The Tycoon's Baby Revelation - Elizabeth Lennox Page 0,30
she took in all of the glamour of the casino. “It’s just…!” she paused and looked around. “I think I was too overwhelmed last night to really appreciate everything. But after lazing around by the pool all afternoon, I’m fully capable of recognizing the beauty of this room.”
Sloane reached over and hugged Pepper, then glanced over her shoulder at Josh, who watched them with his usual brotherly amusement.
As usual, Rayne was silent as she took everything in, standing still…well, “still” relative to Pepper who was practically vibrating with excitement. Rayne wasn’t bouncing, but anyone watching her would still see the excitement underneath her outwardly calm demeanor.
Rayne and Pepper couldn’t hide their excitement and Sloane couldn’t hide her happiness because her sisters were so excited at being here. She again looked for Josh. When he caught her eye, Sloane was startled at the blush that stole up her neck. A blush? How childish! And yet, she couldn’t seem to stop the red flush from stealing higher along her cheeks.
Looking away, she shifted on her feet, feeling foolish for letting him see how much he affected her. She was his boss! Sloane cursed herself for being so ridiculously foolish whenever he looked at her like that. Or when he did extravagant things such as taking her sisters to a fabulously beautiful country. He was…impossible!
“Sir,” a tuxedoed servant stepped up to Josh with a wooden box, which he opened with an elaborate flourish, revealing gambling chips.
“What’s going on?” Sloane asked, staring at the box of gambling chips. There were significantly more chips than what he’d played with last night.
“These are for you ladies,” Josh said as he took ten chips out of the box, handing them to Pepper, and doing the same for Rayne before trying to hand ten chips to Sloane, who pulled back.
“You’re giving us chips again?” Pepper asked, staring at the gambling chips in her hand with a stunned, wary expression.
“Yes. Go have fun and enjoy yourselves,” he told Pepper and Rayne.
They both stared back down at their hands filled with the square, heavy chips, then up at Josh. “How much are these worth?” Pepper dared to ask.
“They are one dollar chips,” he told them.
Pepper and Rayne visibly relaxed, their smiles brightening. “Cool! Ten dollars!”
They wandered off, diving into the crowds of beautifully dressed people, completely unaware of Sloane’s open-mouthed stare at Josh. But before she could stop them, Rayne and Pepper were gone, happily off to gamble with their “one dollar” chips.
“You lied!” Sloane gasped and turned to glare at Josh. Even the casino employee was a bit astonished, but he hid his reaction better, simply turning with a straight face and walking away, having done his job and probably heading into the servants area to announce the stunning lie one of their patrons told to the ladies in his group.
“What did I lie about?” Josh asked, chuckling at her outraged expression as he took her arm and pulled her to his side, out of the way of others on the main pathway from the casino and bar.
“This casino doesn’t have one dollar chips!” she hissed under her breath. To be honest, she felt a bit breathless with the way his hand lingered on her arm, sliding higher, then lower as he maneuvered them out of the way. It was all a repeat of last night and she was both excited and nervous about how close she wanted to get to him.
“Really?” he asked, lifting her hand and placing several chips in it. “How very silly of me.”
Sloane tried to push the chips back into his hand, but he wouldn’t let her. “You’re never silly, Josh! How much are those chips really worth?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just let them have fun. And you should do the same, Sloane,” he told her, putting a hand to the small of her back. “Just relax and enjoy the night.”
He stopped a passing waiter. “Champagne for the ladies and a whiskey for me.” The waiter nodded and turned, eagerly moving to obey Josh’s order.
Sloane glared up at Josh, not even going to ask how the waiter would know to bring champagne to Pepper and Rayne. A long time ago, she’d stopped trying to figure out how staff at these high end establishments knew things. They just knew.
“How much are these chips really worth?” she repeated.
He guided her over to the roulette table again. “Why don’t you find out?” he suggested as he placed a chip on one of the numbers. “I won with you