gestured for her to sit. "Most writers are. Have you thought about what it will be like married to me? Does playing this game make you a sane woman?"
Georgina relaxed slightly. "No, it makes me as crazy as you. If you win, what will you do with a crazy wife who can't cook?"
Daniel beamed happily. "Make love to her, of course." He broke the cards, shuffled, and dealt her five. "The object of this game is to build a higher hand than the other person. Would you like to make any side bets to make it interesting?"
Georgina decided it would take a lot more than winning to make this easy. Daniel's calm pronouncement of his intention of making love to her made her insides tremble, and she took a good gulp of her drink. Before the night was over, they were going to.... Her glance lingered nervously on the majestic bed. It wouldn't do to think about it.
"I don't have any money to wager." She looked at her cards with interest. What constituted a high hand?
Daniel flicked his cards into a fan like a professional then gazed over the top of them. His scrutiny fell on the curve of her bodice. "We could start by wagering buttons," he offered.
Startled, she stared up at him. "Buttons?"
Daniel pulled a pad of paper and a pencil from his coat pocket, then neatly buttoned his coat and vest. "You have a heck of a lot more than I do, but then, I have more experience at the game. That should make it fair. We wager buttons. At the end of the hand, the loser unbuttons however many the other won."
As his intent became clear, a deep blush colored Georgina's cheeks. The wager wasn't fair, and he knew it. She could tell by the wicked gleam in his eye. She would be sitting here in her undergarments in a few hands, and he would still be wearing his shirt. She had meant for him to win, but she hadn't meant for it to be easy.
She held her chin up. "Tapes and hooks count as buttons," she proposed.
Daniel groaned, but nodded agreement. "All right, but the clothes have to come off so I know you're not cheating. The last one with clothes on, wins."
She didn't think she could blush any deeper, but she felt warm clear down through her middle. Not daring to meet his eyes, Georgina stared at her cards. "Tell me what a high hand is."
Chapter 24
The remains of their meal of cold chicken and potato salad lay stacked on a corner of the table. It had taken them several hours to actually eat it, and they had ignored the rap on their door of the servant who came to carry it away.
Their second bottle of wine was only half empty, but they were making inroads on it. Sunlight still seeped through the window, but from an entirely different angle than at the start of the game. Shadows began to form around the room as they studied their cards.
Daniel's coat lay across the back of his chair and his vest was unbuttoned down to the last button. Georgina's gown gaped all the way down the back, the millions of tiny buttons completely unfastened, but the train of the gown was still clinging by a tape, so she refused to remove it.
She couldn't, however, keep the front of her gown from falling forward without holding it, and it was increasingly difficult to hold her cards, her glass, and her gown. But she noticed this worked in her favor as often as not. Lifting her glass to sip, she let the gown fall forward, and Daniel's gaze instantly focused on the rise of her breasts above the corset.
Georgina smiled and helped herself to another card. "I raise you two buttons."
Daniel marked down the bet and spread out his cards, his eyes still focused on the display before him. "Two jacks, my dear. Off with the gown."
Georgina glared at the two tens in her hand. He might be distracted, but that didn't help her luck any. With a shrug that came as much from the wine as composure, she let the gown fall off her shoulders as she untied the bustle tape.
"You're down six buttons, my dear. The tape is only one." Daniel watched in fascination as Georgina stood, letting the gown fall to her feet.
She was still fully covered in corset and petticoat, drawers and chemise, and if the truth were told, she'd be delighted to