HowMuchYouWantToBet (17 page)

He motioned to the table. “Ladies first.”

“What’s the wager?” she asked, and held her breath.

“Two hundred bucks sounds good.” Her breath whooshed out in anger. What had she expected? Was Gib really the type to say,
For your heart?
Yes, yes, he was, but never in those words. This time she noticed the glint in his eyes and didn’t ignore it. She sank three striped balls and continued until she scratched.

“Not bad, but let me show you something.” And did he. He played against her as her equal, this time, and no one was winning, which meant they both were losing in this game. Neil waited until only the eight-ball was left.

“Before you win, I’d like to tell you something.” She let her hand trail over the wooden edge as she walked to him. This time she didn’t notice the quiet, nor how her co-workers watched, or how money changed hands. She stood in front of him and placed a hand over his heart. It beat wildly under her trembling fingers, and she knew the one thing she needed to know.

This game was more than a game to him. Neil didn’t hesitate when she leaned into him, to his ear, and said quietly, “Gibland Winnfred the Third, I love you so much it hurts, and that’s the best damn luck you’ll ever have.”

He didn’t move when she stepped back to the other side of the pool table. He rubbed his face and she couldn’t read him. She was betting against fate and she’d be damned if she lost. Gib finally met her gaze.

He grinned at her, and in that moment everything felt right. “I’m upping the wager and throwing in another bet.”

“Depends.” Her voice shook on the word. “On the odds.”

“Seeing as how…” He looked down at the eight-ball and positioned himself. He shook his head and met her gaze. “I love you, too…” He let the words hang in the air before he said, “I think it raises the stakes.”

“Take the shot.”

“I love you,” he said again.

She couldn’t breathe as he took his shot. The eight-ball bounced off the corner of the pool table.

She picked the ball up and readied herself to win this game. “You still haven’t said what the wager is.”

“Marriage.”

The pool stick sat immobile in her hands. “The bet?”

“I can get you to marry me within a month.”

Neil rested her head on the table, knowing she wouldn’t be able to take her shot now. “No deal,” she said as he walked toward her, unsure, as if he’d never walked this path before. Neil swallowed back the tears. “You’d win, and there I’d go, losing another damn bet against you.”

He wrapped his arms around her and it felt like the best gamble she’d ever made against him.

He glanced at the pool table, then back to her. “We can think of this as a win-win situation. What do you say?” he said softly, with all the love she had ever wanted from him.

Neil had everything and nothing to lose. She let the pool stick fall from her fingers. “Deal.” Gib kissed her thoroughly, and her last thought before her mind went to mush was,
Damn, the man can kiss.

Bio

Melissa Blue’s writing career started on a typewriter one month after her son was born. This would have been an idyllic situation for a writer if it had been 1985, not 2004. Eventually she upgraded to a computer. She’s still typing away on the same computer, making imaginary people fall in love.

Other Titles by Melissa Blue

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