Page 5 of Hitting the Jackpot (Las Vegas Littles #4)

Lake

Placing Zeb carefully on the bench in front of his locker, Lake turned so he could get ready for his shift. Zeb had become a regular at the security desk for the club and everyone loved him. Not as much as Lake loved Zeb, but Lake was happy that Zeb had lots of new friends.

“Hey, Lake,” Carter one of the servers and pups said quietly as he entered the locker room.

“Hey, Carter!” Lake greeted. “Are you having a good day?”

Carter stopped and shook his head.

“Do you need a hug?” Lake offered.

Carter, like Lake, had family troubles. They both struggled with family members that didn’t accept them.

Lake opened his arms wide.

Carter made a soft sound before he dove for Lake. Lake wrapped his arms carefully but firmly around his friend. He rocked slightly as he held Carter. No words were needed. Lake understood that sometimes a hug could fix the cracks that family could cause.

Carter clung to him hard.

“Hey, Lake!” Jesse called as he entered the locker room. He froze when he spotted Lake and Carter hugging.

Carter yanked away from Lake.

“I’m sorry for interrupting,” Jesse told them.

“No, sir,” Carter said, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t have—”

“Hey.” Jesse walked forward with long, sure strides. He paused beside them. “Never apologizing for needing a hug or even taking a quiet moment.”

Carter shifted from foot to foot. With his gaze on the ground.

“And I have it on good authority that Lake gives the best hugs,” Jesse said with a wink.

Lake flushed, remembering the long hug that he and Jesse had shared after Jesse had walked Lake to his room the night that he’d been gifted Zeb.

“He does,” Carter agreed, looking up.

“I’m not too bad at hugs either,” Jesse said. “Or if you need someone to talk to.”

Carter nodded. “Thanks.”

Lake shook his head. He'd had a long talk with Remi and Dom about Jesse and Lake’s concerns about him.

It had been Remi who had given Lake the most to think about.

Dom’s advice was to go for it no matter what.

That had not been helpful. Remi had shared some of the struggles that he’d seen for Jesse.

Having money didn’t mean Jesse’s life was easy, according to Remi.

Also, Lake was surprised to find out that Jesse hadn’t always had money. He and his twin had struggled their entire lives. Neither man had even been able to afford college. Jesse had made his money from determination and hard work.

But having money now meant that Jesse found it hard to make real friends or even connect with people.

Lake had been watching Jesse interact with those around them. Jesse was amazing but his position made everyone else around him nervous. He stepped closer to Jesse to rest his cheek on Jesse’s arm. “Jesse does give good hugs too.” He wanted his friends to see how great Jesse truly was.

Carter’s eyes widened. “Yeah? But he’s the boss!”

Jesse sighed.

Lake was really starting to see where Jesse’s frustration came from. “Technically he’s not. When he’s at the club, he’s here as an advisor, Dom, and safe person.”

Carter blinked at him. “Really?”

Jesse nodded as he rubbed Lake’s back. “Yes.”

“Could I get a double hug?” Carter asked.

“Absolutely!” Lake tackle-hugged Carter before he nodded to Jesse.

Thank you , Jesse mouthed to Lake.

Lake smiled in return, feeling as if he wasn’t just helping Carter but Jesse as well.

Lake was proud of Jesse when he wrapped his arms around the two of them, holding them tight. He didn’t speak or demand answers. Jesse just held them until Carter began to giggle.

Carter’s happiness was contagious, and it wasn’t long until Lake was laughing as well.

Lake was a firm believer in never ending a hug first, so he waited until Carter pulled away.

“That was the best hug I’ve ever had,” Carter stated with a grin. “Thanks, guys.”

“Anytime!” Lake replied.

“What he said,” Jesse joked.

“I better get ready for work,” Carter told them.

“Find me if you need anything else,” Jesse said. He turned to Lake. “I just came in to ask if you would mind trading break times with Callie. Her girlfriend’s coming in to meet her for dinner, if it’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay.” Since Carter had gone to the other side of the room, Lake returned to his locker. Jesse stayed on his heels. “I never mind trading.”

“I didn’t think you’d have a problem with it,” Jesse said. “I overheard Callie and Mike talking, so I volunteered to ask you.”

Lake unlocked his locker and opened it up before removing his button-up.

“You look very beautiful tonight,” Jesse whispered. “Not that you don’t normally look good, but I love the eye makeup that you’ve been adding.”

Lake kept his head down but inside he was secretly pleased. He was getting better with the makeup and Dom was always there to help. “Thanks.”

“Anyway.” Jesse cleared his throat.

Lake glanced over his shoulder as he removed the button-up that hid his lace camisole he’d picked for the night.

