Which probably meant his cards weren’t a dead cert.
But he pushed in a pile of chips, raising her. Like somekind of metaphor for their marriage.Raise big, even if you don’t know what the cards hold.
Playing poker, not metaphors, Cherry called. The flop of the jack of diamonds, eight of hearts and three of clubs gave her a pair of jacks – decent, but nothing spectacular.Although playing against amateurs, it could be enough.
But Sean raised again, inviting her to do the same. Why had he been so worried before the flop? Was it a bluff to confuse her?
She called.
The turn of the five of spades put nothing definitive on the board. Again, Sean raised, so she called once more. He could have a pocket pair, giving him three of a kind. He was raising with such confidence.
The river was the two of clubs, and Sean went all in.There was a strong possibility that he had a straight now, aces low.
Either that, or there was something else going on here. She hadn’t known Sean long, but she knew some things about him. About his heart. About how much he was prepared to give to her, but also that he had a limit.This behaviour was a strange mix of both.
She called and flipped over her queen and jack pair.
Sean did the same to reveal a nine of diamonds and a six of clubs. No straight. Just a hardcore bluff from the start. Like he was quite prepared to hand the game to her if it made a point.
Gordon slid the winning stack of chips across the table to Cherry.
Sean stood up, gave Gordon a friendly clap on the back. ‘Cheers, Gordy.’ He pushed his chair in, walked round to Cherry’s seat. Standing behind her, he leaned in and spoke into her ear, his breath warm and soft.‘Well played,Paradise.’ Tenderly, he kissed her on the cheek, stubble bristling assuredly over her skin, sending a shiver through her soul.
And then he walked away. His words holding no weight whatsoever. She hadn’t played well at all. He’d given the game to her like he was all out of fucks. Let her take it but shown her what she’d lost in the process.
The one thing that mattered more than anything else.
Him.
Two hours later, and out of the tournament herself, Cherry looked around the room for Sean but found only Campbell.
‘Commiserations, Chez. That was a bad beat you had there.’
Cherry couldn’t care less about the bad beat.
‘Gives you more time to get your bags packed for Edinburgh,’ Campbell added. ‘I can have the helicopter ready to leave, whenever you are.’
‘I’m not coming to Edinburgh, Campbell.’
‘Ah. Problem?’
‘Yes. I’m not doing this to Sean.’
‘Doing what? He said he was fine with it.’
‘Of course he bloody said that. You left him no choice. I would have thought that a sensitive actor such as yourself would be able to read the body language to see that neither of us were comfortable with the situation. Also, that comment about painting the nursery. Seriously! Our conversation the other day was in confidence.’
Campbell straighted on his crutches. ‘Och, sorry. It won’t mean anything to anyone. And I meant it about the money – and when I said his dad’s whisky is awesome.’
‘Well, it meant something to Sean, and he’s fuming. Ihonestly think the least you can do is pay the amount you said you would to the charity. That’s five hundred, by the way.’
‘So, you are coming to dinner?’
‘No. I’m not. I’m going home with my husband. Don’t worry, you can make the donation public. Think how good it will be for your image. Who knows, it might even put you on the map to be the next face of Butler’s. But I’m not coming with you tonight. This isn’t some movie. It’s my life – my marriage – and it matters to me.’
Campbell puffed and nodded. ‘Alright then. You always did know how to wind me round your finger. I’ll make the donation and see if there’s anyone nice here who wants to come to dinner instead.’
Cherry resisted the temptation to suggest he seek out Shona and Elaine. Instead, she gave her attention to finding Sean. But there was no sign. There hadn’t been for some time now. One of the reasons she’d busted out was because her focus was divided between the game and where her husband was. Every time she lifted her head, he was nowhere to be seen.
