Page 6 of Texas Hold Em’ (The Devil’s Luck MC #3)

CARRIE

S am pressed a beer into my hands when I returned to the back deck.

She cracked the top on her own drink, some sort of foul looking flavored water concoction, and bumped it against mine, sending foam and beer drizzling onto the deck between our feet.

“Bottom’s up,” she said before tilting her head back and draining half her can like she was a war horse kept from water.

I followed suit but not nearly as gracefully. I sputtered and coughed and many of the men laughed at my expense.

I wiped my lips with my hand and shook the beer from my fingertips. “I can’t drink carbonated things quickly.”

“Ignore them,” Sam said, nudging my elbow with her own.

“Easier said than done.” I tugged at the hem of my shirt.

I’d done my best to look like anything but the uptight Ranger I was sure these guys saw me as.

At first, I thought my outfit had done the trick.

Abel and Gabriel took interest in me right away.

But Tex, the one whose trust I needed to earn the most, was more standoffish than ever.

I needed to up the ante.

“Hey,” I muttered to Sam, “do you think I could ask you for a favor?”

“What sort of favor? ”

“An outfit?”

Sam sipped her drink with a furrowed brow before licking her lips. “What sort of outfit?”

I cast a shy glance to the patio doors as Tex emerged from inside the house. “Something that will make me look entirely unlike myself. Something that will make him notice me.”

Sam followed my gaze and watched Tex lean up against the porch railing. “Oh,” she breathed. “Really? You have a thing for Tex? I have to admit, Carrie, I didn’t see this coming. I didn’t think he’d be your type.”

He’s not. Or shouldn’t be.

Shit. It’s just a means to an end but he does look damn good in that leather jacket. And when I grabbed him in the kitchen—

I looked away when my cheeks started to burn. “He just has me curious is all. And we have nothing but time to kill, me and him.”

Sam nodded at Suzie. “Come with us.”

Suzie kissed Mason before following Sam and me into the house.

Sam led us down the hall to the bedroom she shared with Jackson, which was much more of a tranquil room than I expected.

The walls were a muted gray and displayed sophisticated art.

A white dresser boasted a generous perfume collection and assortment of nail polishes.

Sam had really made this place her home.

She opened the doors to her closet, revealing a wardrobe a girl like me could only dream of.

“Wow.” I set my beer down on the dresser. “I wish I had a closet like this. Having to wear a uniform for work all the time makes it pointless to spend money on clothes. But this?” I moved forward and pinched the sleeve of a sleek black dress. “I could get used to a closet like this.”

Suzie hopped up onto the end of Sam and Jackson’s bed and crossed one leg over the other. “So what exactly are we doing in here?”

Sam took my hand, held it over my head, and gave me a little twirl like we were on a dance floor. “We’re going to help Carrie pick out an outfit so that a certain someone takes notice of her,” she said .

Suzie stared blankly at me. “Oh God. Which one caught your eye?”

When I didn’t answer, Sam did for me. “Tex.”

“Tex!” Suzie rocked back on the bed and kicked her feet like a giddy child as she laughed. “Oh God. Seriously? He’s a loner and he likes it that way, babe. You’d be better off setting your sights on one of the others. Brody is a good catch. He’s a doctor, too.”

Sam put her hands on her hips. “What’s wrong with Tex?”

“Nothing’s wrong with him,” Suzie said. “He’s just not looking to fall in love, you know?”

I began sifting through items in Sam’s closet. “I think he’s handsome.”

“Yeah, in a roguish, break your heart, stomp all over it with his leather boots kind of way.” Suzie smirked.

“Suzie,” Sam scolded.

“What?” Suzie asked innocently. “I’m just saying.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not looking for love then, isn’t it?” I asked.

The women watched as I pulled a dress out of the closet and held it in front of me.

Sam shook her head, took it away from me, and hung it back up. “Look, you do you, girl. If you’re looking for a good time, Tex is your guy. I’ve heard he’s good in bed.”

“From who?” Suzie asked.

I held my hands up. “Hold on. Nobody ever said I wanted to fuck him.”

The girls cocked their heads to the side in unison.

“Then why do you want to dress up for him?” Sam asked.

“Because,” I said as I discovered a pair of leather leggings.

I pulled them out. “He walks around his apartment thinking he’s got a washed-up cop sleeping in his bed.

I want to remind him that a girl can be more than one thing.

Besides, can’t I have a little fun while I’m in lockdown in his dingy warehouse of an apartment? ”

Suzie shrugged. “Sounds legit to me. Make him squirm. Tex is always too composed for his own good.”

Sam fetched me a wine-red crop top to switch out with my white one, and neither of them batted an eye as I stripped down and changed in front of them.

