Split the Aces Page 4

  Singing during her sister’s wedding had been a big risk for Cori. It was her first public appearance, outside of her high school choir, and she’d insisted on positioning herself behind a screen, out of her father’s direct line of sight. At the time, he’d been angling for a promotion and wanted a string quartet to impress his boss, who loved classical music. For once Cori’s sister hadn’t bent to his overwhelming will. She’d asked Cori to sing and it had taken several hastily consumed glasses of rum to loosen her vocal cords that day.

  “That wedding was straight out of a fairytale.” Julie sighed. “When she walked down the aisle, I’ve never seen her happier.” There was a trace of sadness in her voice.

  “Yeah, she really loves him.”

  Even though Cori didn’t want to find a husband, a part of her was envious of her sister. Mari’s husband was singular in his devotion. The sun rose and set at Mari’s feet, as far as he was concerned. Cori wouldn’t mind finding someone like that to share her life with.

  “And that song, what was it?” Julie’s face wore a thoughtful expression. “‘Grow Old With Me’?”

  “Yes.” Their parents had fought against the classic John Lennon song for the processional, wanting a more traditional wedding march, but when the moment came the choice was perfect.

  “Beautiful.” Julie heaved a sigh.

  Refusing to join her on another sentimental contemplation of true love and all they were missing out on, Cori cast a searching look around the pool area for the hundredth time and took another long sip of her drink. She felt foolish, but she couldn’t keep herself from looking for Rae. Talk about her sister’s real-life happy ending made her crave Rae’s company even more. Rather than think about what that might mean, she struggled out of her lounger. “I’m getting another drink.”

  “Oh, no you don’t.” Julie leapt up with the grace of a sober ballerina and latched on to Cori’s arm. “You’ve got an audition to go to. Let’s go.”

  The sight of Rae inside the casino, dressed in her work uniform and striding purposefully toward the tables, stopped Cori’s protest before it could solidify. Her mouth was instantly cotton-dry as she followed Julie through the crush of people and felt-covered tables. Ahead of them, Rae moved with precision and strength. Her body showed none of the tension and confusion Cori was struggling with. Cori’s mind raced through a thousand reasons to just walk up to her. No matter what excuse she fabricated, the scenario ended one of two ways in her head: With them naked, rolling around on the floor, gamblers be damned. Or with Rae blinking at her in confusion, their encounter forgotten in the bright light of day.

  Both options would bring her to her knees, and she wasn’t prepared for either outcome. She let Julie drag her along, not quite registering where they were going until they stopped outside the club entrance.

  “You here to audition?” asked a blonde whose outfit and demeanor said she was trying for rock chic but had only achieved rock wannabe.

  “She is.” Julie pushed Cori forward before she could object.

  “Okay, here’s your number.” The wannabe exposed an adhesive strip and started to affix a slip of paper to Cori’s midsection. She stopped short when she realized she was dealing with bare flesh. Cori was wearing a two-piece bathing suit. “Uh, where do you want it?”

  “I’ll take it,” Julie said.

  “Right.” The blonde looked confused, like this slight break in her routine set her impossibly off track. “So, fill this out.” She held up a form, wavering between Cori and Julie, and after a slight pause, handed it to Julie, also. “And here’s the song list. Pick out a few you’re comfortable with and return everything to me when you’re done.”

  Julie tugged Cori deeper into the club. “You fill this out. I’m going to get you something to wear. Be right back.” She shoved the papers into Cori’s hands.

  “This isn’t a good idea,” Cori said.

  “Why not? At the very least, you sing better than her.” Julie gestured toward the woman currently on the stage mutilating an old Elton John song.

  Cori winced. “I’m not sure that qualifies as singing.”

  “Pick out your songs, and I’ll be right back.” Julie finished the sentence over her shoulder as she walked away. That was how she ended most disagreements. She simply went forward with her plans without giving the other person a chance to interject.

  Cori hesitated, wondering if she could do this. Why not? They were here and Julie wasn’t going to leave her alone until she sang something. Cori completed the paperwork, made her song selections, and turned everything in. Then she settled against the bar and waited for someone to call her number.

