Page 30 of Poker
By the time the evening comes to an end, I’m mentally drained. Conrad and the guys begin to clean up while I grab my purse from my office and head to my Lexus. I’m not paying attention, my face buried in my cell, so when I run into a wall of muscle, I let out a scream.
“Meri, it’s me!” Poker shouts, wrapping his arms around me.
His voice washes over me as I try to smack him but can’t with the way he’s got my arms trapped between us.
“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me.”
“I’m sorry,” he rumbles. “Wasn’t going for that. I figured you’d see me.”
Breathing deeply, I ease away from him. “You don’t have to apologize. I wasn’t paying attention.”
He stares at me for a long moment as if assessing my demeanor. “You okay?”
“Yes.”No secrets.“No,” I say and shake my head. “Come back to my place tonight?”
“Wanna take my bike or your car?” he asks without hesitation.
“We can take both. I don’t want to leave either behind. Just… follow me, okay?”
“Is everything okay?”
“We’ll talk back at my place, I promise.”
“Okay.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head. “I’ll be right behind you.”
CHAPTER15
POKER
As long as you have me, mine is the only touch you should ever experience.
Something is wrong.
Meri is rattled.
My woman screamed, and it was a scream of terror, not shock.
Before we reach her house, I vow to get to the bottom of it.
When we reach her house, I watch Meri carefully. She appears calmer as I follow her inside, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Make no mistake about it, there’s still something wrong, but maybe it isn’t as bad as I feared.
“Rough night?” I ask her.
“You could say that.” She walks into the kitchen and opens the refrigerator. “Wanna beer?”
“Sure, thanks.”
It takes her several minutes to make her way back to me in the living room, and as soon as she hands me the bottle, she flops onto the couch.
“I need to tell you something, and I know it’s going to make you mad,” Meri says quietly.
My heart skips a beat. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“You know Ms. Rogers from the games?”
“Of course, I do.”
“She brought a plus one tonight, a man named Diego.”
