Free Texas Hold Him by Lisa Cooke Page B

round of cards is dealt.”
    “What if I run out of money, but I don’t want to fold?”
    “Then you’re all in. That means you can stay in the game, but you can’t win any more than you put into the pot.”
    He pointed to the hand he had laid in front of her. “What would you have done with this hand?”
    She had an ace, a jack, a two, a four and a six. “I would have folded.”
    “Why?”
    She pointed at his cards. “You have a pair of threes.”
    He chuckled. “In a real game, you wouldn’t have known I had a pair.”
    “Should I have stayed in?”
    He shrugged. “An ace high is a good hand if no one else has any pairs or something to beat it. You probably should stay in
     a round or two to see if anyone else isgoing to fold. But of course if you’re going to do that sort of thing, you need to learn to bluff.”
    “Bluff?”
    He leaned across the table, placing his finger under her chin to tip her face up to his. “Lie, Miss Mace. You need to learn
     to lie.”
    “I—I don’t know why I must lie to play poker.”
    “It’s not a lie with words. It’s lying with your face and gestures.” He traced his finger across her lips. “You can’t smile
     when your hand is good or pout when it’s bad.” He stared at her mouth when he touched it, and she realized with embarrassment
     her breathing had picked up considerably.
    She sat back away from him and cleared her throat. “So it’s not so much lying as masking your emotions?”
    He smiled a slow smile. “They’re called ‘tells.’ ”
    “What are called ‘tells’?”
    “The subtle signals a man gives that tells what kind of hand he has. A certain way he frowns or rubs his chin. After a while,
     you can spot them and you know if your opponent is bluffing.”
    He shrugged and folded his arms across his chest. “It’s very important that you mask your tells because, trust me, I’m not
     the only gambler who is aware they exist. You see, most people find it difficult to lie.”
    “But you don’t?”
    He winked at her. “I guess you’ll just have to find that out for yourself.”
    She touched her paper to see if the ink was dry before she folded it and stuffed it into her reticule. She knew she was fidgeting
     to avoid replying to Dyer’s comment, but for the life of her, she couldn’t think of a thing to say. Hehad the unnerving ability to leave her fumbling for responses.
    “When can we play a real game?” she asked, bringing the topic back to cards.
    He gathered the cards and stood to replace them in the drawer. “We’ll discuss that after you learn today’s lesson.”
    She left the table and walked quickly to the door. The room was getting a little too warm for her liking. “I’ll know it by
     tomorrow.”
    He sauntered over and leaned against the wall beside the door. “I’ve no doubt you will. In the meantime, you need to work
     on your tells.”
    “Wh—what do you mean?”
    Placing his hand against her face, he drew his thumb across her lower lip before he leaned closely to her and whispered, “When
     you’re nervous, your lip trembles.”
    She snapped her mouth shut. “I’ll be sure to watch for that.” She jerked open the door and left without bothering to check
     if there were witnesses to her escape.
    Dyer chuckled as Lottie scrambled from his room to the relative safety of the outside world. He didn’t know why he enjoyed
     tormenting her so much. Perhaps it was the insanity. Which would serve her right, since she was the cause of it in the first
     place.
    But now was not the time to ponder Lottie or her trembling lips. It had been months since his last visit to Natchez, and he
     hoped someone new had arrived with the information he needed. He lifted the mattress on his bed and removed his holster and
     gun. He’d need to be well armed for some of the places he intended to visit.
    The gun belt fitted comfortably around his hips, and the leather strip around his thigh was all too familiar.Someday he would put his