"You are evil," Alec shuddered at the thought.
Grabbing up the fallen deck he explained, "Most decks nowadays contain a 'best bower' or Joker, which is a masked-like jester. This deck looks to be about a dozen years old so there will not be one in here."
Alec placed the cards face up on the table. "I'm going to teach you how to play bluff poker. We each get five cards dealt to us. The object of the game is to make your opponent think you have the better hand and make them bow out of the game." Alec pointed out the value of each card as he laid out the ground rules for the game he had promised to teach her. "For the first hand, I will lay the cards face up for a practice round. That way it will make it easier for you to understand. After that, the cards are dealt face down."
"So, the game is based on who is the best liar," Serena pursed her lips in thought and regarded him attentively.
"No. Not exactly... look, it is getting late." Alec pointed toward the magnificent time piece that sat on one edge of his desk. "It is almost midnight, and if you want to back out, just say so."
"I want to play," Serena insisted stubbornly.
"Do you have any questions?" Alec exhaled a weary sigh, and settled himself deeper into the pot of calamity that he had stumbled into. And what a heaping pile of trouble it was. What had he been thinking, when he had made that devil's bargain with the obstinate woman?
"Can I have one of your cigars?" Serena pointed toward the deep brown box containing Alec's once in a blue moon treat that he allowed himself. "I've always wanted to try one."
"No, you may not have one. Ladies do not smoke."
"But, it is on my list..."
"I don't care what is on that list of yours. You cannot have one," he denied her request.
"Well I am having one, so get used to it," grabbing the square container she grimaced at the box. "This picture is offensive."
Alec knew she referred to the crude drawing that graced the top of the case. It depicted a horde of women beating a man and taking his job. It was a deliberate campaign against the movement for a woman's right to vote. Message being: let a woman vote; lose your right to being a man. Alec did not agree with the implication, but he loved those cigars something fierce.
"It's just a box. Serena," Alec sighed irritably, "just grab one before I change my mind."
Flipping the top, Serena picked over the offerings until she landed on the one she wanted. Popping it in her mouth, she asked "What now?"
"Come here," reaching into his desk, Alec pulled out the snipping device he kept hidden there. "Come on," he motioned her to come forward. Leaning across the desk, she allowed Alec to snip the end of the cigar and light it for her. When she wrinkled her nose against the smell, Alec laughed aloud.
"Now, you smoke it," Alec smothered a grin at her feeble attempts at positioning the fat cigar in her mouth properly.
Scooping up the cards once again, Alec shuffled them expertly with nimble hands as Serena watched with an expression of awe on her face. When he had laid five cards out for each of them, Alec placed the rest of the deck off to the side and abruptly stood. He leaned across the desk, grabbed the cigar out of Serena's mouth, put it in his own and plopped back down into his seat satisfied. He really hated to see a good cigar go to waste, and she was just not doing it justice as she sat there grimacing and turning green over every little puff.
"Hey, that was mine!" Serena let out a little squawk of outrage, but Alec knew deep down she was pleased to get rid of the 'smelly' thing, but was too stubborn to admit it was making her ill.
"Now, see the cards that you have in your hand?" Alec waved toward the hand Serena had been dealt. "Notice how you have two, tens? That is called a pair. The queen, three and two in your hand are useless, but a pair is a good hand." Alec turned her attention to his cards. "My king, four, six, jack and seven lose to your pair, but you would not know that because the hands would normally be hidden. We would then place bets back and forth until one of us either folds or showed a winning hand."
"I think I understand, but... what do we bet?"
"What do you have?" Alec cocked one dark eyebrow in question. "I have a jar full of spice candies."
"I did not bring any money when I snuck out...uh... I mean, when I left the house," Serena's face fell in a pout.
"Hmm, well, I guess that means we can't play. So, you go on home. Have a nice night Serena." Alec rose from his seat, put out the cigar and popped a spice candy in his mouth, preparing to exit the room.
"I know!" Serena snapped her fingers in excitement. "I will use my hair pins!"
