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Tess didn’t pick up the TV remote either. The object she picked up didn’t even belong to her; it was his. He’d left it here yesterday, following a brief lesson for Tess and Anna’s benefit.
“How about a game?” Tess asked, scooping up and then extending his deck of playing cards toward him.
Chapter Four
Stakes
As she offered him his deck of cards, Liam joined Tess in smiling. Accepting the dark cards marked in gold filigree, he instinctively began shuffling them. The playing cards danced effortlessly within his hands, a staccato of card stock vibrating noisily but soothingly—at least to his ears—as he reordered them again and again.
“Did you have a game in mind?”
Before answering his question, Tess beamed at him. “It’s such a radical change.”
“What is?”
“You—specifically, your confidence. Every time you pick up a deck of cards, it’s like you’re a whole new person.”
Heat singed his ears, and he shrugged. “It’s just something I know I’m proficient at. That helps.”
“I think you’re quite proficient at a number of things,” Tess said, separating her coffee mug from its coaster. She hid a gleam of mischief behind the steam emanating from the dark liquid as she brought it to her lips. “I benefited from one such thing very recently.”
Liam’s heart rammed into his ribs as if someone had fired it out of a cannon, and the cards in his grasp slipped free. A splatter of numbers and royal faces tumbled onto his lap, the couch, and the floor.
“I see,” Tess said, sipping her drink. “So, that’s how I can disrupt your expertise. I’ll keep that in mind.”
Trying his best to survive Tess’s provocative stare, he hastily gathered the cards he’d spilled. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d fumbled a shuffle like that. Of course, he also couldn’t remember—because it’d never happened before—what it felt like for Tess to shamelessly flirt with him while he was shuffling cards.
It was like she was a whole new person now. For years, he’d given her the precise form of worship that Avril had teasingly demanded from him a little while ago. Staring up at her as though she dwelled upon the highest peak of the most divine mountain, he’d only observed her in the most refined light. Almost more of an aspect of perfection than a real person. Seeing her make provocative remarks behind a flirtatious smile forced him to reassess his whole worldview of her.
And it only enhanced his desire for her.
He quietly hoped she’d continue making such remarks all the time, not just when she wanted to throw him off his game. If the delightful gleam in her eyes meant anything, he suspected he would get his wish.
“So, what game do you have in mind?” he asked thirty seconds later, having properly shuffled the deck, free of further unbalancing sneak attacks.
“War.”
Liam’s eyebrow shot up. “Really?”
“Yes, really,” Tess said, smiling the whole time. “I know what’ll happen if I play a trick-taking game against you—you’ll decimate me. So, we’re going to play a game that’s purely based on luck. Oh, andI’llbe shuffling from here on out so you can’t cheat your way to victory.”
“I wouldn’t cheat,” he protested, which in turn caused Tess to shake her head immediately.
“Oh, yes, you would. Because I want to add something additional to our game: stakes.”
Badump, badump.“Of what variety?” he asked, struggling to hear her reply over the pounding of his heart.
“Of the kind that a very horny young man will be pleased to have as part of the game,” Tess announced. “I’ll explain once it becomes relevant.”
Bringing her legs up onto the couch, Tess turned and scooted away from him, leaving her previous location as the site for their match. As she did so, she glanced toward the television, where the analysts were still chatting about offseason trades. Currently, they were grading how well their city’s team, the Bandits, had done. They ended up receiving a “B” from the pundits on this particular show.
“I suspect Avril would be chewing through one of my pillows if she were here now,” Tess remarked, chuckling as she finished settling into her new spot on the couch.
Liam briefly diverted his attention toward the sports show. “Is she a big Bandits fan?” He certainly wouldn’t have guessed it, though he’d pretty much accept any unusual tidbit of knowledge that he learned about the chaotic redhead at this point.
“It varies from year to year, but she normally is very invested in the team,” Tess said, again smiling. She gestured toward him. “Anyway, are you ready to play?”
“Are you going to share what the stakes you mentioned are?”
