Page 27 of Malice

“That’s only part of it but yes.” He steered them toward his place, there was still a couple of hours before dinner, and he didn’t feel like sharing her company with anyone. He liked having her to himself.

“What’s the rest of it?”

He took a deep breath and held it for several seconds. He had to be careful about how he said this. “Partly that there are a lot of misconceptions about motorcycle clubs. Just like you just said gang, a lot of people think that way. Tuck’s had the ranch for less than a year. We are taking care and building the reputation of the club carefully. We know there are some, shall we say less than reputable clubs in the area and we want to be careful of our perception in the community.” He wasn’t sure if he’d done it right, but she tilted her head to one side as she thought about it then nodded.

“I guess I can see that, though I didn’t mean anything by the gang. I think that’s just how I’ve always heard them referred to.” They kept walking toward the cabin at a stroll. Neither of them was in a hurry and he wasn’t sure about her, but Malice was enjoying his time with Bonnie.

Even the time when they weren’t in bed. Maybe even more than when they were. Well maybe not but he would say he enjoyed it as much. And having her on the back of his bike? That had been better than he’d thought it would be. He’d never had anyone on the back of his bike. Never had anyone he wanted there, but Bonnie? He wanted her there. The question was, what would she do once they got her fuckwad problem taken care of? Would she go back to her life and forget about him? He’d never though of himself as needy or wanting a woman by his side, but he didn’t want to let Bonnie go.

But he wasn’t willing to try and force her to stay if she didn’t want to. That would make him no better than that asshat. She was just escaping a miserable situation and he wouldn’t be the one to put her right back into one.

They reached the cabin and stepped up onto the porch together.

“What’s the plan until dinner?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he lifted one shoulder and let it fall, “I didn’t have one, but we’re still a couple hours until dinner. Is there something you want to do?”

“Not really. I’m enjoying spending time with you and thought we might find something to do together.”

“You play cards?”

“I can. I haven’t in a while because I haven’t had anyone to play with. Why?”

“I came across a deck when I was looking for my speaker last night. I thought we might play something?”

“What?”

“I don’t know. What do you know how to play?”

A sly look crossed her face, she watched him a second, as if trying to see what he was thinking, then made her suggestion. “How about strip poker?”

Malice lifted one brow as he tried to decide if she was serious. She looked it. “All right, but I can’t guarantee we’ll play more than a few hands, or that we won’t be late for dinner.”

They went inside, he fetched the cards and they settled onto the sofa, each turned sideways so they faced each other.

“All right, what kind of poker do you want? Five card draw, Texas hold em? Blackjack?” he asked as he pulled the cards free of the box and began shuffling them.

“I don’t know Texas hold em enough, so that one’s out.” She watched him for a moment, and he felt her gaze flick down his body before coming back up to his face. “Let’s play blackjack.”

Blackjack was faster, which meant it wouldn’t take as long for someone to lose, and remove an item, it worked for him.

“Okay, next question. Things that come in pairs, do they count as one item or two?”

“That depends on what it is. A pair of pants is obviously one piece, but a pair of socks is not. So, I guess the question is paired items that are more than one piece. I’d say they are one item, either way.”

There was a glint in her eye that told him she was enjoying the light banter as they set the rules for their game. Was she anticipating the end as much as he was? Was that possible?

“You want to deal, or do you want me to?”

“You deal.” She rocked side to side as if getting more comfortable then focused on the cards as he began to deal, one card face down for each of them, then one face up for each.

“You’ve got an eight showing what would you like to do?” He peeked at his own cards, a three on top and a five on the bottom. He knew what he’d be doing but first he needed to see what she wanted. She peeked at the bottom card, much like he had then looked up at him, her lips pursed as she considered her options.

“Hit me.”

He dealt another card face up. A six.

“You’ve got fourteen showing.” He knew that if she had anything over a seven, she was bust, and he wouldn’t have to do anything to win. Her gaze flicked from her cards to his several times, then up to his face.

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