The Gambler

by Denise Grover Swank

  What was she going to wish for? Was it fair to hope his was stronger than hers? All he knew was what his heart wanted. Her. He’d heard love was stronger than any force in existence. His wish might prove if that was true.

  “Three.” By unspoken agreement, they kept their fingers linked and opened their palms. The coin dropped, but they continued to look into each other’s eyes for several seconds.

  Libby finally lowered her hand and released his, looking over the edge of the dam. “I need to go to the bathroom.”

  The change of subject was so abrupt, he chuckled. “I told you that you have a bladder the size of a thimble.”

  “I do not.”

  “I’d challenge you to prove it by holding your pee until we get to Caesar’s Palace, but I don’t want to pay for the rental car to be detailed.”

  She laughed and smacked his arm. “You’re a cruel man, Noah McMillan.”

  “You like me that way.”

  They stopped outside of the restroom and she looked up at him, her eyes twinkling. “I’ll never admit it.”

  “I’d never expect you to.”

  She continued to stare up at him and he wondered what she wanted. Did she want him to make the first move? But he couldn’t. Not yet.

  Then she disappeared into the bathroom and he pulled out his phone to call his brother. Noah suspected her thirtieth birthday wish was to be married, but it didn’t make sense that she would care this much about a pact she and her friends made when they were kids. Other than Mitch, Libby had made no real attempt at a relationship. The goal of getting married by a set date didn’t fit her behavior over the last decade. He hoped Josh knew something that could help him understand what was going on with her.

  “I’m surprised to hear from you,” Josh said, sounding condescending. “Has something happened to Libby?”

  “Nothing has happened to Libby.” Noah tried to remind himself once again that he’d earned his brother’s distrust. “But I am calling about her.”

  “If this is about her driver’s license, Gram’s bringing it.”

  “Bringing it?”

  Josh laughed, but it sounded like he had something up his sleeve. “Megan’s grandma caught Libby’s bouquet when she tossed it while running to your car. Gram heard you were going to Vegas, so she decided to head there herself to find a man for a quickie wedding. In fact, she’s probably checking into Caesar’s Palace as we speak.”

  “And Megan’s mother let her?”

  “She may be in her seventies and she may be a bit eccentric, but she’s not senile. Knickers really couldn’t stop her,” Josh said. “Besides, when Megan realized she couldn’t be talked out of it, she convinced Gram to act as your chaperone.”

  “Our what?”

  “You don’t mind Gram hanging around, do you?” Noah heard the challenge in his brother’s voice. If Noah was up to no good with Megan’s friend, he wouldn’t have reason to protest. While Noah appreciated Gram’s eccentricity more than most people, he wasn’t sure he wanted her hanging around. Josh had him. “That works out for us. In fact, we’re checking in tonight instead of tomorrow. So she came by herself?”

  “No, believe it or not, she’s brought Garrett’s nana with her too.”

  “Oh, God.” Everyone knew they’d hit it off at Blair’s reception for the wedding that didn’t happen, but a trip to Vegas together? “How’d they arrange it so quickly?”

  “It’s Gram. That says it all. I’ll text you her number so you can arrange to meet her somewhere.”

  “Yeah,” he said absently. “Thanks.”

  “Now what were you calling about?”

  Noah hesitated, wondering how much to tell him. “Something’s going on with Libby. She’s not herself.”

  “Well, she did just dump a guy at the altar.”

  He shook his head, wondering how much to tell of what he knew. It only took him a millisecond to realize he didn’t want to break her trust. He’d play dumb. “No, that’s not it. It’s something else. Something bigger. She’s upset that she hasn’t reached some goal by her thirtieth birthday. Do you have any idea what it is?”

  Josh groaned. “It’s that stupid curse.”

  “Yes,” Noah said, getting excited. This sounded exactly like something that would motivate her. “When we talked about Libby getting married, you said something about a wedding curse. But you didn’t remember the details.”

  “That stupid curse and pact have been about the only thing Megan and Blair have talked about since the wedding.”

