Page 12 of Wife By Accident

He won that hand, too, and the pile of chips in front of him grew. The next game, he lost to the woman sitting next to him.

“Perhaps we need our own bet,” he suggested.

“What do you have in mind?”

“If I win this next hand, I’d very much like to kiss you.”

Olivia smiled. “If you win the hand, I’ll let you.”

“Then I’d better focus.” Leo turned back to the table, his eyes narrowing as the next hand arrived. He glanced at his cards but didn’t show them to Olivia this time. The round began.

“Blinds, please,” the dealer said. The first two players pushed their chips in.

“Raise,” the player to Leo’s right said. She pushed in a stack of chips, and Olivia nervously folded the edge of her dress. That player, in her fancy suit and expensive earrings, looked like Leo’s biggest competition, and Olivia very much wanted Leo to win. She wanted that kiss.

“Call,” Leo said easily.

The player to his left reraised. The next two folded, Leo and his competition to the right called the raise.

The dealer spread the flop, and Olivia looked from the cards to Leo’s face, hoping to get an idea of how well he was doing. His expression gave nothing away as the game continued. Olivia forced herself to take deep, slow breaths and not imagine what it might be like to kiss this man, should he win. Oh, please, let him win so I can find out.

The player to Leo’s left shifted in his seat as he bet the minimum. Seeing his weakness, the lady pounced and declared, “All in!” She pushed her stacks forward and they spilled across the felt. Leo seemed supremely unfazed. He didn’t even look at his cards. Olivia could hardly breathe. She had no idea what that huge pile of chips could be worth. The moment stretched out, the tension building. Then, with a steady wave of his hand, Leo called the bet. He idly pressed his stake forward to join the messy pile on the table. The player to his left swallowed hard, and folded.

There were only two left: Leo and the woman to his right. Olivia crossed her fingers.

Finally, the moment came. The woman flipped her cards, then Leo turned his over, tantalizingly slowly, one at a time. The woman sighed, and Leo stood as the dealer confirmed his win.

“That’s it, I’m cashing out,” he said.

“Now?” the dealer asked. “It looks like you’re on a winning streak.”

“Now,” Leo confirmed. “I have more important things to do.”

Then he held out his hand and pulled Olivia to her feet. She stood and followed him out of the high rollers’ room and onto the main casino floor. He led her away from the action and into a quiet hallway where they were alone. Then he turned to her and flashed that smile of his.

“It looks like I won,” he said.

“It looks like you did,” Olivia agreed. He was very close to her — close enough that she could have leaned forward and been in his arms. She could feel the heat of his body and smell the masculine scent of his cologne. She could see the dusting of five-o’clock shadow across his firm jawline and the flecks of green and gray in his blue eyes. Almost involuntarily, her tongue flashed across her lips.

“I feel like there was something I was supposed to do if I won,” he said, his voice casual, though his blue eyes were locked on hers. Olivia was almost vibrating with anticipation.

“I think there was,” she agreed. Her voice came out a little breathless.

“But what was it?” Leo asked. He tapped one long finger against his own broad lips as if in thought. “What. Was. It?”

“Kiss me,” Olivia breathed. That was all the encouragement Leo needed. In a heartbeat, he’d closed the distance between them, gently pushing Olivia against the wall behind her and lifting one hand to her chin to tilt her face back. The other hand went to her lower back, pulling her against him, and then he was kissing her.

It was the kind of all-consuming, passionate, knee-weakening kiss Olivia had only read about in romance novels. She was glad for the wall behind her and Leo’s strong yet gentle grip on her, or she might have collapsed to the ground from the sensations that washed over her. The first kiss was tender, exploratory, and when Olivia responded, the second kiss became more intense. Leo claimed her lips as though he’d been waiting all day to do so.

Olivia gasped slightly as he deepened the kiss further. The hand that had been on the side of her face slid into her hair, pulling her towards him. Olivia wrapped her arms around Leo’s shoulders, pressing herself against his firm chest. She wanted to do nothing else but kiss him for the rest of the night. Maybe longer. Her breath came in short gasps, and she tasted champagne and the promise of something on his lips.

And then, as quickly as it had started, the kiss ended. Leo smiled down at her, and Olivia found herself smiling back.

“Good thing I won,” he said casually.

“Agreed,” Olivia said.

“What’s next?” Leo continued.