by Lindsey Hart
“There are worse things you could be.” He shrugged as he slid the cards out of their hotel standard box. He’d bought the deck from the casino as they walked through on their way to the bank of elevators that took them up to the room. “Like a steaming puddle of poo.”
June’s scowl deepened. “Why would you even go there?”
He grinned. “Just saying. And your friends like me so that should count for something.”
“It counts as the reason I’m here. For some reason, they want me to stay married to you. I don’t know why. They don’t find you at all attractive.”
Brock had to turn so she couldn’t see his shit-eating grin. Oh lord, even she had to joke about it. It was nice, finding a woman with a sense of humor. He didn’t know June well, but she seemed nice. Easy going. Funny. Like she’d be able to put up with a lot before she cracked.
She had put up with a lot.
Waking up married to a man she didn’t know probably fell into the category of a hell of a lot. Agreeing to go on a few dates with him- that was just icing on the cake. He wasn’t sure why she did. She probably didn’t even know why she hadn’t just demanded the annulment off the hop. He refused to credit it just to physical attraction, though he knew now, after that shower and his stunt at the show, which had his balls drawing up so hard he’d had to dislodge them out of his throat, that appearances or chemistry or whatever counted for something.
He’d spent the better part of the drive home from that ranch thinking about the shower. Except he hadn’t been playing June’s delicious naked body over and over in his mind- well, he had, but he also puzzled over how it felt to be with her.
It felt… right. It felt good. It felt easy. Natural.
He hadn’t found that with anyone. He was always too busy keeping his guard up. Or maybe he just hadn’t found the right body. Maybe it was just science and pheromones and all that. Maybe June just had the right makeup in more ways than one.
Maybe it was just easier because they were already married, and she didn’t know who he was.
“Hey. Dork. Over here.” June snapped her fingers, bringing his attention back to her. She smirked at him, but he watched the way her legs slammed shut, sending a not so subtle message about her body for the time being. His dick was already at attention, but that coy look she sent his way right after when she tried to pretend she wasn’t at all affected by his hand up her dress… that got his blood flowing. Her eyes flicked to the cards. “Are we going to play go fish or what?”
“Go fish,” he scoffed before he realized she was joking. “I had thought about it.”
“But you decided on poker instead. Let me guess, it’s going to be something cheesy like strip poker because you’re not brave enough to make the first move now that I’m here.”
“Oh, I’m bold enough. Don’t push me or you’ll find out just how much I want to knock you back, rip off that dress and sink into that beautiful tight pussy.” His eyes locked on hers and when hers widened, he could tell that she knew he meant business.
June swallowed audibly and clenched her legs harder. He actually saw her leg muscles flex. “This isn’t my dress. It’s Mandy’s, so please don’t rip it off. There is a reason things like zippers and buttons exist you know.”
“To be torn apart?”
She rolled her eyes. “No. To be undone. Slowly and sensuously.”
“Is that what you want?” His aching cock liked that idea almost as much as tearing things off and attacking her like a ravenous beast.
She blushed and looked away. “Let’s just concentrate on the cards. Is it strip poker or are you not as painfully transparent as I thought?”
Brock shuffled the deck neatly. He was always good at that. The new, stiff cards made a clean crisp sound that was completely satisfying. He did it over and over until June turned back to look at him. “I actually thought we should play a version of strip poker, but it wouldn’t be clothes that we took off. It would like a truth-telling. To get to know each other better.”
“Gotcha.” June smiled, far too easily. He should have known there was something else coming. “So that we can decide if we want to stay married with more than just what my vagina and your cock have to say about it.” His mouth dropped open and this time it was her turn to smile. She winked at him naughtily and god, he really, really liked that. “What? You think a lady can’t say dirty words?”
“Oh, I know they can. You should limit it if you don’t want that dress torn off you and all.”
That blush was back, riding high and pretty on her cheekbones, and damn, the inner Neanderthal in him was doing fucking backflips.
