Page 34 of Unexpected Temptation
Jaylen watched her face brighten, and he coughed to cover his need to laugh.She was about as transparent as a person could be.Managing a poker face was something she’d have to practice.A lot.He pushed several of his picks into the center.
“So, how many cards do you want, Sweetheart?”
“Three,” she said.She slid three of her cards over to him, and took the ones he gave her.
After a moment, Amelia counted out half of her toothpicks and pushed them into the center of the table.
Jaylen bit the inside of his mouth to keep from laughing again.
“Are you sure?That’s an awful lot of your toothpicks,” he asked.
“Yes, I’m sure.”She grinned and nodded.
“Well, hell.I can’t win with the cards I have,” Jaylen forced the words out as he tried not to chuckle.He’d never tell her he had four nines.Four of a kind beat just about everything else, but straight and royal flush.
Jaylen laid his cards facedown before he quickly mixed them into the deck.“You win.”
Amelia whooped and laid her card faceup on the table.
Just as he suspected, she had two jacks.His hand would have definitely beaten hers.
She pulled the picks from the middle of the table into a neat pile.“I like this game.”
Jaylen laughed and proceeded to shuffle again.He let her win some, but he hadn’t wanted her to get suspicious, so he won his own share.
They played most of the day, only stopping for lunch.He showed her how to make sandwiches and heat up canned soup.Ordinary things a regular citizen could do, but to someone who had never gotten the chance to cook, it was a whole new world.
****
Amelia wanted to laughand pat herself on the back.Her smile couldn’t have gotten any brighter, knowing she was learning to take care of herself.She also knew how to play poker and be in a caring relationship.She was able to learn to be independent and happy.
She’d grown up with her sister and mother’s voices in her head telling her how worthless she was.It was a feeling so deep-seated, it would take a long time, if ever, to overcome it.But she was taking steps to become a better person.
For dinner, Jaylen showed her how to make spaghetti.It was trickier to learn than breakfast and lunch, but she knew she’d be able to do this also in the future.Sometime, she would like to learn how to make homemade spaghetti sauce she’d seen on the cooking channels she liked to watch in her room.The sauce looked better than the store version.
As she rinsed the washcloth out, Amelia turned to look at Jaylen as he put the last plate away.
“I’d like to get a few cookbooks during the trip to town after the road is passable.”
“Sure,” Jaylen said as he leaned back against the counter next to her.“It’s supposed to stop raining later tonight or early tomorrow.It will still take a day or two to dry out enough, and then we’ll go into town.”
She shivered.
“Let’s get by the fire.”
He waited until they relaxed back in the living room, with her in the chair by the fire and him on the sofa.He leaned back, stretched his legs out, crossed at the ankle, and interlocked his fingers over his abs.
“Are you still okay with us sharing the bed tonight?”
Amelia tore her gaze from the fire to stare at him.“I think so, ifyou’reokay with it?”
Jaylen smiled when a blush stained her cheek.
“Oh, I’m very okay with it.”
She cleared her throat and played with the end of his shirt she wore.
“But no sex, right?”she asked as she avoided looking at him.
