by Merry Farmer
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
He shook his head, smile wide. “Just admiring the view. And your prowess with cards.”
Was he joking? Worse still, could he be serious?
Of course not.
“You’re trying to break my concentration,” she scolded him, sitting straighter. “My friend, Nancy, used to do the same when she had a poor hand.”
“Did she?”
“Yes. She always assumed that if she could convince me not to pay attention, she could bluff her way into a win.”
His brows flickered up with something between surprise and delight. “You know about bluffing, then?”
“Of course. I have played cards before, Mr. Garrett.”
“Charlie.” Now he was laughing. He slid a nickel into the pot to match hers. “I call.”
With a smile that was more confident than she really felt with her cards, she tipped her hand. “A pair of queens.”
“Impressive.” Charlie showed his cards, a pair of nines. “You win.”
Delighted, Olivia handed her cards back to him and raked her winnings closer. Charlie continued to stare at her, expression unreadable. His eyes narrowed, giving him an even more rakish look. More rakish and more attractive, but she wasn’t about to admit she was attracted to a gambler.
Charlie gathered the cards and began to shuffle them with such speed and dexterity that it send a tingle down Olivia’s spine. No one back home in Fairfield was even remotely like Charlie. She wondered what her mother and half the ladies in town would have said if Charlie had been the one pursuing her instead of Silas. Likely they would have fanned themselves in shock and begged her to go west to teach instead of accepting his attention. Olivia rather liked that idea. It made Charlie even handsomer.
“One more hand and then we’ll call it a day,” Charlie spoke into her thoughts, dealing the cards.
Quick as lightning, five cards skittered across the table to her. She waited until they were all dealt, then picked them up. As soon as she did, she had to hold in a gasp of excitement. One, two, three aces. Just like that. She pressed her lips together to keep herself from showing her luck, sliding a nickel into the pot as her ante. Charlie did the same, whistling as he sorted his cards.
“Any bets?” he asked.
Olivia hesitated, then slid two quarters into the center of the table. “Fifty cents.”
Charlie’s whistled song slipped into one long note. “Well I’ll be.” He matched her fifty cents with fifty of his own. “How many cards, madam?”
Something about his teasing formality, the respect with which he addressed her, tickled Olivia. “Two, please,” she answered with matching formality.
With a nod, Charlie dealt two more cards to her, then three to himself. Olivia nearly choked when she picked up the cards. Another ace and the queen of hearts. She had four aces. Her skin prickled with excitement.
“Well now, would you care to open the bet?” Charlie asked, as calm and smooth as if they were enjoying a quiet afternoon with nothing out of the ordinary.
Of course, from his point of view, nothing was out of the ordinary.
Olivia checked her coins, counting them up as fast as she could. Holding her cards close to her chest with one hand, she pushed the entire contents of her coin collection into the center of the table. “Whatever amount this is, this is what I bet.”
“Ah.” Charlie nodded. “You’re going all in.”
“Is that what it’s called?”
“It most certainly is.” His eyes flashed like balls of lightning.
“Then that’s what I’m doing. Does that mean I win?” She rushed to count his coins. “I have more money than you do, after all.”
“Not so fast.” Charlie shook a finger at her. He reached into his pocket and drew out another handful of coins, adding them to the pile he already had on the table. “I see your fifteen dollars and ninety-five cents and raise you another six dollars.”
Olivia’s jaw dropped. “That isn’t fair.” Not that much else in her life thus far had been any more fair. “You can’t bring more money to the table after bets have already been placed.”
“Indeed, I can,” Charlie answered with a shrug. “It’s done all the time.”
Olivia humphed, not sure if she believed him. She was ready to throw her cards down when Charlie said, “You could always do the same, you know.”
“Bring in more money?”
He nodded. His mischievous grin was as sharp as ever.
“I don’t have six dollars.”
“Hmm.” He tapped a finger to his lips. Something about the gesture, about the way he drew attention to those lips, sent a shiver down Olivia’s back. She wondered what it would be like to touch those lips, what it would be like if those lips touched hers. “You could always wager something else.”
