a fiancée who may or may not have a soon-to-be-evaluated dementia issue and the great-granddaughter who worried about her—and who, in turn, Ryan found himself worrying about.

  When they called a break in between rounds, Pops stood up and walked over to the rail closest to Ryan.

  “We’re about to head out to Lake Mead, son.”

  “Okay, Pops.” Ryan looked just past his grandfather to the two women with him. “Is everyone going?”

  Pops nodded. “Everyone but you. Gina Mae and Lisa are both coming along. Your concierge friend called me this morning and said the car would be here around one-thirty. We’ll go see the lake and have dinner. Looks like you’ll be here late tonight.”

  “That’s always the goal.”

  “Last man standing.” Pops gave him a confident smile. “I know this is your last tournament. I just wanted to say how proud of you I am, son. I know people think poker is just a game. But you found something you loved a long time ago and you worked hard to be the best. It’s paid off in a way I never thought possible when I pulled out that first deck of cards when you were a kid. I just thought it would be something we could play together after dinner—a way to connect with a scared little boy who’d been through a lot of changes. I don’t know what you’ll do after you leave this room for good, Ryan McBride, but I know you’ll be successful. And I hope you know I’ll always be proud of you.”

  Pops clapped a hand around Ryan’s bicep once, then twice. Ryan felt his throat constrict with memories. And love. For more years than he could count, Bill McBride had been his whole world. He’d stood in as mother, father, grandparent, confidante, mentor...and friend.

  Ryan loved the man more than words could ever say.

  He’d tried to repay Pops by making sure he was cared for. That he had the best housing and assistance money could buy. That he didn’t have to work or worry. That after a lifetime of seeing to it that Ryan had comfort and security in his life—when he’d started out with so little of both—Pops could now enjoy both of those necessities for the rest of the days the good Lord gave him on Earth.

  But as he stood there, staring into Bill’s icy-blue eyes and seeing love and pride shining back in their reflection, Ryan was hit with a gut punch more solid than a prize fighter’s knockout blow. Money hadn’t been what made Pops—and the memories he’d created—special for Ryan. Pops had worked for years after his retirement age to support the child who came under his roof long after his contemporaries sported empty nests.

  Time, love, and personal interest had been the tools Pops used.

  And Ryan could give Pops all the money and assisted living in the world, but he couldn’t give him twenty-four-seven companionship.

  But that sweet woman who walked into Pops’ open arms at McCarron International Airport yesterday could.

  Ryan shifted his gaze from Pops to Lisa, speaking in slow, hushed tones to her grandmother. Although he and Lisa had just met, she’d felt comfortable enough with Ryan to confide her fears about her great-grandmother’s health. Ryan didn’t want to betray that trust.

  The more he thought about it though, following through on his original gut instinct—preventing the marriage from happening—would be a betrayal of the lifetime of support Pops had given him.

  However, he knew that Lisa had a similar connection to her great-grandmother, and she was opposing Nana’s trip down the aisle for very real, valid reasons—ones he’d shared until this very moment.

  Ryan knew he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

  He also knew that he had a game to play, business to attend to. He needed to clear this lump in his throat and the thoughts in his head, then get back to the table, and get his mind focused.

  Ryan put his hand on Pops’ shoulder, mirroring the reassuring gesture Pops had given him.

  “I love you, Pops. You know that, right?”

  “Of course I do, son. I told you yesterday that you had a cynic’s heart. That’s not quite right—you have a cautious heart.” Pops smiled, pushing away the thick fog in Ryan’s brain as the corners of his mouth raised. “I hope that once you’re out of this business you can have an open one. Life’s too short to not take chances. I could have married Gina Mae more than six decades ago in a quickie wedding at the courthouse. I don’t regret marrying your Memaw or having you in my life. But now, my greatest wish is for you to be happy, son, and to not live with what-ifs. But I know you’re going to have to take a chance and see what it’s like on the other side, the less cautious side, to get there. Now, son...get back to that table and go out in style.”

