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“Yes.” It wasn’t as if she had a choice.
Larkin dealt the cards quickly and efficiently, setting a small stack of chips in front of each of them.
“When did you learn to play poker, if I may ask, Lady Masterson? Seems something the well-bred ladies of New York wouldn’t learn along with embroidery and dancing.”
“At about the same time I learned to enjoy bourbon whiskey,” she replied without looking up. “Every young lady should have a hobby, don’t you think?”
Bourbon and poker often brought to mind John Winbow and everything that had come after. What started as a small rebellion, a mild flirtation with a riverboat gambler she’d met at a gathering, had eventually led to her banishment. Her father had been making noises about marrying her off, largely to rein in Georgina’s behavior. Mother had been busy watching the young men swarm about Lilian, Georgina’s older sister. Too preoccupied to pay any heed to her younger daughter. It seemed the perfect time for Georgina to make the acquaintance of a gentleman from Savannah who made his living by playing poker on the riverboats sailing up and down the Mississippi. Winbow had taught Georgina how to kiss properly, play poker, and enjoy the caramel flavor of a good bourbon whiskey from Kentucky, and he’d have taught her more had she let him. She’d stopped far short of giving Winbow her virtue. He’d responded by threatening her reputation.
Odd. Bourbon and her virtue were still being wagered. “My poor behavior has not been limited to my time in London, Mr. Murphy.”
“Leo.” The rich, buttery sound of his amusement flowed over her shoulders. “I expected nothing less.”
He had such resonance to him. A vibration she felt in the floor and up through her toes. The sound had certain parts of her person aching for something she could only guess at.
“Ladies first,” Leo murmured.
Georgina lifted the corner of her cards, careful to school her expression and give nothing away. Leo’s presence brushed against her, and her insides fluttered in response. She wished he’d sit on the other side of the room.
The trembling in her fingers was not due to fear.
