“I am sorry,” he finally said.
“Why?”
“You lost.”
“I knew the risk,” she answered and seemed almost relaxed. Maybe she was glad for their contest to be over.
Seth reached for the remaining cards, but Frances stopped him by placing a hand over his.
“What?” he asked.
“One more wager?”
“You are out of money,” he reminded her.
Frances toyed with the emerald around her neck. Was she willing to risk it in a hand of cards? She said she never wagered more than she was willing to lose, and he assumed that included jewelry.
She then smiled and reached beneath the table and Seth could hear the rustling of her skirt, though he could not imagine what she was doing until she emerged and placed an emerald garter in the middle of the table. All he could do was stare at it, his mouth going dry, knowing that it had caressed her thigh, just as he would like to do.
“My emerald garter for yours.”
His eyes widened as he stared at the garter. “You wish me to wager my club against a piece of fabric?”
Frances leaned forward, arms crossed and braced on the table as she had done earlier, the creamy swell of her breasts once again on display and cradling the delicate emerald.
“Not just the garter, Seth, but me, for a night, to do with me what you wish.”
She couldn’t possibly mean… “Your virtue?” he choked.
“Is worthless as I will never wed, yet valuable enough to wager.”
His mouth went dry.
Did he dare risk his club for the chance to finally bed Frances?
It was a foolish bet, yet his luck had held tonight whereas she had not been as successful.
I never sit down at a table with more than I am willing to lose. Not even tonight, Seth. Certainly, Frances had not planned on wagering such before she arrived, had she?
Did he dare risk his club?
“It is your deal,” she reminded him.
Seth swallowed against the lump in his throat. He wanted her like he had never wanted any other woman, but he also hoped to marry her, which meant that he would eventually have her in his bed.
Except, he had not yet asked, and she also may decline when he did.
His gambling establishment wagered against what may be the only opportunity to have her.
He would not lose. Her luck would not change now, not after she had lost nearly everything. “I accept your wager.”
Seth dealt her a card, face down, then one for himself, and another for her, then him.
Frances lifted the corners to see what she held.
“Are you content?”
“Another please.”
