Call Me Sugar

by Sage Nyx

  “Showtime,” she leans over and whispers into my ear. “Do your stuff.”

  I begin playing with small amounts of money while Natasha talks nonstop about nothing. This is only a test, not the real thing. We’re only here to see if the video recording works.

  Casino walls are unusually thick and solid which can prevent reliable cell phone transmission. If the signal drops, then the video won’t electronically transmit fast enough back to my computer.

  I hit the spin button over and over, feeding the machine with small bills. The minimum number of spins needed to locate the coding location in the computer program is twenty, though forty would be more accurate.

  “I’m feeling lucky tonight,” I tell Natasha after a few minutes of steady play. “Do you have any more money?”

  This is the signal for Natasha to reach into her dainty purse for cash, while discreetly checking her cell phone tucked inside. She quickly scans the text from Eva, confirming the video recording is uploading to my laptop precisely as planned.

  “Sure,” she says, handing me another bill. “Will another twenty do it?”

  “Twenty is plenty,” I reply, unable to resist a sly grin back at her.

  The program is working perfectly. There’s no stopping us now. The adrenaline is thumping through my blood veins and I keep playing.

  We’re up to thirty spins. Ten more to go.

  I’ve set up the program on my laptop to buzz the phone in my purse to alert me exactly when to hit the spin button for a win.

  It’s crazy that I originally thought someone would need to memorize the twenty characters on each spin. Once I had the machine’s source code, all we needed was a hidden camera and a cell phone to communicate back and forth with my laptop for the plan to work.

  I’ve programmed everything to run remotely, so Eva doesn’t have to do anything technical except make sure the video recording is uploading without interference.

  I tug back the zipper on my shiny gold purse and slide my left hand inside. The instant the cell phone buzzes with the signal, I’ll have less than a quarter of a second to hit the spin button with my right hand for a win.

  My hand hovers right over the spin button, impatiently waiting.

  Any moment now the signal will come, and we’ll know if the program is working.

  “Oh no!” Natasha blurts out in her normal Russian accent.

  “What’s wrong?” I turn around to see where she’s pointing.

  “It’s the magic man and the cat man,” she says. “They’re coming our way.”

  Sugar

  I can’t believe my eyes.

  Jade is on the other side of the crowded Bora Bora Casino, playing the slots. Her flashy gold dress caught my attention, and I quickly did a double take.

  There’s no doubt it’s her.

  She’s stunning in her tight, shimmery gold dress. Her long hair is pulled up into a sophisticated hairstyle with a few soft curls hanging down.

  Why is she dressed up for a wild night on the town? And where did her blonde companion come from?

  Picking up my pace, I rush toward her across the packed casino.

  “Hey! What’s up with the speed-walking?” my friend, Kit calls out. “Dammit Sugar! Slow down. The building isn’t on fire.”

  He’s following close behind me trying to keep up. It’s difficult since he’s walking one of his rare, white Bengal tigers on a short leash beside him.

  The crowd of casino guests clears quickly when they see us coming through. It’s not as if they could miss spotting Kit. A shirtless, muscled man in black leather pants walking a tiger doesn’t escape anyone’s attention.

  Kit’s security personnel are rushing ahead of us, waving their arms and warning the guests to keep a wide berth to prevent them from getting too close to the tiger. It’s always amazing to me how many people think they can reach out to pet Kit’s tigers like they’re fluffy Persian kittens.

  “Sorry,” I say to him over my shoulder, slowing down slightly. “I forgot about your kitty there for a minute. I take it she doesn’t like to be rushed on her walks?”

  Sometimes it’s easy to forget we’re not ordinary guys, doing regular things. We can’t go running through a casino full of guests with a wild tiger in tow. Kit’s cats get excited easily, which might have disastrous results if he’s not careful. A tiger mauling would be bad for publicity.

  I’d stopped by the Bora Bora a few minutes earlier trying to catch Kit before his show. My dove, Elsa was acting a little weird, and I was hoping he would have some insight into her behavior. It’s convenient having a top-notch animal trainer as one of my best friends.

