Betting On Love Read Free

Vegas with Jade, since anything they had would be just a fling.
    James hadn’t had the best of luck when it came to the opposite sex, ofttimes finding out that the woman he’d been courting had her sights set on his famous brother or that she thought he was just too nice. Rather than deal with the fickle whims of women who wouldn’t know how to handle a good man if he were standing in their face, James just focused on his career. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have fun, and that was just what anything he did with Jade this weekend would be.
    Reaching across the table, he stroked Jade’s hand softly. “So, tell me something. Why are you here with your girls and not your man?”
    She slid her hand from underneath his. “Who says I have a man?”
    James leaned back in his chair, cupping his chin and peering at her. “Well, you’re an incredibly beautiful woman, and some man would have to be a fool to let you stay single for too long.”
    â€œSmooth. If you want to know if I have a boyfriend, why don’t you just ask? And for the record, I just got out of a situation. It was pretty ugly, hence the Vegas vacation.”
    James nodded. “Those things are always ugly.”
    â€œSpoken like a true heartbreaker.”
    Shaking his head, he smiled. “I don’t break hearts, nor do I play games, so gambling isn’t my idea of fun at all.”
    â€œThen why are you here?” She took the glass of water in her hand and brought it to her lips, but didn’t sip. James couldn’t look away from her plump lips, nor could he shake the thought of having those lips against his as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
    â€œJames,” she breathed after lowering her glass.
    Blinking, he said, “I’m sorry. You were saying?”
    â€œIf you’re not a gambler, why did you come here?”
    â€œI needed a break, or at least that’s what my brother and his friends said.”
    â€œBreak from what?”
    â€œWork,” he said. “According to them, that’s all I do.”
    She nodded and smiled. “You’re sure that’s all you needed to get away from? There isn’t some stalker ex-girlfriend that’s going to jump out at us, is there?”
    James laughed hollowly. His brother had the market cornered on stalking exes. Lauryn Michaels had been convicted of attempted murder and aggravated assault after she’d shot Kenya. The incident had shaken him, as well as his brother and his brother’s wife, because for a while it didn’t look as if Kenya would walk again.
    Luckily, Lauryn had been sentenced to fifteen years in prison. James had never liked her, anyway, but he hadn’t known she was as crazy as she turned out to be.
    â€œNo, there’s no one lurking on my part. What about you?” he finally said.
    She smiled. “I wish,” she muttered. “I’ve been out west for three days, and my ex-boyfriend hasn’t even noticed. Then again, that would require the grinch’s heart to grow.”
    â€œOuch. So that’s where all the anger in the casino came from.”
    â€œUnfortunately, yes. I just don’t understand why he felt as if he could treat me like I’m his servant and expect me to continue to take it. Now that he has his new eye candy, he thinks that I’m going to allow him to keep the money I invested in what I thought was going to be our future, as if it’s okay that he left me for a plastic and collagen-injected Barbie doll.” Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, then opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on James. “That was more information than you wanted, wasn’t it?”
    â€œYes. I tell you what, why don’t we talk about something safer?”
    â€œLike?”
    â€œReligion and politics,” he joked.
    â€œDon’t get me wrong,” she said. “I can take rejection. It’s the lies and backstabbing