Page 56

His brows rise. Jackpot.

But before I can get too triumphant, he snaps out a hand to cover my own. "Not so fast."

Shit.

I cringe when he shows his own cards. Same damn flush, only he's got the king.

"Damn," Deandre says, respect in his voice, and yeah. The odds of that were vanishingly small.

I slump back in my seat, wiped out. I huff theatrically. "Guess I'm done for the night."

I'm pissed about it, too. That wasfun. We're all drinking, but just enough to get loose—not enough to be stupid. The game is fast paced, and everyone is pretty good. It feels like I'm one of the guys, and I liked it.

But then Jax smirks. "Not necessarily. Just need another buy in."

Oh.

Oh.

I sit up straight again. They didn't make me pay upfront for my stake, but it's clear from the expression on his face that the house isn't extending any more lines of credit without a down payment.

"Is that so?"

"Sure is. You wanna go to the bank"—he points to himself—"or someone else?"

Cayden is right there, looking inviting, and after wiping me out, he does have an awfully big stack of chips.

I tilt my head to the side and bat my lashes at him. "What do you say?"

He pretends to deliberate, then grins, low and wide. "Why not?"

He opens his arms, but I do him one better. If I really want the fake money, I better earn it after all. With everyone watching, I climb into his lap, and oh. Wow.

He's half hard beneath me, just from the thought of a stolen kiss. His gaze connects with mine, then darts to the side.

Or maybe—maybe it's not the stolen kiss turning him on. Maybe it's the audience.

I flash back in my mind to the moment he walked in on me and Deandre fucking in the workshop. The lack of jealousy had bordered on hunger, and maybe he likes this. A bit of a voyeur, a bit of an exhibitionist.

Funny. My panties are a little wetter than they were when we started this. Maybe I kinda like it, too.

Thatmaybepart flies right out the window as I place my hands to either side of his face and bring my lips to his. The kiss is wet and sexy right off the bat, and it only gets moreso as a couple of appreciative whistles fire off around us. A thrill hums through me, and I grind down just once, rubbing myself across the bulge in his jeans and seeing sparks.

I have half a mind to keep going, but the night is still young. I pull away with regret, sucking on his lower lip, then letting go of it with a pop. My chest rises and falls with the force of my breath. Holy crap, I'm turned on.

I hide it the best I can, though. "So. That worth a couple of chips?"

Cayden's eyes smolder. "A couple."

"Good."

I spin myself off his lap, helping myself to two of his red ones—a tiny fraction of his stack but a sizable portion of his fortune.

Deandre laughs. "Girl's got balls."

"Eggs, actually," I quip. I hold my hard-earned chips out to Jax. "You mind making change?"

He swaps the chips out for smaller denominations, and then the game is back on.