Read Online Black Girls and Bad Boys: Stealing Loretta by Neneh J. Gordon - Free Book Online Page A

night.
    Raises came back into fashion. The next pot
was the biggest that game had seen. He tried to catch Loretta’s eye, hoping to
tell her to bow out after this one. She didn’t look at him. So, he couldn’t
tell her cut her losses and she probably had a bad hand. Maybe it was for the
best – it would be dangerous to get accused of cheating if someone saw him
trying to communicate with her.
    The raises kept coming and the pot got even
bigger.
    She still didn’t look at him. Still no
tell. He tried to think of something consoling to say when she lost. But that
was a lot of money on the table.
    All the raising finally came to an end and
it was time for the players to drop their pants.
    Jordan held his breath. Ponytail put down
another straight flush. Seven to Jack. That was it – game over.
    Eyebrows threw down his full house and sat
back in his chair.
    Loretta rearranged the cards she was holding.
Everyone was looking at her. Why didn’t she just finish it?
    With her face blank of emotion, she turned
to the dealer. “Aces high, right?”
    He gave her a look that said he’d never sat
next to a dumber woman than her. He’d gone through all that before they started
playing. “Yeah. Aces high.”
    “Good.” She put down the eight of diamonds,
the nine of diamonds, the ten – every diamond up to the ace. “I’m out.” She
reached across the table with both hands and pulled all the chips in front of
her.
    It took Jordan a while to recover enough to
help her with all those chips. “Oh my god. You’re a poker hustler.”
    “Hardly. That was the baby table.”
    They went to cash in and Jordan handed her
a wad of notes. She put up her hands. “It was your money.”
    “That you won with.”
    She grinned at him. “I don’t have any
pockets and that isn’t going to fit in my handbag.” When she held it up, he
wondered what she did manage to fit in there.
    “Okay. I’ll look after it for you.” But he
couldn’t let her give it to him. She’d won it fair and square. “Where’d you
learn to play like that?” He handed her the bottle of lager they’d both
forgotten about.
    “The guys on my degree course had a weekly
poker night. I was the only woman who ever went.”
    He could picture it. A room full of geeks
and the hot finance student. She must have won every week. “How many games did
you throw?”
    She laughed. “You’re good.” She took a
drink.
    He watched her delicate throat move as she
swallowed. She was giving him a thirst that alcohol wouldn’t quench.
    “Enough to make sure they wanted me to come
back.”
    That was it. He was gone. He took her by
the waist and pulled her into his body. Somehow, he’d stumbled into the perfect
woman. He bent down and pressed his lips to hers. It was like plucking a ripe
fruit. He wanted to devour her.
    Fuck the bank and Ursino and
Bill-fucking-Marcolini. Fuck Gina. He wanted Loretta and he was going to find a
way to have her for more than one night.
    “Come on, we’re leaving.”
    Hand in hand, they walked outside to his
car.
    She thought about stopping him. She even
put the words together in her head. The problem came when she tried to say
them. Her lips made the right shape, but nothing came out. It would have been
easy to blame the drink or the rush of winning all that money, but that wasn’t
it at all.
    It was him.
    It was the way he made her feel every time
their lips touched and she tasted his raw, masculine energy. He wanted her so
much it burned into her skin. She’d never felt that before. It was a huge
turn-on.
    Walking out to the front of the barn with
him was an out-of-body experience. Her head was full of what would happen when
they got where they were going. What he would do to her. She was already having
the night of her life but she was sure it was about to get even better.
    Pulling him to a stop, she pushed him
against the wall and looked up into his eyes. It was too dark to see them
properly, but she could remember the exact shade of