  We didn’t have enough time to talk backstage, and he’d suggested that I walk with him on his nightly pre-show stroll with the tiger around the hotel’s casino.

  “What’s the hurry?” Kit asks, catching up to me. “You got a plane to catch in the next five minutes?”

  “There’s the girl I’ve been searching for the past few days,” I tell him, motioning across the room towards Jade.

  “Whoa,” he says, his interest immediately perking up. “The one with the long, blonde hair? Hot damn! No wonder you’re sprinting to get over there.”

  “No, not her. Jade is the other one in the gold dress.”

  “Who’s the blonde then?” Kit asks.

  “No clue,” I answer. “That’s a good fucking question. I’ve never seen her before in my life. Jade told me she was in Vegas alone. I’m surprised to see her hanging out with someone else.” I give Kit a curious glance. “Why are you asking about the blonde?”

  I’ve never known Kit to show much interest in women. I knew he was a hit with the ladies, but he’s introduced none of his female friends to me or Vulcan. The numerous animals on his huge ranch outside of Vegas always come first, with personal relationships taking a far second.

  Whenever we tease him about it, he always says he doesn’t have time for pussy.

  At least not the human kind.

  “What man wouldn’t be interested?” he admits with a wide grin. “Be a good friend and introduce me. Something about her seems familiar though. I swear, I’ve seen her in Vegas before.”

  “I will, once I find out who the hell she is.”

  A crowd gathers around us as people spot Kit and the tiger, blocking our way and impeding my attempt to get to Jade.

  “Fuck!” I mutter softly underneath my breath when several guests ask the security guards if they can take selfies with us. I made a mistake by not bringing Leroy with me.

  I rarely turn down my fans’ requests for autographs. They put me where I am today, and I’ll never forget it or take them for granted. But all I want right this minute is to grab Jade before she runs off again. I’m afraid to take my eyes off her for an instant in case she slips away. Making that mistake once before was enough.

  I smile patiently and stand for an endless line of photos. Eventually the security guards wave the crowd away and we break free.

  “Jade!” I call out when we get closer to the two women. “What are you doing here? I’ve hunted all over Vegas for you!”

  Both girls whirl around on their stools to stare at us with unmistakable dread in their eyes.

  Not exactly the welcome I was hoping for.

  “They’re not happy to see us,” Kit mutters under his breath.

  “No, apparently not.”

  “What the hell did you do this time?”

  “Nothing,” I reply. “I swear.”

  “Could’ve fooled me,” he says, unconvinced.

  “Whatever it is, I’ll fix it. Don’t worry.”

  When I reach Jade’s side, I lean down to tuck one of the loose strands of hair floating around her face back behind her ear. I’m tempted to take her in my arms for a long, deep kiss and ask her the one question I need an answer to.

  Why did you leave me without a word?

  My fingers trail down her neck and linger on the warm, bare skin of her shoulder.

  She glances
up at me and manages a tight smile. “Hey, Sugar,” she says, her voice so soft I can barely hear it above the busy sounds of the casino. She’s uncomfortable and anxious with her eyes giving away every conflicting emotion.

  “You’re not wearing your glasses,” I blurt out. “Can you see without them?”

  I distinctively remember her saying that she can’t see shit without her eyeglasses. The appeal of the big black frames she wears has slowly grown on me. At first, I found them geeky and weird. Now I think they’re sexy.

  “Not really.” She lets out a self-conscious laugh. “Everything three feet or more away from me is a fuzzy blur. I didn’t see you coming until you yelled.”

  Sure, she didn’t.

  “You’re beautiful tonight,” I tell her, enjoying the slow blush warming her cheeks at the compliment. “What are you doing here? I was afraid you’d left Vegas already. I’m relieved to see you.”

  My fingers slide from her shoulder down to her bare back. I don’t ask why she left my hotel suite without a word. That’s a conversation we’ll need to have alone in private.

