Just Once (Book 1 in the Just Once Series)

Chapter Fifteen

“Jeez, dad... Maria, I don’t know what to say... thanks,” Jack said as Nate hugged my mum to his side and kissed her head.

“Just have fun, ok?” we both nodded at Nate and then grinned at each other.

“I really want to try out that casino,” I laughed and Jack shook his head.

“You’ll lose all your money on those damn slot machines,” he said now and I grinned.

“And you’ll lose everything at the poker table,” I threw back.

“I’m great at poker,” he defended and I just rolled my eyes, but I knew he was secretly, I always lost to him and I’d heard a few weeks ago that he’d actually won Trey’s car off him in a game, but hadn’t actually taken it.

“Just, don’t spend it all in one go,” my mum said now, looking pointedly at me. I held up my hands and laughed.

“I’ll stay away from the slot machines,” I said innocently and Jack snorted. We all laughed and talked and had desert until way past midnight.

By the time Jack and I all but stumbled with tiredness into our room, it was around one in the morning.

I just stripped into my underwear, too hot and too tired to get my pyjamas on and fell into bed.

A minute later, Jack’s arms wrapped around me and I turned into him.

“I think we should share a bed,” he mumbled now and I nodded softly, already half asleep.

“Hmm, I like that idea,” I murmured. He pressed a kiss to my head and together, we fell asleep.

·       

The next few days went by in a blur of activity. My mum and Nate spent all their time together and so did Jack and I. The only time we seen each other was at tea every night. We never passed each other throughout the day, the resort was too damn huge and the rooms, though next to each other, were a fair distance apart. It was literally as if Jack and I were on holiday alone. And it was amazing.

Today, Jack and I spent the whole day alone once again; we watched a movie at the cinema Nate had told us about. We’d held hands and shared a drink and popcorn.

Later, we’d gone to the beach and messed about in the water and sunbathed.

Now, we were in the casino, Jack had gone to play poker and I was, as you can guess, having the time of my life on the slot machines.

I didn’t realise I’d been there for nearly two hours until Jack came to find me and surprise, surprise, but there I was, sitting in the same seat he had left me in.

“I can’t believe you haven’t moved,” he said now as he pulled me into his arms. We didn’t have to be careful here, we didn’t have to look over our shoulders every five minutes in case someone caught us together.

No one here knew us and my mum and Nate had left the resort for the day to go into Florida, we’d opted out, agreeing we’d go with them tomorrow instead and we knew that they wouldn’t be back until god knows what time in the morning tonight.

“Yeah well, I was having fun,” I smiled as I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned in towards his lips.

Smiling, he kissed me gently.

“Did you win anything?” he asked against my lips and I pulled back smiling.

“Yup, I spent nearly $100 and I won...$34 back,” I said happily.

“Oh, baby, you’re bad at maths, that’s not something to smile about,” he teased and I laughed.

“It was fun though,” I argued and he shook his head, “so, did you win anything or did you lose too?” I grinned and he caught my eyes and smiled brightly.