Free Mr. Right Now by Kristina Knight Page B

liked things old-fashioned.” Yeah, like screwing a guy she just met was old-fashioned. She was called Miss Romance, not Miss Goody-Two-Shoes. “Pulling the arm is half the fun.”
    She didn’t look at him, just kept pressing the Bet Credits button. “Using the arm will turn your palms black,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Using the button is more sanitary.” She punched the button one more time and three cherries rolled onto the screen.
    The credit counter started rolling and Mason looked at the read-out.
    “Oh, my God,” she said, sounding more annoyed than excited. “Aw, crap.”
    The credits rolled. They passed the four hundred mark and kept going up. Three cherries was the second-highest roll. She’d betted one credit with the roll, and would pull in a nice chunk of change. He pulled the arm and busted. The credits on her machine finally stopped at nine-hundred-fifty. Not bad.
    “This is just what I need,” she mumbled.
    Mason expected her to hit the Cash Out button. Instead, Casey increased her betting credits to three per spin. He shook his head.
    What a waste. He covered her hand with his, stopping her from throwing away her winnings.
    “What are you doing? You just won. You should cash out and change machines.”
    “I didn’t want to win,” she said, pulling her hand from his. When Mason lifted his hand from the button, Casey punched it and threw away three more credits. “I didn’t come down here to win money.”
    Now they were getting somewhere. She was still running away. From whatever made her run to him, and away from the party downstairs. Nate and whoever this new guy was.
    “So why did you come in here? Gambling is a pretty tough way to win, but if you wanted to throw money away you could’ve just tossed it overboard.”
    She returned her attention to the slot machine, pushing the button to throw more money back into the bandit.
    He didn’t think she would answer, but finally she said, “I just wanted to get away. Think.”
    “The only thing most people think about in a casino is winning money.”
    A slight smile crossed her face. “The noise and the repeated motion of betting help me clear my head. I felt like I was drowning, so I came here.”
    “To think.”
    She nodded and shrugged one shoulder. “It works for me.”
    Inhaling slowly, he wondered how noise and repetitive motion helped her think. Which brought him to the reason he followed her over here.
    “Why did you leave me exposed up on the deck?”
    “I didn’t.” She shook her head. “I covered you with your t-shirt. And I left the curtains closed.”
    “And I was still at half-mast.” Leaning toward her, Mason lowered his voice. “Little old ladies could have circled me and gone in for the kill.”
    Casey’s face went white before a blush heated her cheeks. “Whatever. Everyone was busy with the Vegas show and dinner. You weren’t sexually attacked by a roving band of little old ladies.”
    “But I could have been.”
    A chuckle escaped her. “Are you really afraid the Grandma Brigade would have made you their boy-toy?”
    He placed a hand on her thigh and, reaching around, turned her so she had to look at him. “I was more worried about why you left like that.”
    A white flash lit the casino, blinding Mason for a second. When he could see again, Casey was looking at him with terrified eyes. Her breathing was ragged and she gripped his left hand with hers.
    She jumped from the chair as if she needed to escape the gambling hall.
    “We have to get out of here.”
    When Mason remained in his seat, she tugged on his hand, urging him up.
    “We have to go,” she said as he rose to his feet. “ Now .”
    Mason had no choice but to follow her zigzagging route through the casino and out the back entrance.
     

 

     
    “What the hell are we running from?” Anger edged Mason’s voice. Casey supposed she couldn’t blame him. She’d yanked him from his slot machine when he still had money to lose. He