Crap, she didn’t play cards much. “Um.” She hadn’t played cards since she was a kid at her grandma’s house for Sunday lunch. “I can play snap.”
“Snap it is.” He dealt the deck into two. “Pick a side.”
She reached for the furthest one. “This one. I picked, so you play first.”
He nodded, and turned over his first card and dropped it between them. She followed suit with the next card. Over and back they went, both keeping their eyes peeled for matching cards. Rose dropped the next card and realized it was a six of spades sitting on a six of hearts. She slammed her hand down on the pile of cards between them, her hand hitting the cards a split second before his landed on her skin. “Snap.”
“You’re fast.”
She grinned at him. “You’re just a slow coach,” she teased back.
“Ask your question.”
She cocked her head to one side. “Tell me a secret you don’t like to admit.”
“Woah, girl, straight for the throat,” he grumbled. “I’m a geek. I love tech, games, and all that stuff.” He wrinkled his nose. “Just don’t tell Dalton or Trev that, or I’ll be roped into working in the war-room.”
“You don’t like to be in the war-room?”
He narrowed his eyes at her and waved to the cards she gathered up. “I see what you’re doing. Play your card, Rosey-Posey. You have to win another round to get an answer to that one.”
She wrinkled her nose and put the new cards under the ones in her hand, then dealt the next card. “Spoilsport.”
“Them’s the rules of the game.”
This time, it only took three rounds before he made the snap before she did.
“What’s your favorite song?”
“Goo Goo Dolls, Iris.”
“Nice.”
Over the next five rounds he learned that she preferred jam to honey, and when it came to scones, cream went on after the jam. Rose learned that he was from Mississippi, dogs before cats, and no pineapple on pizza for him.
Rose slapped her hand onto the cards. “Snap.” She’d forgotten how much fun this was. The entertainment was ramped up by getting to know him. “How did you end up in Montana?”
He refilled her hot chocolate from the flask, stretched his feet out in front of him, and crossed them at the ankles. “It’s a long way from Mississippi, huh?”
“Yep.”
“I knew of Dalton from the Navy. When my time was done and I was too busted up for SEALs anymore, he gave me a place to land. This place belonged to his mother’s family. It was sold after she married his dad, but Dalton bought it back.”
It was awesome that he had friends like the people here. She played a card and leaned over, trying to see around his fingers, hoping to catch a glimpse of the card he was about to play.
“Hey, no cheating.”
“I’m not.” She huffed and played another card. “I didn’t see anything.” Her hand flashed out when he dropped the next card. “What are you most proud of?”
“Being a SEAL.”
He won the next round. “What’s your biggest dream?”
“To own my own business again.”
“You will.”
She lifted one shoulder, keeping her eyes on the game. The next round was hers and she asked, “Why SEALs? How does a nerdy geek from the wrong side of the tracks in small town Mississippi go on to become a hero like you did?”
