Poker Face: A Small Town Romance (The Beaufort Poker Club Book 1)

by Maggie Gates

  “Love them.”

  “Is there anyone on the beach during one?”

  I shook my head no.

  “Good,” he rasped as he twisted my arms behind my back, cuffing my wrists with his hand as he marched me to the side of the A-frame house that faced the beach. It was all windows and had a stunning view of the Atlantic, but tonight, it was black.

  Luca pressed me, naked, up against the cool glass and my nipples perked in response. He wedged his foot in between my ankles and kicked them to be a shoulder’s width apart.

  I gasped when he lowered his lips to my ear and slowly raised one of my hands and then the other and pressed them against the glass so that I was spread wide—completely exposed and bared.

  His teeth grazed the curve of my ear and he bit down on my lobe before gruffly whispering, “You know what someone would see if they happened to be on the beach right now?” He punctuated his question with a firm bite on my neck. “They’d see you completely naked. They’d see your perfect tits smashed against the window.” He trailed his knuckles down my ribs to the dip at my waist. “They’d see your flawless curves.” Luca bent low and knelt on his knees behind me. He ran a finger from my ankle, up the side of my calf, to the back of my knee. He trailed it up my thigh, stopping just shy of where I craved him most. “They’d see your legs—legs like a damn dream, Madeline.” He kissed the back of my thighs, first the right, then the left.

  He rose to his feet and gathered my hair together, twisting it three times around his hand and forcefully jerking it to the side so that my neck and back was exposed to him. “The world deserves to see how beautiful you are. Open your eyes.”

  It was a feat of strength to peel my eyelids apart. When I did, I saw the storm surge. The wind whipped the palm trees back and forth. Rain pounded the windows.

  And I was staring it down. He was Poseidon and I was his Amphitrite—the god and goddess of the sea. Luca made me feel powerful.

  My body trembled and he caged me in, bracketing my spread feet with his. Placing his hands over mine. Pressing his cock against the curve of my ass. Luca placed a kiss on the crook of my neck and said, “Are you ready for this, Tesoro?”

  Somehow, I knew he wasn’t just talking about sex. I didn’t know if there was really any way to be ready for what being with Luca could bring, but in that moment, I swore I was invincible.

  “Yes,” I said as my breath fogged the glass.

  Luca slid his hand between my legs and dipped his fingers into my hot core. I whimpered as he tested me, circling one finger around inside of my pussy—Just enough to make me cry out when he didn’t immediately give me more. He grazed my G-spot, and I pounded my fist against the glass in frustration.

  I heard the zipper on his jeans lower, the tear of the foil, the muffled roll of the latex over his shaft, and felt the warm head of his hard cock when it pressed against me. Luca bent his knees and drove in once, then twice. “Luca—” I begged.

  “Patience, Tesoro. I don’t wanna hurt you.” Damn him and that big dick of his. It really was unfair to the rest of the men on earth—there was no contest. Luca drove in a third time, giving me all of himself. I nearly choked at the fullness. He brushed my hair aside and peppered my shoulder with kisses as I relaxed around him.

  He wrapped his arms around my chest and palmed both of my breasts in his hands. He rolled my nipples between his fingers as he began to thrust. My forehead dropped onto the window when I let out a cry of ecstasy and anticipation. “Yes—oh, oh!” I groaned as my senses heightened.

  Luca dropped one hand and gave my clit rhythmic flicks as he took me against the window. “Sei tutto per me,” he moaned between snaps of his hips.

  “Luca!” I screamed as the mounting pressure building inside of me became unbearable. “Please—”

  “Sei tutto per me,” he whispered again as he quickened his pace. I felt the tremble in his body and knew that he wasn’t far behind. “Come for me, beautiful,” he commanded.

  I shattered and cried out as every muscle in my body poured into my climax. Luca threw his head back and smacked his hand against the window when his release overtook him. He closed an arm around me and held me close as the hurricane around us kept roaring. “Sei tutto per me,” he mumbled into the top of my head.

  “What’s that mean?” I panted as I came down from my high.