  Chapter Five

  Rae lit her cigarette as she stepped through the door to the club. She only had a few minutes until the end of her lunch break, but she wanted to check on the auditions and see how her friends were doing with their search for a new singer.

  “Hey, El, find anyone yet?” she asked the band’s manager.

  Ellen nodded toward the stage. “She’s pretty good.”

  Rae was surprised to see Cori under the spotlight listening closely to what Kel was saying from behind her drums. “Really?”

  “Yeah. They’ve dismissed most everybody after a verse or two, but they’ve kept her up there for a while.”

  The house lights were up, so the spotlight wouldn’t obscure the rest of the room from view, but Rae doubted Cori would be able to see her. She leaned against the wall, next to Ellen, and just watched.

  Cori wrapped her hands around the mic, loose and easy. Rather than waiting for Kel to count the song in, she sang the refrain of Nina Simone’s “Since I Fell for You” a cappella. Her voice resonated through Rae like the soothing burn of good whiskey and brought the hair on her arms and neck to attention. After two full beats of silence, Kel crashed in on the drums, dragging the guitarists along for the hard, driving ride. The band forced the silky-smooth soul song up tempo and added a bastardized punk brashness.

  Cori stayed with them, her dark, textured voice pulsing from sorrow to rage. Her harsh passion left Rae breathless and unable to think beyond a throbbing need for more. When the song ended, the room felt like a vacuum, all the sound sucked from the air. Rae’s heart raced, beating against her chest. A wild, heady need for Cori coursed through her body.

  Noises began to filter back into the room, the clink of glasses at the bar, the low murmur of other hopefuls waiting to audition, the steady scratch of Ellen’s pen on paper. Rae clutched at the smooth surface of the wall, trying to catch her breath. She looked around, wondering if Cori had had the same effect on everyone, or just on her. The others appeared to have enjoyed the song, but no one seemed as wrung by it as she was. She glanced over Ellen’s shoulder. The notes she’d written about the performance were complimentary, but nothing there indicated that the experience was soul shattering.

  Somehow Cori’s voice brought Rae to her knees and left her wanting more. Images flooded her mind. Cori, legs spread, teasing her clit to hard attention. Rae wanted to hear her moan—no, scream—through her orgasm with the same pounding emotion she’d poured into the song. She couldn’t shake the urge to approach Cori and touch her. With a shock of dismay, she watched Cori move closer to Kel as they talked about the performance. Here she was, auditioning for the band. Did that mean she was entertaining the thought of staying in Vegas, of stepping into Rae’s world instead of kissing her good-bye? That would change everything.

  Rae needed to sit down. Her flings didn’t stay. They left with kisses as sweet as they were mercifully final. Good-bye, have a nice life was the message, not Hello, which side of the closet is mine? Stumbling to the nearest chair, Rae tried to remember where Cori was from. Had she even asked? Probably not, and maybe she wasn’t serious about the audition, anyway. Maybe people had told her she could sing, and she wanted to find out for sure. She would leave, happy with the endorsement.

  Rae wished she could hear what Kel was saying. She didn’t need a degree in rocket s
cience to read the intensity in each woman’s expression. Kel might not be offering her the gig, but she was giving her reason to think she had a good chance, that much was obvious from the thrilled disbelief on Cori’s face. Rae could hardly believe it. She made a conscious effort to step back from her feelings and take a positive view.

  Cori was talented, and deserved the offer. Adding her would change the look and appeal of the band. Nikki was a Nordic goddess, tall and big-boned, with blond hair, fake tan, and blue eyes that penetrated across a smoke-filled bar. Cori was all curves, her eyes so dark and tempting you could fall into them and never find a way out. Nikki was new Vegas flash and Cori was old Vegas torch. She was the real thing, pure neon inspiration, and perfect. Rae wanted to feast on her for days.

  Days, she repeated mentally.

  While Cori remained in the realm of unfulfilled possibility, Rae was in familiar territory. But if she moved to Vegas, all bets were off. Cori would be potential relationship material. Rae gave her a long look. Why the sudden urge to relocate? Her pulse raced. Perspiration rose around her hairline. Surely Cori wasn’t one of those women who thought one hot night meant marriage.

