The Safe Bet (Hidden Truths #1)(21)

“Go back to New York.” She re-read the words a dozen more times, trying to figure out the motive of her stalker, and why whoever was following her not only wanted her out of New York but possibly wanted her away from Michael, too.





CHAPTER SEVEN




MICHAEL STUDIED KATE AS SHE stood on the other side of the door at his friend’s apartment. She was dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans and a loose-fitting, yellow T-shirt that made him wonder if she was attempting to hide her sexuality. She was failing, in his book.

“I can’t believe you tried to back out on me.”

“Well, you know, I don’t have my lucky Red Sox hat. So, I thought maybe I shouldn’t come,” she answered with a smile in her eyes.

He moved out of her way and allowed her to enter his friend’s loft. “This is Jerry’s place. He teaches at a school north of Charlotte.” He shut the door, and she turned toward him.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I love that you don’t play poker with, um, millionaires. It means I can afford to play.”

God, he loved her smile. The way her eyes lifted in perfect time with her lips made something in his chest hurt, in a good way. He could tell she was nervous, but he doubted it was because of the poker game. “I wasn’t always rich. And having money doesn’t mean anything,” he said, low enough so his friends wouldn’t hear him. His buddies were impatiently waiting in the living room where the poker table was set up.

“Money means something when you use it to help others as you are.” She winked at him and walked down the narrow hall like she knew exactly where she was going.

He stood still at her comment and watched her disappear. When he heard a loud grumbling of voices, he knew his friends had just laid eyes upon her. He rubbed his jaw, grinned, and hurried toward the living room.

“Michael. Seriously? You think we’re going to be able to concentrate with Kate at the table? You know we have a hard time with Julia—and she’s like family,” Brett joked as he folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the back of the oversized white couch. Most of the furniture was pushed against the walls to make room for the long, oval poker table.

The entire apartment was no greater than eight hundred square feet, but a nice loft in the city came with a price. Michael and his friends rotated the game among their houses. There were eight players in total, including Julia, when she was able to make it.

“You better continue thinking of Julia as a sister,” Michael warned. He tapped Brett’s shoulder and looked at Kate. “This is Brett—he’s a pediatrician. And married, by the way.” Did I really invite Kate to a poker game with a bunch of sex-charged guys? He studied his friend, Jerry, watching the way his eyes raked over Kate’s toned body.

“The only one of us who is married,” Jerry added. “Hi, this is my place,” he said, stepping up to Kate.

“Hi,” she said.

Michael observed Kate, noticing the way her jeans hugged her ass as she reached forward for Jerry’s outstretched hand. He glanced at his friends who were lined up next to him, looking somewhat ridiculous as they waited for their introductions.

They’d met plenty of Michael’s dates in the past. Half of them had been models. Some famous. And he’d never gotten sensitive about his buddies checking out whatever woman he was with at the time. But tonight, it felt different, and he didn’t have any damn idea why it bothered him. He had no claim over this woman.

“You remind me of a young Denzel Washington,” Kate said when she released Jerry’s hand.

Jerry exposed his white teeth when he grinned. “I’ve heard that a couple times.”

Michael introduced Kate to the rest of his crew before they settled in at the poker table. “Want a beer? I think that’s all we have.”

Kate shook her head no as she took a seat across the table from him. “I don’t drink when I gamble,” she said before giving him the gift of her gorgeous dimples.

He set his Corona down in front of him and reached for his wallet.

“How much? Is this a tournament or a cash game?” she asked while dipping a hand into her purse.

“Cash game. You can put in as much as you want. No limit,” Michael responded.

“Hell, no. There is a limit—a thousand. We aren’t all drowning in cash like this one,” Brett said while poking at Michael, who was sitting on his left.

“Okay, sure. A thousand. But you can buy back in if you run out of cash,” Michael added.

“And you’ve done that plenty of times,” Jerry said before cracking a smile. “Welcome to the game.” He raised his Corona in the air to Kate, who was sitting next to him.

“Thanks,” she said, placing two hundred dollars on the table.

“High card is the dealer,” Jerry said while shuffling the deck of cards. He flipped a card face-up to everyone at the table. “Looks like you, Michael.” He pushed the cards to him and sunk back in his chair.

“Not going to put your sunglasses on?” Michael asked Kate while deftly shuffling the cards.

“I don’t think I’ll need them.”

I think you do. Your eyes tell me everything, Michael thought as he dealt.

After several rounds of Texas hold ’em, Kate proved to be a legit player, but Michael had yet to go head-to-head with her. His cards were always shit whenever she was in the pot, and so he spent his time watching Kate, reading her, studying the way her eyes looked down, and her lower lip would sometimes catch between her teeth. It was a nervous habit of hers that he had picked up on during their first meeting. She always won the hand when he saw her do this. She was trying to appear worried, to dupe his friends into thinking she was bluffing.