"Hair pins? What would I do with your hair pins?" he scoffed. "Men have no use for hair pins."
Sometimes men could be so obtuse. Serena considered informing him of the sad fact, but she feared he may indeed send her packing, and she so desperately wanted to see what the fuss of poker was all about. The men in town made it sound quite grand when she had overheard their hushed conversations about the game. Serena thought it unfair that ladies did not get to go into Saloons and play against the menfolk. Why imagine if they won! They could have funds of their own, to spend however they wanted...
"You wouldn't keep the hairpins Alec," Serena rolled her eyes.
"You would keep my candy," Alec was outraged by what he viewed as her obvious attempt at theft of his candy. He did not think she had a prayer of beating him, but as his sweets were getting harder and harder to acquire, he was not willing to chance it.
"The pins and candy both would stand as markers for something Alec," Serena laughed at him.
"Like what? Surely not money...I won't take your money, sugarplum," Alec refused.
"They would stand for favors owed," she explained. "For every pin or piece of candy we each have, we could turn them in for a favor from the other."
"Favors?" He squawked. Serena wondered why he was so outraged by her suggestion. It was a sound plan.
"How about loser has to do something for the winner?" She suggested.
"Like what?"
"Like a chore or something, winner's choice."
Quickly pulling a large assortment of hair pins from the fiery locks piled on her head, Serena allowed her hair to fall freely about her waist. Running her hands through her hair, she moaned and threw her head back as her fingers massaged her scalp.
"There, now prepare to pay up sir," Serena teased.
Alec nearly swallowed his tongue. The mass of her thick curls in the lamplight held him transfixed. He slumped back into his seat and watched as her breasts rose and fell, straining against the material of her dress as she continued to moan, relishing the sensation. He scolded himself on staring, but at the same time, he could not look away if his life depended on it.
"Want to try another practice hand, or are you ready to begin?" he croaked.
"I am ready," Serena announced, piling her hair pins into a tidy pile on the desktop.
Grabbing the cards up once again with a grumble, Alec began to shuffle them, anything to keep his hands from reaching for her.
"You have amazing hands Alec."
"Whaaa?" Alec's head shot up so fast, he nearly choked on the little round candy drop he had been sucking on. After a few quick coughs, he managed to swallow what was left of the damn thing.
"Your hands. They are so big, and they work so fast," Serena blinked up at him innocently and smiled so sweetly that he dropped the cards.
"Hmm," Alec was at a loss on how to respond to the compliment.
"Aren't you going to show me yours?" Serena asked him, her brow furrowed in concentration.
"What?" Alec feared he was starting to sound like a simpleton; he could barely concentrate on what she was asking him. There she went again licking her bottom lip and nibbling the corner of her pretty pink mouth. He was in hell. No other explanation for it, he was being punished.
"Your portion of the bet.... Aren't you going to put your sweets on the table? I put mine." Serena waved a hand over her prized pins and once again smiled widely.
&
nbsp; "Right. Here," reaching into the old jar he always kept handy, Alec pulled a large handful out and stacked them neatly in front of him. "Satisfied?"
"I will be satisfied when I win all of your spice candies," Serena smirked.
"All right, lady, enough talk. Let's play."
Within a few hands, Serena was down a total of four hair pins and up only two candies. She was also starting to realize that bluffing the man across from her, was harder than she had originally thought it would be. It was almost as if he could tell when she had no cards worth holding in her hands. He was a bit smug about it, as well.
"Another pin sweetheart, I upped the stakes by two more candies," Alec chuckled at her sour expression as she grudgingly added another precious pin from her stash into the pile.
Picking up her hand, Serena viewed her cards. She held a pair of kings, a pair of nines and a seven. She bit back a grin. If she wasn't mistaken, Alec had said that a pair was a good hand, so that would mean two pairs were a great hand. Also, kings were supposed to be a high pair..., so Serena was pretty sure she had Alec where she wanted him.
"Three," Serena placed a trio of her remaining five pins into the pot. She hoped Alec would back out, and she would win the hand. With two pins left, she needed to gain this pot to stay in the game. She had not crawled through his window and showed him her unmentionables for nothing, she was here to win.
