“The losing is a fluke.” He held up a blue card. “I mean, I control Park Place and Boardwalk.”
He was teasing, but she answered seriously. “The probability of landing on Boardwalk or Park Place is actually very low. They’re high in value but the return on investment isn’t there. Your turn, by the way.”
He rolled and groaned when he realized he was only moving two spaces. Right onto the other property she controlled, complete with a hotel on it.
“Having an orange monopoly is the best monopoly to have,” she continued conversationally, and held out her hand. “The probability of landing on orange is pretty high. Second to green.” She tapped her green cards. “Which I also have. But green takes longer to earn out, because you have to shell out more for building on it. One monopoly is a long-term investment, the other quicker. Though if you have both monopolies, you can do very well no matter how long it takes.” She fanned out her cards, the orange and green mocking him.
He riffled through his remaining cash. “Okay. Well. I don’t have almost a thousand dollars to pay you in rent.”
“Figure it out,” she said heartlessly. “Mortgage your properties. Or...” She shrugged. “I’m happy to take your railroads and utility in trade and call it a day.”
He snorted. “Happy to do that, are you? I’ll be left with nothing.”
“You’ll have Park Place and Boardwalk. As well as all your other...” Her lip curled. “Assets.”
He narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. “You onlylookcute and cuddly, don’t you?”
He hadn’t planned on the flirtatious tone in his voice. Her smooth skin darkened, the gold undertones turning reddish. “I...”
He didn’t want her to retreat. He liked this aggressive, smart, somewhat predatory Eve. She was fun. “We’re both businesspeople here.” He spread his hands. “Let’s work something out, hmm?” He gave her his most charming smile, the one that generally made grown women fall all over him. “You can’t leave me with no cash and no way to work it off.”
“Of course I can.”
His smile slipped. “Little shark there, aren’t you?”
“Not a shark. Fair.”
“Uh-huh.”Chandlers, man.He could hear Paul tsking in his mind.Can’t trust them.
Except Eve was right, she was winning fair and square.
She shifted and the firelight danced over her skin, like a sun meeting flames. His brain flashed to that roll of flesh under her bikini top that he’d glimpsed the other night. He’d thought about that roll way more than he should. His gaze cut to the hot pink bra, and then back to her. It was a split-second, nothing more, but she stilled.
Slowly, she placed her hand on top of the cards. “What are you proposing?”
It took him a moment to clear his throat. The game. He had to keep his head on the game. “An IOU. Personal loan. Let me pass Go, collect my money, and I’ll pay you back with interest. Ten percent.”
“Twenty percent interest.”
He drew up, mildly offended. “That’s highway robbery.”
“It’s not a bad counter.”
“Terrible counter. Give me another one.”
Her tongue flicked against her lips, wetting them, and he almost dropped his tough act and gave in.
But then he didn’t have to, because she looked him dead in the eye, and shrugged off the blanket around her shoulders. She still had the one tucked around her torso. It covered her to her feet. But there were those far too tempting round shoulders and arms, laid out for him like a buffet.
He dropped his fake cash. She was warm, that was all. This wasn’t a come on. “Eve...?”
Another swipe of that tongue on her lips, and she loosened the knot on her breasts. The blue quilt dropped to pool around her wide hips.
He couldn’t misconstrue this.
There were a million words he could and should say right now, and he was going to get to all of them, but in a moment. He needed at least that long to stare at her breasts.
They were more beautiful than he’d imagined, full and round, the nipples a perfect light brown. Her areolas were big and a little puffy. Perfect for kissing.
