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I took my ti ledcharacters: elderly women camped out in front of slot machines, couples draped across each other at card tables, cowboys ide-brias to be

Apparently, I was too engrossed inOne second my feet were connected with the solid, carpeted floor The next I was veering off sharply to the right as I tripped over my own foot

I barely had ti before I collided into so solid

No, not so Someone

FOUR

I fell, yelping in alare I couldn’t understand Then I collided with a man at the craps table

“Oh ies before I’d even righted myself

I was face-first against the man’s shirt He must have been quite a bit taller than me, becausesaid, I was leaning into him pretty heavily

“I honestly have no idea how that happened Jeez, I’m such a—”

I stopped speaking as soon as I looked up at his face

Holy moly macaroni

The ht h-profile business azine He looked down at me arm, chocolaty eyes and full, curved lips He had the rich, dark complexion of someone from the Middle East or Western Asia

While I continued gaping at him, he set me back on my feet

“Are you okay?” he asked His voice was lightly accented and sounded Middle-Eastern in origin

He stared down at h lashes as dark as the inky black waves on his head The dusting of stubble on his elegant chin was just as dark I couldn’t stop looking at hiing through my veinsmore of a fool of myself