"That confident, hmm?" he cocked a brow in her direction.
"Absolutely," Serena nodded.
"I will see your three pins, and raise you two more," Alec informed her "That's all in for you sweetheart."
Serena chewed at the corner of her lip, debating on whether or not Alec was bluffing her. It was hard to tell with him.
"Fine. All in," Serena tossed the last of her pins into the growing pile.
"Show em' sugar," Alec ordered after adding to the pile himself.
Laying her hand face up on the table, Serena waited with baited breath.
With a flourish, he tossed his cards on the table. At once, Serena shouted with glee, she shot to her feet and began to scoop up the winnings, dancing as she did so.
"Hold it right there," Alec laughed. He stood over her and shook his head at her. "You lost darling."
"But...but you only have three threes, a six and a two," gesturing to her own hand she continued, "I have two pairs, kings are higher than your stinky threes."
"Guess again, this is called a three of a kind. You lose."
"You are making that up!" she accused him.
"On my honor, I promise you my hand is higher," he chuckled at her crestfallen expression. "Come on Sugarplum, don't pout."
"Somehow I think you cheated me," stalking around the desk to meet him toe to toe, Serena stabbed one finger into his chest poking him repeatedly as she growled, "don't you 'sugarplum' me Alec. Did you cheat?"
"No, Serena." Tossing back the remainder of his drink, Alec sank back into his chair and to her shock pulled her straight into his lap. "Do you know what favor I want in exchange for your pins, love?" he asked her as one thumb traced the outline of her plump lower lip.
"What?" Serena sighed. Her heart beat faster as he placed one palm on her back and drew her nearer to him. She allowed herself the novelty of cuddling in his arms as she asked, "what would you like me to do?" she whispered as his handsome face drew ever so closer to hers.
When his face was within a breath of hers, his lips almost touching hers, he told her exactly what he wanted of her, "Go home. Forget about your adventure list and stop sneaking out of your house, or by god I will paddle your bottom!" He snapped and abruptly stood.
"Oh!" she shrieked.
She would have tumbled from his lap and onto her rear at his feet if he would not have caught her and forcefully walked her through his house and up to his front door.
"Alec," she tried to reason with him, but he shook his head at her while trying to push her through the entry way.
"Go home Serena. I would walk you there myself, but we can't chance anyone seeing us together... go now."
The door closed in her stunned face, and Serena heard it lock from the inside. Serena stood there a moment trying to figure out where everything had gone wrong. Why was it that every time they got close to starting something, the stubborn man would pull away? Turning on her heel she made her way on home. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day at the shop, and she needed to get some rest before sunrise, though she doubted she would get a wink of sleep after all.
Sighing, Alec laid his head against the front door and banged it against the wooden surface a few times hoping to knock some sense into his brain. One hand clenched tightly as he fought the urge to turn the knob and race out to stop her leaving. He was as hard as a fence post and aching like he had never ached before. Whatever possessed him to sit her in his lap?
It was getting harder and harder to keep his hands off of the crazy woman. Now that he knew just how sweet those lips of hers tasted, just how soft her skin actually was it felt, it felt like torture not to be able to touch her. It was getting almost impossible to refrain from dragging her up those stairs and making love to her until he forgot his own damn name. He had to figure out a way to leave her alone, someway... somehow. He was no good for her he just had to keep reminding himself of the fact.
Why in the hell did he want that woman so badly anyway? Half the time they spent together, they spent arguing.
"She is a good girl that one, you remember that boy," Mrs. Wyatt spoke from behind him scaring the stuffing out of him.
Alec jumped nearly a foot and turned to face her. Trying to do his best to hide the evidence of his arousal, Alec glared at her. "I thought you were asleep," he confronted his stern faced employee.
"Humph. Like a body could get any sleep around here with all of your shenanigans... seducing poor innocent girls, shame on you," Mrs. Wyatt huffed, her hands on hips she stalked toward Alec ready to blister his hide.
