Betting on Hope (34 page)

Yes!
Her wood nymph queen sang.
Yes, yes, yes!

“Um?” Hope said, feeling dizzy. She leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder. “Can you…”

Her bra followed. He looked at her, letting his hand drift from her face down her breasts to her stomach, up her arm.

Hope felt her breath catch in her throat.

“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” he whispered. He held her so close, she could hear his heart pound.

“Mmm,” she said. She nipped him again on the shoulder. “Are you ready for your nymph queen of all the peoples now?”

Tanner grinned. “Observe your humble servant.”

“Ah,” Hope said, gazing at him. All of him. He was magnificent. Strong. Big. Powerful. Dark. Beautiful.

And best of all, ready.

“I live to serve,” Tanner said, following her gaze.

“The words every woman longs to hear,” Hope said.

Tanner reached for her, leaning into her as he stroked her face, her shoulders, her breasts, teasing and tasting her flesh, nibbling her ears and licking her sensitive places. And then, reaching down, he gently parted her legs and touched her with both hands, sliding fingers into her and massaging her.

Hope heard herself whimper.

“How’s that?” he whispered. His fingers had found a magic place.

More, more, more!

“More?” he applied pressure, a little here, a little there.

Faster, harder! To the left!

“Ah,” Hope said. Her breath came in little panting gasps.

“Like that?”

“Ah!” Hope said, tossing her head. Tanner tore open the foil covering the condom, fumbling a little in his haste, and put it on. And then he kneeled between her thighs.

“Whatever you want, Hope,” he whispered. And then he was inside her.

Hope moaned. The pressure mounted as he thrust, and the wave he created inside her gathered strength and power.

Yes, yes, yes! 

“Ah!” Hope said. “Ah! Ah!”

“Tell me,” Tanner said, surging inside her. He held her face with his hands, covering her body with his.

Faster, harder
. The wave built, the tension trembled—and then—the wave burst, sending showers of sparks over her eyes, flooding her skin with sensation.

“Ahhhhhh,” Hope said. She felt bathed in bliss. Tanner thrust into her again, one last hard slide. She heard his breath catch and then he edged to her side and tucked his arm under her shoulder and held her close.

Hope breathed him in. Her body slowed, and she felt limp with pleasure and contentment. She heard all her cells applauding.

She relaxed against him, feeling languid. In a few minutes, she heard the birds again, the trickling water, the light breeze.

“That was good,” she said. “I enjoyed that.”

She felt Tanner smile against her hair. “That was the plan,” he said.

“I’m going to take a little nap now.”
Because wood nymph queens could lie naked outside with their favorites. That’s what they did.

“Right behind you,” Tanner said.

And nestled against each other, they slept.

When the sun shifted behind the trees, Tanner woke. Trying not to dislodge Hope, who was sprawled across his chest, he reached for his watch.

Time to go.

He looked down at Hope, her face flushed in sleep. She’d surprised him a little today. He thought he’d meet more resistance to being out here in the open. And to being his woodland queen. But she’d gotten into it. And she’d liked being with him. He knew it. She was hooked, just like he was. He’d watched her face, her eyes, her expressions. He
knew
.

Reaching over, he gently brushed her hair away from her face.

“Hope,” he said.

She blinked, coming awake, not moving, still holding him. She yawned.

“How long did we sleep?” she asked.

“About an hour.”

She nodded. She lay still for a minute.

“I’m lying on a rock,” she said finally. “It’s jabbing me in the hip.”

Tanner grinned. “Thank you.”

Hope laughed. “I mean, a
real
rock.”

“Stop with the compliments. My ego doesn’t need it.”

Still grinning, Hope pushed herself up, sitting next to him. The light through the trees dappled against her skin. She looked breathtaking—every bit the queen of planet whatever that he’d imagined her to be. But she was more than beautiful. She was radiant with happiness, and Tanner knew that he was the reason. He smiled.

Hope hadn’t let herself feel much joy over the years, that much was clear. Tanner wanted to make sure that nothing got in the way of her joy again.

Tanner felt his heart expand in a way it hadn’t done since—well, maybe since never. Since Troy was born. He picked up Hope’s hand, stroked her palm with his thumb.

“I’m busy for the next few days,” he said. “I have something to do tonight, and Troy and I are spending tomorrow with my folks before she goes to college, and Monday I’m driving her to LA. I’ll be back Wednesday. Are you busy Wednesday night?”

“No,” Hope said, looking at him massaging her hand.

“Then I’ll see you Wednesday night, all right?” he said. “We can have dinner. And I’ll call you from the road.”

“Wednesday,” Hope said. “That’ll be fun.”

Yes, it would.
Tanner tilted up her face and looked at her eyes. Unguarded, unaffected, they were a perfect shade of blue.
She thought so, too.

“Okay,” Tanner said. “I’ll see you Wednesday, then. That’s a promise.”

Chapter 25

Hope sang along with the radio the whole way home. She belted out rock and roll tunes, harmonizing with the melodies and pounding out the beat on the steering wheel. She felt high with adrenaline. She couldn’t help it and didn’t want to stop it. She felt great.

Because of Tanner.

When she walked into the kitchen, Faith knew that something had happened.

“Have a good day?” she asked, smiling at her sister.

Hope felt her face stretch from her smile.

“I’m on a winning streak,” she said.

They ate dinner and Hope sang to the radio while she washed the dishes, her hips swinging to the music. Suzanne two-stepped around her as she dried and put away, and Squeegee howled, making Amber and Faith laugh. Then before she drove back to Vegas to play in Big Julie’s nine o’clock card game, Hope lay on her bed and studied the crib sheets Marty had given her. The players’ bios were remarkably thorough, describing each poker player she’d be most likely to meet in tonight’s game.