  “We’re having a girl’s night out,” she replies nonchalantly as if we don’t have major unfinished business between us. “I decided at the last minute to stay in town a couple more days. To try my luck one more time at the slots before I go back to Orlando.”

  “You were going to leave town without telling me?”

  Damn, she’s brutal.

  Jade doesn’t answer. She quickly darts a glance back over at the sparkling slot machine that clearly holds more appeal to her than I do.

  I’m striking out fast. Kit realizes it too. He grins and lifts an eyebrow at me. He’ll give me a hard time about this later.

  A troublesome thought suddenly occurs to me. Could Jade be hooked on gambling? Vegas is full of gambling addicts. They come for a weekend, become hooked and never leave.

  No, she’s too smart for that.

  I’m grasping for any explanation here. Trying to come up with an excuse to explain why she’s not interested in me. Maybe Leroy was right, and Jade was disappointed in my bedroom performance. If so, she could’ve fooled me.

  All kinds of crazy thoughts are running through my head.

  “Who’s your friend?” I ask politely, turning to the stunning woman perched on the other stool. “I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

  The woman glares at me with hostile blue eyes. She’s not happy for the interruption. What is her damn problem?

  “Can I buy you both another drink?” I ask, trying to smooth over whatever I did wrong to piss these women off. I don’t wait for their answer. I motion to a waitress walking by and point to their drinks for refills.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Jade says quickly. “I didn’t mean to be rude. Where are my manners? Sugar, this is Natasha,” she says in a polite introduction. “She’s a friend who invited me to go out tonight. Natasha, this is Sugar.”

  A friend she made in three days?

  Yeah, right.

  Jade doesn’t strike me as the social type who makes friends quickly and easily.

  Natasha gives me a cool nod of acknowledgement. “You’re Sugar, the magic man,” she says. “I’ve seen your billboards around town. They’re on every street corner.”

  “You’re from Vegas?” I’m surprised. “You live here?”

  Why would a local be hooking up with Jade for a girl’s night out? I can’t place her accent. It’s Russian or Eastern European.

  Either way, I’m not fond of Jade hanging around her. Something is suspicious about this whole situation.

  She might try to take advantage of Jade.

  Vegas is loaded with shysters.

  “Aren’t you going to introduce me?” Kit says from behind me. “I’m Kit.”

  He steps closer to Natasha and extends his hand for her to shake before she answers my question.

  “Yes, I know,” she replies, blatantly ignoring his outstretched hand. “The cat man. Cats, cats, cats. All the time. Nothing, but cats.”

  “That’s not exactly true,” Kit says, undeterred by her lack of enthusiasm. “I have a large variety of other animals on my ranch. Bears, peacocks, buffalo. But you’re right about my show. It only features tigers. And an occasional Grizzly bear.”

  Natasha isn’t impressed and doesn’t try to hide the fact. She crosses her long, shapely legs and takes a leisurely sip of her drink. Finding it empty, she lets out a disappointed sigh and stirs the ice cubes with a tiny plastic straw.

  Kit’s tiger has been patiently standing beside him until now. Becoming bored with our chit-chat, she opens her mouth in a massive yawn, showing a mouthful of sharp teeth, then stretches out on the carpeted casino floor beside him.

  Natasha doesn’t flinch or blink an eye when the tiger’s tail thumps restlessly against her shoe. She obviously doesn’t intimidate easily.

  “Does your pussy shed?” she asks Kit with a pointed glance down at the tiger.

  “Does yours?” he throws back at her with a grin. Natasha rolls her eyes, and he chuckles. “No, she doesn’t shed much for a four-hundred-pound tiger,” he adds.

  He leans down to tug the cat back up from the floor. The tiger resists and holds up one paw toward him like a big, cuddly kitten.

  “Come on now, Puffin,” he says firmly. “We don’t have time for this nonsense.”

  She yawns again and rolls over lazily onto her back for him to scratch her stomach.

