Page 29 of The Gambler

Luca shrugged. “What can I say? I like a woman with brains. It’s the sexiest thing.” He almost lost his composure when Tess blinked. She really had no idea of her appeal. Granted, until now, he hadn’t really seen her much as a woman… well, that wasn’t entirely true. He hadn’t wanted to get mixed up with one. Not before his mission was completed, but he couldn’t let this opportunity pass by either.

Tess gave him an odd look as if she’d never seen him before. He leaned closer to her. So close that he could see the little gold flecks in her hazel eyes. He hoped his body language told her how he felt. It didn’t take too long for her to catch up. This was her chance to show this ass off. But it should be her choice.

“I’m with Luca now, Trev.” She put a hand around his neck, and the other one right on his ass. Then she kissed him.

It was a sweet, tender kiss. A kiss that gave Tess Gibson, whiz kid, away as an utterly inexperienced kisser. He didn’t know why he was surprised. Perhaps because she seemed so on top of everything else. Oddly, her sweet and innocent kiss warmed the frozen-over parts of his heart.

She then let him go and turned to the side, her back to Trevor. He could barely hold in his laugh when her hand indicated that the kiss was “so-so.”

Good old Trevor looked absolutely miffed, but not like a man ready to explode out of anger, because the woman he loved kissed another man. Why was he even still here?

“You’re making a mistake, Tessa,” Trevor said.

Then suddenly it dawned on Luca. “You need her for something, don’t you?”

Trevor’s lips thinned. “Your program doesn’t work properly. For some reason, it has shown bugs that make the software unstable. The investors have threatened to draw back their investment.”

Tess cocked a brow. “Oh, so now you admit that it’smyprogram, and you stole it?”

“This is a onetime deal,” Trevor said, his voice all businesslike. “You would do well to work with me on this. We are talking about a million-dollar contract here.”

Tess crossed her arms, looking defiant. “I’d rather eat bugs for a whole year than accept any money from Big Pharma.”

Luca internally rolled his eyes. Of course, Miss Make the World a Better Place would have an issue with pharmaceutical companies. Perhaps this wasn’t the time to tell her he’d invested in companies she obviously loathed.

“Have it your way,” Trevor clipped. “I wasn’t exactly looking forward to spending my life with a cold fish in my bed anyway.”

Luca hissed and barely kept himself in check. The fucker was a sore loser, but any second now, Tess would give him lip, and make him run for his life.

He looked at her expectantly. The hurt on Tess’ face caught him off guard. Then she stepped back, like a little kitten backing off.

His gaze went back to Trevor. The smug bastard held his head high as if he’d won a battle. With just one remark, he’d put down the most ornery, sassy, and confident woman he’d ever met.

This just wouldn’t do. “Say, Trev?”

“Yes?”

Luca turned to Tess. “Fuck, how did you stand that voice all this time? It’s like the sound is coming from his ass.”

Her gaze shot up, just as he’d planned. Right in time to see him plant his fist in Trevor’s face.

“My nose!” Trevor’s hands went to cover his face. “You broke my nose.”

“Yeah, I did. Consider yourself lucky I didn’t break anything else, you righteous bastard. Now get the fuck away from us.” With those parting words, he slammed the door in his face.

He followed Tess back inside and sat next to her as she dropped onto the recliner.

“He’s not entirely wrong, you know,” she said softly.

“I’m not sure what part you mean, but I doubt that he isn’t.”

She’d pulled up her legs and hugged her knees. As if she was bracing herself against something.

“The sex part,” she said. “I mean, I tried. Like, a lot. Watched movies, complete porn collections, read up on my sex education, but nothing seemed to work. I just can’t seem to shut off my brain when I’m, you know. Trevor is actually my third lover, if I count the two one-night stands during college. Those two times before him weren’t exactly a success either.” She shrugged. “I kind of figured that it must be me.”

“Yeah?” He slowly pulled her over his lap. They were going into uncharted territory and what he was about to do was probably a mistake, but he couldn’t just let this go. “You really believe you know everything, don’t you?”

She shivered but didn’t pull away from him. “I don’t about this. I’m just not into sex. I probably miss a sex drive.”

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