  She took one last shaky drag on her Camel and crushed it out. “I have to get back to work,” she told Ellen.

  She would look for Cori later and casually ask how the audition went. If she was lucky, Cori might even give her a private concert in her room. And if the topic of her move to Vegas came up, Rae would play it cool. She could hear herself: Sure, why not. Hey, you and I could even hook up again sometime…

  *

  Cori left the audition feeling wrung out. She hadn’t worked that hard at singing since she graduated and left her high school choir behind, along with her crush on the teacher.

  Julie bounced with enthusiasm. “Oh, wow. I’ll have a place to stay the next time I come to Vegas.”

  “Not so fast,” Cori said. “I’m not moving.”

  There was no way she was going to leave Seattle and move to the desert. The whole notion was absurd. Her family, her career, hell, her life was in Washington. She couldn’t just pack up and leave everything behind. Could she? Besides, Kel had given her some flattering compliments, but she hadn’t offered her the spot.

  “Why not?” Julie asked. “What’s to stop you?”

  “I’m not having this conversation.” The effect of the drinks she’d enjoyed earlier by the pool had faded, leaving her sober and a little irritated that she’d wasted the afternoon chasing an impossible dream. She spotted Rae working one of the tables and started in that direction. Rae would probably tell her to get lost, but Cori couldn’t stop herself. She wanted to see her again.

  “I’m going to say hi to Rae.” She smiled at Julie to soften her next sentence. “I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

  “You’re ditching me?”

  Both hands on her hips, Julie looked like a little kid about to stomp her foot. But her whining dropped out of focus, becoming nothing more than loud background noise, when Rae looked up and met Cori’s gaze. Cori gave her a finger wave, the kind obnoxious straight girls gave their boyfriends when they were trying to be demure. She immediately wished she could take it back. Maybe the alcohol hadn’t worn off completely, after all.

  She slipped into an empty seat at Rae’s table. “Hi.”

  “You going to play a hand?”

  Cori glanced at the placard on the front of the table. Fifty-dollar buy-in. “No.” She stood hastily. “I just wanted to say hi.”

  “I’m on my break in a few minutes. Hang around for a bit?”

  Cori wanted to do celebratory back flips but settled for saying, “Yeah. I’ll be over there.” She motioned toward the slots.

  Slot machines held little appeal for her. Put a dollar in, pull a handle. Put another dollar in, pull a handle. Hell, with the newer machines, there wasn’t even a handle, just a big plastic button. In her experience, the amount of money that came out of the machine didn’t come close to the amount that went in. Still, she couldn’t just sit there and do nothing, so she gave it a whirl. Five dollars and about thirty seconds later, her original opinion was confirmed.

  “Not nearly as much fun as blackjack, is it?” Rae whispered in her ear.

  A cascade of goose bumps rolled down Cori’s body. “No,” she mumbled, and Rae’s arms closed around her waist from behind, drawing her near.

  “I have some extra time. My friend Tami is going to miss her break so she can cover. Come with me?”

  “God, yes.” Cori wanted to drag Rae up to her room but knew there wasn’t time.

  She laced her fingers into Rae’s and let herself be led to a door labeled Staff Only. The dimly lit room they entered was filled with old slot machines. Not her idea of a perfect place for a romantic interlude, but it would have to do.

  From behind her, Rae nuzzled her neck. “I missed you today.”

  Cori dropped her head to the side, inviting Rae’s mouth to sizzle across the sensitive skin just below her ear. “Yeah?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  The night before, Cori had held herself open to Rae, vulnerable and pleading. Today she needed more, she needed to know her. With a growl, she stepped away from Rae and twisted in her arms. “It’s my turn.”

  She pushed her body against Rae’s, imprinting her will through the layers of clothing and the slow grind of her hips, until she felt Rae impact against the closed door with a soft thud.

  “God, I want you.” Cori’s words died against Rae’s mouth, in a tangle of tongues, lips, and the sharp edge of teeth.

