His lips brush over my ear. They’re warm. “No drinks or shots you haven’t ordered yourself. Stick with Nora and Amber.”
“What if you need help?”
His eyebrows lift. “Help?”
“With the game.” I slide my hands up his neck. It feels like I’m in a movie, in a TV show, and I’m someone different. Someone other than the mess of loneliness, anxiety and fear that I run from as often and as fast as I can.
“I’m a good player,” he says, and there’s none of his usual arrogance in his voice. “But I can’t be everywhere. Listen to what people are saying.”
“You want me to spy.”
“I want you to talk. You’re good at that.” He bends closer. “And if you want to stop by the table and distract me every now and then, go ahead.”
“You want to be distracted? I thought you wanted to win.”
“I want others to see us and wonder if our marriage is real so they think less about their own hands.” He kisses me then, a soft brush of his lips over mine, and lifts his head like he does it all the time. Like kissing me is nothing at all. “Can you do that?”
My mouth tingles. “I’ll do my very best,” I say sweetly. “What did Alex lose? Did she saycastle?”
Rafe blows out a breath. “Yeah, his ancestral castle in Scotland.”
“Oh my God. Really?”
“Yes.”
“That’s… wow. Insane.” I blink twice. “But I like him so far. Of course I’ll try to help you guys win it back.”
Rafe doesn’t move, despite the others sitting down at the poker table behind us. His fingers remain beneath my chin. “Everyone does.”
“And he likesyou,” I say.
His eyes glitter. “Surprised?”
“Finding out you have good long-term friends has been somewhat confusing,” I admit.
His lips curve. “It’s hard to have your preconceived notions challenged, hmm?”
It is. He clearly loves his sister and he’s kind to his staff, and his friends seem the kind of close you can only be when you’ve spent years with one another. The ruthless CEO doesn’t fit with any of those realities.
And he fights at night, in secret, and I don’t know why.
“Yes,” I tell him. “Stop doing it.”
His thumb brushes over my lower lip. “You’re not the only one full of surprises,” he says. “Behave for me tonight.”
“Win,” I tell him.
He releases me and heads to the poker table, taking his place beside James and opposite a number of men and women already seated. There’s a dozen players. West and Alex are there, too.
They were discussing strategy in the helicopter over here. Guessing and strategizing about who their opponents would be. Apparently the man Alex lost the castle to is a known gambler.
Nora, Amber and I walk over to the bar. “Did you both get the talk, too?” I ask them. “About drinks?”
Amber laughs. She’s put her fiery red hair up in a high ponytail. “Yes. My brother isveryprotective. He doesn’t like that Nora and I are here at all.”
“No shots,” I say, and lower my voice to mimic Rafe’s. “No drinks you haven’t kept track of yourself.”
“Oh my God, those shots,” Nora says. “See the trays some of the waiters are walking around with? I took two at my last party.”