They had no chips, but it didn’t matter. “We take turns dealing. Since this is about our lives, we play the cards we’re dealt with. No folding. There’s no betting. I’ll turn all five cards, flop, turn, river and whoever is lucky enough to have the best hand wins. The winner doesn’t have to answer the question of the other person’s choosing.”
June’s mouth opened and closed. She finally snapped it shut. “Alright. I’m a good card player and I’m lucky, so I’m sure you’re going down.”
“I think it’s just more that you can’t resist a challenge.”
“Maybe that’s how we wound up in this mess.”
“Is it really a mess? Or maybe it could be a hot mess. That’s us. One. Hot. Mess. Although, I’d say we cleaned that up in that shower this afternoon, wouldn’t you?” He flashed her a disarming grin that made her blush even deeper. She shifted and he had the idea that she felt the same fluttering in his stomach and the heat in his nether half that he did.
“Shut up and deal the cards.”
Ever chivalrous, he cracked his knuckles and dealt them each two cards. He let her look at hers before he flipped all five cards up together. It wasn’t much fun, but it would be efficient. He thought it was better than just firing off random questions that he had no doubt she’d dodge, dip, evade, or flat out refuse to answer.
He just hoped in their little truth-telling game she wouldn’t ask him the one thing that truly mattered. He’d never been a very good liar.
Just watching June consider her cards before she flipped them over made him impossibly hard. Or at least it would have if he wasn’t already completely stiff. The strange thing was, it wasn’t just his pants that were suffering. Suddenly his shirt and his chest, specifically his rib cage, felt strange.
“Two threes. Let’s see what you have, though I’m sure I’ve won given that three right there.” June pointed to the flop. He groaned, flipped up his whole lot of nothing, and watched June do a triumphant fist pump. “Trips, baby, take that!” She looked back up at him and the excitement in her eyes was definitely his undoing. He’d lose to her every single time if she’d just look at him like that, with her beautiful lips wide in a smile.
“Okay, I admit defeat. Go ahead. Ask away.” He let her gather up the cards while she was either thinking or pretending to be.
“Are you rich?” June didn’t miss a beat. She waited patiently, eyebrow arched.
Of course. Of course, she’d ask the one damn question that I didn’t want her to. Brock swallowed hard but managed to keep it calm and cool and put together. At least he hoped he did. He was screaming on the inside.
“Maybe that’s rude,” June amended after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence ticked on. “It’s just that Jaz and Mandy insist you must have money. You rented out that whole ranch, bought us expensive show tickets, and this room is nice. It’s okay if you do and it’s okay if you don’t. I actually don’t know why I even asked. There’s no maybe about it. It was rude. It- it wouldn’t make a difference if you are or aren’t. I know you probably don’t believe me, but things like that aren’t actually high up on my list of priorities. Humor, intelligence, wit…” Her eyes strayed over him and her face flushed. “Uh- those are way more important than having money. Most guys with money are assholes since they think they can lord it over a woman if she doesn’t have it and turn her into a who
re.”
Brock forced a laugh. “Is that how it works?” June shrugged. “Well, I get by comfortably. I have enough.”
“But no mansion or castle in the sky or anything?”
“Nope, I’m afraid not.”
June nodded. She began to shuffle the cards since it was her turn to deal. “That’s good. If you did, and we stayed married, I’d probably just use you for the money anyway, if you had it.” Her smile told him there was no way that was the case and he relaxed at her wit. Humor somehow made everything easier to swallow.
Or maybe it was just the fact that June deftly shuffled those cards like she obviously knew what she was doing, and her beautiful fingers dealt them out without missing a beat. God, he wanted to take those fingers into his mouth. He wanted them on his body. He wanted to do things to her, touch her, taste her, claim her, be inside of her.
Fuck. Why the hell did I suggest cards when I should have suggested any one of those instead?