It took her a few seconds to shake herself out of her staring. “Something else?” Whatever it was, it would be worth it. Her hand was unbeatable.
“Absolutely.” He leaned closer to her. “I’ll tell you what. Do you think you’re going to win?”
“I know I’m going to win,” she replied without hesitation.
His grin grew downright sly. “They why don’t you bet the most precious thing you have.”
Olivia sat back in her chair. She ran through the inventory of everything she’d brought from Ohio. She didn’t have much—her clothes, a few books, the necklace her mother had given her. The necklace was the most valuable thing she had, but she would rather die than part with it. It was the only memento she had of her mother, troublesome though she was.
“How about your hand in marriage?”
Charlie’s suggestion was so quick and made with such a casual shrug that Olivia almost didn’t hear him. Once she did, she blinked and shook her head as though she had water in her ears. “My what?”
“Your hand in marriage,” Charlie repeated as if he heard such things all the time.
“Meaning that if I lose, I’ll marry you?”
“Now you’re catching on.”
She could see that he was laughing at her, but with four aces in her hand, it was hard to care. He would be the one who looked like a fool in the end.
She sat closer, leaning into the table. “And if I win, even though I’m playing with your money, you’ll let me keep it all?” The total in the pot was almost forty dollars. That much money would go far to help her set up a new life at the end of the trail.
Charlie straightened, putting a hand over his heart. “As a gentleman of honor, I swear that I will. It would be worth the price to play with such a lovely companion.”
Olivia’s heart stood still. She didn’t dare to breath. Nearly forty dollars against a promise of marriage—a promise she would never have to keep, not with four aces. Fortune was smiling on her that day. Her life was made.
“You have a deal, Mr. Garrett.” She smiled, stretching out a hand to shake his.
“Charlie,” Charlie insisted, catching her hand and gripping it firmly. He had large, warm hands with long, graceful fingers.
“I hope you can afford to lose forty dollars, Charlie,” she said, fanning out her cards before him with a smile so broad she nearly giggled. “Four aces.”
“And a queen of hearts,” Charlie added, looking pleased as punch.
Olivia clasped her hands together in her lap, grinning from ear to ear, ready to take her winnings. Then Charlie spread his cards out on the table. His grin was so satisfied it was downright wicked. And with good reason. All five of his cards were spades—king, queen, jack, ten, and nine.
Only a few hands beat four aces. A straight flush was one of them.
Olivia had lost.
Chapter Three
Charlie rested back in his chair, unable to contain the grin that twitched at his lips. Miss Olivia Walters was the sweetest thing he’d ever seen, especially now that her lovely, oval face was fixed with a look of shock.
“But…” she stammered.
Charli
e’s grin grew. She had the most expressive eyes—deep blue with surprise now. They’d been more of a pale blue, almost silvery, like the sky, when he’d first met her as they started out from Independence. She’d charmed him right from the first with her determination. He’d watched her since then, observed her presence of mind when the old woman escorting the orphans out west died, her strength when she and Miss Lucy set up their trail school. Olivia Walters was a woman in a million, strong and graceful.
Although right now, she looked as though she’d swallowed a goldfish.
“Four aces.” She breathed out the words as though they were heartbreak itself.
Charlie chuckled. “Poker is a fickle mistress.”
Olivia’s eyes snapped wide at the description. Add moral and upright to the long list of virtues the beautiful woman in front of him possessed. She was so upstanding that he wouldn’t have been surprised if she hadn’t noticed him slipping cards out of the deck for the last several hands in order to set up the endgame that had just played out. He hadn’t exactly been subtle about it. It wasn’t the first time he had cheated to win.
With a dramatic sigh, he said, “Well, I guess that’s it, then.”
“It?” Olivia blinked.
“I guess this means we’re engaged.”
She slapped a hand to her mouth, cheeks flushing dark red. Had she really not seen him fiddling with the cards?