  Noah glanced toward the restroom door, wondering how much time he had left. “So enlighten me.”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure I should tell you anything. You should ask her yourself.”

  The bathroom door opened and Libby came out, but she stopped to say something to a little girl who was walking out with her mother. Noah started to panic. He hadn’t learned anything. “Josh! What about the curse? This is important.”

  “They all made a pact when they were girls. Megan and Blair didn’t even remember it, let alone take the curse part seriously.”

  Libby was heading toward him now. “The pact is the curse?”

  “No. The pact was that they were all supposed to be married by thirty. A fortune teller cursed them. She told them their weddings would be a disaster and each of them would end up marrying someone else. The person they were destined to marry.”

  “Thanks.” He hung up, still dazed as he watched her make her way to him.

  Libby had asked Mitch to marry her. She’d tried to set the curse in motion. But whom had she wanted to marry instead? Could it be him? But maybe not. Blair had broken up with Garrett years before her wedding to Neil, and Megan hadn’t even met Josh until the week of her wedding. Both men had needed to convince their now-wives that they were meant to be together.

  Libby stopped in front of him and a smile lit up her face.

  And suddenly, Noah had hope they could work out after all.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Libby practically shrieked with happiness when Noah told her the news about Gram. “So Gram’s really coming to Vegas?” she asked as they walked toward the car. “And Garrett’s nana too?”

  “That’s what Josh said . . .”

  Libby heard the hesitation in his voice, not that she blamed him. While Noah seemed to love Gram, the older woman was always trying to talk him into being her nude model in her senior citizens’ art class. Lord only knew how wild she might get in Vegas. But Libby was thrilled she was coming. After Libby’s abuela died when she was seven, Gram became a loving substitute grandmother. Libby was just as fond of the older woman.

  “Knowing Gram, she won’t be that tired when she gets there. I bet she’ll want to do something tonight.”

  Noah turned to face her as he opened the passenger door of the car. He seemed to be studying her more intently than usual. “You’re really happy about this, aren’t you?”

  His question surprised her. “You aren’t?”

  He shook his head. “This isn’t about me, Lib. It’s about you.”

  “No, it’s about both of us, right? It’s our road trip.” Libby was surprised to discover she meant it. She was willing to give in to Noah’s wishes—without resentment—if being with Gram wasn’t what he wanted.

  A smile spread across his face. “You know I love Gram, and it’s a riot to watch her and Nana Ruby together. They’re like the Geritol Odd Couple. It’ll be fun.”

  “Are you sure?” He sounded convincing, which should have been enough. Noah McMillan never did anything he didn’t want to do. But she wanted to be certain.

  The wind gusted and blew her hair into her face again, and Noah reached up and brushed it aside. The touch of his fingertips on her cheek shot lust straight to her core, but something else warmed inside her, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it. She stuffed it down along with her rising libido.

  “I’m very sure. How about we see if they even want to hang out with us. For all we know, Megan an
d Knickers concocted this whole thing for us to be their chaperones, and they’ll try to ditch us.”

  She laughed and couldn’t stop herself from throwing her arms around his neck. “You’re brilliant.”

  He held her close. “Just tell my brother that.”

  “Surely he knows by now.”

  But he didn’t answer, and when she looked up at him, he just flashed her a smile. “We have two silver foxes waiting for us at Caesar’s Palace, ready to have a good time. We can’t leave them hanging for too long, can we?”

  “I love you,” she said jovially as she climbed into the car. “You’re amazing.”

  Noah stood beside the open door for a couple of seconds as if frozen in place, then teased, “That’s me. Amazing. I wish more people would recognize that.” He shut her door and moved around to get into the driver’s seat.

  She was excited to see Gram, not to mention the no-nonsense Nana Ruby, but the sun had set and her early funk had worn her out emotionally. She closed her eyes and let the lull of the car soothe her jagged nerves. It hardly surprised her that her thoughts immediately went to Noah.

