Pierced by his eyes, I stared up unblinkingly and didn’t even consider admitting anything but the truth. With his thumb still over my lips, I whispered, “I’m a little nervous about being around so many guys.”
Garrak studied me for a moment, as if making sure I was telling the truth. Then he nodded once. “Good girl.” He bent down and dropped a kiss on my forehead, a benediction. As always, his approval made my insides flutter and my breath go short.
“I’ll cancel—” he began, but I reached for his forearm without thinking to interrupt him.
“No! No,” I repeated, softer, as he clearly debated with himself. “Garrak, I-I can do this. It’s just a poker game.”
“You’re sure?”
This time, my smile was a little shy, but not false. “I’m sure.” My hand slid along his arm as he released my chin and twined his fingers with mine. “I’ll be fine.”
“I won’t leave your side,” he promised, bending forward to press a kiss on my temple, and the warmth that filled me was as much from his touch as his words.
Even if it was only for a short while, Garrak was my protector.
At six-thirty, the doorbell rang, and Korrad—the safety inspector I’d met at the building site with Mr. Kowalski—let himself in. “I brought the beer,” he called out, heading to the kitchen. “I’ll have to pop back around nine to check on Jay.”
Garrak murmured to me, “Korrad’s son is eleven. They live just down the hall with Korrad’s twin.”
“Brakkor?” I remembered.
Korrad joined us. “He’s going to be thrilled you remembered him.”
“No, he won’t,” Garrak grunted, focused on setting up the poker chips. “That male isn’t thrilled about anything ever.”
“True.” Korrad shrugged with an unrepentant grin. “But he might grunt a little less grumpily than usual.”
“Is he coming tonight?”
Surprisingly, Korrad’s gaze flashed to me before he answered Garrak’s question. “He might. They were making curry for dinner, then he was going to put in a movie for Jay. He might come over then.”
Garrak hummed, as if not surprised, and shrugged. When the doorbell rang again, Korrad went to open it, clearly at ease in Garrak’s home. That made me relax a little. Garrak was a good male, and his friends would be too.
The two newcomers were introduced. Dravik was covered in tattoos, and his brows were drawn in, making him look as if he were scowling even though his mouth was expressionless. Varron was more clean-cut, with an easy smile as he introduced himself as Eastshore’s on-call EMT. He was easy to like, and I found myself exhaling with relief.
Yeah, I could hang out with these guys without worrying. Besides, Garrak was watching me. Watchingoverme.
And I watched him handing Dravik another beer without asking, or scooping a second spoonful of the artichoke dip onto Korrad’s plate, and I realized he was watching over them as well. He’d done it seven years ago, and he was doing it now.
It made me smile.
We settled down to play poker, with me sitting at Garrak’s side, and I realized I was going to have to play for real.
Oh well. Garrak was going to have to learn my secret eventually.
See, for the last few days, as he’d been “teaching” me to play poker, I hadn’t really been paying attention; I’d been watching him. I learned how to play poker on my grandmother’s knee—and a half-dozen other games, besides. I’d learned how to manipulate, how to bet, and yeah, how to cheat. I knew how to watch for sleight of hand or little signs that told me I was being cheated, and I most definitely knew how to watch for tells.
What was interesting was that Garrak didn’t have any.Any.
I’d never played against anyone who didn’t haveanytells, but after our first afternoon playing, I’d decided that hedidhave tells, but since I was human, I couldn’t identify them. That would explain why he was so damn successful at the big games in Vegas and New York; the men he’d played against couldn’t read him.
But I could.
Yeah, I know I just got done explaining that I couldn’t identify any of his tells, but…but I didn’t need to, not to know when he was bluffing or pleased. I still hadn’t figured outwhyor how that worked…but it did. For days now, I’d been watching him and his hands, and I realized I could readhim.
Guess it was time to put that knowledge to work.
There was general chaos as we found our seats. Brakkor came in, announced Jay was watching a movie, and went to the kitchen to heap food on a plate. When the betting began, he settled against the wall to watch.