She lowered her hand to her heart, chest heaving as she caught her breath. “I…I…”
It wasn’t the first time he’d left a woman speechless either.
Charlie shifted forward, his teasing smile wide. He reached for the cards, gathering them all into a pile. “Fair is fair,” he teased her. “I would have handed over the money if you’d won.” Which never would have happened.
“Oh.”
She folded her hands in her lap, wringing them until her knuckles went white. A twist of sympathy shot through Charlie’s chest. He’d let her sweat it out just a little bit longer before letting her off the hook. If he was being honest, he was waiting for the moment when she called his bluff, when that sweet as sunshine way of hers melted into shouting, clawing fury. It would be a treat and a half to see someone as lovely as Olivia let go and rage at him.
But she didn’t let go. Oh no. Instead, she sat where she was, breath still coming in gulps, her shapely chest lifting and falling. She blinked those beautiful blue eyes rapidly, but Charlie didn’t get the sense that tears were about to fall. As much as he loved a woman who could give as good as she got in an argument, he didn’t care much for tears.
“Miss Walters, is everything all right?” he prompted, knowing full well there was enough teasing in his eyes to give away that he wasn’t serious—about the card game, about her forfeit, about anything.
“I am surprised, that’s all,” she finally managed to say, her voice wispy.
“Well.” Charlie set the cards on the table, slapped his knees with both hands and stood. He adjusted his vest, straightened his hat, then held out a hand to her, working to keep himself from bursting into laughter the whole time. “Shall we go and find Rev. Kilpatrick and ask him to perform the ceremony?”
Slowly, she turned her face up to him, studying him with determination and something else that he couldn’t identify. She was as still as a butterfly about to take flight. Beauty itself.
At last, she took a breath and dragged herself to her feet. “I am a woman of honor, Mr. Garrett,” she said, eyes lowered. “I was reckless to agree to such a scandalous bet, but I am also responsible for my actions. I do not know you, but I am honor-bound to marry you.”
She glanced up, blue eyes meeting his.
He was struck so hard with a moment of breathlessness that he forgot to grin and tease and lead her on. Now his was the mouth that hung open in shock. The bet was a joke, a lark to pass a tedious afternoon. He hadn’t seriously intended to marry her.
Then again, there was a flash of some sort in her eyes. Maybe she knew he wasn’t serious. Maybe she was bluffing. She had told him that she knew all about bluffing. She said she was honor-bound to respect their bet. Well, he was honor-bound to call her bluff.
“I’ve always wanted a pretty little sweet pea for a wife.” He edged around the makeshift table, taking her hand and raising it to his lips. “I think you’ll do just fine.”
Eyes averted once more, Olivia said, “I will do my best to be a good wife to you. Only—” She turned fully toward him, filling with that strength he admired so much. “Only, I would like to continue teaching.”
“Of course.” Charlie shrugged. Was this part of her bluff? Was she trying to get him to call off because she wanted to be more than just his wife. Unfortunately for her, he admired a woman who had a purpose, who wanted to continue to work at what she loved rather than becoming a glorified servant to a man. “In fact, I would expect you to continue teaching,” he went on. “One of us should have a steady income, after all.”
He braced himself, waiting for her to throw down her hand and demand to know what kind of man would make his wife work to support him. Surely she would drop her game and stomp away now.
Instead, her eyes filled with a light that sent prickles of excitement down his spine, straight to his groin.
“You would allow me to teach?” Her face practically glowed.
“Why not?” Charlie shrugged as if he didn’t care one way or another. “Of course, once we start having children of our own, you may change your mind about that.” He leaned closer and confided, “I’d like to have a lot of children. Ten at least.” Let her make of that what she would.
“I…I suppose that is up to God.” She withdrew her hand from his and placed it on her cheek, as if testing how hot they were. Could she be heating up at the thought of having his babies?