  “I believe Puffin has settled in for a long winter’s nap,” I say with a wink over at Jade. She can’t hold back the small smile playing around her pink-tinted lips. “Mind if we join you ladies for a few minutes? Puffin doesn’t want to budge.”

  A panicked glance passes between the girls.

  What the fuck is that about?

  “Unless you have other plans?” I add quickly. “Are you meeting someone? I apologize if we’re interrupting something. We didn’t mean to disturb you.”

  Dammit!

  The realization slams into me. No wonder Jade is dolled up in her fancy dress and makeup.

  Jealousy grips my gut. The unfamiliar emotion coils and explodes inside me.

  “We have other plans,” Natasha says after another curious look passes between the women. “A girl’s night out clubbing. Perhaps another time?”

  My eyes widen in surprise and my mouth drops open. “Clubbing?” I echo with an incredulous laugh. “You go clubbing now, Jade? Wow, there’s a whole other side to you I haven’t seen.” I think for a moment and clap my hands together. “Okay, no problem. I can work with this. Listen up, ladies. I know a few exciting clubs we could go to. Vegas has several talented DJs. How about we pick you up after Kit’s show? We can go club crawling until the sun comes up. I’m always up for a good party. Right, Kit?”

  “Sure,” he says, still rubbing Puffin’s belly. “Sounds good to me. My show will be over by ten. It never runs too late because the tigers get grouchy if I keep them up past their bedtime.”

  Puffin yawns again and closes her eyes while still partially sprawled out on Natasha’s shoe.

  “Is it a date then?” I ask Jade. “Be out front by eleven and we’ll pick you up in the limo. I’ll call Leroy and tell him to ice down a bottle of champagne for us. Unless you would prefer to drink something else?”

  Jade doesn’t answer and instead cuts her eyes quickly back over to the slot machine.

  For fuck’s sake!

  I might as well be sweet-talking the elderly gentleman in an old grey tweed suit playing the slots behind us. Jade is not into me tonight.

  No way, no how.

  Maybe she never was, and that’s why she ran out on me.

  At least I’m not the only one striking out tonight. Not that it makes me feel any better.

  If I had to guess, I’d say Kit is wasting his time with Natasha too. The cool Euro-chick might be too much for any man to take on.

  “What do you say, ladies?” I ask again. “Are we on for later tonight? Let’s go have some fun.�
��

  Jade opens her mouth to turn me down. Before she can speak, an incessant buzzing noise comes from her purse, interrupting whatever she is about to say. An expression of sheer panic crosses her face.

  “What is in your purse?” I ask. “A bomb about to go off?”

  Jade

  Oh my God!

  Why now? I can’t believe our bad luck.

  My cell phone is vibrating underneath my hand tucked inside my purse. It’s the signal to hit the button on the slot machine.

  Now or never.

  I have less than a quarter of a second to hit the button for the payout. By the time the thought rushes through my mind, it’s too late.

  The test is over, and I’ve royally fucked up.

  There’s no choice but to pull the plug. The risk is too great to keep trying with the guys standing right beside us, watching our every move.

  Eva will be furious with me.

  So will Natasha, who’s glaring at Sugar like she wants to wrestle him to the ground and feed him limb-by-limb to the giant tiger.

  What is up with that tiger, anyway?

  She’s snoring away on Natasha’s foot like a fat tabby cat while my life is imploding before my eyes.

  What a damn disaster tonight has turned out to be.

  “It’s nothing,” I say to Sugar. “Just my cell phone. Probably my mom checking up on me.”

  I click my phone off to stop the buzzing and hit the cash out button on the slot machine. A paper barcoded ticket spits out showing a whopping seven dollars in winnings.

  Whoop-de-fucking-do.

  I’m not the emotional type or I might have a meltdown. All of our hard work and planning wiped out in two minutes by a coincidental run in with Sugar.

  Why the hell is he here?

  The Bora Bora is several blocks away from the Imperial Hotel. I never would’ve expected or planned for this. Out of all the casinos we picked, and he shows up at this one.

  Las Vegas is insane and too much for me to wrap my head around.