Read Online Love in the Cards (Whole Lotta Love #1) by S. L. Carpenter, Sahara Kelly - Free Book Online Page B

no idea such things were possible, let alone attainable. Especially by her.
    But with Deuce she’d found a passion that damn near matched the one she’d cherished for poker all these years. However they weren’t in bed together now. They were facing each other, the two additional players on either side, ready to go head-to-head in the biggest game of their lives. Well, hers anyway.
    Her thoughts veered off into the wrong channel as she thought of going head to head with Deuce. Shit. The guy knew how to use his head. And the rest of his associated parts.
    No. Bad mind.
    She swallowed and closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply and struggling to let go of the sensual images dancing behind her eyelids. She simply had to put them away for a while now. She needed every ounce of focus she had—these were big-time players. This wasn’t going to be a walk in the park with the boys downtown. It wasn’t going to be a case of a few quick hands and then stroll away with the pot in her pocket.
    Nope. She was gonna have to work for each and every chip, each and every advantage and each and every strategy that would get her where she needed to be. She needed a clear head and one hundred percent of her attention on the cards.
    Not Deuce.
    ~~~~~
    Across the table, Deuce fought the very same battle.
    He didn’t dare meet her eyes. Not yet. Not while the scent of her still tickled his nostrils and his cock was all too ready to repeat last night’s pleasures. Down, Simba. Later. It’s poker time now. I know you’d like to poke her again but it’ll have to wait.
    He mentally slapped himself upside the ear and ordered his mind to get a grip. He could win this thing. He had the skills and knew how to use them. She might have control in bed at times but this was his domain, his home. He had the experience and the desire.
    Desire? Yeah, he had enough of that. More than enough.
    No, no. Don’t go there. Thinking with the wrong head again.
    A round of applause made him jump, jerking him away from his thoughts. He risked a glance across the table and saw her staring at her hands. She looked calm, but he knew better.
    She was every bit as tense as he was and probably for the same reasons.
    Shit. He probably shouldn’t have indulged in a round of fucking the likes of which had not only managed to shake him but also turn him inside out. It was supposed to be a fun, casual sort of thing, not something that lingered like the soft sounds of a song he couldn’t get out of his head.
    This was sooo not the time for sex. For thinking about sex, remembering sex or wondering when he could next have sex.
    With Maggie.
    Screw it.
    Deuce bit down on a pang of lust and breathed in slowly, exhaling just as slowly while releasing the part of his mind that knew every single thing there was to know about poker.
    That’s what today was about. The game. The bets. The cards fate would deal him and the experience he had in using those cards to make the right decisions.
    His thoughts cleared and the table came into sharp focus, the chips bright splashes of color next to each player. He caught the scent of nervousness from the guy next to him and the slight shift on the seat from the one other player at the table. He listened as the announcer introduced the dealer, Donnie Cartwright, owner of the Last Resort.
    A tall man with a noticeable dose of the military in his bearing, Donnie nodded at the table. “Welcome, folks. This is the fun part of being the owner—I get to indulge my own passion for poker by dealing this round to some of the finest players in the state.”
    There was a muted round of applause.
    “As you know, today’s pot is half a million dollars, going to the lucky winner. Who will also feature in the latest brochure from our friends at the Internal Revenue Service, a couple of whom are enjoying a meal next door as we speak.”
    There was a ripple of laughter at Donnie’s words. He smiled too. “Don’t worry. I made ‘em pay for it.