  He placed a soft kiss into my hair, his gruff timbre sending aftershocks rippling through my body. “You’re everything to me.”

  29

  ———

  LUCA

  “You okay?” I asked quietly. The power flickered as the storm billowed around us and I held Maddie against the window. Our bodies were slick with sweat. Maddie nodded and leaned her forehead on the glass. She wrapped her arms around her waist, and I kept her close. Eventually, though, I had to let her go so I could deal with the condom.

  When I came back, she was curled up on the couch. She had slipped my button-up back over her shoulders and was holding it closed with a tight grip. I had changed into a pair of gray sweatpants and nothing else. As I sat back down on the couch, Maddie stirred. “Hm? Whatimezit?”

  I chuckled and nudged her head up just enough to get my thighs underneath so that she could lay her head in my lap. Gently, I pulled her hair out from under her and smoothed it down. Her delicate eyelids closed, and she let out a contented sigh.

  For hours we stayed like that. Sometimes one or both of us would doze off. Sometimes we’d talk about nothing important, simply enjoying the quiet company and companionship. Around Maddie I didn’t have to be Luca DeRossi—I didn’t want to be him.

  Around me, she said that she finally felt calm. When we were together, we didn’t have the pressure of living up to what everyone else expected us to be. I couldn’t imagine living in the same place I grew up like Maddie did. Sometimes when you stayed where you were raised, it made it impossible to leave the younger you behind and grow into who you wanted to be. For me, I had the pressure of living up to my name, keeping tons of people employed, and leveraging my celebrity to keep my star rising. They say it’s lonely at the top, but no one ever tells you just how shitty that feels.

  I didn’t need someone who “got it”. I needed someone who didn’t want to get it—Someone who didn’t care if I was a celebrity chef or just a cook. I’d had my fill of women using me for my name. I was done with that.

  Maddie snuggled closer as the clock rounded two in the morning. I scooped her up in my arms and kissed her forehead as I carried her back to my bed.

  ✽✽✽

  “Mornin’, sexy,” Maddie grinned as I stumbled into the kitchen. Her little southern accent was on full display this morning and it was something else. “How do you like your eggs?”

  I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and walked up behind her while she pulled the eggs from the fridge, “How long have you been up?” I mumbled as I stood at her back and wrapped my arms around her waist. I kissed her cheek and then her neck.

  “Since five.”

  I looked at the clock—it was a quarter after nine. “Shoulda slept in. Let me make you breakfast in bed.”

  She giggled and closed the door to the refrigerator. “Internal alarm clock. Too many years waking up before the sun. I can’t sleep past five unless I’m hungover. Besides, you cooked last night. Only fair I tackle breakfast. Eggs?”

  “Soft scrambled.”

  “With butter?”

  “Is there any other way?” I chuckled.

  She cracked a couple eggs in a bowl with a practiced efficiency. “Coffee?” I asked.

  Maddie pointed to the coffee maker that was still steaming and the empty mug that sat beside it. “I didn’t know how you took it, so I figured I’d wait.”

  I filled the OBX mug to the brim and took a cautious sip. “Just black,” I said as I leaned back against the counter and watched her whisk the eggs in the skillet over a low flame.

  “I’ll remember that for next time.”

  I liked the sound o
f that—That she would be here again. Not because I asked, but because she wanted to be here. The relentless downpour from the hurricane making landfall had turned to a miserable drizzle. It was daylight, but the ocean was still a bleak, angry gray as the last of the storm churned up the coast.

  Maddie slid a plate and a fork across the counter to me and dropped the skillet in the sink. “How’s your mom handle all this?” I asked as I shoveled in the first bite. Breakfast heaven. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had cooked for me outside of a restaurant. My ex sure hadn’t. Then again, she didn’t eat much of anything. It was always juice cleanse this and lose five before Milan that. I swore after I broke things off with Amalia that I’d never go back to someone like that. At its best, our relationship was cordial. At its worst it was her breathing down my neck or whining and trying to get me to go out to clubs and red carpet events.

