"Bennett, Cherie - Sunset Island 011 - Sunset Paradise" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bennett Cherie)

"Sorry, I'm tired," Carrie said.
"Listen, Sam," Emma began, looking down at the clasp of her purse, "just some friendly advice." She looked back up at Sam. "It's easier to lose than it is to winЧso don't go crazy."
"Thank you, Ms. Cresswell," Sam said loftily. "I will certainly keep that in mind."
"You sure you won't come upstairs with us?" Emma asked Sam one last time. "Tomorrow is another day, you know."
"You guys go on," Sam said, waving them away. "I'll be fine."
Carrie and Emma walked away, and Sam turned back to the roulette table. There was no way that either Carrie or Emma could understand how she felt. Carrie was just conservative by nature. And as for Emma, well, she had absolutely no concept of the meaning of money.
Well, for once I've got some money to throw around, too, Sam thought. She placed another bet. This is only the beginning.
"Why, Mademoiselle Samantha," a French-accented voice said, "how delightful to run into you."
Sam looked up from the roulette table to see Jean-Claude. The two men who had been with him the day before were standing a pace or two behind him.
"Hello," Sam said. She placed another bet on the table. For the last twenty minutes things hadn't been going very well. She had lost every single bet she'd made.
"I trust you are having a good evening?" Jean-Claude asked.
"Sure," Sam said. She watched the roulette wheel go round and round, finally stopping on her number, twenty-three. That's more like it! she thought.
"You are having good luck, no?" Jean-Claude asked.
"Pretty good," Sam said as the croupier pushed some chips at her.
"Place your bets," the croupier called.
"If you would do me the honor," Jean-Claude said, handing Sam a chip.
"You want me to place a bet for you?" Sam asked, surprised.
"I have a feeling you are lucky for me," Jean-Claude said, leaning in close to Sam.
Sam shrugged and reached over to place the chip on the board. Then she saw what was written on it.
"This is a thousand-dollar chip!" Sam squeaked.
"Yes, we start out small," Jean-Claude said, looking at Sam with amusement.
"I can't make a thousand-dollar bet," Sam protested.
"But I insist," Jean-Claude said, putting his hand over Sam's.
She dropped his chip blindly on the roulette table. It landed on number thirty-one.
Immediately the other people at the table covered number thirty-one, and the numbers around it, with their chips.
"See?" Jean-Claude said. "They think you will bring them luck also."
"No more bets," the croupier called.
Around and around the ball went, finally
landing in number thirty-oneЧthen bouncing out again and landing in double zero.
"Oh, no!" Sam cried. "It was on your number and thenЧ"
"It doesn't matter." Jean-Claude laughed. "You mustn't take it seriously."
"I mustn't?" Sam gulped, thinking about his thousand dollars that had just flown out the window.
"No," Jean-Claude insisted. "It is, after all, only money."
"Right," Sam echoed. "Only money."
Jean-Claude looked Sam over appreciatively. "May I say you are looking very lovely this evening. That gown is splendid on you."
"Thank you," Sam said.
"I wouldn't have thought you would own such a gown," Jean-Claude mused. "It is ires chic."
"I don't exactly live in jeans," Sam said, her head held high.
"Ah, this I can see," Jean-Claude said, nodding slowly. He held out his hand to Sam. "Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the poker room?" he asked.
"What's the poker room?" Sam queried.
"A private room where one must be invited to play. The stakes are very, very high. I think you would find it amusing."
Ill
"I don't think so," Sam said, taking her hand back.
"But I insist," Jean-Claude said, a charming smile on his face. "You will sit at my side and your loveliness will bring me great luck."
"I don't want to sit at your side and bring you luck," Sam said. "To tell you the truth, it sounds boring."
Jean-Claude threw his head back and laughed. "I was right! You do have the fire!" He leaned so close to Sam that she could see a faint scar on his chin. "I will look for you later, cherie. Perhaps you will change your mind." He picked up her hand and kissed it again, then walked away, his silent companions trailing behind.
Sam just sat there thinking for a minute. Did I not go because I really don't like him, or because I feel insecure around him? she asked herself. Actually, it's probably both, she admitted, and then shook off any thoughts of Jean-Claude so that she could concentrate on roulette.
It was two hours later when Sam looked at her watch. Her heart was thudding painfully in her chest. She glanced at the last four pink chips in front of her. How did it happen? she asked herself wildly. She had
gone through all nine hundred dollars of her winnings, except for this last measly twenty dollars' worth of chips. How could I lose so much so quickly? But just as it had seemed she couldn't lose before, now it seemed that she just could not win.
"Place your bets," the croupier called out, and Sam put her last four chips on four different numbers.