stool.
“I have cards here somewhere. Here we go.” I finally find a deck.
A smile breaks across her face, slowly. “You’re going to teach me?”
“Sure. It seems there’s plenty I have to teach you this week.”
She blushes but her smile grows. “Okay. What are we going to learn?”
I pause, thinking. Maybe blackjack? Nah, too boring. Then I remember how Lilly was whispering questions to Tessa in the private poker room while Deanna was playing. She had seemed genuinely curious about the game.
“Poker, of course,” I tell her. “A bad poker bet is the reason you ended up in this situation, isn’t it? You might as well learn a thing or two about the game while you’re here.”
She answers me with a smile, her wide eyes glittering.
Chapter Nine
Lilly
David pulls up one of the tall bar stools next to me. He looks more casual than usual. He had a suit jacket on when he left this morning but seems to have ditched it somewhere during the workday. Now he’s clad in just a light-blue button-down and dark-grey slacks. The shirt is crumpled at the cuffs and pushed up to his elbows. No cufflinks today, I note. I like him this way. He’s less intimidating.
“So what do you know about poker?” He asks as he shuffles the cards attentively.
“I know there are different kinds. And that the other night you were playing Texas hold ‘em.”
“Correct. It's one of the most popular variants. So let's do that. We’ll just do an open hand, step by step, okay? I’ll deal out four hands as if there were four players so you can get a better feel for the different possibilities when it comes to what’s good and what’s bad.” He looks at me and smiles. “So, after the dealer is done washing the cards—”
“Um… What’s that mean?” I have to interrupt him with my first question.
“When he fans them out like this.” David shows me on the granite countertop, expertly fanning the cards out in a rainbow and then swooping them back up again. “It's also called scrambling the deck. Basically…shuffling.”
“Okay,” I nod.
“So, then each player is dealt two cards, face down. Those are your hole cards.” As he talks, he puts two cards in front of me. I reach for them eagerly, wanting to see what I’ve got. “Wait!” His voice is sharp. “Always wait until the dealer has dealt to all players. Poker is a gentleman’s game, requiring patience and finesse.”
“I don’t think gentlemen leave girls hanging like you did to me on the terrace last night,” I say with a sly smirk.
“You acted out. I had to do something. Like I said, it could have been much worse. And a bit of teasing seems to suit you.” He pauses and looks straight at my cleavage. “It’s nice to see you dressed up for me.”
“This isn’t for you,” I retort. “I just felt like looking nice.”
“I’m not buying the bullshit you’re selling, Lilly.” His words are harsh but his eyes are friendly and his tone is light. He seems so relaxed and at ease with the deck of cards in hand. “But you do look nice.”
“Thank you.” I fumble self-consciously at the strap of my dress, pulling it up slightly. I’m not wearing a bra underneath and am vaguely worried that a nipple might slip out at any moment—not that it would matter, I remind myself.
As if he can read my mind, he nods at my plunging neckline, saying, “Don’t worry about falling out of your dress. I’ve already seen you naked, remember?”
“Why don’t we get back to the poker lesson,” I respond, trying to sound casual.
“Of course, Miss Madison.” He gives me a wink and I can’t help but giggle. I don’t know why I’m trying to be demure now. This powerful man had me on my knees, sucking him off, not twelve hours ago. “So,” he goes on, “once the cards are dealt, the small blind has to ante in. Let’s go ahead and name our other imaginary players here after your favorite pals at Fortuna, Ben and Mike.” He gestures to the two other sets of cards he’s dealt across from us.
“Fine.” I roll my eyes but feel a smile dance across my lips. This hint of humor in David is totally unexpected.
“So, small blind will ante in one.” He takes a chip from imaginary Ben and places it in the middle of the counter. “Then big blind will ante in two.” He takes two chips from imaginary Mike and does