  She was content closing down her favorite hole-in-the-wall bar or spending her nights in with her friends. And not once had she ever been looking at her phone when we were together.

  Maddie shrugged and sipped on her coffee that was the color of sand. “Fine. Most of the time she doesn’t even know what’s going on nowadays.”

  “It’s just you and her, right? I mean, you don’t have any siblings?”

  She wagged her finger at me and shook her head, “Don’t start that, Luca. This isn’t a pity party. It is what it is, and I’ve learned to live with it.”

  “Just trying to get to know my girlfriend.”

  Her eyebrows raised. “Your what?”

  “You heard me.”

  “I know I heard you—I was just giving you a chance to take it back.”

  “And why the hell would I do that, beautiful? We’re sleeping together— exclusively, I might add. I’ve met your friends and you’re gonna meet mine. When we’re in New York I’m gonna take you home and you’re gonna meet the whole motley DeRossi crew, and when you’re comfortable with it, I’m gonna go with you one of these Mondays and meet your mom.”

  Maddie blew out a nervous breath, “Oh, you—you’re saying a lot of things, DeRossi.”

  “But nothing that I don’t mean.”

  “Luca…”

  “I’m all in, Maddie.”

  She turned away and dropped her mug in the sink. I pushed away from the kitchen counter and grabbed her arm. “Talk to me, Mad.”

  “I just… this is… it’s moving really fast, Luca.”

  “I’ve been chasing you for months—you’re just finally catching up, Tesoro.” I said, sliding my hand down her arm and clasping her hand, leading her to the couch. I sat on one end, but when she moved a throw pillow and sat down at the other, I dragged her across to lay with me.

  “New York,” she began.

  “What about it?”

  “I just… I don’t know what to pack or plan for. You need to give me dates so I can book my plane ticket.”

  I knew she was changing the subject and I decided to go with it for now. I laughed and bent down to give her a peck. “Maddie, I’m not letting you buy your own plane ticket.”

  She frowned and began to sit up, “I’m more than capable of paying for my own ticket, thank you very much.”

  “Are you always this stubborn?”

  “Yup.”

  I shook my head. “Mad, it’s not up for discussion. Look, I’ll give you the dates, but only so you can make the schedule and have the rest your team cover the days that you’re gone.”

  She laid her head back in the corner of my chest and closed her eyes. “Tell me what we’re gonna be doing so I know what to pack.”

  “Well,” I began. “We’ll get there on Friday and stay at my place in the city. There are a couple events I wanna take you to over the weekend. The awards are on Monday, and, uh, after that I figured we’d spend a day in Brooklyn with my folks before flying back.” I could see her doing the math in her head and freaking out inside. “Hey, it’s gonna be great.”

  Maddie nodded and closed her eyes, drifting off as the rain pelted the windows. Just as she settled into a comfortable sleep, her phone rang. I looked over my shoulder and saw it lit up on the kitchen counter. Carefully, I slid out from under her, and walked over to pick it up before the shrill ringing woke her. I saw Steve’s name on the screen and swiped across the screen.

  “Hello?” I answered.

  There was a pregnant pause. “Oh. It’s you.”

  I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, uh, Maddie’s asleep. Want me to take a message?”

  “Isn’t that what voicemail’s for? Why the fuck are you answering her phone?” He grunted.

  I pressed my fist against the cool countertops to keep from saying something that would make her friends hate me. Or kill me. “Like I said, she’s asleep.”

  Steve was quiet again for a moment before he finally said, “No message. I was just checkin’ on her.”

  “She’s good.”

  “Alright. Make sure it stays that way. I don’t wanna have to come break your face.”

  “Understood.” Just as I hung up her phone, Maddie wandered in.

  “Who was that?” She asked as I set her phone down. She rubbed her eyes and let out a little yawn as she stretched her arms.

  “Steve. Just making sure you were okay.”

  Maddie nodded and took my hand, leading me back to the bedroom, not another word about the fact that I had answered her phone. Any other woman I’d ever been with would have dropped me on the spot, spewing off shit about me not trusting her. Madeline Dorsey was a unicorn.

