Maybe Tanner should’ve been more concerned about them. But he already knew that a high-stakes game like this attracted two types of players...skilled competitors or men with more money than sense. Tanner fell somewhere in between. Except he normally had better sense. And then there was J.D., who’d lucked into a seat at the “big boys” table.
Tanner sat across from him. They’d made eye contact a few times before the game started, even nodded to each other, but they hadn’t exchanged words. His father was curious, though, that much Tanner knew, and if that curiosity threw J.D. off his game some, Tanner hoped it was in his favor.
It was Joe’s turn. He studied his cards with undisguised frustration. No guessing what he was about to do. He shook his head, sighed in disgust and threw his cards facedown. Sure wasn’t his night. Folding two out of three times made a stack of chips dwindle fast.
Larry muttered a mild curse and folded.
Rocky owned the restaurant and bar, and was also the dealer. He looked to Chet and waited. Chet kept his eyes on his cards and his mouth in a tight, unreadable line. His fingers hovered over his stacks of black chips. “I’ll raise,” he said finally, and threw in three hundred-dollar chips.
“Call,” Tanner said, without looking at his cards again. But he did keep his attention on J.D., who avoided his gaze. If Tanner was reading his father correctly, he’d fold.
“J.D.?” Rocky prompted.
He hesitated, grunted and discarded his hand.
It was between Tanner and Chet. The man didn’t have a single tell that Tanner could identify. Chet narrowed his dark eyes on the sizeable pot, then threw down his cards.
Turned out to be a big win for Tanner. But he made the mistake of glancing at Lexy while he raked in his chips. Saw the way she nervously bit at her lower lip. Man, he really wished he’d left her at the hotel. It took more effort than he’d imagined to shut her out of his mind. Twice he’d caught himself daydreaming about taking her back to the room and making love again on that big king bed.
“Sorry, boys, but I gotta take a piss again,” Joe said. “It’s all that damn coffee I drank trying to stay awake on the road.” He rose, shaking his head at the pitifully small stack of chips he had left on the table. “Don’t know how much longer I’m gonna last.”
Rocky stopped shuffling and laid down the deck of cards. “How about we take ten?”
Chet checked his watch as he got to his feet. “Let’s make it five.”
“Fine.” Larry stretched his neck to the side.
Rocky looked to J.D. and Tanner, and they both agreed. Wanting to avoid getting stuck alone with his father, Tanner got up and went to Lexy.
“Are you done?” she asked, leaving the chair Sherry had brought in for her, and cradling a tumbler in her hands.
“Sorry.” He watched the momentary excitement drain from her face. “It’s just a break. What are you drinking?”
“I’m not sure. Bourbon, maybe?” With a shrug, she offered him the amber liquid. “Sherry thought I could use it.”
Tanner smiled. “No, thanks. I don’t drink when I play.”
“Right. Makes sense.” Lexy sighed and took a small sip.
He gave her a brief kiss. “Yep, bourbon.”
She let out a laugh. “It’s my second one and I still feel like bouncing off the walls.”
“Go back to the hotel, sweetheart.” He ran a hand up her arm and felt her shiver. “I shouldn’t have brought you.”
“It was my choice,” she said stiffly, then widened her eyes. “Do I make you nervous? Am I distracting you?”
“You’re fine.” It was the high stakes testing his backbone. He glanced toward the table. J.D. hadn’t moved and openly watched them.
“Is it always this quiet and serious?”
“Well, like I said, I’ve never played for this kind of money. I really do stick to friendly games. I might lose a hundred bucks but everyone can still laugh and joke.”
“It looks as if you’re ahead. May I ask how much, or will that jinx you?” Those earnest blue eyes of hers sure could get to him.
He touched her cheek. “You know I’m doing this only because my back’s against the wall.” His chest tightened when she said nothing, only blinked, the movement slow and thoughtful. “Lexy, tell me you understand.”
“I trust you.” She pushed up on tiptoes and kissed his mouth.
