My gaze flicks to him to find him staring directly at me, smirking. I take a deep breath, my heart thundering against my ribcage as I round the counter with his coffee in hand, setting it down in front of him when I reach his table.
“Thank you,” he says.
“You’re welcome. I'm sorry if Shannon was bothering you, she’s been told not to hit on the customers, though she still does.”
“No apology needed, nothing I couldn’t handle.”
I nod slowly. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
“No, thank you, the coffee's fine.”
“Okay.” I begin to back away before I turn back to him. “What are you doing here?”
“I came for coffee,” he replies coolly.
“Did you know I worked here?”
A small smile touches his lips. “What would you say if I did?”
I hesitate. “I’d… say you’re wasting your time.”
He frowns a fraction. “Why would you say that?”
“Because guys like you aren’t interested in girls like me.”
“What would you know about who I’m interested in?” he asks, leaning forward, his elbows resting on the table. “Surely my being here gives a clear indication on who I’m interested in, and it’s certainly not her.” He inclines his head to someone behind me.
I turn my head to see Shannon stood behind the counter, her arms crossed over her chest, shooting daggers at him. Or is it to me? Maybe both. I go to respond but I’m cut off by a customer calling for me.
“Excuse me,” I say to him before I withdraw to the table where the customer is sitting.
I can still feel the heat of his gaze on my back as he continues watching me. Once I’m finished with the customer, I turn to find the man heading for the door. He stops, glancing over his shoulder one last time as he had done in the casino before continuing out the door, the bell chiming after him. I'm ashamed to say that I feel a little disappointed.
I walk over to the table where he was sitting to find a small pile of dollar bills underneath the cup of his coffee, which he left untouched, along with a gold encrusted poker chip worth one-hundred dollars, inscribed with ‘The Royal’ along with a crown in the center, underneath the chip is a note.
Here’s your tip. Cash it in at 7pm tomorrow night. K.
Who is this man?
Chapter 6
Hayley
I'm still a little uneasy after yesterday’s encounter with the man from the casino. My head tells me to stay away, that there’s more to him that meets the eye, but try telling that to my heart, the heart that skips a beat whenever I think about him, when his eyes bore into mine, when he casts that cocky grin my way.
I can’t put my finger on what it is about him that I can’t seem to shake. Why it is him that is making me feel things I have spent years believing lost to me?
The truth is he intrigues me, which is why I spent an hour last night when I got home on Google, trying to find out as much as I could about him. I started with the casino, figuring it would tell me somewhere the name of the owner. And it did.
His name is Kyle King, he’s twenty-six and is the CEO of King Corporation. I searched through page after page trying to find photos of him, but the only ones I came across are the few headshots from the casino website, a few paparazzi snaps, and a load of random people with the same name. I trawl through countless trashy magazine and newspaper articles, the only thing I can dredge up about him is the fact that he got into a lot of fights when he was younger, some of them only a few years ago.
I’ve spent my shift glancing up at the door every time the bell chimes, silently hoping that Kyle would come back, but he never did. Every time I looked up to see it wasn’t him, my shoulders would drop in disappointment. Even though I knew deep down he wouldn't come back here, I was still hopeful that he would.
After yet another slow and uneventful day at work I begin my walk back home. It’s cold out tonight, so I plunge my hands into the pockets of my jacket, only my fingers touch something inside, stopping me in my tracks. I pull the object out, it’s the poker chip that Kyle left me yesterday. I rub my thumb over the smooth face of the chip, over the golden crown that sits in the center, over the name of the casino.
He told me to cash it in at seven, it’s just gone five-thirty.
Curiosity grips me. Fuck it.
I turn left and instead for heading home, I make my way towards the subway.
A short while later I reach the station, and within a few minutes, my train arrives. I hop on and take a seat.
Next stop, New York City.
Chapter 7
Hayley
I arrive at the casino. The same feeling of unease and foreboding I felt the last time I was here fill me, making my stomach churn with anxiety. I climb the steps that lead to the front entrance and head for the door, showing the man on the door my ID and he lets me through.
I stand in the entrance to the casino and take it all in, it’s just as magnificent as I remember from the other night. I reach into my pocket
