I nod and let out a sigh. “I do. She’s the best. She’s so fun and such a great listener. She’s my rock.”
He deals the next card to the flop. A two of diamonds.
“Check,” I say, even though I kind of want to raise him since I’ve got three jacks.
“Okay, check,” he answers, dealing the last card. The final jack appears.
Dammit. I should’ve raised. Scratching my neck, I stareat my pile of money. Four of a kind. I can’t see him doing any better than that. I take two five-hundred-dollar bills from my pile and slap them down.
“Whoa! Someone’s sure of her hand,” he says. He watches me, his gaze intense enough to make me want to squirm in my seat, but I don’t.
Instead, I do my best to wipe any expression off my face. “There’s only one way to find out,” I tell him.
Grinning at me, he says, “Nope. Not worth the thousand.” He tosses his cards into the pile and pushes the pot in my direction.
“Oh, come on. You’re no fun.”
He starts to shuffle the cards again. “I’m very fun, but I knew I wasn’t going to beat four Jakes.”
“How did you know what I had?”
“You’ve got more tells than a gossip column.”
I wrinkle up my nose and let out a little groan. “Dammit, I thought I was getting better.”
“You are,” he says, dealing the next round. “But I’m also getting to know you better.”
“So, I’m not really getting ahead.”
“You are if you play someone else someday. But not with me.”
“God, you’re cocky.”
“I’m honest. And I’ve been playing this game since I was a little kid, so I’m going to win every time. That’s just the way it is,” Mac answers with a shrug. “Don’t feel bad though. You’re definitely improving.”
“No, I’m not. I’m still losing.”
“But this time, at least you didn’t let your eyes get all wide and you didn’t say, ‘Oooh!’ when you saw your cards.”
I burst out laughing, then shake my head at him. “Okay, so I suppose that was a bit of a giveaway. But to befair, you had served me two of your boozy iced teas that night.”
“Good point.” He grins at me for a second, and I find myself wishing I could snap a picture of Mac without him noticing. I’d send it to Vivian, so she could see him too, just like this.
“Want to hear something crazy?” I ask.
“Always.”
“I feel guilty having fun with you right now.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m afraid everyone who loves me is going through hell right now, when I’m here with you, having eaten a delicious supper, sipping drinks and playing poker.”
Nodding, he says, “Yeah, I get what you mean. I’m guessing by now, someone has noticed my plane is missing and my grandpa is probably worried sick.” He lets out a sigh, and says, “There was also this thing I was helping him with, and there’s a very good chance he’ll be running into some trouble soon.”
I can tell by how vague he’s being that he doesn’t want to talk about it. “I’m sorry. I can’t help but feel as if this is all my fault. If I hadn’t begged you to give me a ride, you wouldn’t have been out in that storm, and your plane would be intact and you’d be back in San Felipe living your normal life.”
“I’m the one who should be sorry,” he tells me, setting his jaw. “It was my job to make the right call about that storm, not yours. If I hadn’t decided to risk it, you’d be back in New York right now eating cereal with your best friend.”