“Come on, lover boy,” Rocky called out. “Get back here.”
Joe, Chet and Larry had already returned to the table. Their punchy laughter echoed their tired, red-rimmed eyes. They all needed to find bunks more than they needed to play another round. That boded well for Tanner. He felt rested. J.D. had quietly smiled and kept his gaze on the deck Rocky was shuffling.
An hour later, with only about a hundred bucks left in chips, Joe called it quits. He made a joke about having enough money for gas to get to the Cheyenne rodeo, then left the chips for Sherry as a tip. Rocky would get his cut of the winnings for hosting the game. Nobody had to worry about Joe. He’d collected over two-hundred grand in prize money last year.
Half an hour after that, Larry shocked everyone by announcing he was done. He was up by eighty-two hundred but he’d been playing for twelve hours and claimed he couldn’t see straight anymore. Rocky suggested they take another break and no one objected.
Chet and Rocky got up so fast, Tanner didn’t have time to escape the dreaded moment of being left alone with J.D.
“How’s Doug?” J.D. asked.
“Fine. Great.”
“He still living in Dallas?”
Tanner nodded and looked over at Lexy. She stared back, gripping her glass with two hands and taking small sips of her drink. No telling how many she’d had by now. He hoped she didn’t get sick.
“That’s a real pretty girl you’ve got there, son.”
Tanner gritted his teeth. The man had no goddamn right to call him son. Hell, he was probably trying to rile him. Tanner mentally shook it off. Shame on him if he let J.D. get to him.
“How about your grandparents? How are they doing?”
“Not so good.”
“Are they sick?” J.D. actually sounded concerned.
Tanner looked at him, totally unprepared for the sincerity in his hazel eyes. “No. I don’t think so. Look, I gotta go—”
“What about you, Will?” his father asked. “I saw you ride in Billings. Everybody knew they opened the chute before you gave the nod. You should’ve gotten a reride.”
“Wouldn’t have mattered. I got hung up on the gate and hurt the arm I broke three months before.”
“What’s that, three times now you’ve busted that arm?” J.D. chuckled. “You always were a tough kid.”
Tanner almost pointed out that J.D. hadn’t been there for his childhood, so how the hell did he know. But it would be useless. So was paying any heed to the unexpected pride in the old man’s voice. All that shit was probably meant to throw Tanner off his game, anyway. He pushed away from the table.
“Will?”
He stood, but paused, waiting for whatever J.D. had to say. As long as it was quick.
“You don’t play high-stakes poker. Why are you here, son?”
Tanner thought for a moment. He really wanted to tell him to shut the hell up. But his own guilt forced his silence. Ironic, really, since J.D.’s guilt was the reason Tanner had never played poker with him. Somehow it hadn’t seemed fair since he had an advantage. Tanner still remembered the remorse and shame he’d seen in the old man’s eyes the day of his mom’s funeral.
She shouldn’t have been fighting in some foreign country. She should’ve been home raising her two boys. But J.D. had left her with little money and few options. And since the day they put her in the ground, he hadn’t been able to face Tanner without the truth rearing up lik
e a pissed-off bronc, his front hooves pawing the sky.
That’s why Tanner had been sure he could beat him. And he’d been one hundred percent right. Every time J.D. had a hand he thought would beat Tanner, a tiny flicker of guilt flashed in his eyes.
He didn’t answer J.D., just shook his head and walked over to Lexy. “Did you hear?” he asked her. “Larry dropped out.”
“That doesn’t mean the game’s over, though.”
“No, but Chet is getting bleary-eyed. He ran hot for a while, but he’s only doing so-so now. I suspect he’ll call it a night soon.” He looked into her uncertain eyes and took the glass from her hands. “You getting a little drunk?”
“Are you kidding? I’m too wired.”
He took a sip of the bourbon. Just a small one. Soon it would be only him and his old man sitting at that table. He put the tumbler back in her hands, hating the worried expression that dimmed her beautiful eyes.
