Page 10 of A Lot Like Love
“Are you talking about me or Parker?”
She sighed again, clearly frustrated with him. Only she was sober and he was only just starting to sober up—or at least that was his excuse for being one step behind her.
“Parker,”she clarified. “He’ll be expecting you to run with your tail between your legs, and if you go back to him, especially in front of the same set of guys, there’s no chance he won’t say yes to a rematch. It was stupid but he’s an arrogant douchebag and he can be baited.”
Ryder grunted, slouching again and staring out the window, everything a murky blur in the darkness. “You make it sound so easy.”
She accelerated past a slow vehicle, foot heavy on the gas.
“You drive pretty well,” he said, watching as she flicked through the electronic controls on the steering wheel. “How did you know how to use the command system?”
Chloe stayed silent, leaning back deep into the seat, one hand resting on the top of the wheel, the other on her thigh. When she finally spoke her voice was low, quiet.
“When my dad was on a high, we had the best cars and rented the flashiest houses,” she told him, staring straight ahead, the line of her jaw hard when before her face had been so soft. “And every time we lost the lot, we’d go back to having nothing all over again. So even though I drive a heap of junk now, there’s been the odd time I’ve been behind the wheel of something decent.”
Ryder ignored the headache that was clawing through his brain and turned to face her again. “Your dad was a poker player?”
“Sure was,” she said, voice almost a whisper now. “If it was a card game, he played it. Didn’t matter what it was, so long as there was money on the table.”
He started to sober up real fast, her pain vivid as she spoke. “So when I asked you if you knew how to deal earlier…”
When she laughed her entire face changed, eyes softening at the same time as her mouth. “You were asking a pro who’s very good at bluffing.”
This time he was chuckling. “If you’re so good at poker, why the hell are you working for tips at a bar?”
She made a noise that was impossible to decipher, but he got that he’d pissed her off. “Because I know the gambling trap and what kind of life it leads to.”
“I take it your dad’s long gone?”
She raised her other hand and gripped the steering wheel tight, knuckles going white. “Along with my college fund and the money my mom left me when she died. I stuck with him for years but he’s as good as dead to me now.”
“Shit.”
She took her eyes off the road for a second to look at him. “Yeah,shit. That’s why seeing what you did tonight annoyed me so much.”
Now he was confused. “Yet here you are helping me.”
She gave him a look that made him shut his mouth. It wasn’t often he was brought into line by a woman, but given the fact that she’d saved him by driving him home, he didn’t have a choice other than to behave. Ryder groaned. If he’d only chased Chloe instead of another game, they’d probably be holed up somewhere together having a drink, and he’d be trying to talk her into going back to his place for an entirely different purpose. Instead she felt sorry for him and was giving him a lift home.
“If I could help you win your ranch back, would you say yes?” she asked, her voice lower than it had been, a deeper tone that commanded his attention.
“Sure,” he said, not having to think about his answer. “Right now I’d do anything to win it back.”
“Anything?” she asked with a smirk.
“Prostitution, drug smuggling, murder…” He cleared his throat and glanced at her. “Okay, so maybe just the first one.”
“I’m serious,” she said, glancing at him as they approached a turnoff. He gestured left again and she slowed. “I can help you.”
“How?” Ryder asked, pushing his thumbs against his temple and rubbing, trying to ease his headache. “Because I’m pretty sure they’re not just going to let you walk in and ask nicely for it.”
“I can win it back for you the same way you lost it. Only this time I’d be the one holding the cards,” she said wryly, like it was the most logical explanation in the world. “No offense.”
“Hold up,” he said, hiding his smile behind his hand. He might be drunk but he still had a brain. “You think those guys are going to let a girl just walk in and join the game? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Her sigh was audible. “I’m not stupid.”
“Never said you were.” He opened his glove box, searched for something to drink, and found nothing. “But you’d have to be an idiot…”