  Rae tightened her grip and Cori thought for a moment that she was going to hold her at bay, then she relaxed, her arms falling to her sides in surrender. “I’m yours.”

  For how long? Cori choked back the question, unwilling to ask for more than she would be granted. She worked her hands between them, palms flat against Rae’s abdomen. She forced herself to go slow, to focus on Rae. A slight tremor stirred beneath her hands, the pulse beating fast just below Rae’s jawline. Rae’s breath was jagged and harsh. Cori closed her eyes and kissed her, gentle, exploring, building to a demanding crescendo as she opened Rae’s slacks.

  She didn’t tease the skin under Rae’s shirt, didn’t try to gain access to the nipples straining to be licked. She sucked Rae’s tongue into her mouth, glided over it, and tasted the soft mint of her gum. Breathless with longing, she slid her hand beneath Rae’s panties and down past the slick, wet heat. A loud moan pushed past her lips as she eased her fingers into Rae. There was no room for the rhythmic in and out between the tight pressure of Rae’s pants and the clench of her internal muscles. Cori flexed her fingers and curled them back, drawing Rae even closer.

  Rae gasped, “So good.”

  Cori traced her tongue along Rae’s ear. “That’s it, right there.” She worked her fingers back and forth, watching Rae twitch, her body coiled tight with need. She didn’t let up, didn’t press forward. She kept Rae on the edge, wanting her to beg. “Tell me what you want, Rae.”

  “God.” She shook her head, eyes clenched tight. “I want…”

  Cori quickened her pace, her arm straining against the tight space. “Tell me.”

  “I want…”

  Cori pushed her thigh against the back of her hand, using it to increase the rocking pressure inside Rae. She felt Rae tighten, on the brink of release. “Tell me.”

  Rae’s head rolled back, her body shook. “You.” She clutched Cori, her grip bruising. “I want you.”

  Cori held Rae through the climax, slowing her fingers, then easing them out as Rae hung off her, limp and panting. Minutes ticked by and Rae stayed in her embrace, supple and relaxed, her head resting against Cori’s shoulder. Cori could feel the muscles flexing and firming as Rae collected herself. Rae was sexy on the prowl, but Cori found this soft vulnerability much more appealing. More real.

  “That was,” Rae’s mouth curved into a slow, sexy smile, “unexpected.”

  “Yes.” This encounter was anothe
r line on a long list of the unexpected during her week in Vegas, starting with her reaction to Rae.

  The alarm on Rae’s wristwatch sounded and she sprang into motion. “Fuck. I’m late.” She fastened her pants, tucked in her shirt, and ran her fingers through her hair with practiced precision.

  Cori followed her out of the room. A sick feeling rode like lead in her stomach as realization settled over her. This wasn’t Rae’s first trip to the storage closet, and Cori doubted it would be the last.

  *

  Rae rushed through the locker room banter after her shift. As much as she enjoyed her coworkers, Cori was somewhere in the casino and Rae had to find her. She started her search at the blackjack tables. Even though she hadn’t seen Cori since their encounter, she’d hoped that by the time she changed into her street clothes Cori would be here. For reasons she wasn’t eager to explore, it seemed important that their time together had affected Cori as much as it had her. Not that she was affected on anything but a physical level, she argued internally. She didn’t allow casual encounters with tourists to blossom into anything serious emotionally. It just wasn’t safe. So why was she wasting time searching for a woman who would be gone in a few days?

  “What are you doing tonight, Rae?” Tami asked. The redhead worked the same shift as Rae and they often went out together afterward. She helped Rae out occasionally, distracting Greg if she was running late.

  Rae shrugged. “Nothing in particular.”

  It wasn’t entirely true. She planned to track down Cori and…do what exactly? She wasn’t sure. She just didn’t feel like fighting her body’s needs. She should have made plans with Cori that afternoon, but she wasn’t thinking properly at the time. Her brain was clouded in the afterglow.

  As she and Tami approached the club, a heavy techno beat poured out to greet them. A group of women crossed their path, clearly dressed up for a night out in the city of sin.