Falling for the Boss (18 page)

A few minutes later, Mike groaned and tossed his cards down onto the table.  “I fold.”

It was down to Victoria and Bob.  “No way, lady.  I know you’re bluffing this time.  There’s no way you have a good hand.  The odds have to be against you at some point and I’m risking another dollar that this is the time.”  He
tossed
another dollar
chip
into the pot and raised her one dollar.

“Fine.  I call,” she said.  “What are you holding?”

Bob chuckled.  “Three of a kind, all jacks.  Beat that!”

Victoria
laid her cards down on the table.  “Straight, queens high.”

Bob could only laugh.  Not only had she beaten him, she’d won the hand with a really good hand.  “Okay, Thomas, teach her a lesson.  Show her how it is done.”

Thomas raised one eyebrow as he picked up the cards.  “It seems to me that she’s already shown both of you how it is done.  I don’t think I could teach her anything she doesn’t already know.”
  He knew he was going to join in the game. 
Victoria
hadn’t looked him in the eye since their kiss last week.  He’d also felt her looking at him during the day.  That feeling, and the fact that he’d seen plenty of blushes, kept him optimistic.  Sitting down across from her, playing poker against her, he figured she’d eventually have to look at him.  He wanted to see her warm, green gaze upon him. 

Victoria
laughed but was warmed by his praise. 

“It’s just because she’s a math whiz,” Mike said, shaking his head.  “I can see now that I should have paid more attention in math class.”

“I bet you failed out of Math.  Too busy trying to get the girl,” Bob joked.

Mike flashed his most charming smile
as Thomas dealt the cards
.  “Well, that’s why I’m so good at my job, huh Thomas?  I pushed more in the
human relations department.”

“You mean female relations?”
Victoria
asked, picking up her cards. 

“Absolutely,” he leered. 

Victoria
laughed.  “You’re incorrigible.”

“Wouldn’t have me any other way, would you?” Mike said and punched her gently on the arm.  “Three cards, boss man.”

Thomas tossed him three cards and Mike two. 
Victoria
took two as well.  Thomas took only one replacement card and
Victoria
was intrigued. 

“She’s challenged, Mike!
” Bob said, noting the interest on
Victoria
’s face instantly.  “
Dare we assume that she might consider our illustrious leader a fitting partner to her superior skill?” Bob joked. 

“We can only hope, my friend,” Mike replied
in mock seriousness
. 

They played in silence for a few minutes while they each considered their hands and guessed on their opponents’ possible hands. 

The ante was already in the pot.  Mike was the first bidder and he raised by two dollars. 
Victoria
accepted but didn’t raise.  Bob instantly accepted and increased it by another dollar.  Thomas accepted and the bet was back to Mike.  The betting went on for a few more minutes until both Mike and Bob folded.  It was down to
Victoria and Thomas and it was
Victoria
’s bet. 

She wanted to raise him.  She had three jacks in her hand.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t look up at him in order to evaluate his strategy.  Each time she looked up, he was staring right at her. 

“
F
old,” she finally said.

“Oh no!” from Mike.

“Cha ching!” from Bob. 

Thomas pulled the fifteen dollars in chips closer to him. 

After another twenty minutes of playing,
Victoria
was disgusted with herself.  She had to grab her courage and start playing like a real woman, she told herself.  Each time the betting came down to her and Thomas, she folded and it was embarrassing. 

The next hand, she had a straight flush.  This was it.  She bet all the way up, twenty dollars in the pot.  She finally looked up and glanced at Thomas.  Again, he was staring right at her.  Taking a deep breath, she
stared right into his eyes.  “I’
ll raise you three dollars,” she said.

Both Mike and Bob immediately folded.  It was again down to Victoria and Thomas.  She bit her lower lip, but wouldn’t look away.  She even raised one eyebrow in his direction, asking him silently if he wanted to raise her again. 

Thomas took his time.  He lifted his beer and took a long sip, watching her the whole time.  He acted like he was considering raising the bet, or at least accepting her bet and calling.  But in reality, he was just enjoying the view.  She was flushed from the wine and the jovial card game and he knew she probably had a winning hand.  The look in her eyes, and the fact that she’d finally found the courage to look at him, meant she would probably beat him. 

Was he going to be nice and let her win the hand?  Or could he make her back down like he had with all the other hands.  It was interesting, seeing how her mind worked.  He’d mentioned that her expressions were usually on her face.  And now he had more evidence of that statement. 

He realized that he didn’t want to end the hand.  He was enjoying her challenging looks too much. 
She was just too beautiful as she glanced furtively at him, blushing each time.  He was so intrigued by this woman.  She had so many layers to her personality and he was enjoying getting to know all of them. 

“I’ll raise you a dollar,” he finally said, and tossed in another chip.

