“For a price, I assume.”
“A man must live.”
She narrowed her gaze. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you have a problem.” He nodded to the coins in Gwendolyn’s hand. “This is not the sort of place for a woman like you. You are here for a reason, probably a desperate one.”
“Go on,” she said, not wishing to confirm or deny his assumptions.
“You are a good player. You know what you are doing. I suppose you track the cards.” He didn’t wait for an answer. “That’s a gift and one that any gaming hell would wish to stop, but it is fair.”
That is what she’d thought.
“I propose we return to the table. I will have a word with the Weasel—”
“The who?”
“The dealer.”
“Oh, Darby.” She had to smile. “‘Weasel’ is a good name for him.”
“I suggest we continue to call him that.”
His calm matter-of-factness with its hint of humor eased some of the tightness in her chest. Then she realized she had another problem. “I’ve lost almost all my money. I need what is left to see myself home.”
“I will loan you money.”
Her guard went up again. “At what price?”
“Not the one you are thinking.”
Gwendolyn didn’t believe him. Or trust him. He was too—well, tooeverything. Too handsome. Too certain of himself. Too glib.
“I’m leaving,” she said, and would have walked out except he hooked his hand in her elbow, turning her to him. She startled at the jolt of energy in his touch.
He noticed—or perhaps felt it, too? He let go, then raised a palm as if showing that he wasn’t playing any tricks. “Don’t give up on yourself.”
She lifted her chin. “I’m not. I’m also not selling myself.”
He shook his head. “I feared you would place the worst notion to my offer. Then again, those other lads were very clear about what they wanted. I’m not like them.”
“You aren’t?” Gwendolyn didn’t hide her doubts.
“Of course not. I want to see you have a fair chance.” He paused and then added, “I would also like to teach the Weasel a lesson. I hate seeing the green ones fleeced. You have the talent to teach him manners.”
Gwendolyn would like to do that very much. She was tired of being pushed around by callous men like Richard, and even her father, the man who disappeared. So she was tempted...
“If I play with your money, what will you expect in return? Especially if I lose?”
“My terms?”
“Every lender has them.”
Triumph lit his eyes as if he knew she would swallow the lure. “I’ll loan you the money and if you lose it, I’ll not demand to be repaid, if that is your fear.”
“If I win?”
“It is all yours. However, someday I will ask a favor. Asmallfavor and one where your skirts will stay right where they are.”