“You need another good-luck kiss?” she asked, moving closer and tilting her head back.
“It’s worked so far.”
She smiled up at him. “Well, come on, lover boy.”
Damn, he hoped she’d still be smiling after he told her they weren’t going straight to Houston tomorrow.
16
LEXY REALLY WISHED she’d cooled it on the bourbon. She wasn’t drunk but her jittery stomach strongly objected to the alcohol. Abandoning the chair, she moved closer to the table so she could see what was happening. Although Chet had cashed in his chips thirty minutes ago, he’d stuck around to watch the game. His buddy Larry had returned, not to play, but as a spectator, his clothes reeking of cigarette smoke. Another younger man with a distinct limp had appeared out of nowhere and joined them. Then Sherry had left the bar to stand beside Chet and completely block Lexy’s view.
As little as she knew about poker, it seemed clear the game was building to a head. New rules pertinent to the game, now that it was down to two players, had been explained and acknowledged. A staggering number of chips were stacked in front of both Tanner and his father. Not all the same color, though, so Lexy couldn’t determine who was ahead money-wise. But that’s what it would come down to. It was always about money. Those who had it, and those who didn’t. If not for her own struggles the past few years, she never would’ve had the thought.
Tanner leaned back and drank deeply from the bottle of water Sherry had given him. Rocky dealt out the cards. J.D. hunched forward, but he didn’t seem nervous. He was simply shifting positions. They were each given two cards facedown, and then Rocky dealt three cards faceup in the middle of the table. Tanner set the water aside, dragged his palm down the leg of his jeans and picked up his cards, looked at them, his expression completely blank.
J.D. was already studying his cards with an impassive face much like his son’s. When the betting started Lexy could barely breathe. The astounding amounts being traded back and forth seemed crazy, and yet there’d been a time when she thought nothing of spending ten thousand dollars on a purse.
Still, she couldn’t just stand there. She paced instead, wishing the room were bigger. With Chet and Larry standing shoulder to shoulder and Sherry beside them, Lexy didn’t worry about being a distraction. No one could see her, even if they were paying attention, which they weren’t. She pressed a hand to her roiling stomach, knowing that in a matter of minutes, Tanner would have the money he needed or he’d be flat broke.
God, how much she wished she could’ve helped him. It wasn’t as though she were a pauper. She had money sitting in her damn trust fund accruing interest. Her stubborn father was the problem. Squeezing her eyes shut, she massaged her left temple until the sudden throbbing dulled. That wasn’t true. Her stupid pride had always been just as formidable a stumbling block.
She breathed in deeply, as clearheaded as she’d ever felt. If Tanner lost, she had only one option. She’d have to call her father. Let him think he’d finally crushed her spirit, bent her will to his if she had to. Pride would never wipe the bitter taste of letting Tanner down.
The onlookers let out a collective gasp. Lexy shut down all thoughts but those of Tanner. She tried to squeeze in between him and Chet, but the man was as broad as a linebacker. He wasn’t moving. She doubted he noticed she was even there, and she settled for standing just behind Tanner’s left shoulder.
“Tell you what, son.” J.D. laid his cards facedown, folded his hands and looked Tanner in the eyes. “What do you say we end this here? Right now. We can both walk away with a nice chunk of change.”
Lexy saw that most of J.D.’s chips were no longer in front of him but in the middle of the table. So that’s why everyone had been so shocked. She hoped like hell Tanner would accept his father’s offer.
“What’s wrong, J.D.?” he said. “You losing your nerve?”
A slight frown drew the older man’s brows together. “Is that what you really think?”
Tanner held his cards at an angle only he could see. “What I thought was that we were here to play poker.”
Rocky rubbed the bald spot on his head and sighed like a man who’d been awake too long and was running out of patience. “You fellas better make up your minds. Play now, talk later, or we call it a night.”
“We’re playing,” Tanner said in a terse voice, his gaze never wavering from his father. “I’ll call,” he said, shoving his pile of chips forward. “And I’ll raise you.”
