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Why was he getting under my skin? Normally I had no trouble dismissing men, no matter how sexy they were, easily dousing their desires. I was technically an art dealer, but a more accurate assessment of what I did was an attention dodger. I was so used to getting hit on, it barely registered anymore. What was different about Aleksei that I couldn’t concentrate with his bold blue eyes glued to me? Those long looks, the cocky grins, the way his fingers moved on his cards—it was all making me a mess. Was I really angry with him or myself?
Him. Definitely him. Especially when our third finally folded and pushed his chair away from the table.
“I’m out,” he said. “Good game, you two.”
I pulled my chips toward me with a smile that slipped a little when Aleksei leaned across the table, his slow grin making me shift my thighs together under the table. He wasn’t about to be dismissed or dodged.
“You’re not out, are you, Theresa?”
The fact he remembered my name surprised me, but hearing it in his smooth, low voice, accompanied by this arch look, brought the goosebumps back. Before I could rub them away, he noticed, his gaze traveling up my arms to my throat and back down to my chest. His smile was predatory, expectant, when he met my eyes again.
“Not even close,” I said. “You’re going down.”
Oh my God, his smile got even more heated, his eyes even darker. His tongue jetted out to wet his full lower lip. “I’d be delighted.”
Certain that my cheeks were rivaling my dress, I glared right back at him. There was no way I was letting him win, not after torturing me all night and making me feel things I never had before. No damn way in hell. But as much as I wanted to make him lose, I wanted what his mischievous eyes were offering.
Get it together, Theresa.
Chapter 3 - Aleksei
I looked at my cards, determined to win. I was still annoyed at Theresa for not letting me buy any of her art earlier. I didn’t usually hear the word no from anyone other than my older brother, so I was stunned that the pretty young artist wouldn’t sell to me. Especially since while I was waiting for her to get off her phone call and notice me, I had looked over her oil paintings and they were damn good. They would have suited my office perfectly.
She would have suited my bed perfectly, but it was clear at the time she wasn’t interested. I soothed my bruised ego by chalking it up to whatever had upset her on her phone call, but the fact she somehow deemed me beneath her artwork still bothered me.
She also bothered me in that red dress that left very little to the imagination and still managed to scream off limits. That was all her haughty demeanor, and the fact she was brilliant at poker. I was having a hard time keeping up with her little tells, and it was so much fun making her blush to match her dress that I kept losing concentration. I should have won every hand, but she was holding her own. Nearly impossible to read, I found her more intriguing than I wanted to admit.
Every swish of her long, dark hair over her bare shoulders had me forgetting about my cards, then every flash of her velvety brown eyes, so full of misdirected fire, made me remember I wanted to win. I had a reputation to uphold, after all, even if these underground games were mostly good natured fun. The fact she was trying so hard to despise me for whatever reason was amusing, and I still wanted to make her see her energy would be so much better spent in another direction.
When it was down to the two of us, I almost wanted to let her win, try to charm her one last time, because I still wanted her. More than I wanted anything in a long while. Then she glared at me and innocently promised I was going down. All while her soft skin was bursting with goosebumps I wanted to smooth with my palms, then raise again with my fingertips. My cock nearly overturned the table as I imagined pushing her tight red skirt up, spreading her tanned thighs, tasting…
I coughed and directed my attention to my cards. Was she really so innocent or was she outright teasing me? God, she was flustering the hell out of me on top of making me nearly lose control.
“You’re used to getting what you want, aren’t you?” I asked, certain now that everything she did was all a ploy to win.
She looked downright shocked, maybe even a bit hurt for a split second, before her eyes hardened. “Are we playing or having a therapy session?”
I barked out a laugh, glad my mirth seemed to annoy her, and got back to my cards. If anyone was going down, it was this little gem. No, that line of thinking was going to get me in trouble, the front of my suit pants already dangerously tight.
True to her promise, and the fact she was infuriatingly good, she did wipe the floor with me. The look on her face melted away my irritation, though. As much as I wanted to keep her at the table, Yuri was waiting for me at the hotel, being a good boy as usual. I didn’t want to keep him waiting too much longer since he was giving up one of his staid evenings at home to go drinking with his big brother, so I reached across the table, offering my hand and a sincere congratulations.
“Excellent playing,” I told her, sweeping my fingers over hers.
Gratified when she burned a bright, rosy hue, I was disappointed when she swept her chips into a pile, turning haughtily away from me without another word. I watched her lush hips sway as she made her way to cash out her winnings, daring her to turn around and catch my eye again. She made it all the way to the door before she glanced back at me, and I couldn’t contain my triumphant smirk.
Come back for more,I silently goaded.You know you want to.
Or maybe she didn’t, because after a slight pause, she whirled around and flounced out, leaving me with nothing more than a really amazing view of her backside as she left.
I met up with Yuri at the hotel bar, ready to close it down with him, but he greeted me with a disgruntled attitude.
“I just got off the phone with Ivan,” he griped. “So you’ve been dodging his calls?”
“Have I?” I asked, pulling out my phone and taking it off silent mode. Sure enough, there were several missed calls and a few messages demanding to know where I was that evening. I groaned and put the phone back in my pocket. “It’s not that important, and it’s too late to deal with it now.”
“Not that important?” Yuri asked, waving away the bartender’s attempt to refresh his whiskey. I’d had a few celebratory drinks at the game while I was still winning and wanted to keep my buzz going, so I scowled at him for quitting when it was barely midnight. He scowled right back at me. “I got an earful just now that you stood up your fiancée tonight. If I knew you were supposed to meet her, I wouldn’t have agreed to hang out with you.”
I could have pretended that I forgot, but both he and Ivan knew I didn’t forget things. The fact of the matter was I didn’t want to have another miserable meal with Sofia. Hopefully, I saved another server from the trauma as well.
