double entendre in his statement, but she wasn’t going to let his attempt to scare her away keep her from
her goals. She took a deep breath and raised her chin a notch.
“I think this is a fine time for another poker lesson, Mr. Straights.” She arched her brow. “I thought of several other questions
I needed to ask.” She didn’t allow herself to grin at the flash of panic she’d seen in his deep brown eyes, despite the fact
he had it coming.
Dyer pulled the deck of cards out of his bureau drawer, wondering again about his sanity. Newt was as fine aman as Dyer knew, yet he had warned Lottie to stay clear of Newt when he should have encouraged her to get closer. If Newt
took her under his wing, perhaps Dyer could be free of the little minx once and for all.
“What am I going to learn today?” Lottie asked, reminding him that the minx in question was in his cabin . . . and the door
was closed. He pushed in the drawer to his bureau, forcing his mind away from the path it had started to take.
He dropped into a seat at the table and shuffled the deck. “I’m going to show you which hands beat what.” He dealt five hands
faceup on the table. “In poker, each hand consists of five cards. Different types of poker have different ways of getting
those five cards. In some games, the dealer gives every man—”
“Or woman,” she said.
“Or woman,” he conceded. “The dealer gives a card facedown, and then the next card is faceup, or different variations of that.”
“But if your card is faceup, everyone knows what you have.”
He nodded. “They know part of your hand, but not all of it. That’s what makes the game interesting.”
She frowned. “When do you place your bets?”
“That depends on the game too, but usually after each round of cards is dealt.” He motioned to one of the hands. “In this
game, this hand would’ve won because there is a pair of sevens, and none of the other hands have anything better.”
“So a pair wins?”
He shrugged. “Usually, in a game like Draw, a pair will win, but there are other hands much better than that.” He laid out
examples of different winning combinationsof cards. “Three of a kind beats two of a kind, and of course four of a kind is better than either of those—”
“Wait.” She glanced up at him, pulling her lower lip between her teeth for a second. “Would you wait here for just a moment?”
Dyer nodded but didn’t have the chance to ask her why before she darted from his cabin. With any luck at all, she’d realized
this was more complicated than she’d thought and changed her mind. He shook his head. More than likely she had a list of questions
she had forgotten and was simply going to retrieve it.
He took the opportunity to lay out samples of the winning hands, starting from the highest to the lowest, and had just finished
placing them on the table when she returned, carrying several sheets of paper. She set a bottle of ink beside them on the
table and dipped in her pen.
“Would you start again, please? What is the highest hand?”
“That would be the royal flush . . .”
She wrote down everything he explained to her, stopping only to fill her pen, and when he finished, she had two pages of notes.
She hadn’t asked a single question, a realization that both pleased and frightened him. When all the questions she’d stored
finally erupted, it could no doubt cost a man his life.
He looked at her nervously from the corner of his eye. “Any questions?”
“No,” she answered, then blew on the paper to dry the ink.
He raised his brows, knowing full well she had at least a million questions, and her lack of asking them was probably just
a female scheme to catch him off guard. Heshould insist she ask them, but then again, why look a gift horse in the mouth?
“Memorize that over the next few days; then you’ll be ready for your next lesson.”
“I’ll be ready by tomorrow.” She gathered up
her goals. She took a deep breath and raised her chin a notch.
“I think this is a fine time for another poker lesson, Mr. Straights.” She arched her brow. “I thought of several other questions
I needed to ask.” She didn’t allow herself to grin at the flash of panic she’d seen in his deep brown eyes, despite the fact
he had it coming.
Dyer pulled the deck of cards out of his bureau drawer, wondering again about his sanity. Newt was as fine aman as Dyer knew, yet he had warned Lottie to stay clear of Newt when he should have encouraged her to get closer. If Newt
took her under his wing, perhaps Dyer could be free of the little minx once and for all.
“What am I going to learn today?” Lottie asked, reminding him that the minx in question was in his cabin . . . and the door
was closed. He pushed in the drawer to his bureau, forcing his mind away from the path it had started to take.
He dropped into a seat at the table and shuffled the deck. “I’m going to show you which hands beat what.” He dealt five hands
faceup on the table. “In poker, each hand consists of five cards. Different types of poker have different ways of getting
those five cards. In some games, the dealer gives every man—”
“Or woman,” she said.
“Or woman,” he conceded. “The dealer gives a card facedown, and then the next card is faceup, or different variations of that.”
“But if your card is faceup, everyone knows what you have.”
He nodded. “They know part of your hand, but not all of it. That’s what makes the game interesting.”
She frowned. “When do you place your bets?”
“That depends on the game too, but usually after each round of cards is dealt.” He motioned to one of the hands. “In this
game, this hand would’ve won because there is a pair of sevens, and none of the other hands have anything better.”
“So a pair wins?”
He shrugged. “Usually, in a game like Draw, a pair will win, but there are other hands much better than that.” He laid out
examples of different winning combinationsof cards. “Three of a kind beats two of a kind, and of course four of a kind is better than either of those—”
“Wait.” She glanced up at him, pulling her lower lip between her teeth for a second. “Would you wait here for just a moment?”
Dyer nodded but didn’t have the chance to ask her why before she darted from his cabin. With any luck at all, she’d realized
this was more complicated than she’d thought and changed her mind. He shook his head. More than likely she had a list of questions
she had forgotten and was simply going to retrieve it.
He took the opportunity to lay out samples of the winning hands, starting from the highest to the lowest, and had just finished
placing them on the table when she returned, carrying several sheets of paper. She set a bottle of ink beside them on the
table and dipped in her pen.
“Would you start again, please? What is the highest hand?”
“That would be the royal flush . . .”
She wrote down everything he explained to her, stopping only to fill her pen, and when he finished, she had two pages of notes.
She hadn’t asked a single question, a realization that both pleased and frightened him. When all the questions she’d stored
finally erupted, it could no doubt cost a man his life.
He looked at her nervously from the corner of his eye. “Any questions?”
“No,” she answered, then blew on the paper to dry the ink.
He raised his brows, knowing full well she had at least a million questions, and her lack of asking them was probably just
a female scheme to catch him off guard. Heshould insist she ask them, but then again, why look a gift horse in the mouth?
“Memorize that over the next few days; then you’ll be ready for your next lesson.”
“I’ll be ready by tomorrow.” She gathered up
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