June’s pupils dilated. Her tongue swept out to wet her lips like she knew what he was thinking. She coyly set the deck down on the bed and flipped and spread five cards. She looked at her cards slowly, peaking at them like they were sitting at a real table.
Her brow lifted, taunting him. Her eyes flicked to the front of his pants where his cock was currently serving as a tent pole. She knew exactly what she was doing to him.
“You first?”
“Ladies first.”
She slipped up her cards and damn, she had a seven and a nine and it just happened that there on the bed, was an eight, ten, jack. Maybe she had horseshoes up her ass.
“Looks like I won again.” June threw the cards in a pile and waited for him to gather them up. “I want to know about your family.”
“My family… hmm. That’s a hard one. There isn’t much to tell. My mom and dad wish I would settle down, like I said. They want grandchildren. They weren’t overly strict growing up. I have a lot of good childhood memories. We were an average family, middle class. Dad worked at an office, my mom went back to work when I turned eight. She was a secretary and did admin work. She uh- got her certificate after I was born. Took night classes while my dad watched me, which was interesting, to say the least. She was a good mom. Always on the PTA and all that. Forced my dad to watch my Christmas concerts and go to Parent-Teacher Interviews.”
“Were you good growing up? Or were you a bunch of trouble like most boys? I have younger brothers, so I know how it is.”
Brock laughed while he shuffled. “I don’t know. I guess I got into average trouble. The worst thing my friends and I ever did was spray paint the school with a bunch of friends. We drew uh- phallic objects- all over the brick walls. We got in shit for it too. Had to scrub it all off and stay after school to do extra schoolwork and janitorial duties.”
“Oh. They put you to work to pay for your mistakes?” June’s lips twitched in amusement.
“That they did. My mom was so mad. My best friend, John and I never did anything like that again. I didn’t want to break my mom’s heart. She was so disappointed in me. That was the worst part.”
June nodded in sympathetic understanding as he dealt their next hand. When he put out the five cards and looked at his hand, he flipped up his pocket kings. “Yes! Finally!” June slowly tipped her cards to reveal pocket aces. His jaw dropped. “What the actual fuck? Can’t I catch a break here?”
“Sorry. Guess not.” She sat back and thought while he cleaned up the cards for her. “I guess I want to know what you do for a living. And your favorite hobby.”
“That’s two questions.”
“Yeah, well, that was a bad beat, so I’m going to get two this time.”
He couldn’t help but smile. God, she was cute. And she was talking to him. She was there. It was beyond anything he’d ever dared hope, so he’d answer her questions. “I guess I have a senior position in a company. It’s quite boring, just a lot of paperwork and making sure ends are met and going to meetings and all that. I usually work from home though, so that’s nice.”
“What does your company do?”
“I guess we take startup ideas and give people funding. We make loans to newer businesses and assess business models for potential funding and risk and all that. It’s boring like I said.” He didn’t want to raise any red flags, in case she might have heard of him.
“Okay…” she drew the word out slowly, while her eyes glistened. They latched onto his face and he couldn’t look away. “Where do you live?”
“I guess I’ll answer that, even though it’s technically another question. In Philadelphia.”
“Philadelphia! I wouldn’t have guessed that.” She looked him up and down. “I don’t know what I thought. Miami maybe. Although you ride a horse well, so maybe somewhere where there are lots of ranches. Somewhere northern and cold.” She shook her head and took the deck when he set it on the bed. She shuffled a few more times for good measure. “Either way, that’s a long way from San Diego.”
“That’s where you live?”
She hesitated and the cards stilled. “Yeah,” she finally answered. “It is.”
“I’d be willing to relocate,” he said softly. “The thing is, I do most of my work remotely anyway. I could do a lot of my meetings over conference and- uh…” he realized June was frowning. “What?”
“You’d do that? Relocate?”
“Yeah, why not? San Diego is nice. It’s warm at least.” He winked at her. “Why? Did you think I was going to make this strictly long distance? Do most marriages end up working out that way? And do you think I’d settle for video and phone sex after I’d had the real thing?”
