The Lady's Gamble_A Historical Regency Romance Book by Abby Ayles

Author:Abby Ayles [Ayles, Abby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-03-09T18:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Regina was starting to hate shuffling cards.

In fact, whoever had invented shuffling cards could be run over in a carriage accident and she would be perfectly happy.

As the deck once again spilled out of her hands, she let out a swear.

“Now where would a sweet girl like you learn a word like that?”

She startled, turning to find Harrison lounging in the doorway. He had changed into another pair of trousers and a shirt, although he still did away with his jacket and waistcoat.

“I can’t seem to keep them from falling out of my hands,” she admitted.

“It can be hard, with your smaller hands,” Harrison admitted. He walked over and sat down next to her. “Here, I’ll show you.”

He took the cards and shuffled slowly, showing her how to hold them and how to use the wrists.

“If you get good enough, you can trick people with shuffling,” he explained. “You can deal them bad cards and give yourself good ones. But you don’t need to worry about that right now.”

“What if someone at the table is doing that?” Regina asked.

She felt a little distracted by all the things she hadn’t noticed about Harrison before. Or, to put it more accurately, the things she hadn’t let herself notice:

The way that he smelled, heavy and masculine—the way it made her breath catch but also made her want to curl up against his side and breathe him in;

The darkness of his hair, and the way it curled slightly now that it was just the two of them alone together and he didn’t have to tame it down;

The intensity and warmth in his eyes, the way they seemed to bore into her;

The skill of his hands, and how large they were, dwarfing hers…

So many things she hadn’t consciously thought about. So many things she had dismissed, now all rushing to the forefront. She could remember noticing them before, and the rush of warmth inside of her, but she hadn’t thought about it. Perhaps she hadn’t let herself think about it.

Now she was thoroughly sunk. She wanted nothing more than to cross the distance between them and kiss him.

Harrison seemed as usual, however. There was no change in him. He treated her the same way that he always did, with casual warmth and teasing. He was obviously overall unaffected by what they’d done.

That hurt, a little, actually. Were all men like that? Could they all become overwhelmed in the moment and then act as though nothing had changed once it was over?

Still, nothing really had changed, had it? They were still the same. She was simply his pupil at cards. He was helping her to dig her family out of a precarious position. Nothing more.

Regina shook herself. This was ridiculous. She was proving herself to be the silly little girl that she’d always feared she was. She had no time to think about things like this. She had to focus on the cards.

“Lord Pettifer, for one, might be capable of that,” Harrison said.

Regina realized that he was answering her question and that she had missed the good first half of his answer.

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