Free One White Rose by Julie Garwood Page A

pregnant." She didn't believe him until she put her hand on her waist. Good Lord, when had they fallen, and why hadn't she noticed?
    "Want to tell me what you were thinking about a minute ago?" She could feel herself blushing. "This and that."
    "Is that what you call it?" he asked.
    "The horses," she blurted out at the very same time. "Minerva and Pegasus. Yes, the Arabian stallion is Pegasus and his mate is Minerva. Didn't I tell you their names already?"
    "Just Pegasus."
    She really wished he would go away for a little while. The way he was looking at her was making her feel self-conscious and as awkward as a little girl. "What have you been calling my Arabians?"
    "This and that."
    He slowly brushed the back of his fingers down her cheek. "I think you should know something. I'm real partial to women with freckles. Yours drive me wild." He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth quick and hard. "By the way," he whispered, "I'm having some real wild thoughts about you too." He stunned the breath out of her, and he knew it. That was why he winked at her before he turned around and walked away. She stared after him until he disappeared into the kitchen; then she shut the door and fell back against it. Dear God, he'd known all the while what she was thinking about, and she was never, ever going to be able to look at him again.
    She was mortified. She must have given herself away, but how in heaven's name had she done that? She didn't know, and she wasn't going to ask him. She wasn't going to have another scandalous thought about him for the rest of her life. In fact, she wouldn't think about him at all. She threw herself down on the bed and groaned. She fell asleep a few minutes later with her feet hanging over the side of the bed, her shoes and stockings on, and one thought flitting through her mind. He liked freckles.
     

Chapter Seven
      He also liked games. He asked her during supper if she happened to have a deck of cards, which she did, and then he suggested they play poker.
    "Have you ever played five card stud?"
    "Oh, yes. I'm good too."
    The challenge was issued. They played five hands before Parker demanded to be fed. It was past time for her to go to bed anyway, because she was looking as though she was about to doze off any minute. At her insistence, he added up their scores and told her the amount she owed him. She stood up, yawned, and said, "I'll pay you back with my earnings tomorrow night when we play chess."
    He laughed. "Are you good at chess too?"
    "Wait and see."
    Chess was his game. The following evening, he proved it to her by destroying her in a matter of minutes. He decided she obviously hadn't played a lot of checkers after he'd won five games in a row. By the end of the week, she owed him over a thousand dollars.
    Douglas changed the rules from then on. He told her he had a much better idea. Instead of money, the winner could ask any question he or she wanted. No matter how personal the topic, an answer was required.
    Suddenly, her skills improved. She won three games before he caught on to her ploy.
    "You were deliberately letting me win, weren't you?"
    "Some men like to win."
    "Most men like to win fairly. From now on, we both play to win. Agreed?"
    "Yes," she replied. "We should probably start all over. I let you win last night too." He tore up the sheet of paper with the totals before handing the deck of cards to her. She shuffled the cards like a dealer in Tommy's saloon, drawing a laugh from him.
    "You little con."
    "I've played a lot of cards," she admitted.
    "No kidding."
    She proved how good she was by winning the next game. Before he had even showed her his pitiful hand consisting of two jacks, she asked her question.
    "You told me you were a thief, remember? I want to know when and where."
    "When I was a boy, living on the streets of New York City. I took pretty much anything I wanted." Her eyes widened in disbelief, yet her voice sounded as though she was in awe of his criminal background.