Page 56 of Stealthy Seduction
“I can be very persuasive when I want to be.” She waved toward the opposite seat, and Hudson sank to it with the grace of an Olympian. Her hands itched to touch him. To run her palms all over those hardened muscles and lean in and press her lips to the steely warmth of his flesh.
The intimate setup charged the space between them with possibility. To stay on task, she picked up the cards and began to expertly shuffle them.
He looked into her eyes for so long that her head started to swirl as all the blood rushed to a place much, much lower in her body. He dipped his stare to her breasts and the blouse she’d unbuttoned to reveal more cleavage than she would ever show on the six o’clock news.
“And here I thought you were out to take more of my money.”
She smiled into his eyes. “Oh, I’m definitely going to take more of your money.” The cards made a riffling sound as she sent the cards arcing. “But I figure if I’m going to crush your dreams, I should do it in style.”
Hudson drew up straighter, his chest expanding as he inhaled deeply. “I’ve been thinking about that since the first night we played.”
She tilted her head, giving him a slow flash of her eyes. “Have you now? Thinking about how I outplayed you?” She dealt the cards and arranged her own, pleased to find a decent pair in her hand.
“Thinking about how I knew I was in trouble the minute you smiled at me from across the table.”
Her breath hitched. His admission had her pulse beating faster. “Trouble how?”
He concentrated on his cards when he said, “The kind of trouble that makes a man forget everything else he’s supposed to be doing.” Over the fan of cards, his gaze met hers. “The kind that makes him start planning ways to keep that smile around on a permanent basis.”
Ohhh… Did she really hear him correctly?
“That sounds like a dangerous game, Hudson Steele.”
“The most dangerous game I’ve ever played. And I’m finding I don’t much care about the risks anymore.”
Her stomach tingled in response. Somehow, she won that hand with her pair of queens, but victory felt secondary to the way he was looking at her—like she was something precious he’d been searching for without knowing it.
“You’re getting predictable,” she teased, gathering the chips. “I can tell when you’re bluffing now.”
“Can you?” He leaned back in his chair, a challenge in his voice. “What about now? Am I bluffing now when I tell you that I’ve been thinking about kissing you since the moment I walked into this room?”
Her breath caught. “I’d say that’s not a bluff.”
“You’d be right.”
The cards forgotten, they stared at each other across the small table. The air between them thrummed with innuendo and desire.
She gulped. “We should probably finish the game.” Her voice came out slightly strained.
“Probably.” He made no move to pick up the cards.
“Unless…” She let the word hang between them, a question and an invitation all at once.
“Unless what?”
“Unless you’re interested in raising the stakes.”
His eyes darkened with interest, glittering with the dark lust that made her stomach coil. “What did you have in mind?”
“Strip poker.” The words came out with more confidence than she felt, but the way his lungs seemed to stop made her glad she’d taken the risk.
For a moment, he just stared at her, and she worried she’d overplayed her hand. Then that slow, devastating smile spread across his face again.
“Izzy Cruz.” His tone rough with something that made her stomach flutter. “You don’t know the half of what you do to me.”
His claim sent a stab of heat between her thighs. “Is that a yes?”
“Deal the cards.”
