AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She went up by the window where there was a better signal. Though I tried to keep myself busy looking through cupboards and drawers, I couldn’t help but cast covert glances her way. As she held the phone between her shoulder and her ear, she wound her hair up and fastened it in one of those crazy buns chicks did.
“Fuck,” I whispered as I forced myself to look away from the slender curve of her neck. Part of me wished she’d let her hair down again; the other part wanted to bite the tender slope where her neck met her shoulder as I was driving into her….
Whoa! Okay, enough of that.
In my search of the area, I found a deck of cards in a drawer behind the bar. Figuring it was a decent way to kill time, I closed the drawer with my hip and carried them over to the table we’d pretty much claimed as ours. When I set them on the table, she was ending her call.
“You play cards?” I asked as I slid them out of the box and ensured there weren’t any missing.
“I read them,” she replied with a smirk.
Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes and began to shuffle. “Smart-ass.”
“Better than being a dumbass.”
“Oh, you got jokes, huh?”
She snickered.
“How’s your mom?” I asked as I finished shuffling. Then I dealt our hands.
“Same. In good spirits, but always tired and always in pain. I need to find a way to lift this hex. I’m not sure how much longer she can hold on,” she admitted with a worried frown.
“Well, it’s a good hospital, right? Like… they’re taking good care of her?”
“Yeah. The staff is amazing.” A soft smile curved her perfectly plush lips. When I started to think of what they’d look good doing, I shook my head to clear the image.
“Then let’s not worry about what we can’t control. She’s in good hands. While they may not be curing her, they are keeping her safe and comfortable. While we’re here with nothing to do, I’m going to teach you the easiest game in the history of card games. Anyone can play.” I dealt the last few cards until we each had half of the deck.
“Do I pick these all up?”
“No, just stack them face down and don’t look at them. We each flip over our top card. Whoever has the highest card wins the hand and keeps the cards. At the end, when all the cards are gone, we see who has more sets, and they’re the winner. If you want it to be a longer game, we can play until one of us has all the cards. Easy,” I explained.
“What’s the winner get?” she asked as she glanced up from her cards with a mischievous smirk.
Don’t say it. Don’t fucking say it.
“If you win, you can have any fucking thing you want.” I freaking said it anyway. Her pupils dilated and her lips parted. Fucking hell, our minds went the same place, or at least in the same dark and dirty little place.
“Hmm, well, we can figure it out later. Not like we have much to work with,” she shot back with a forced laugh.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. Some of us have plenty to work with.” I couldn’t resist. Besides, there wasn’t anything wrong with a little innocent flirting.
“Well, I’ll take your word for that.” She flipped over the first card. A five.
My card was a two. She grinned triumphantly, and I loved that look on her face. Her smiles lit her entire face.
The rest of the game went back and forth to the point I wasn’t exactly sure which of us might be winning. By the time we made it through the first round, she’d laughed enough that I swear to Christ, I was on the verge of propping my chin in my damn hand and staring at her with freaking drool running out of my mouth. When she laughed, her entire being participated, and it was a mesmerizing thing to watch.
“I win!” she shouted and jumped to her feet. She did a little shimmying celebratory dance. When she stopped, I heard her stomach growl.
“Jerky?” I asked her.
“Sounds delicious. But you better watch yourself. A girl could get used to being spoiled like this. All these fancy gourmet meals you keep providing,” she purred and gave me an exaggerated flutter of her lashes. I had to chuckle when she waggled her dark arched brows comically.
“That’s me, the wine ’em and dine ’em king. So what are you claiming as your prize?”
Once again, her cheeks flamed a soft pink. Then she shrugged. “It’s no biggie. Just tell everyone I’m the war goddess.”
