A Dangerous Gamble

Chapter Two

A bare snort came from Kat's mouth and Laura felt almost complied to laugh- but she didn't. Stephanie and Lisa wouldn't get the punch line, and it wasn't very nice of her, anyway. "Laura, I'm going to sit at that somehow convenient-and-vacant table by the door to read, okay? Come get me if something goes wrong with those airheaded barbies and I'll bash their faces in." Kat's threat at the end of her talk sounded true underneath the fake, cool pitch she was giving it. Laura hesitantly nodded and watched as her sister turned and sat down at the table, making herself comfortable before reading the book she brought. Laura wished she would have brought a book, but it was her bachelorette party and she should be having fun- right?

 "Laura, come join in the fun!" Surprised, Laura turned her gaze back to the dance floor where Stephanie and Lisa were motioning for her to join their little quintet. Laura, with her hands shaking, walked over and slowly began to dance trying to ignore the out right lustful and hungry gazes from the gorgeous, bare chested men.

 It didn't last long before one of the men started to shuffle closer to her, actually it was more like stalking as a predator towards her, and the song changed to a song she wasn't particularly familiar with, but she assumed it was called 'Shut the Lights'. She didn't feel like dancing any more, and she turned away from her bridesmaids who were currently being kissed on the neck in the most passionate and intimate way possible, and to her sister who was so deep in her book that she didn't see Laura's slightly panicked face.

"Kat!" She called, walking towards her sister, but unfortunately the creepy, silent pursuer grabbed her hand-pulling her close to his cold, hard chest. "L-Let go of me, freak! I'm engaged!" She yelled, hoping that her sheer volume so close to his ears would make him flinch and loosen his grip. He didn't, and a smile formed on his lips when he saw the frozen look on her face.

"Hey, leave her alone. She honestly looks like she doesn't want to be touched." She focused on a calm, cool hand on the pursuer's shoulder and this guy obviously didn't like being interrupted, but she was ecstatic especially after the interrupter walked into her line of vision. He didn't have a shirt on, but he looked somewhat more normal than the other guys in the room. He seemed to smile at her, conveying a soothing glance to her. "Come with me. You'll be fine, I swear." He said, and shot a glance at the now-pissed, beautiful, bare chested man. The man loosened his grip completely, turned, and was gone from her immediate sight back to the dance floor. No sooner was her hand freed than it was grabbed again, but this time it was by a warm, loose hand of this gentleman. "Come on." He whispered, but she glanced back at the table where her sister was to find Kat in the same position she had been in since they entered the bar before looking to the dance floor and being unable to find her bridesmaids anywhere. "I...I...Okay." Laura sighed in defeat as she let him tow her towards a shut, white leather door in the back of the club. She noticed he let go of her hand completely once she shut the door behind herself, eager to put some type of distance between her and that creep, and focused intently on him. "Thank you for that back there." She murmured, feeling sure that this guy needed to be thanked for helping her out there. She could see his face clearer now, since this room was completely lit like a normal room with no alternating lights anywhere. He had a nice smile and cool hazel eyes, but his face entirely reminded her of someone worried or fearful. He tore his gaze away from hers for a moment, and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier, my name is Lucas Sinclaire. May I know yours?"

She nodded, now observing how smooth and dark his hair looked with its gelled-back appearance. "It's.. Laura Robinson, but when I get married here in a few days, I'll be Laura Peters. " He seemed surprise by her answer, and when he glanced to the side of the room, she followed suit. There was a few cabinets against the wall, a fridge, and a table and against the back of the room, behind Lucas, was a large, soft grey, suede loveseat. He started to walk to the table, and then paused, looking towards her. "Would you like a drink?"

She hesitated, before nodding. "If it's no trouble, please, coke will be fine." He nodded, walking to the fridge to pull out a coke. He walked back over, handed it to her, and sat on the loveseat for a moment. He seemed fatigued all of sudden, she thought, but said nothing about it. "You can relax, you know. You're safe in here." He said, focusing his eyes on hers. She felt her heart rush, but then confusion swept over her. Wasn't the Neil the only guy that set her heart racing like this?

