‘Sorry. Have my cherry to take the edge off.’ She held out the cherry on the cocktail stick, but Sean planted his tongue into the side of his cheek and raised his eyebrows suggestively. ‘You’re alright, Paradise. I’ll have your cherry another time.’
‘Alright then.’ Cherry found the King of Hearts and the Queen of Hearts and passed them to a delighted Sean.
‘Do you know why I gave you those cards?’ she said.
‘I have a fair idea.’
‘The first thing was to test your poker face, and you failed.’ She playfully slapped his hand.
Sean’s grin broadened, and he tried to rein it in.
‘You can’t let emotion guide you in this game, Seany. It’s all about the odds. Don’t be distracted. What is the win rate of this hand?’
He stared at the cards, like the king or queen might whisper the answer to him. ‘I dunno. It seems good to me, so I’d say ninety percent.’
‘Righto.’ Cherry did her best not to laugh out loud. ‘But wrong. King-Queen suited is about twenty-five percent in a seven player game. Not as much of a royal wedding as it might seem.’
‘The King of Hearts seems like a strong card to me.’
‘Yes, King is a strong card, but it’s stronger with another King or an Ace.’
‘Ach, it’s how you play the hand you’ve been dealt.’
Something told Cherry Sean wasn’t talking about poker anymore. ‘In life, yes,’ she said. ‘And in poker, some of it. So what would you do with this hand? It’s coming to the end of the night, you’ve lost a lot of chips, it’s your turn to act before the flop after a raise of seventy quid and four others acting after you. You’re tired and want to go to bed––’
‘Am I going to bed with you?’
‘Not if you interrupt me like that… So, what do you do? Do you stick everything in, hoping it will all go your way, or do you quit to avoid going on tilt if it all goes Pete Tong?’
Sean thought about this for a good thirty seconds. Cherry wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t go all in simply because of the King of Hearts aspect.
‘I think I have a chance,’ he said. ‘It’s a decent hand. At the least, I’d call.’
She nodded. ‘Fair play. Yeah, I’d call this and hope something came up for me in the flop. But I’d also know when to quit if I didn’t get what I was hoping for.’ This hand was a bespoke test and Sean had passed it, although with a slight wobble, which she had expected. He was a romantic, guided by his heart. How could she fault him for that? And there were signs he would come through when the chips were down. She was looking forward to seeing more tomorrow night.
Cherry drained her drink and picked out the cocktail stick with the cherry on it. She held it out to Sean.
‘You passed Level One. Have a cherry.’
And this time, he didn’t refuse. He took the cocktail stick, stuck it between his teeth and slid the cherry off, keeping his gaze fixed on her the whole time.
Oh dear. Cherry Paradise, the poker queen, might be in a whole lot of trouble.
Chapter 15
Sean
‘It’s worse than I thought. These idiots genuinely think they’re going to wipe the floor with you.’
‘Ah, well, we’ll see, won’t we? They might win a few hands.’ Cherry leaned on the cooperage door and, with barely any attempt to shield her actions, roved her gaze up and down Sean. ‘I might be the one distracted.’
‘Youmight be?’ She had insisted that the poker game with his workmates happen at the cooperage straight after work. Something about testosterone firing up her game. But Sean wasn’t half as concerned about her being fired up as he was about his colleagues. A lot of the lads were like dogs in heat, and although he knew her head wouldn’t be turned by them, he didn’t want Cherry feeling uncomfortable.
He didn’t want anyone salivating over his wife.
Because she was still his wife.
A wife in tight-fitting Wranglers, Converse and an equally tight black t-shirt.
