Then he looked at Emily and said simply, “If he doesn’t agree, Em, you can’t have him and that’s final. I know your papa gives you and the girls everything you want, but I draw the line at this.”
Lewt heard the door slam, and suddenly the room was silent. He looked into her Texas sky-blue eyes and said, “You don’t have to do this, Em. Just because I saved your life or I touched you doesn’t mean you have to marry me.”
She moved to him, close enough to touch. “I touched you too, so we’re even. I figured something out while you were trying to walk away from me. I’ve been afraid of men all my life because of one bad man who hurt my mother when I couldn’t do anything to help. I let one bad man color all men, even though I’ve been surrounded by good men for years. Then I met you. A good man, not because you saved my life, or put up with me when you knew I was afraid, or listened even when I didn’t make sense. You’re one good man because you love me just the way I am.”
“What makes you think I love you?” They were words he thought he’d never say.
“I know you do because you always let me come to you.”
Lewt smiled. “And that show you just put on in front of your relatives? What was that for?”
She moved a few inches closer. “That was to let you know I’m coming right to you, right now, and if you don’t want me, you’d better start running.”
He couldn’t help himself; he kissed her. He’d meant it to be one kiss, but turning down anything when Em was offering was impossible. She was a headstrong, bossy, beautiful woman, and if she wanted his love, he figured he’d been saving it up for a long time.
When Travis opened the door, they were deep into the best kiss Lewt had ever dreamed of.
“I guess that answers my question,” Travis said. “I’ll get the pens and the witnesses.”
Two hours and a wedding later Lewt let her in the side door of the small hotel and up the back stairs to his room. She stood straight and tall, but he knew she was nervous.
“Ever been married before?” he asked.
“No,” she answered, looking around at his things.
“Me either.” He watched her, still not believing she was his wife. “Have any idea what we’re supposed to do?”
“No,” she lied.
“Me either.” He set her bag down on the table by his few books and papers. “Want to play some cards?”
She finally looked up at him. “Really?”
“Really.” He pulled a deck from the desk.
“I don’t have any money.” She giggled, knowing that he was trying to make this easy on her.
“Last time I played for you, I used my clothes.”
She started to relax. “You mean you bet your shirt against mine, your boots against mine, and so on.”
He nodded. “Last one standing with any clothes on wins.”
“All right.” She surprised him.
He dealt the first hand. She asked for two cards, then folded, losing her boot.
On the second and third hand, she lost her other boot and her belt.
“Are you sure you know how to play this game, darling ?” Lewt saw her concentrating on the cards, but she didn’t win.
She folded the next hand, giving up her blouse.
The next round she lost her trousers, then her socks.
By the next hand, when she pulled off her camisole, Lewt couldn’t take his eyes off her long enough to see if he’d won the round.
When the seventh hand was played, she stood and pulled the string on her underwear, and he thought he’d have to give up breathing, for there seemed to be no air in the room. The most beautiful woman in the world stood before him, and she was smiling.
Without a word, she walked across the room and crawled into bed, then turned to him and said, “Blow out the lamp, dear, and come to bed.”
Lewt blew the lamp out and undressed in the dark. Half of him wanted to run for the bed and the other half wanted to run for the door. This woman, his wife, was giving him a heart attack. His chest was pounding and his hands couldn’t seem to remember how to undo his trousers.
“Don’t be afraid,” she whispered. “I promise not to hurt you.”
Suddenly, he smiled and walked slowly to the other side of the bed. “I never saw anyone lose seven straight hands,” he