  There was a private screened in deck off the side of the master. She pushed back the heavy sliding door and stepped out. The air was heavy and humid. A little cooler than usual, but that just meant it didn’t feel like I was living in a boiling pot of soup all damn day. I didn’t spend a ton of time in the south—usually bouncing between Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, and New York City—and I had not been prepared for the humidity.

  The first day I had gotten settled at the rental house, I put on my sneakers to go for a run on the beach—One of my favorite things to do in California. I didn’t even make it a mile before I was drenched in sweat and felt like I was choking on a soggy sock.

  Maddie laid her palms on my shoulders and pushed me down onto the wicker loveseat. The canvas covered cushions sank as she straddled my hips, facing me and wrapping her arms around my neck.

  The rain had turned to a gentle pitter patter. I put my hands on her hips to help steady her. I noticed that instead of the pajamas I had stocked for her, Maddie was in a pair of my boxers and one of my undershirts with the hem tied off in a little knot, showing a strip of her tan stomach.

  “Are you gonna break my heart, Luca DeRossi?” She asked with a toss of her hair. It was so out of the blue. I didn’t even know how to respond.

  Instead, I just responded with a question of my own. “Are you gonna break mine?”

  A little smile toyed at the corner of her mouth. I didn’t know where her head was at. There was something going on behind those gray eyes that were as tumultuous as the sea. She’d told me a little about her mom’s dementia, but still, she kept her cards close to the vest. She prided herself on being the strong one—always being the one to be there for everyone else. I saw it in the way she worried about her staff, taking the brunt of the workload. I saw it in the way she cared for her friends—giving her friend, Kristin, meals that were already made so that she didn’t have to stress about cooking. She would call Steve to have him come over and fix things on her houseboat. At first that annoyed the hell out of me, but then I realized that she was just giving him something to do.

  “Tell me about you dad,” I said, shifting her so that she was sitting in my lap.

  Maddie let out a non-committal hum and just shook her head. “You don’t wanna hear about my daddy issues.”

  “Don’t say it like that, Tesoro.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like whatever he did is your fault. It isn’t.”

 
She let out a sarcastic little laugh, “Don’t start with this, Luca.”

  “Maddie, listen to me. Saying that someone has daddy issues like that’s some kind of insult is fucked up. It’s not on you that your dad wasn’t the man he should’ve been, so don’t put that shit on you. His failure to be a fucking parent is on him and him alone.”

  She blinked and looked up at the ceiling as if she were praying to be whisked away. “Never underestimate the power of silence.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Clearing her throat of emotion, Maddie said, “When I was in fourth grade, he kissed me on the head and saw me off to the bus before school. When I got home, he was gone. Never came back.”

  There was a weight to the silence that followed, and it broke my heart for her. I tightened my grip around her. “Have you heard from him since?”

  She tucked her head between my neck and shoulder and quietly sniffed back tears. “He, um… he left my mom a note. Said that living here, being tied down to a wife and a daughter—it wasn’t enough for him. He always wanted to be a country singer. He did pretty good playing bars around here and thought he’d take his act to Nashville. Make it big, you know? Every time he’d move or get a different place, Mom would send him pictures and letters, telling him how I was. He never wrote back and I never tried to get in touch with him.”

  “When’d they divorce?”

  “They didn’t.” Maddie dabbed at her eyes and toyed with a loose string on the hem of the boxers she was wearing. “It wasn’t that he didn’t want me or mom, or even that he didn’t love us—we just weren’t enough for him. Somehow, I think that made it hurt worse. If he didn’t love me, I could get over that. Being hurt by someone who loves you? That kind of pain hurts the deepest.” She took a deep breath and I rubbed idle circles on her thigh, just to let her know that I was there. “Mom kept holding on to the hope that maybe he’d get his fill and come back to us, but even back then I knew that he wouldn’t. I wanted them to get divorced. It would’ve been easier. I wanted her to remarry someone good who would take care of her and give her a good life. She just kept holding out hope before the dementia got bad.”