Seduction on the Cards by Kris Pearson Page A

herself.
    “It was a stupid suggestion.”  
    Truly horrendously stupid. Why was she such a klutz at real life when she was a perfectly competent journalist? Was it because she could always edit and delete and shine her work up until it was as good as she could make it? Her real life had to be lived as it happened. It wasn’t in her nature to plan and forecast and weigh up consequences. 
    She dropped her voice with embarrassment and made things worse again. “I don’t have any condoms, anyway,” she muttered.
    “I do.” 
    Slow delicious heat flooded her belly. He made her feel sexy and beautiful when she normally felt awkward and defensive around any man she found attractive. She was now confused and flustered and bothered, and filled with a gnawing savage yearning for things she’d never had before .  
    Her mind ran hot and wild. Was his chest as hairy as his arms? Did he have great legs to go with that fantastic butt? Was he hard yet?  
    Now she really, really wanted to make love, and he’d think she was cheap and immoral. Or ridiculous, which was almost worse.
    She didn’t dare look at him after hearing him say he had condoms. He didn’t seem to think sex was a slutty offer or a stupid idea. But... 
    Somehow, after a few breathless seconds, she found the courage to bring her eyes back to his. And right when she was on the point of opening her mouth to possibly put her foot in it yet again, he filled the silence instead.
    “We’re both adults, Kerri. We turn each other on to an extreme degree. It seems a shame to waste such good fortune, don’t you think? Just for one day, while we can?”
    His eyes shone dark with desire, and held hers with an intensity she’d not expected.  
    He really wants me!
    Just for one day—that’s the kicker though. 
    Or maybe it was the escape clause? One day of uninhibited, unobserved sex, and then goodbye. 
    She could handle that. She was sure she could handle that.
    Alex continued to gaze at her with incredible turned-on attention.
    “So how do we do this, Kerri?
    “You said you knew how.”
    “ Oui, but what about cards?”
    “I have cards. I brought some in case I wanted to play Solitaire to pass the time.”
    He drew a sharp affronted breath. “You thought I would be so boring? That I would not entertain you?”
    “I had no idea what you had in mind,” she said primly.
    And feeling an even worse fool after that, she looked away, reached over for her bag, foraged about, and pulled out the deck of cards.
     
    Alex watched and waited, wondering if she really was serious about playing poker. He sipped more of Gaston’s thousand-volt coffee and hoped it would bring him luck. Kerri half-naked? Kerri completely naked? Kerri wild and willing?
    “Are we safe here?” he asked, gazing about before the last vestiges of common sense deserted him. A yachting regatta progressed on the far side of the harbor—a flock of white triangles leaned against the freshening breeze. The inter-island ferry had bustled out a little earlier. They didn’t seem to be in a shipping lane. Indeed they were opposite a stretch of tree-covered hillside with no sign of close habitation, and that seemed about perfect.
    Kerri shrugged and grinned, apparently switching on a sunnier mood. 
    “I am,” she said. “Don’t know about you. I’m going to have the shirt off your back in no time. Does that make you feel safe?”
    Alex imagined his shirt off, and Kerri’s shirt off too. His fingers curled without his volition, as though touching the soft pale skin of her incredible breasts.
    She cut the pack and shuffled with a practiced hand.
    He watched the cards flashing black and red on brilliant white, and felt anything but safe. Exhilarated...turned-on...disbelieving—all of those.  
    But way far from safe.
    “Play a lot, do you?” Her fingers moved fast and competently.
    “Not for stakes like this. Just for a bit of money. Now and again. Not often. Hardly ever, really.”
    I’ll bet