The very idea sent another jolt of excitement through him. This one caused a firm reaction that he was afraid he would have to conceal by removing his hat and holding it in front of him. Making babies with Miss Olivia Walters would be divine in so many ways.
He cleared his throat and shifted his weight, reminding himself that this was all a joke in order to stop the reaction his body had to her. “Of course, I don’t usually connect myself to anyone or anything without testing to see if it would be right.”
She glanced up at him warily. “What do you mean?”
If ever there was a way to call her bluff, this was it. “I think it only right that I kiss you first. You know, to be certain that you’re amenable to being kissed by a rogue like me.”
There. Any second now the fireworks would come out. If he played his cards right, he might even earn a smack across the face. What a trophy that would be.
“All…all right,” she answered him, quiet and breathless. She stepped hesitantly closer to him, awkwardly tilting her lips up to him and closing her eyes.
Yes, he would certainly have to take his hat off and slink his way down to the river for a quick, cold bath after an offer like that. She was wicked, his little Olivia. A lesser woman would have given up the ruse long before now. Well, if she was going to push him to call things off, then he would push right back.
Like the lovers he’d seen portrayed on the finest stages across the land, Charlie swept her into his arms. He tugged her close, positioning his hands across her back so that her body pressed heatedly against his. His heart flopped over in his chest, loving the sensation of her small, lithe body against his a little too much. How would it feel if they were both without their clothes, bodies warm and slick with sweat.
He nipped those thoughts in the bud by tilting her head fully back so that he could taste her lips with his own. One speedy kiss would be good enough to break her game. But when she gasped, her whole body jerking against his in the most delicious way, he couldn’t help but kiss her hard and deep. Her lips were plump and warm, and they parted for him as soon as he teased his tongue along the line sealing them. A sound of appreciation hummed from deep within her as he invaded her, sliding his tongue
against hers.
Her hands pressed into his broad back. She softened against him. Charlie forgot that this was a game and poured his soul into kissing her. He moved a hand to rest against her lovely face, nibbling at her generous lips until he forgot where he was.
“What’s going on here?”
Olivia gasped and tensed against him, then pushed herself away. Charlie was slower to return to earth. Why return when he had been in heaven? Bluff or no bluff, Olivia was sweetness itself in his arms. He could only imagine how delightful she’d be in bed.
A beat later, his brain caught up to the sight of Pete Evans standing with his arms crossed and an amused grin on his face.
“Forgive me, Mr. Evans.” Olivia was first to speak. “That was inappropriate. But Mr. Garrett and I are engaged to be married.”
Charlie’s brow flew up. Bluffing with him was one thing, but bringing Pete into the mix was something else. She couldn’t be serious, could she?
After a kiss like that, he was willing to take the joke as far as it needed to go.
“We are,” he confirmed for Pete. “So go fetch Rev. Kilpatrick. We’re getting hitched before the wagon train moves on.”
Pete turned to Olivia. “Are you really?”
Olivia lowered her eyes, clasped her hands in front of her, and nodded. Her lips were a bright, just-kissed red. “I need to go tell my friends.”
She turned and rushed off, raising a hand to her lips.
“Do I want to know what happened here?” Pete asked, sidling closer to Charlie.
Charlie shrugged. “Two people struck by Cupid’s arrow.”
Pete arched a brow. He didn’t believe it any more than Charlie did. “I’ll go fetch the reverend.” He took a step, then turned back to Charlie, puzzled. “You don’t strike me as the marrying kind.”
“What can I say? When you meet the right woman, any man is the marrying kind.”
If he said it enough times, then maybe he would believe it.
Then again, he didn’t exactly work to put a stop to things as Rev. Kilpatrick rushed to gather what he needed to perform a wedding. He didn’t put his foot down or pull the brake when Olivia showed up with her friends and bouquets of flowers. He grinned and nodded to well-wishers who slapped him on the back as they shoved him and Olivia up to where Rev. Kilpatrick was waiting, Bible in hand. And he didn’t say a peep as the reverend read through the marriage ceremony.
