“Does he need to be picked up?” God, her voice. Something about the rasp, the slow whisper. My body tingles.
“Yes. He’s at the Cortez Casino. Do you think you can pick him up?” I would offer to have someone take him to her, but after hearing her voice, I want to see her. No, I need to see her. I need to be close to this voice. Soon.
“I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
I start to thank her, but the line disconnects. I look over at Frank, who’s asleep in the lounge chair, and then I look at Justin. He locks eyes with me and raises an eyebrow. He knows me better than I know myself, and he knows when something is different. I can’t say it yet because I don’t want to jinx it.
We sit there for thirty-six minutes, and I know this because I check my watch every two minutes. Suddenly, I see a brunette walking in our direction, and Justin and I stand up at the same time.
She’s short, curvy, and wearing jeans and a tight, white, V-neck t-shirt. She’s got on cowboy boots, and her hair is in a big knot on top her head. She looks like she rolled out of bed. Her face is free of make-up, and she looks a little annoyed as well as embarrassed. But I swear on our casino, she’s the best-looking woman I’ve ever seen in my life. Her body is lush, and her silver eyes have frozen me in place. I’ve never seen eyes like that before. She looks like pure sex, as if she’s just gotten out from her sheets, and all I want to do is strip her bare and throw her back in them. I feel Justin tense next to me. This is it. She’s the one.
Before I can introduce myself, she speaks.
“Thank you for calling me. I’m sorry if he caused any problems. Does he owe any money?” She looks at both of us, and I realize we’re like statues staring at her.
Hearing that raspy voice sends a shiver down my spine, and I have this uncontrollable need to put her in between my brother and me and take her to the ground. Right here, right now.
Justin, however, manages to speak. “No. He’s all yours, Missus…?”
“Johnson. And it’s ‘Miss.’ There’s just me. And please call me Stella. Thank you for calling. If there are ever any problems, please don’t hesitate to call again. I would prefer we handle this privately.” She moves towards her father, making an attempt to pick him up. There’s no way her tiny body can lift him, and I wouldn’t let her if she tried.
I don’t want her to leave, but I can see she’s got an urgency about her to make this situation go away. Seeing that shakes me out of my fog, and I move to help her. “Please, allow us.” I nod to Justin and we help shoulder Frank out of the casino and into her waiting truck. Once we have him inside the cab, she goes around and jumps in.
Justin and I hustle to the other side, sensing the same thing. We can’t force her to stay, not yet, but we aren’t ready for her to go.
She cranks up the truck and puts it in gear. She’s ready to dismiss us, something women don't usually do to us, and meanwhile we are trying to keep her here.
“Is there anything else we can do for you tonight, Stella?” Saying her name and feeling it roll off my tongue is so sweet. It feels perfect. I grip the rolled-down window as if I can prevent the truck from moving.
She looks at both of us standing beside her truck, and seems to blush a little. “No. Thank you for your help.”
I would punch myself in the face right now to know what caused that blush.
Justin leans in a little, and she blushes further. “You have our number, Stella. Please don’t be a stranger.”
She doesn’t say anything, just nods her head. I reluctantly let go of the window, and she pulls away, leaving our casino and not looking back.
We stand there in the parking lot, staring at where her truck was, changed by that brief encounter. I turn to Justin, “You felt that, right?”
“Yep.”
“She’s the one we’ve been waiting on.”
He nods in agreement. “Let’s do a little digging and see what we can come up with.”
Over the next month, Stella comes in seven times to pick up her dad. Almost twice a week, Frank would show up at the casino, get blitzed, and we’d have to call her to come get him. We never complained about the money we lost, eating up the debt he made when he came in. Each time she would ask what he owed and we told her there wasn't a bill. Relief would flash across her face each time. We thought it was a fair trade to get to see Stella and be close to her. f*ck