  Libby was glad he’d told her about his father—it explained so much about him. A part of her longed to make a confession of her own, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him about her childhood. She couldn’t place her finger on the reason for that hesitation, which upset and confused her. She had no doubt Noah would be just as understanding of her situation as she had been of his. But she couldn’t let it out of the lock-box of memories. It was something she hadn’t even shared with Megan and Blair, and she’d known them since kindergarten.

  She was still lost in thought when Noah touched her shoulder.

  “Libby, we’re here.”

  She blinked in surprise. “Where?”

  “Caesar’s Palace.”

  “What? How’d we get here so fast?”

  “You fell asleep.”

  “But I wanted to see Vegas!”

  He laughed. “Trust me, you can see as much of it as you want. But not in this car. While you slept, I made arrangements to drop it off here at the hotel. Which means we have to get all of our things out.”

  That wouldn’t be too hard considering everything she had with her was either on her person, in Noah’s suitcase, or stuffed in a clear trash bag. “You know we’re going to have to carry a wedding dress stuffed in a trash bag through the hotel?” she asked, reaching for the door handle.

  “Hey, it’s Vegas. I doubt anyone will even notice this time.”

  He had a point. She got out of the car and waited while Noah talked to the rental car attendant. When she reached into the trunk for the bag with the wedding dress, Noah—still talking to the agent—moved toward her and handed her a gray garment bag with the name of a tux rental place in bold letters.

  He really had brought a tux. Why had she questioned him before? Noah and Libby bullshitted the rest of the world, but they were always real with each other.

  He grabbed his carry-on bag and the trash bag and flashed her a smile. “Let’s go.”

  She followed him down several long halls until they entered a large marble-clad foyer with a giant statue in the middle. Noah checked his phone, then handed it to Libby. “Josh texted me Gram’s number. Why don’t you call her and tell her we’re here? Maybe we can meet up with them somewhere. If nothing else, you can get your ID.”

  She took the phone and wandered closer to the statue, staring up at the painted ceiling. It surprised her that Noah had picked this place with its grand extravagance. He seemed more like a Bellagio guy. Gram answered on the first ring.

  “So you ran off with my Libby, did you?” she asked with a chuckle.

  Her chest warmed at the sound of Gram’s voice. “Gram, it’s me. The runnee herself. Libby.”

  “Libby, my girl. Did you run off to Vegas to get married, too?”

  “Too? Who’s getting married in Vegas?”

  “Me, of course. I caught your bouquet.” Then the older woman grumbled. “Ruby, stop getting your panties in a wad. If I want to get married, I’ll damn well do it.”

  Good Lord. Even Gram—a seventy-something-year-old woman—was having better luck in the love department than she was. Noah hadn’t mentioned this part of Gram’s plan. “I didn’t even know you were seeing someone.”

  “I’m not. I’m hoping to meet him here.”

  “In Vegas?”

  “It seems like a great place to start. After I snag him, I can take him to an Elvis wedding chapel before he changes his mind.”

  Libby grinned to herself. “Elvis? I didn’t know you were an Elvis fan, Gram.”

  “I’m not, but going through a drive-thru chapel seems tacky.”

  Libby chuckled. “I won’t argue with you there. Noah said you brought my driver’s license?”

  “I brought more than that, my girl. Why don’t you come up so I can show you?”

  Libby laughed. “That sounds like a bad pick-up line, Gram.”

  “Maybe I’m trying to help you get picked up. I’m in room 1835 and you better get up here soon. Don’t bring Noah.”

  That caught her off guard. “Why not?”

  The older woman laughed. “I don’t think you want him seeing some of it.” Her voice was muffled when she spoke again. “Ruby, give it a rest!”

  Libby had no idea what Gram could have brought that she wouldn’t want Noah to see—but it couldn’t be good. Especially if it had something to do with “getting picked up.” “Noah’s checking in now. I’ll come up to see you and then meet him in our room.”

  “Perfect. I’ll see you in a few minutes. And on second thought, bring that boy up with you after all. I need to see if he looks just as good as the last time I saw him at Blair’s wedding. I’ve been talking him up to my sculpting class.”

