Page 55 of The Husband Contract

"No worries," he says, giving me a sideways glance. "I’ll let you keep your millions."

"Yeah, thanks," I say, laughing. "Funny."

We head inside to a room to the right of us, and he guides me over to a table. We take two seats.

"Hi, we’d like to cash in, please," he says to the croupier standing in front of us.

"Sure. Money on the table, please."

I put my cash on the table and look around. The room is loud, and there are many people gambling—some concentrating on the cards in their hands, others flirting with people at their tables, and many just drinking. A lady walks up to us with a small smile in a very tight top. "Hi, welcome to the Bellagio. Would you like something to drink?"

Sebastian answers and nods toward me. "What would you like, Willow?"

"A Coke, please."

"Sure, and for you, sir?"

"I’ll have a gin and tonic," he says.

"I’ll be right back."

"Isn’t she going to ask for a card?" I ask him, and he just shakes his head.

"The drinks are free when you gamble."

"Oh, wow," I say, my eyes widening. “I’m shocked that they would give away drinks for free.”

"They make it back by all the money that we lose," he says.

"Oh. I don’t know what to say to that." My heart sinks as the croupier gives me my chips, and I really hope that I don’t lose them.

"Fifteen-dollar buy-in," the dealer says, and I place my chips forward. Fifteen dollars seems like a lot of money, but I’m not going to say anything.

"Well, let’s make some money.” I smile at Sebastian, and he chuckles.

He pulls out a couple of hundred dollars and gets his own chips. We play a couple of rounds, and I realize that even though the game of blackjack is quite simple, it’s really hard to get twenty-one—and it’s really hard to beat thedealer. Within ten minutes, I’ve lost all my money, and I think I’m going to hyperventilate. I feel like I’m going to throw up. I’ve never wasted so much money so quickly. Money that could have been used for my hotel. I feel guilty.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sebastian leans forward and touches me on the shoulder. "Your face is pale. Shall we get you some water?"

"I’m okay. I’m just surprised that I lost all my money so quickly." My voice cracks. "We weren’t even playing for an hour."

"It’s okay. What did you have, like three hundred dollars?"

He looks confused. He wouldn’t understand why losing any money would be a big deal.

"It was less than that," I say, licking my lips. "Can we go to the room? I’d like to splash my face with some water and just relax for a little bit. Maybe I’m just a little tired from the flight."

"Sure," he says, jumping up. He grabs my hand, and we head toward the elevator.

"Oh no," I say, stopping dead. "I forgot—we didn’t get our drinks yet. Will she be mad at us? Oh my gosh, I feel so bad. We can go back if you think we should wait."

"It’s okay," he says. "She can give them to someone else. Come on."

He pulls me toward him and rubs my shoulders. "You look really upset, Willow. I can tell by the way your eyes don’t have that light in them that something’s wrong. Please, tell me."

"I guess I just didn’t expect to lose my money so quickly. I mean, it was fun, but?—"

"How much did you lose?" He frowns. "Did I miss something?"