Victoria
shivered.  There was already forty dollars in the pot.  She hated gambling that much money.  But she knew she could beat him with this hand.  At least, she thought she could.  She’d been sure of it a few minutes ago, until he raised her again.  Could he possibly beat a straight flush?

“Fine,” she said and tossed in her dollar.  “Call.”

Thomas chuckled.  He’d been anticipating that.  He didn’t think she’d be able to hold his stare much longer.  He laid down his cards and showed his three kings. 

Just as he suspected, her face lit up and she laid down her hand.  Straight flush.  He was impressed.  As a further
benefit to her win, he was treated to a
small
show of the swell of her breasts as she reached across the table to pull in all her winnings.  Thomas controlled a groan as he noticed the beautiful lace that barely covered the swell of her breasts. 

He lost the next three hands because of that glimpse.  He just couldn’t concentrate.  He kept wondering if she was wearing matching lace underwear and if she was possibly wearing thigh high stockings again.  Maybe with matching lace at the tops as well. 
His mind went through all the variations and tried to picture what the scrap of lace on her breast was covering. 

Bob sighed heavily as
Victoria
pulled the winnings over to her side of the table again. 
“Mike, I think we should go somewhere that would enable us to lose our money more purposefully.  Perhaps the hotel bar?”

“I agree with you,” Bob said.  “It wouldn’t be as senseless as playing with these two.  We haven’t won a hand since Thomas came in.  We might as well throw it away buying drinks for ladies of questionable intelligence who might decide we’re worth a glance.  What do you say?”

“I’m with you.  Come on.”

Within minutes, both Bob and Mike were out the door, arguing about who would have to buy the first round of drinks.  The door closed on a lively argument about who had lost the most amount of money.

An awkward silence filled the suite. 

Victoria
glanced at Thomas and wondered how she could casually head to her room without him knowing how nervous she was.

“Trying to think of a way to escape?” Thomas asked, a knowing look in his eyes.

“No, not at all,” she stuttered. Then bit her tongue.  It would have been better if she’d just admitted that she was tired and needed to head to her room. 

“Want to play another round?”

“No, it isn’t much fun with only two people.”

He picked up the deck and shuffled the cards.  “Oh, I don’t know about that.  I can think of lots of games that should only be played with two people.  Care to join me?”

Victoria
’s mind instantly thought of strip poker and she blushed.  “I don’t think so,” she said. 

“Scared?” he challenged.

Victoria
laughed.  “Terrified.”

Her jest was rewarded with his deep chuckle.  He started dealing another hand.  “One more hand but we won’t bet money,” he said, tossing the cards quickly.

Victoria
picked up her cards automatically but shook her head.  “No way.  I don’t trust you.”

“Why not?” he said, feigning offense. 

“Because you are entirely untrustworthy,” she replied and tossed out three cards for replacement. 

“What makes you say that?” he said and dealt her three more cards. 

“Woman’s intuition.”

“I thought you relied on hard facts and calculations.  What makes you trust your woman’s intuition in this case?” he asked and tossed in the dollar ante, taking a long sip of beer. 

“I don’t know,” she said and tossed in her dollar.  “Give me one good reason why I should trust you.”

He thought for a moment.  “I guess I should be honest with you and tell you that you shouldn’t trust me.”

Victoria
laughed.  “Well, then, what’s your bet?”

He tossed in ten dollars. 
She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.  He was bluffing, she thought.  But what if he wasn’t? 
Victoria
debated back and forth, finally allowing that she was too curious to ignore his blatant challenge.  She had two aces.  Not the best hand but she’d won with less in the past.

“I’m in,” she said simply and tossed in her ten dollars. 

“Are you raising?” he asked.

Victoria
looked at her hand again.  She debated raising him another dollar but was now doubting her assessment that he was bluffing.  Did the man have to be so confident all the time? 

“I’ll raise you a dollar.”

“Just a dollar?  That doesn’t seem like much.  Don’t you think you can win the hand?” he asked, tossing in another chip. 

“I’m not sure.”

“Why not?  I’m calling by the way,” he said.  

Victoria
waited for him to lay down his hand.  Suddenly, her nerves were firing warnings throughout her body. 

“Three of a kind,” he said, laying down three twos.

Drat!
Victoria
thought.  “You bet ten dollars on three twos?” she demanded, laughing at his audacity.

“Why not?  I won, didn’t I?” he asked, still waiting for her to lay down her hand.

“Yes, you scoundrel,” she laughed, laying down her two aces.

“You countered with only two good cards.  I’
m guessing that makes you just as reckless as I am.”

Victoria
smiled at being called reckless.  That was defin
itely a first.  “Okay, I’m out. 
You’re too tough to handle.”