  Ryan walked to the spot they’d set up for him for this next round of the tournament. He saw Pops talking with Gina Mae and Lisa and gesturing toward the door. He figured they were discussing the Town Car which would be arriving soon at the hotel’s front door to take them on a sunny day of Nevada sightseeing.

  They rose and headed for the doors at the back of the room. Ryan sat in his chair and studied them carefully.

  He didn’t want to be stuck inside these four walls, overanalyzing facial tics and mentally counting cards round after round after round. He was quitting the game because he’d grown bored with the rote, with the predictability of the tasks. He’d mastered the skill and now it did come down to luck.

  But he didn’t want to be lucky at cards anymore.

  He wanted to be lucky in life.

  Pops was right. Ryan needed to see a side of life where every move wasn’t calculated and evaluated against the decisions of others and the whims of rectangles with royal designs printed on them.

  Lisa turned her head as she paused at the door. She looked at the spot where Ryan had been sitting in the last round, then scanned the other tables in the room. She didn’t see him at his new corner table, and it gave him a moment to watch her.

  Ryan knew Lisa was looking for him.

  Pops had been looking for Gina Mae.

  Who was he looking for?

  He’d been looking out for just himself for far too long.

  The other players filed back to the tables and took their places for the next round of the tournament, scheduled to begin shortly. Ryan looked at his watch and watched a handful of seconds tick away.

  He looked up and no one stood near the back door. Lisa was gone.

  The wave of adrenaline and pure physical desire that had overpowered him last night when he’d put his hands on Lisa’s shoulders to give her some support and let her know she wasn’t alone—it returned with the force of a gale.

  “So, I guess this may be the last time we sit down at a table together, LC.” Davian Rentfrow took the seat next to him. “It’s been good playing you, man. Good luck in retirement.”

  Even though Davian had always been a good guy and a worthy challenger, Ryan couldn’t even look toward him in acknowledgment.

  “Thanks, man,” he said, acutely aware of the absent tone in his voice, but unable to do anything about it.

  Go out in style. Pops’ last words before he left with Gina Mae and Lisa hung in Ryan’s mind.

  The outcome of this tournament didn’t change anything for him. He had a lifetime of money, and then some. He’d already announced his retirement—nothing depended on how he fared in this game. And the charity already got his buy-in.

  He didn’t win anything he needed by staying, and he
didn’t lose anything of value by going.

  Ryan stood up and pushed his chair back from the table. He walked over to a tournament official and muttered a few sentences in his ear, then he headed for the door between the playing floor and the viewing area.

  Emma, the NCN reporter, tried to block his path.

  “Where are you headed, Lucky Charm?” She pushed her microphone close to his face, but Ryan batted it away with one swat.

  “I’m going all in, Emma.” He edged through the door and around her attempts to block him. “And the name’s not Lucky Charm. It’s Ryan. Just Ryan.”

  Lisa looked at the sleek, black car in the circular drive of the hotel. She knew the cliché said everything was bigger in Texas, but apparently, it applied to Las Vegas too. Bill had told her over lunch that Ryan had arranged for a Town Car to drive them out to Lake Mead. Clearly, they watered and fertilized their Town Cars in Vegas, because where Lisa came from, this car was called a limousine.

  “The hotel upgraded your car, Mr. McBride, with our compliments on your upcoming wedding to Mrs. Fleming, sir.” The head bellhop opened the door to the passenger section of the car.

  “Well, thank you, young man. Very kind of you.” Bill pulled out some cash from his money clip in his pocket and handed it over as Nana bent and crawled inside, followed by Lisa.

  “Certainly, sir. Your grandson is a favorite here at the Renaissance Grand. We’ll always do what we can to take care of him—and his family.”

  The bench seat was a soft, taupe leather and it curved around the inside of the stretched middle of the car like a snake waking up from a nap. Overhead, blue lights twinkled in a matching taupe fabric sky. Opposite the seating was an extended mirrored bar, stocked with shining crystal and a row of high-end bottles.

  Once Bill slid onto the seat, the door closed with a satisfying sound. The partition between all the opulence and the driver’s area lowered and a man in a black jacket turned to face his passengers.