“I don’t believe you will,” J.D. said quietly.
“I just said so, didn’t I?”
“You ain’t got enough.” His father’s emotionless gaze lowered to Tanner’s chips before slowly returning to his face.
“Well, hell, I believe he’s right, Tanner.” Rocky’s keen black eyes seemed to do a quick counting. “Sherry, help him restack and count.”
Tanner’s bravado faltered. He stared down at what had to be over fifty thousand in chips. “Give me another marker, Rocky.” His stricken expression tore at Lexy’s heart. “You know I’m good for it.”
“Yep, I do.” Rocky shook his head, his face full of regret. “But I can’t. You know the rules.”
“Come on, Will. Let it go.” J.D. pushed back his chair. “We’re done. Take your money.”
“Wait.” He watched Sherry restack and group chips with amazing dexterity. “You can’t walk off. We’re still in play while she’s counting.”
J.D. looked at Rocky, who nodded confirmation.
“Tanner?” Lexy touched his arm. He didn’t even look at her.
“Tell you what,” he said, locking gazes with his father. “I’ll throw in a buckle.”
Lexy had a heart-stopping feeling she knew what he meant. The sudden silence shrouding the room told her she was right. He wanted to put up his world champion gold buckle. In professional rodeo, relatively few men ever realized their dream of that coveted prize.
Larry and Chet were shaking their heads. “Jesus, Tanner, don’t be stupid,” Chet said. “Walk away now. There’s no shame in it. You lose that buckle, you’ll hate yourself for the rest of your life.”
Chet knew what he was talking about. According to Sherry, he’d earned three gold buckles. Even she had stopped counting and stared at Tanner as if he were out of his mind.
He ignored everyone. “Come on, J.D., isn’t that what you’ve always wanted? There was a time when you would’ve sold your soul for a gold buckle. As a matter of fact—” Tanner blinked and cut himself short.
Before he crossed a line he’d never be able to uncross.
He didn’t say, but everyone knew it. Lexy could only imagine what hurtful thing had nearly tripped off the tip of his tongue. His father had failed him and his brother, their mother. She had no idea who knew their history, but no one could miss the anguish simmering between the two men.
Tanner slumped back and sighed. The fight had
left him. “Do it, Dad,” he said quietly. “For me.”
“Look, son,” J.D. began, and Tanner squeezed his eyes shut.
“Wait.” Lexy practically shoved Chet out of her way. She pulled off her Rolex. “Here. Take this.” She addressed J.D., pleading with her eyes. “It’s solid gold, real diamonds, worth about forty thousand.”
“No.” Tanner tried to pull back her hand. “No, Alexis. I won’t let you.” He reached for the watch but she evaded him and laid it on the mound of chips. “It was your grandmother’s,” he murmured tightly.
“It’s just a watch, Tanner,” she said. “I’m not letting you give up your buckle. It’s not like you can get another one.” She glanced at J.D., and he gave her a small nod.
“No.”
“Dammit, Tanner, shut up. Just shut up.” She trapped his face between her hands and kissed him hard, hard enough that his head went back with the force. He caught one of her wrists but she kept kissing him, using her tongue and teeth and anything she thought would keep him distracted until the game had to continue.
Finally, with gentle force, he pushed her back. “Jesus, Lexy, what the hell?”
With a lift of her chin, she sniffed and smoothed her hair. “That’s not how you usually react.”
Chet grinned.
Sherry laughed.
“Okay.” Rocky, who’d earlier looked as if he’d been dying to say something, quickly dealt a card. “The game’s in play.”
“Bullshit.” Tanner’s dazed expression and uneven breathing filled her with satisfaction.
“You heard the dealer,” J.D. said gruffly. “Not our fault you can’t control your woman.”
Lexy’s mouth dropped open. But he’d agreed to take her watch so she held her tongue. Then she saw the corner of his mouth twitch with humor. Well, why not? He would probably be leaving with her Rolex. She didn’t care. Tanner was more important.
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