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They went back and forth, betting white chips for dimes, blue chips for quarters, and red chips for fifty-cent pieces. They had a growing pile between them. Charlee had set the amounts, not anything like what was normally attributed to each chip from what she understood from Ace, but he’d smiled and gone with it.
Charlee stared at her hand. Not great. She discarded three cards and Ace discarded two. She dealt them each replacement cards facedown, and he picked his up.
What did he have? She studied his expression. He looked pleased with the cards she’d just dealt him. She picked up her own cards and looked at them.
She had to school her expression. Damn.Muchbetter. She had a freaking straight flush.
Her heart hammered as her competitive nature kicked into high gear.
The only thing that could beat her was a royal flush. Was it possible his hand was better than hers? Not likely, if she understood the game right.
“I’ll call your dime and raise twenty-five cents.” She threw in a white chip for the dime and a blue chip for the quarter.
“I’ll call.” He tossed in his blue chip and spread his hand on the table. “Four kings.”
She smirked and laid her cards out. “Straight flush.”
He groaned as she raked in the chips. His non-poker face expression told her he was way disappointed about losing.
“Pay up, Ace.” She couldn’t help the triumph in her voice.
He gathered the cards and shook his head. “So damned close.”
She grinned. “Stop putting it off.”
He gave a sheepish grin. “When I was in fifth grade, my three older brothers challenged me to a game of poker, best of three. They said if I won, they’d buy me a new bike. If I lost, they got to give me any nickname they wanted. I took the bet because I really wanted that bike.”
Her grin broadened. “And you lost.”
“Spectacularly.” He blew out his breath. “I did so badly they decided to call me Ace, because my highest hand of the whole game was a pair of aces.” He shook his head, a rueful expression on his handsome features. “Guess I should be glad it wasn’t a pair of queens.”
Charlee had just taken a drink of her Coke and she almost sprayed it all over the game table. She managed to swallow and burst into laughter. “That’s one way to look at it.”
He rubbed his hair with his palm, causing tufts of it to stand up. “So, the nickname stuck.”
“I feel totally silly.” She shook her head. “Here I’ve known you for so long, I think I forgot what your real first name is.”
“James,” he said.
“Of course.” She slapped her hand to her forehead then lowered it. “You don’t look like a James.” She studied him. “Ace suits you.”
He slid the cards into the box. “I can’t imagine being called anything else. That is unless it’s a legal thing. Like my name on my driver’s license and the title to my truck, that kind of thing.”
She nodded. “My birth name is Charlene, but I got everyone to call me Charlee when I was really young, I think four or five. So, I picked my own nickname.”
“Didn’t know that.” Ace helped her slide the poker chips back into their appropriate slots on the rack. “Charlee is perfect for you.”
“Thanks.” She smiled at him. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so comfortable and so good around a man. She could let down her guard with Ace and not feel like she needed to shield herself in armor.
He returned her smile, then glanced away to finish putting away the poker chips, as if afraid to maintain eye contact and let her know what he was thinking or feeling. She’d noticed him looking at her lots of times. Truth was, she liked Ace, liked him a lot.
It was Charlee’s turn to avoid eye contact with Ace as they finished putting away cards into the box and sorted the chips into the rack. She needed to just chill out.
She leaned against the back of her chair and glanced at the old wooden analogue clock she had on the wall. She nodded to Ossie, who had shifted on the rug so that she was stretched out. “Ossie looks relaxed.”
“I’m going to take her out now, long enough to let her relieve herself,” he said.
“I’ll join you.” Charlee pushed back from the table and got to her feet. The three of them headed to the laundry room. Ace and Charlee put on their coats and they all walked out and down the stairs into the carport.