"Seduce her? Ha! That is rich," Alec snorted "that girl is the seducer, trust me on that. Every time she walks, talks, or breathes she is like a siren leading a sailor to his doom."
"Hm. Well get yourself on up to bed," Mrs. Wyatt ordered sassily "I will stand guard and make sure that tiny slip of a girl does not break in and talk those pants right off your unwillin' body."
"You're a peach Mrs. W... a peach," Alec graced her leathery cheek with a smacking kiss and headed off up the stairs to his room. He had a feeling it would be a long while before he got any sleep.
"Dancing, if done well, is lovemaking in disguise."
CHAPTER NINE
The O'Malley's barn was lit brightly with a mixture of lanterns and candles, for the dance. Tables decorated in bunting, were piled high with food and couples found makeshift seats on the scattered hay bales and benches. Serena placed two of the pies she carried on one table and turned to Tex. "Could you find a spot for those last two pies? This table is full."
"Sure thing, Miss Serena. Would you like me to fetch a cup of punch for you as well?" Tex asked politely.
"That would be lovely." Serena smiled at the man. He looked quite handsome this night. He wore a pair of dark trousers and a crisp blue dress shirt. His hair was slicked back and Serena realized this was the first time that she had seen him without his hat on. His scar did not seem to show as much this evening. Though it never had bothered her, she knew Tex was uncomfortable with it.
"I will be right back," he nodded to her and went in search of a place to place the food down.
"Quite the turn out isn't it?"
Serena turned her head and smiled at the man who had silently approached her. "David, how are you this evening?" She asked him .
"Very sad Miss Serena, very sad indeed," he proclaimed with a downcast frown.
"Why sir? What is the matter?" Serena asked concerned.
"I was too late in asking the loveliest lady in this town to tonight's dance. She has come here with another," David ruefully shook his head.
"Oh dear! May
be if you ask her to dance, she may be willing to partner you for a set?" Serena shot a look around wondering who he was referring to. Her money would have been on Trudy, but the girl had declined the invitation. Maybe he meant Eleanor Samuels? She was a pretty girl with a pleasing disposition.
"Would you care to partner me in a dance Miss Sinclair?" David asked.
"Me?" Serena gasped before she could stop herself.
"Yes ma'am. Who did you think I was referring to?" David smiled and she blushed a shade deeper.
"I would love to dance, although I should probably take a turn with Tex first. After all, I did come with him. He is fetching me some punch at the moment."
"How about we take a stroll to greet our hosts? Surely that would be proper enough?" David suggested. "If Tex comes looking for you, we won't be too far off."
Offering his arm to Serena, David coaxed her into agreeing. Making their way past a few groups of couples conversing, they approached the O'Malley's who stood near to where a few musicians were tuning their fiddles.
"Melody! You look lovely," Serena exclaimed. The light blue of her dress complemented her husband's eyes. "Your dress is divine."
"Harris," Gabriel O'Malley nodded in stiff greeting to the man at Serena's side.
Awkward silence filled the air. Serena figured that Alec's distaste of David had been made known to her friend's, and out of loyalty to her, they were being polite to David.
"Here is your punch Miss Serena," Tex broke the silence as he neared the group. He held two dainty cups in his large hands. Handing one to Serena he turned and offered the other to his tiny hostess.
"Why thank you Mr. Brody," Melody smiled at Tex and took the beverage he offered.
"Congratulations on your good fortune. You know... on your..." Tex trailed off embarrassed as he indicated the slight bump in Melody's dress.
As if the musician's had decided to cover Tex's embarrassment, the music began to play and Serena turned to him. After a bit of a wait Tex finally turned to Serena and asked, "Would you care to dance?"
"Yes please."
For the next hour, not only did Serena dance with Tex, she took a turn with both David and Melody's husband Gabriel. Her brother Mathias partnered her for half of a dance, until he was called away by one of his ranch hands to settle a dispute. Even the younger O'Malley men had been coerced into taking a turn on the floor with her.
A Betting Bride Page 11