"What exactly do you do here, Lucas, if I can ask?" She asked hesitantly, not wanting to make anything more awkward than it already was, while opening her coke and taking a sip.

"I'm manager of the Bleeding Veins. In fact, this place didn't exist until I-" He broke off and she frowned, before he cleared his throat, continuing, "Until I came here."

She noticed the uncomfortable feeling that the conversation had brought, and decided to change the subject. "So, are all the guys in the club like that? You know, stalking creeps?"

She was glad she could make him laugh, which is what he did when she finished talking. "When you put it like that, yes." A smile tugged on to her face, and she sat down beside him with the coke in both of her hands.

"So, who chooses the music playlists? Some of the songs sounded pretty cool."

He smiled, "I do, most of the time. I'm glad you liked them... So, uh, what's your fiancé like? The daring, knight-in-shining-armor type?"

She blinked, surprised by his questions for a moment. She bided her time by taking a long gulp of coke. "..Hm..Well, Neil...Neil and I went to college together. We were sweethearts all through college. He had a kind of...reputation for the frat parties. I never went- I was always studying.." She was embarrassed that, that was the only thing she could positively say to describe Neil without mentioning his track record of not-so-established women, his failure to graduate college, or his slight alchol and gambling problem.

Lucas seemed to nod slowly, as if understanding something of what she said, and he continued, " So, what's your matrimonial colors for the wedding?"

"I liked a sort of soft grey and bare gold, but Neil liked a faded, light blue and navy, blue jean blue...So we went with that...I really only wanted my sister, Kat, to be my bridesmaid and bridesmaid of honor, too, but Neil wanted some of his old friends to be my bridesmaids so.. So, I let them."

 At this, Lucas' eyebrows seemed to raise, and he folded his arms over his bare, toned chest. "And you didn't complain? Isn't this your wedding?"

A part of her wanted to scream ,'Yeah, it is and I should have put my foot down!' but a bigger part of her didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. "N-No, I didn't because. Well, because I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, even though this is Neil's and my wedding, I thought everyone should have a say so..."

 Lucas' face seemed to soften, and for a moment, there was only silence. She wonders if Kat was alright, if that creep was trying something with her, but she remembers that nobody can dish out a beating like her little sister, and that eases her nerves slightly.. She clears her throat, feeling the want and need to tell him her troubles about the entire ordeal, and changes the subject again. "So, how long have you been employed here? Do you like the casino?"

His face seemed to harden slightly, but his eyes remained the soft, calm hazel she had come to memorize in the course of their five-minute chat. "I've been here six months, and  the casino kind of lost its shine for me after the first time, to be honest."

 She nodded, relapsing into silence for a few moments. Every few minutes, she would glance at him from the corner of her eyes, and her heart would get the rushed 'pitter patter' pattern again.

Maybe.. Maybe she had rushed into this- Maybe, just maybe, Neil wasn't the right guy for her.. She had spilled more of her heart here, with Lucas, than she had spent with Neil over the entire time they planned the wedding.

 "Well, I..I suppose I have to go. I need to find my bridesmaids and my sister. Thank you again, for everything, Lucas." She stood hesitantly, and he nodded while getting an almost worried, thoughtful look. "Be careful, Laura."

"You too." She replied, looking back at him with her hand now on the round doorknob of the door. She twisted it open, and shut it behind her as the loud beat pulsed in her ears. She squinted, looking for her sister. The table was empty, and Laura couldn't help but think about the creep, but she felt herself leaning more to the probability that Kat had gone back to her room. So, Laura decided to look around the hotel. She went up the stairs, shut the floor door to the club in the bar, and turned away from the casino with its jazzy, soothing music while walking into the hotel.