Love, Diamonds, and Spades (Cactus Creek #2)(19)

Man, that was one cute kid. Rylan was growing really fond of the little guy.

Closing the door quietly behind him, he made his way over to the kitchen, where Quinn was waiting for him with a cold beer.

“I’m sorry he shanghaied you into reading him all those stories,” apologized Quinn. “You could’ve stopped after seven books.”

“I tried,” he chuckled, remembering the stubborn look on Cooper’s face when he’d tried to tuck him in five stories ago. “But I do believe he was hopped up on caramel corn from the fair Penny took him to.”

He nodded at all the various prescription boxes and bottles lining the counter beside them. “That breathing machine he was on for the last half hour. Is that for asthma? All these medications, too?” He’d heard Cooper wheezing that first day he’d met him, and again today. It’d sounded pretty bad.

“Yes, unfortunately. Cooper has had asthma since he was born and needs the nebulizer nightly, sometimes twice a day. He actually had life-threatening respiratory complications right after delivery and he’d had to undergo seven surgeries all in the first six months of his life.” Quinn sighed at all the medications. “The cold, dry weather makes it worse. Same thing with too much exertion, which is such a pity because Coop’s a natural at sports.”

Rylan made a mental note to go learn more about asthma so he could be prepared in case Cooper ever had an attack. “Poor guy. You’d never know it from how happy and energetic he is all the time.”

“I’ve tried to do what I can to keep it that way, but there’s only so much he can do. All these steroids aren’t good for him to take for his whole life but so far, it’s our only option. He’s had pneumonia four times since he started preschool, and he’s been to the E.R. over a dozen times already.”

Seeing the glum expression on Quinn’s face in the silence that followed, his heart went out to her. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how tough all this must have been for her. “Hey,” he ventured then, “have I ever told you that I make the world’s best hot cocoa?” It was an utterly random conversational one-eighty for sure, but he hated the idea of her ending her night on a sad note after all the fun they’d had earlier. “I could be persuaded to make you a cup.” Without waiting for an answer—because really, who could turn down his hot cocoa—he headed straight for her pantry in search of some ingredients.

With a silent, smiling headshake, she opened a cupboard for some mugs. “Anything I can do to help?”

“You could find us a deck of cards to keep us company while everything is heating up.”

She furrowed her brow in thought for a second and then brightened, turning to rummage around in a few drawers before emerging triumphantly with a slightly larger than casino-standard deck of cards.

He chuckled. “A Disney Princess deck of cards? Things just got serious.”

She fanned out the colorful deck with a smile. “My nieces are still smack dab in the royal Disney phase. So what do you want to play?”

“You know how to play poker?”

Pause. “Yes. But I don’t actually like poker.”

That was an understatement. The mere word seemed to give her a visibly visceral reaction.

“Then what say we play a few easy rounds of High-Card-Draw,” he suggested without missing a beat, determined to keep the dark shadows back. “It’s a total luck-based game so we—and by that, I mean you—have an equal chance to win.” He tossed the last over his shoulder with just the right amount of goading to ruffle her feathers right up.

Hearing her snap the cards up into a testy shuffle, and deliver a potent glare that was drilling a hole into the back of his head, he kept his smiling gaze on the stove as he continued his explanation, “Simple rules. We each make a wager, we each pull a card, and the high card wins.”

After getting the milk in the pot, he rejoined her. “Okay, so what are you going to wager?”

“I don’t know.” She studied him carefully. “How big a bet are you going in with?”

Smart girl—keeping her cards close to her chest. He’d make a gambler out of her yet.

Grinning, he said simply, “If I win, I get to pick what we do on our next date. Anything I want, no questions asked.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Will we have our clothes on?”

His knees almost gave way. “Good lord, woman, don’t put those kind of images in my head.” He shifted his jeans uncomfortably and slid behind the kitchen island.

Her lips twitched to the side but she said nothing.

“Yes,” he finally remembered to answer. “We’ll have our clothes on the entire time. But again, no questions asked. Anything I want.”

“‘Anything you want’ is way too broad—”

“Nope. No trying to change the wager,” he cut in. “This wouldn’t be gambling unless you felt some amount of risk.”

“Fine. IF you win, we’ll do anything you want with our clothes on.” Suddenly, a big mischievous smile lit up her face. “Okay then, if I win, you have to do all the laundry in this house for a month—me, Cooper, and the dog’s.”

He blanched. “Honey, let’s not get crazy here. I wagered with a pebble and you’re countering with the moon—”