Page 45 of One Night Gamble
She had to be harboring some doubts, the way he was. Both of them were trying to figure out how to make a life out of a one-night stand, and that was harder than he would have believed possible.
“Let me grab my keys. Do you want to come inside and say goodnight to Gran?”
He nodded and followed her into the house, talking to her grandmother while Talia got her stuff. And then he followed her as she drove sedately back toward Vegas.
Chapter Fourteen
Talia had the feeling that no matter what Casey said, they were on borrowed time. Her heart was involved now, and though she wanted to savor her time with him, it was a double-edged sword.
She’d realized at that bridge game that she hardly knew this man she thought she loved. There were other facets to his character that she’d never noticed, likely because she’d been too busy making sure that she didn’t fall for another gambler that she might have ignored traits Casey had that didn’t fit in with the image of the man she wanted him to be.
When they entered his penthouse, she looked around at the little touches she’d made to the place—the flower arrangement on the big table in the foyer, the pictures she’d placed on the console table of the two of them, one of Gran and one of Casey, Nicholas, and Darien. She’d been making this a home…but she wasn’t sure she could ever let her guard down with a man who’d been so at ease at a card table.
“I’m so glad you are back home,” Casey said.
“Sorry about earlier,” she said as she walked past him toward the stairs.
She heard him follow her up the stairs and she moved into the dressing area near her closet to get undressed and put her jewelry away.
“Talia?” he asked.
She turned around and saw him leaning against the frame of her door. He’d undone the buttons of his shirt and untucked the tails, so she caught a glimpse of his tattoo.
“Yes?”
“Are we okay?” he asked.
The words felt heavy in her heart. She wanted to say yes, because the only reasons she had for saying no were ephemeral. There was nothing concrete that she could justify. How was she going to tell him that when she’d seen him with cards in his hand, she’d felt the icy cold sliver of fear?
That sounded…melodramatic even to her. But it was true.
“Yeah, of course,” she said.
“Don’t try to bluff,” he said. “You’re not very good at it and I’m an expert.”
He walked farther into the room and she closed her eyes. The scent of his cologne, the nearness of him…it would be so easy to just give in to the physical attraction that was always a constant with the two of them. She’d give anything to go back to her first night in this place—when he’d been a stranger and sex was all that either of them wanted.
That had been enough.
“I’m…” She opened her eyes and he was standing closer to her. His blue eyes were icy and his stance was that of a man who was readying himself to take a body blow. She knew that Casey wasn’t with her lightly. That, like her, he felt something that he couldn’t explain or control. She wanted to be the one who gave him things that poker couldn’t buy—like family, and a solid life together.
But her fear wasn’t going to let her.
“Talk to me,” he said. “Did I force you tonight? Is that it? Do you really not want to be with me because of something Darien said?”
She put her hand on his chest.
Damn.
He was hot and hard.
She shouldn’t have touched him.
“It’s not that,” she said. Her fingers spread wider until the back of her hand pushed the fabric of his shirt far enough out of the way that she could see his tattoo. She traced the cards.
“Do you know that I avoid looking at this?”
He tipped her head back so that their eyes met. “No. I didn’t. Why?”