I’d done undercover work before. I knew how these circles ran. If the girls liked me, the men would follow suit.

Once dressed, I checked myself out in the standing mirror propped up in the corner of the bedroom beside a tall plant with wide green leaves.

I ran my hands over my hips and thighs, which strained against the fabric.

I had thicker legs than Sam, but I had to admit, they looked pretty good in leather.

Suzie hopped off the bed and came over to rest her arm on my shoulder. She whistled. “You look like a straight up hoe.”

“Tex won’t be able to pick his jaw up off the floor,” Sam said encouragingly.

I smiled.

If Tex liked what he saw, great. If not? Well, truth be told, I didn’t really care because I’d lied.

This outfit wasn’t for him.

This outfit was to get me a few steps closer to my real target—Caroline Bates.

“It’s perfect.” I turned to Sam. “Mind if I borrow it for a few nights?” I started pulling the leggings off.

Sam frowned. “You don’t want to wear it right now?”

“Nope. I have a special occasion in mind,” I said.

I could feel Sam and Suzie sharing a look as I struggled to peel the skintight leather off my ankles.

“Keep them as long as you need,” Sam said.

I’d just managed to put my own pants back on when the bedroom door swung open. Jackson stood in the doorway with his hand resting on the doorknob. His electric gaze flicked from his woman, to me, to his sister, and back to Sam.

“What are you three doing in here?” His voice was hollow.

Sam flitted over to him. “Carrie just needed to borrow some clothes.”

“For what?” he grated.

Sam rolled her eyes. “To wear. Come on. Let’s rejoin the others. My drink is empty.”

Sam took Jackson’s hand and pulled him out into the hall. He kept an eye on me over his shoulder as Suzie and I followed.

I wondered what he thought of me—what he really thought of me. He wasn’t a fool, so he knew keeping me close was to his advantage, but I doubted a man with experience like his could trust me so blindly.

I was sure he’d warned Tex to keep an eye on me.

They had every reason to be cautious. Even though I had saved Mason’s life, I was a flight risk. I had connections to the law. If I wanted to, I could up and bail any time I wanted and Jackson wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing about it.

Then again, maybe that was what he wanted.

Maybe he wanted me confined to Tex’s depressing apartment so that I ran back to Austin.

Back to my home.

Back to Dan.

I gritted my teeth as we passed through the kitchen.

No.

I would not run. Bates picked this fight with me as much as he had with Jackson’s club. I wanted to see him rot in jail for what he did. Besides, I didn’t have family to go home to. I didn’t have a home I shared with children and a husband. I was as much a loner as Tex was.

When this mess was behind me, I’d go home.

Until then, I had to keep my wits about me.

The Devil’s Luck might have saved my ass and was currently the only thing standing between me and Bates and me and the cops, but I couldn’t be na?ve enough to believe they would protect me like I was their own.

If push came to shove, they’d leave me high and dry.

So I had to make sure I could still look out for myself.

I wouldn’t wait around for Jackson’s orders to come down the line. It was time to take matters into my own hands, starting with Caroline Bates.

All I needed was the right window of opportunity.

For now, I would work recon. I would let these men in. I would laugh at their jokes, drink beer with them, and let them think I was just another girl with a tight ass and a flirty smile.

In my experience, it was always better to be underestimated, even by your alliances.

Back out on the porch, Grant fetched me another beer while Sam did dishes in the kitchen. He and Brody chatted me up while another joint was passed around and I did my best to give them all my attention. It wasn’t easy. I could feel eyes on me.

Between Grant and Brody, I caught a glimpse of Tex leaning on the porch railing, watching us.

No. Watching me.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

I used to think Dan was sexy. I liked his boyish charm and clean-cut good looks. I thought his dimples were cute and his haircut was sophisticated.

Tex was none of those things.

He stood with his shoulders pulled forward, like the weight of the world was balanced on his back.

His jaw flexed as he watched me with the men, and I felt a primal energy rolling off him as he averted his gaze and looked down to pull a cigarette out of his pack, drop the pack back in his pocket, and light the cigarette.

He took a drag and the ember lit up his features—the dark stubble along his jaw, the shadow of his sharp nose and long eyelashes, his hooded brow. He was the opposite of cute.

In fact, some women might pass him on the street dressed all in black and think he looked scary. Dangerous.

And he was. They all were.

But the way he looked at me, I liked it. I craved it. There was a reason I walked around his apartment in a T-shirt and little else in the mornings. I knew he watched me with those hawk-like eyes of his.

Maybe fucking a biker wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe it was the release I needed to keep a clear head in the middle of this bullshit with Bates.

And what was more, a man getting good sex was always easier to bend than a man who wasn’t.