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“You are so sweet,” she said. She studied this man as she sat back firmly on the bed. She had only known him for a couple of hours, but in that short amount of time, he made her feel very comfortable. She had no problem opening up to him and telling him all the details of the worst day of her life, and he didn’t even bat an eye. He offered her encouragement. Who was this guy? “Tell me something about yourself. I don’t really know anything about you.”
“Hmmm, let’s see. Well, you know my name’s Matt, and I’m from Las Vegas.”
“Oh, that sounds like a fun place to live. All the glamour and lights. What brings you to Monaco then? I know I would never leave the city if I lived in Vegas,” she said with a sparkle in her eyes.
Matt laughed. “You would think so. Vegas is a great city, and I love living there, but you just have to venture out sometimes and see other parts of the world. You just told me that you’re from New York. I could say the same thing about the Big Apple. There’s so much to see and do there. Why would I ever want to leave?”
“Okay, okay, I get it. There is more to see than where we live. You never answered my question, though. What brings you to Monaco?”
“Oh, you caught that, huh? I was trying to be slick,” he lifted his eyebrow, and Jessica felt her knees go weak. She was glad she was sitting down. She still had quite a buzz going on inside her head, and there would be no way she could stand now. “I’m here on business,” he said without giving any details.
“So, you were conducting business tonight?” she asked him. “Whatever business you’re in, I want in.”
“Yes, I was before you showed up. Our game was just a friendly game after I took all of Thomas’ and Terrance’s money from the previous game.”
“Wait, let me get this straight. You’re a professional gambler? Is that even legal?”
“Professional poker player, which I guess would kind of be the same thing, but yes, it is legal. We have a tour every year, and sometimes, we play the European tour championship game in the Room of the Stars. This has come to be one of my favorite casinos in the world.”
“It is beautiful. Hell, this whole island is beautiful, and I’ve only got to see very little of it.”
“Maybe I can show you around tomorrow. If you have a little time,” he said while grabbing a sweating water bottle from the ice bucket next to the bed. He pressed it to his red cheeks and his forehead. Drips of condensation fell onto his neck and slid down his shirt.
Jessica felt it in the pit of her stomach—the burning hot sensation of arousal. It hit her like she had burned herself, which made her push back into the head of the bed. She had never felt this way before about anyone, including Spencer. She needed to get a hold of things before she went too far.Just keep him talking, Jess. Just keep him talking.
“Oh yeah, that sounds great. I want to see as much of this place before I have to go back to New York and face my family. They don’t even know that I left,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“I never called them from the airport or when I landed. I just couldn’t face anyone with all their questions and the ‘I told you so’s’ from my parents. I needed to get away from it all and clear my head. I think I have about 20 missed calls on my phone. I know I’ll have to answer them eventually before they file a missing person’s report, but I’m not gonna worry about that tonight. I need to get Spencer off my mind. Can you help me do that, Matt? Can you help me get Spencer off my mind? We can play a little game if you want. I think I saw a deck of cards around here,” she said as she got up and started looking for them.
* * *
Matt watchedthe look on Jess’s face when he put the water bottle on his face. There was pure attraction written all over it, at least that’s what he thought he saw. It was gone in a flash of a second. Could she really be attracted to him like he was attracted to her? There was only one way to find out. He knew an opportunity would come up soon enough, and he would leap on it, so when she suggested that they play a little game to keep her mind off of Spencer, he already had one in mind.
“I don’t think you’re ready for it,” he said flirtatiously.
She turned around and looked him dead in the eye. “Try me,” she said.
Those words made Matt gulp. Meeting her gaze, he stood up and joined her at the little table in the room. “How about we make this worth our while? No money attached. I challenge you to a game of strip poker,” he finished with a smile. He was waiting to see if she would break down.
“Let’s see what you got without your boys around,” she said as she took the deck of cards out of the pack and started shuffling them. “You know, I learned how to play poker from my Great Uncle Vinnie. He was a big name in Atlantic City in the 40s and 50s. You should look him up.”
“Vinnie, what?” he asked.
“Vinnie De Luca,” she replied.
Matt thought he might have heard that name somewhere before. He was going to have to do some digging when he got back home, but right now, he needed to put his game face on. “So, let's make this interesting,“ he said to her. “What game are we playing?”
“5 card stud. If there’s no money, what’s the ante?”
“A piece of clothing that we both agree on,” he said.
Jessica dealt two cards to them, one face up and one face down. “I’m betting your shirt,” she said. Matt matched the bet, and they continued until they both had five cards.
“Okay, you ready to turn over and see who wins,” he said. They both flipped over their fifth card. “Looks like dealer loses,” Matt said with triumph.
Jess got up and started to dance to some invisible music, but it didn’t bother Matt at all. That was one of the sexiest things he had seen in a long time. She wasn’t a sore loser at all. She took her punishment like a champ, and he liked that very much. He had no idea what Spencer had been thinking. Oh well, his loss was only Matt’s gain. She slowly and seductively pulled her shirt over her head, and he could see the curve in her spine and the back of a sexy lacy black bra. She was facing the door when she took it off. She slowly turned around, and he kept himself from losing all control at that moment. Her breasts were pushed up to greet him, but her nipples were hidden behind the lace, and he prayed that she lost the next hand so that he could see the bra come off.