But her mind wandered to Tanner. What he’d said, what he’d looked like. How he’d made her feel.

Well exercised, for one thing.

Stop that!
That part had been good, no, okay, great, in fact,
wonderful
, but sex wasn’t everything.

Lighthearted. That was maybe the best part. She felt carefree. Happy.

And he’d paid attention—to what she said, what she wanted. What she liked.

And he’d helped her. With her game. The hat. Bringing Troy to the hospital for Amber. Calling his friend Jack Sievers for Faith.

Not to mention, making her feel really, really—

Stop that!
She was worse than a kid with her first crush. She needed to
focus.
Everything she’d done all week was for
nothing
if she didn’t win tonight. And winning meant not just defeating Big Julie, but all the other players who’d be there. None of them probably were top-notch players, but they’d all be able to beat her if she didn’t pay attention.

She rustled the papers, trying to put Tanner out of her mind. All right. Bucky Newhouse. According to Marty, Bucky played conservatively. His face sweated under pressure. When he was confident, he pushed up his glasses. Hope looked at his picture. His face was fleshy and red. He looked like he needed to get his blood pressure checked.

Hope turned to the next page. Alejandro Vargas. Very cool player, Marty said, until he started to lose. Then he played every hand fast and recklessly.
Alejandro and Derek, two of a kind
, Hope thought.

She went through the pages of all the known players, memorizing them until she could remember them flawlessly.

And then it was time to go.

Hope stood up, leaving the pages on her bed, tucking her keys, wallet, and sunglasses into her purse, and picking up her hat. Just one more thing to do.

“Wish me luck,” she said to her family as they lounged in the den watching a movie. She watched them from the doorway.
If I win—
when
I win tonight—I’ll be able to watch movies on Saturday night, too,
she promised herself.
Then everything will be worth it.

Faith stood up and went to give her sister a hug.

“Good luck,” she said. “You look fantastic. You’ll kill them.”

“Thanks,” Hope said. She glanced down at her new red halter dress, clingy and slinky. If it distracted the men tonight, so much the better. “I don’t need to kill them, though, except metaphorically.”

“That works.” Faith grinned and plopped back down on the sofa.

“You look slammin’, Aunt Hope!” Amber said. “Say hi to Tanner.”

Hope blushed. “Slammin’? Ah, thank you, Sweetie, but I won’t be seeing Tanner tonight,” she said.

“Break a leg,” Suzanne said, grinning. “And have fun.”

“Don’t wait up,” Hope said. “I’ll be late.” She didn’t think she could have fun tonight. This afternoon with Tanner—that had been fun. But tonight was about work. Tonight if she wanted to win the ranch back from Big Julie, she had to play her best game.

Tanner whistled as he finished dressing, tucking his wallet into his pocket and putting on his watch. He glanced in the mirror over his dresser to see Troy watching him from the doorway.

“Off again?” she asked, digging her toe into the carpet and sighing.

Tanner grinned. He’d miss Troy when she went off to UCLA next week, no question. But he’d be glad when she was gone, too, for several reasons, one of which was her over-the-top Abandoned Child gambit when she wanted something.

“The FBI set me up in a game tonight at the Desert Dunes,” he said. “Remember? I told you. They want me to help nab a Mob boss.”

Troy nodded, straightening up and looking troubled. “Will there be guns?”

“No way,” Tanner said, giving his daughter a hug. “The Mob boss certainly won’t want any. The FBI says we’ll all be frisked on the way in. They’re taking precautions. Don’t worry.”

“Be careful, Daddy, okay?” Troy looked like a kid again, a little unsure. Tanner watched her. Sometimes she was anxious about him, afraid that he, like her mother, would disappear without warning. Troy didn’t like it when he consulted for the FBI. She was afraid the agency would get him killed. And this time—Tanner had to agree—the agency might. But he had to cooperate with Frelly whenever the agent demanded. If he refused, he’d go to prison.

Nineteen years and four months into his servitude to the FBI, and now it was almost over. Only eight more months, and then he’d be done. His probation would be over, and he’d be free of the FBI and Agent Roy Frelly forever.

“I’m always careful, sweetheart. I probably won’t be home till very late, though. Do you want to invite Lizbeth to come over?”

Troy brightened. “Could we order out for pizza?”

“Sure. But no boys. Not unless Lizbeth’s parents come over for pizza, too.”

“Oh,
Daddy
. As if I don’t know the rules by now. You know, I’m going to college in
two days.
” Troy turned and flounced down the hallway.

“And no boys then, either, unless a parent is present,” Tanner called after her. He grinned as he watched her go. Then she turned around.

“So where were you this afternoon? You didn’t call. Have you been out yet with that woman you like? Hope? She seems nice.”

Tanner’s mind boggled. Why couldn’t Troy have gone to college
yesterday?
How did women figure this stuff out? It was like they had some kind of secret code.

“As a matter of fact, we went for a hike this afternoon,” he said.

“Ha! I
knew
it,” Troy said, grinning broadly. “Whistling, a dead giveaway. You must have had fun. I liked her at the hospital.”

“I’m officially uncomfortable now,” Tanner said.

Troy laughed. “I’m ordering the vegetarian special, extra large. I’ll leave you a slice.”

Tanner picked up his keys, shaking his head.
Women.
He’d never figure them out.

But it sure was fun to try.

When he got to the casino, he went straight to the security office, where he met Lee Gauger and the lovely Darla. Agent Roy Frelly was absent.