June turned a shade of scarlet red that made him chuckle. Lord, she was beautiful. Enticing. Mysterious. Watching her in her element, which was obviously cards, he learned another side of her. She wasn’t always embarrassed or flushing like she was with her friends. Which was likely because they kept teasing her about him. She was calm and confident and efficient, and damn, that was sexy. He had a million questions he wanted to ask her, but he’d just thrown a wrench into it, given the way she was looking at him like she’d rather throw the cards on the floor and play with him instead.
Hell, he could handle that.
He could more than handle it.
She shook her head and disappointed him by shuffling slowly again. She dealt in slow motion. “I get one more question,” she said. He waited silently. “I- do you really think this thing could work out?”
“Yes, I do.” He nodded. “Because I think that ultimately relationships, marriage, all of it, love even if we ever wanted to go there, and I’m not saying we have to, I’m just saying if… it’s a choice. Honestly. I think people choose to either stay together or fall apart. Maybe not like one big choice where they wake up and find out they hate that person after like twenty years. I think it’s a slow progression of a whole bunch of small choices that all lead to one big decision. Grow together or grow apart.”
June’s lips pursed. “That’s very romantic and sensible for someone who has previously confessed to being so jaded they’d willingly trick someone into marrying them and try to make them stay married.”
He laughed at her assessment. She was sharp. He’d have to watch himself. “I thought the real question was about one of my hobbies.”
“Oops.” She rolled her eyes in the whole sorry, not sorry, gesture. “I guess I forgot. What are your hobbies? Let me guess. Bench pressing cars is one of them.”
He almost choked. He did snort ungracefully before he let out a bark of laughter. “God no. I do run. I enjoy swimming. I- watch movies. I like going to shows. I’m a workaholic, but I do that on purpose so that I don’t have time for a personal life, a girlfriend or any of that.”
“Or a wife?” June stared at him ironically.
“Yeah. That could change. I could discover some different hobbies. I’ve heard that triple or quadruple orgasms can be quite fun.”
June’s mouth parted. Her eyes danc
ed away, and her cheeks flushed again. She shifted uncomfortably before she dealt the cards. He inhaled sharply, which was a mistake because he could smell just how much he was getting to her. She smelled musky and delicious. He wasn’t going to last long with her sitting so close, drenched right where he wanted to put his mouth and taste her.
She dealt their hands and then set out the five cards. He once again let out a triumphant cry when he flipped his hand to reveal two tens. There was also a ten on the bed.
“Three of a kind. I have you now.”
June smirked. She looked at her cards and threw them in without even showing him. She gathered up the cards and passed him the deck. “Ask away. I guess I can give you one question.”
He knew he shouldn’t go there, but he had to. “I confessed to being slightly jaded and to the fact that this marriage would save me a whole lot of time and trouble and that if we could be friends, maybe we could be something more and maybe it could work out. That, I guess, was my drunken motivation for getting into it in the first place. I want to know, really, what was yours? I mean, are you jaded as well? Was there someone who hurt you? Were you just tired of it all as well?”
June blanched. Her face grew paler with every single word he spewed out. Once he started, he just couldn’t stop himself.
Her lips parted and he set the cards aside. He wanted her to answer him, but he realized he might have gone too far. None of her questions were overly personal. He was going to tell her it was okay, that he’d ask something else, but then she spoke.
“I- I guess let’s just say that it was pointed out to me that I dated a lot of inappropriate people to avoid it working out and having to get overly emotionally entangled. I would say that was a fair assessment given that my last boyfriend left me for a dude.”
“What?” Brock knew he was busy eating flies, but he couldn’t snap his mouth shut. He nearly fell off the bed.
“Yup.” June smiled wryly. “Loser of the year award right here. I was humiliated. That’s why Mandy and Jaz brought me here. To Vegas. To blow off steam for the weekend. Get back on the horse, I guess.”
