Page 10 of Royal Player
My heart thumps harder, my cheeks heating. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s standing close or because he’s not letting the chaperone thing go. My body is on high alert like there’s danger in the air, every nerve tingling with awareness. It must be the chaperone thing. Oscar isn’t dangerous.
I look around for Anna, who must be blabbing about me. She and Gabriel are on their way out. She probably has to use the bathroom and he’s escorting her to be sure she gets there safely. She’d tell me if she was leaving the party for good. Still, now I can’t ask her if she told about Marge. It was either Anna blabbing, or Oscar looked into my kingdom and our traditional monarchy. And you know what? I can’t help where I come from, and it’s none of his business. No one ever dares to speak of my restrictions to my face.
I turn back to him and lift my chin, about to put him in his place, except my breath quickens; my heartbeat’s in my ears. Is this a panic attack?
“Am I making you uncomfortable?” he asks mildly. “I was just curious how it worked. Have another sip of your martini.”
I snap back to myself and go on the defensive. “Don’t tell me when to drink. And who says I need a chaperone? Why would a full-grown woman need a chaperone?” I toss back my drink, draining the glass. “I’m going to do something like that? Chug my drink and get hammered? Why not? I’m legal everywhere.” I gesture wildly. “What’s the problem? I’m going to dash off and do something crazy? Maybe I’ll scale the wall and dive into the sea!”
He glances around, like maybe I’m making a scene, before turning back to me. “You do seem the adventurous sort.”
“Yes, well.” I casually glance over his shoulder. No one is paying me any mind, so I speak freely. “Worse things have been said about me.”
He leans close, his eyes sparkling with good humor. “Like what?”
His scent is divine, like fresh sea air and soap. I shift back a step. We’re outside. Of course it smells like fresh sea air. Okay, so he used soap. Big deal. Everyone uses soap.
And then he smiles, his teeth flashing white against the stubble of his jaw, and I’m struck by the dazzling beauty of his smile. Worse than struck, I’m stupefied, not a thought in my head.
He winks. “You can tell me. I’ll only tease you mercilessly.”
A laugh escapes. “I’m adventurous. Let’s leave it at that.” I don’t want to admit what people say about me—impulsive, headstrong, stubborn. They never mean it in a good way. I direct the topic away from me and back to him. Men love to talk about themselves. “Tell me more about your casino idea.”
He smiles again and this time it reaches his eyes, lighting them up. I amenthralled. This is getting embarrassing. He’s like a rare solar eclipse, a breathtaking phenomenon, and I can’t look away, even though it will surely blind me if I don’t. He didn’t smile once at dinner. I can’t believe I’m just like all those other weak-willed women completely enthralled by an overly good-looking man. I was quite immune to them in college. Maybe I’m coming down with Marge’s flu. I’m definitely not feeling myself, flushed hot and weirdly out of my head.
“It was Adrian’s idea,” he says, “but I’m fully on board.”
He gives credit where credit is due. I like that. I focus on his eyebrow while I reply. It seems safest not to blind me with its beauty, though it does have a perfect arch. “I’ve never been to a casino. Is it as gaudy in real life as it looks on TV?”
His voice is warm and smooth. “It’s different when you’re there. Something you have to experience from the inside.”
A shiver runs down my spine. It sounds suggestive, “experience from the inside,” but then he turns from me, so I realize it wasn’t.
“Are you playing poker?” he calls to his brothers. “Deal me in.”
I turn back to the bar and order another martini.
Oscar’s voice rumbles in my ear suddenly, startling me into a head-to-toe full-body blush. “You want to play?”
I risk a look at him. It feels like I’m already playing a game I don’t know the rules to. “I don’t know how.”
He inclines his head with a devilish smile. “Come on. I’ll teach you.”
I follow on shaky legs, my head swimming in what must be lust. My first taste of it.You want to play? I’ll teach you.Suddenly there’s no one here except the two of us, and he wants to teach me in the most erotic—
“Found your favorite kind of player,” Oscar tells Adrian. “Clueless. Prepare to win big.”
Or maybe this virgin needs some personal time. Ahem.
Chapter Four
Oscar
I take my seat at the round card table next to Adrian, who shoots me a warning look. Polly sits on my other side. I know, I know, I’m supposed to keep my distance from Polly. But she was just standing there all by her lonesome, and she looked a little lost. I’m not going to do anything. It’s not like I’m in desperate need of a woman. Just last week I was with…Lisa, no, it was Elise. Moira? I remember she had dark hair. Point is, this was merely a friendly gesture to include Polly.
Alice switches seats with Lucas to sit next to Polly, who immediately looks more relaxed.
“Don’t deal yet,” Lucas says to Adrian. “Gabriel and Anna may want in when they get back.”
