Page 14 of Fierce Mountain Man

But if this woman was agreeing to take off her clothes in front of me, I’d play it any way she wanted. In fact, I still couldn’t believe she’d agreed to it.

“That’s how we’ll play then,” I said.

She grabbed both cards and gave me a triumphant smile. Oh yeah, that had worked in her favor. I hadn’t even thought about that.

The winning continued, and she won more often than not. It was actually a little embarrassing.

“You’re pretty good at this,” I said as we neared the bottom of the stack.

She shrugged. “There’s not much skill to it. It’s all luck of the draw, right?”

“Right.”

But she was damn lucky, which meant I was the unlucky one. At this rate, I wouldn’t get to see her naked in the foreseeable future.

When we reached the bottom of our stacks, we picked up the deck of discarded cards and started playing those again. She kicked my ass, wiping out all but a few of my cards.

I lost. Which meant I had to take off my shirt.

She had a big smile on her face as she left to check on the cheesecake. When she returned, she finally noticed I was sitting there, shirtless. And I took the way she eyed my chest as a compliment.

“Ready to go again?” I asked.

“Sure,” she said. “I think it’s time you lost the pants too.”

She wanted to see me without my pants on. That was good news. I definitely wanted to see her without hers.

But that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. That much was clear when once again, she was picking up her discarded stack while I watched mine dwindle to nothing.

This time, she consoled me by heading over to the kitchen to grab a slice of cheesecake for each of us. I started to remove my pants, but then I remembered I still wore socks and shoes. What was I thinking? Those had to go first.

“Hey, you were supposed to take off your pants,” she said as she returned, handing me a small plate.

“I can’t get my jeans off without removing my shoes first,” I said. “Figured I may as well start with one of those.”

I still had one shoe and two socks to go before I started truly disrobing. Hopefully, I’d be able to get her out of her shirt by then.

“Can we take a break to eat?” I asked.

She nodded. “Of course. It’s just a game.”

I shook my head. “Oh no. It’s more than a game. My pride’s on the line here.”

“I’ve always been lucky when it comes to winning things,” she said. “Maybe it’s karma for all the bad luck I’ve had in my life. It’s New York style.”

It took me a second to realize she was talking about the cheesecake. I’d been so caught up in her, I hadn’t even looked at the generous slice.

“What’s the difference between New York style and other kinds?” I asked as I picked up my fork.

“New York style is creamier and richer. It uses a crapload of cream cheese. Some people prefer the lighter cheesecake, though. You know, it’s a little fluffier.”

That made sense. I never really thought through the difference.

“My sister always buys the kind you get in the freezer section at the grocery store,” I said.

If that bothered her, she didn’t show it at all. I assumed a baker like her would be bugged by someone buying a premade cheesecake. But it all tasted good to me.

I sliced off a generous bite and slid it into my mouth. And as before with the chicken and potatoes, my taste buds went haywire. This was amazing. If the key to a man’s heart was through his stomach, this woman had just sealed the deal on winning my heart. Not that she hadn’t already.

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