Jesse was sitting on the bench with Zeb on his knee. Lake loved seeing Jesse with Zeb. Every night that Zeb had joined Lake on shift, Jesse had stopped by and greeted Zeb. It was silly but it meant more to Lake than he could ever say.

“What’s wrong?” Lake asked. Jesse wasn’t normally nervous around him.

Jesse looked up from where he was petting Zeb. “I was wondering since your break time is after my last conference call, if you’d join me for dinner? I could have it delivered to my office so you can eat and have time to relax.”

Before Lake could answer, Jesse kept talking.

“I know our date is for tomorrow, so if you would rather spend your break another way, please don’t feel obligated.”

“I don’t feel obligated.” Lake shuffled forward. “What do you think, Zeb? Dinner break with Jesse?” It felt so weird to use Jesse’s first name, but it was getting easier.

Jesse lifted Zeb up before making the stuffie nod.

Lake giggled. “It’s settled then.”

“Is there anything in particular you’d like tonight?” Jesse asked.

“Just…” Lake shrugged. “You know.”

“I do. How about something light and yummy?”

“Yes, please.” Lake was sort of curious about what Jesse would pick on his own. There were a lot of good restaurants that catered to the vegan lifestyle.

“This is for you. I had it made the other day, but this is the perfect time to give it to you.” Jesse held out a black keycard.

“What is it?” Lake took the card.

“That will get you into my private elevator and office. You can come up at any time,” Jesse replied.

“I have a key to the Batcave!” Lake gave a little wiggle. “Dom is gonna be so jealous!”

Jesse chuckled as he stood. “Well, I trust you not to leave googly eyes on all the office staff’s equipment.”

Oh! Lake had forgotten about that. Dom had even videotaped his sneaky trip to Jesse’s office. “I would never!”

“I know.” Jesse kissed Lake’s cheek. Oh! That was wonderful! “You are a good boy. Dom needs more time spent over his Daddy’s knee.”

Lake nodded in agreement, trying to ignore the tingling where Jesse’s lips had been.

“I’ll see you later then.” Jesse sat Zeb back on the bench. “You both be good.”

“We will!” Lake promised.

Once Jesse was out of the locker room, Lake picked up Zeb and twirled him around. Carter had left when he’d been talking, leaving Lake the entire locker room to himself. Well, him and Zeb. He danced along the bench, spinning and wiggling. They had a dinner date with Jesse!

That was so cool!

Normally Lake just ate whatever he packed for dinner. Remi loved to feed him. Lake didn’t think that Remi would be mad if he didn’t eat the food and spent the time with Jesse. Should he text Remi just in case?

Lake picked up his phone. There were no phones allowed in the club, so he had to lock it away until his break. He had a radio to communicate with the rest of the security team and his manager while on shift.

Noticing the time, Lake nearly panicked. He was late! Lake was never late to work. He hurried to stash everything in his locker except Zeb and raced toward the front.

“Hey! You’re fine. I asked Johnathon to watch the front until you came out,” Carter said, stopping him. “He was happy to help.”

Lake blew out a breath. Then another. The adrenaline made his pulse beat rapidly. It was okay. No one would be mad at him.

“Breathe for me,” Carter said. One hand gripping Lake’s bicep. “Johnathon said you’d covered for him last week when his mom was sick, and worked the floor during your break. He was grateful he could help you out even if it was for only a couple of minutes.”

Carter was right. Lake went out of his way to help his coworkers. Even though Lake didn’t enjoy working security on the floor as much as the front desk, he always stepped in when needed. Everyone needed help sometimes.

“Thanks.” Lake smiled and gave Carter a quick hug.

“We’ve got your back,” Carter said. “Always. Don’t forget that.”

Lake was a little confused by the sudden serious turn of Carter’s words but unless he wanted to be even later, then he couldn’t think about that now.

“Now go ahead. I’ll bring you a glass of water with extra lemons in a minute. “

“You’re the best!” Lake declared. He loved lemons!

“Go!” Carter waved him away.

This early there wasn’t much of a crowd. Still, it was Lake’s job to be at the front desk to make sure that no one who wasn’t a member or didn’t have an invitation didn’t get in. It was an important job.

He pulled the heavy glass door open before stepping behind the counter. Johnathon was scanning two membership cards through the system.

“Hey, Jimmy! Good evening, Master Ken,” Lake greeted the couple as he joined Johnathon.

“Evening, Lake,” Master Ken replied.

“There you are! I was worried when I didn’t see you!” Jimmy exclaimed dramatically.

“I told you that he would be right here,” Johnathon commented.

“You could have just been saying that to throw me off!” Jimmy explained. “What if he’d been abducted by aliens? You could be working for the aliens, you know.”