Chapter 2 I Have

• “I… have something I want to talk to you about. Do you think you could give me a moment now?” She knew she was being wildly bold, but if she was about to be tossed out, she really had nothing to lose.
• “I’m sorry. This is my poker time.”
• “But I won’t take long.”
• “No, but I would be willing to play with you.”
• Heat wafted through her and her cheeks flushed. “Play with me?”
• He smiled, as if reading her dirty little thoughts. “Poker.”
• She glanced back at the table with tuxedoed men and for the first time realized she was the only woman here.
• “I thought you said the game was full.”
• “It is. What I’m proposing is a private game. Just you and me.”
• She hesitated. Private game? The very thought of it sent images of him shedding his clothes and her climbing atop his perfect body and riding him to heaven.
• But that’s not what this was about and… surely that’s not what he actually had in mind. The man could have any woman he wanted. Did he really want her?
• And if he did, would she actually give herself to him?
• Excitement quivered through her at the thought of having an illicit one night stand with this billionaire playboy—and it could only help her convince him to drop the charges against Ella’s husband—but she didn’t know if she could. The man was a total stranger.
• While she’d hesitated, he’d pulled out his cell phone and tapped away at it. Now he dropped it back in his pocket.
• He offered his arm. “Come with me.”
• She glanced at him, then his arm, and reluctantly placed her hand on the fine wool. Her plan had always been to bluff her way into the game, then see if she could charm Mr. Danner away from the table long enough to talk. That part had worked perfectly, but now he expected a one-on-one game with her. How could she bluff her way out of that?
• He guided her to the door. The man named Renaldo opened it for them, then Mr. Danner escorted her down the hallway. A staff member stood at the elevator, holding the door open for them. Had Danner arranged that? They stepped inside and Mr. Danner swiped a key card in a special slot on the elevator. It started to move.
• When the doors opened, they stepped right into a lavish suite. There were two leather couches and a couple of matching chairs, a large dining table that would seat at least twelve, and a bar. Plants, floral arrangements, and bright colored art gave the room a real flare.
• He guided her toward the dining table. He pulled out a chair for her and she sat down.
• “Should I assume you don’t have the two fifty?” he asked.
• She frowned. Damn, he’d probably throw her out now. But she didn’t have it, so she shook her head.
• “How did you intend to play?” he asked.
• “To tell the truth, I was hoping I could convince you to talk without me actually playing poker.”
• “Using your obvious charms, no doubt. Well done.” He raised an eyebrow. “And if that hadn’t worked?”
• “Well, I have some money. And I’m very lucky.”
• He smiled. “Really? Well, we’ll see how far your luck goes. And if it runs out, we can certainly play for different stakes.”
• The elevator dinged and a bellman delivered a bottle of champagne in a silver ice bucket and set it on a stand by the table. He uncorked the bottle with a pop, then poured it into two glasses.
• “Thank you,” Mr. Danner said to the man, who promptly left. He handed her a glass.
• She took a sip and the bubbles tickled her nose. She wasn’t used to champagne.
• Here he was plying her with champagne in his private penthouse. She had to ensure he didn’t get the wrong idea.
• “I hope you don’t think that I’m going to have sex with you, Mr. Danner. Because I’m not.”
• “Are you sure?” he asked, his eyes glittering with amusement.
• “Yes. Of course,
• I’m sure. I’m here for poker.”
• “Okay, sex is off the table,” he said.
• At his words, thoughts of him bending her over the table and his big body moving close sent her senses reeling. She could just imagine his hard cock pressing into her opening.
• Oh, God, she’d gone too long without getting laid. This man was good-looking beyond belief, but she wasn’t going to throw herself at him.
• “Good,” she said, but she didn’t sound as definite as she’d like.
• He sat down across from her and opened a small metal case about the size of a lunch box sitting on the table. Inside were poker chips and two decks of cards.
• “How much money do you have?”
• “Um… two hundred.”
• He raised an eyebrow. “Thousand?”
• She shook her head. “Just two hundred.”
• He chuckled, but gave her a stack of chips. She took the money from her purse and handed it to him and he tossed it into the case and closed it.
• She knew in the game downstairs that they never asked for the money up front. That’s why she knew she could get away with it.
• “I really would like a chance to talk to you. Could we arrange a time to do that?” she asked.
• “How about if you win, then we’ll talk tonight?”
• She glanced at her small pile of chips, and his much bigger one and frowned.
• “And how do I win.”
• He chuckled again. “I’ll let you know.”
• Her stomach clenched, but this was the only chance she had.
• He shuffled the cards, then dealt them out. She glanced at her hand. Two queens. She tried to avoid smiling, but her lips quirked. She glanced at him, but he hadn’t seemed to notice. He gazed at his cards, then placed them on the table face down.
• She asked for three cards and got another queen. He stayed.
• She pushed a couple of chips into the center.
• He matched her stack then, to her dismay, pushed in a much bigger stack.
• “You’ll have to go all in,” he pointed out.
• She eyed him. Was he just trying to intimidate her? Push in a huge amount of chips so she’d fold?
• She glanced at her cards again. She was feeling pretty confident.
• “Okay.” She pushed the rest of her chips into the center.
• Silently, he turned over his hand.
• Three aces.
• Oh, God, she was out. In just one hand, she’d lost all her money, and her chance to help Ella.
• He swept the chips to his side of the table. “I guess it’s time for the other stakes I told you about.”
• “And what would that be?” she asked cautiously.
• His gaze locked on her and glided down to her low cut neckline.
• “I like your dress.”
• She flushed, heat spreading through her at his appreciative gaze.
• “Thank you.”
• “I’m suggesting you can wager the dress.”
• Her gaze shot to his. “I thought sex was off the table.”
• “It is.” He smiled. “It’s the dress I suggest go on the table.”
• She shook her head. “This isn’t why I came here.” She wasn’t about to be his Friday night fling.
• “You came here because you want a chance to talk to me. Then you lost all your money. I’m just giving you another chance.”
• She knew it was about control. He wanted to manipulate her. To see how far he could get her to go.
• It irked her, but he had something she wanted, and as long as that was true, he called the shots. Mr. Danner smiled. “And it’s not like I haven’t seen what you’ve got on under there on any public beach.”