  Noah was walking toward her as she hung up, trailing his suitcase and the trash bag stuffed with her wedding dress. A few people gave him strange looks, but for the most part, everyone ignored them. “You get a hold of her?”

  “Yeah, she’s in room 1835 and she’s up to no good.”

  He laughed. “It’s Gram. That’s a given.”

  “She says she’s brought”—she made air quotes—“more than my license. At first she told me not bring you, but she changed her mind.”

  His grin spread wider. “That does sound like trouble.”

  “Especially since the main reason she wants you there is so she can make sure you look as good as you did at Blair’s wedding. I suspect she’s about to proposition you to sit for her sculpting class this time.”

  He burst out laughing. “That old woman is bound and determined to see my bare ass. Perhaps I should just drop my pants and show it to her.”

  Gram isn’t the only one who wouldn’t mind seeing your bare ass sprang into her mind out of nowhere. What in the world was wrong with her? If she couldn’t control her raging hormones, she might have to ask to sleep in the grandmothers’ room.

  “How about we go up to Gram’s room first and get your surprise? Then we can drop everything off at our room.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Noah was quiet in the elevator, but Libby wasn’t feeling very talkative herself. She realized things were about to change. It had been easy to pretend the outside world didn’t exist when it was just her and Noah.

  Perhaps Noah felt the same way and that’s why he’d reacted so strangely to the news that the older women were crashing their party.

  But before she knew it, she was knocking on the door to Gram’s room, and as soon as Gram answered the door, any hesitation fell away. “I’m so glad you didn’t marry that giant teddy bear,” Gram squealed, pulling her into a hug. “That boy wasn’t the man for you.”

  Libby hugged her back, instantly feeling better. “Turns out you were one of the few people who thought that way. Noah was against it from the moment I told him.”

  Gram chuckled as she stepped back and pinned her gaze on Noah. “Of course he was. He’s in—�
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  “Standing right here,” Noah quickly interrupted, putting a hand on Libby’s shoulder. “And I’m eager to hit some blackjack tables, so how about we grab Libby’s things, drop our things off at our room, and then the four of us can head out?”

  Gram’s gaze narrowed on him. “Impatient, are you? I didn’t take you for a gambler, Noah McMillan.”

  “Sometimes you have to play the hand you were dealt,” Noah responded.

  “As long as you don’t fold too soon,” Gram winked.

  Libby looked back and forth between the two, wrinkling her nose in confusion. “What are you two talking about?”

  Noah flashed her a tight grin. “Nothing.” Then he returned his attention to Gram. “You up for blackjack?”

  Gram shook her head. “You two will have to hit the tables without us. We’re about to head out to see a show.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad,” Noah murmured, half-heartedly. “What are you seeing?”

  Gram scowled and waved her hand. “Some old geezers’ rock group Ruby wants to see. I hope they put enough denture adhesive in this time. Last night they spat their dentures out onto the stage. It was all over Twitter.”

  “You try singing a vibrato like that without spitting out your dentures,” an older woman’s voice shouted from inside the room. “And that wasn’t a rhetorical question.”

  Gram looked over her shoulder. “It wasn’t a question at all!” She turned back to Libby and Noah, shaking her head. “We’ll do what she wants tonight and what I want tomorrow.” She had a wicked look in her eyes and Libby wondered if Nana Ruby knew what she was getting herself into.

  “I heard that!” the older woman, who could only be Nana Ruby, shouted.

  “Then how about after the show?” Noah asked.

  “After the show, I’m goin’ to bed,” Nana Ruby called out from behind Gram. “And let those poor kids in, Maude. They’ve been drivin’ all day.”

  Gram ushered them into the spacious room with two beds. As soon as she caught sight of Nana Ruby, sitting on the edge of one of the beds in a sparkly shirt and a pair of jeans, Libby’s mouth dropped open.

  “I told you this shirt was a bad idea,” Nana Ruby grumbled, getting to her orthopedic-shoe-covered feet.