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  Queen of Hearts

  by A.C. Grey

  Queen of Hearts

  Copyright: A.C. Grey and Gable Books

  Published:

  November 30, 2012

  ISBN: 978-0-9885250-0-9

  Publisher: Gable Books

  The right of A.C. Grey to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the relevant international copyright laws. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format.

  Chapter One

  Tess McLeod weaved her way through the casino, taking in the familiar and somehow comforting sound of poker chips rattling against one another, the hustle and bustle of the crowds, the mixture of gawking tourists and seasoned professionals. As she entered the poker room, she scanned the tables, sizing up the potential competition. She smiled slightly to herself, a look of self-satisfaction on her face as she leaned against the registration desk’s counter. Who would be the source of her winnings tonight?

  As her eyes flitted from table to table, she was suddenly struck by the beauty sitting at Table Eight. Her mouth suddenly went dry as she gazed upon the gorgeous woman. Not your typical player, she thought to herself. Even from across the room, Tess could feel the woman’s energy, a magic draw that instantaneously captivated her. The mystery woman was in the middle of a hand and seemed deep in thought, a serious expression on her face. Even so, Tess had no doubt that her smile would light up the room.

  “Hey, Tess. What’s up? What kind of game are you looking for tonight?” Ben, the floor manager on duty interrupted her reverie.

  “Hi, Ben. Got any available space at a 25/50 No Limit table?”

  Ben nodded. “Table Eight.”

  Of course it would be Table Eight, she thought, shaking her head. Tess thanked him and headed to the cashier to change some of her cash into poker chips. She then made her way over to the table, trying to put her less-than-innocent thoughts about the mystery woman out of her head. However, such efforts were short lived.

  As she neared the table, the sound of the brunette’s magical laughter rung through the air. Tess drew up short, nearly breathless at the musical lilt of the woman’s joy. She had been right, Tess mused. Her smile was breathtaking. She was the most gorgeous thing that Tess had laid eyes upon in quite some time. As she sat down at the only available seat, which happened to be directly across from the object of her musings, Tess gave herself a mental pep talk. Clearly, she needed to get herself under control. It had obviously just been too long since she’d had a romantic encounter and her sex-starved body was playing tricks on her.

  It was time to focus. Time to take the money of everyone at the table, the sexy brunette included. It was her job, after all, and she was damn good at it. Awesome, in fact. She smiled and nodded at the various occupants of the table as she settled in.

  As she got into the flow of the game, Tess sat back and took in the play, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of her fellow players. She knew this information would help her play against them; exploiting the weaknesses while avoiding potential pitfalls. She may have spent a little too much time studying a certain gorgeous player across from her, but it was all for the game, or at least that’s what she told herself.

  The brunette had some skills, Tess had to admit. She definitely wasn’t a novice. Not that Tess hadn’t picked up on a few weaknesses in her game, but overall, she was a good player. However, one facet of her beautiful opponent’s game left her less than impressed. The mystery woman was wearing a very low cut, revealing top and was making sure to flirt with the men at the table at every opportunity, laughing, smiling, placing a hand on an arm, batting her eyelashes. It seemed a little forced, but the men didn’t seem to notice or chose to ignore if they did. They were eating it up. This irked Tess to no end.

  It wasn’t that Tess had never used her own feminine wiles at the poker table. A good player will use whatever means necessary to win. Poker had started out as a man’s game and in many ways it still was. She knew that certain men were incapable of taking a female player seriously, which could often be used to her advantage. This was especially true if they thought they had a chance with her. If they thought they were protecting the poor, little weak woman, they’d make the mistake of treating her too gently, letting her get away with tactics that would have been harder to pull off otherwise. She could often get away with bluffs, betting as though she had a monster hand when she had nothing, because these type of men were unwilling to believe that a sweet, innocent woman was capable of any form of deception. Similarly, there were those men who thought of women as weak and stupid and tried hard to push her around, making strategic blunders in the process. There was little Tess loved more than a jackass who thought a few big bets would scare her off. Once Tess had figured out which type a man was, they were easy prey.

  Sure, a little flirting never hurt. Little did they know that no man would ever stand a chance with her. However, she felt that the brunette was going over the top, using her feminine assets a little too much. Or maybe what really bothered Tess was that she wasn’t using those assets on her. That wasn’t it, she mused, somewhat unconvincingly. She simply didn’t want this woman to tarnish the already tenuous reputation of women poker players. It had absolutely nothing to do with jealousy.

  * * * * *

  Things were going well for Zoey Cameron. Despite her extreme nervousness, she’d done a good job of putting up a confident façade, or at least she thought she had. She’d dressed in her sexiest top and made an effort to be friendly and flirty with the men at her table. For most of the evening, she’d been the only woman at the table and had used it as an opportunity to practice her flirting. It seemed to be working . She’d managed to dupe them out of much of their money, but they seemed happy, so long as she smiled and batted her eyelashes as she did so.

  As she laughed at a dumb joke made by the man to her left, she raked in her latest pile of winnings. Looking up, she caught sight of a beautiful woman with flowing auburn curls making her way towards the table. Great, she thought. Now she would have competition, assuming the woman knew how to charm the men. As she sat down, her new opponent smiled at the players. Something about her smile made Zoey’s heart skip a beat. Chalking it up to nerves, Zoey continued her flirting, winning a hand here and there as she did so. She couldn’t help but notice that the redhead kept staring at her. Even when she wasn’t looking, she could feel her ocean blue eyes upon her. It made her feel all tingly and electrified inside. Zoey wasn’t sure why, but shook it off and focused on her game.

  A few hands later, Zoey found herself in a hand against the other woman. She looked down at her cards, quickly going over the odds of winning in her head. The mysterious woman across from here pushed all of her chips into the center of the table, and confidently announced that she was “all in.”

  This changed things. Zoey’s hand, two queens, which had looked so good a minute ago, suddenly didn’t seem so strong. From what she’d observed, the redhead seemed to be a confident, talented player. Not the type she could win over with a flirty smile or a trick play. She wondered what she’d gotten herself into. She warred with the varying emotions running through her. What was she doing here? She didn’t belong at a big time poker game in Vegas. She’d gotten herself in way over her head. Yes, she’d been successful at her ex-boyfriend’s home poker games and she’d found a lot of success playing online, but this was a whole different ballgame. What had she been thinking? She should have stayed in New York, where her life was safe and comfortable.

  Snap out of it
Zoey, she reminded herself. It was exactly this type of thinking that had made her so unhappy. She had always played it safe. If she had taken more chances, maybe her life wouldn’t be so screwed up at the moment. On the other hand, maybe this was a sign she’d made a mistake. There was something to be said for safe and uncomplicated . . .

  “The action is on you, miss,” the dealer said, reminding Zoey that it was her turn to act.

  Zoey tucked a stray lock of her deep brown hair behind her ear and checked her cards once again, pondering her options. She should fold this hand. She had no business being in a game with stakes this high or even in this city for that matter. She should go back home and pretend that this little diversion had never happened.

  A cocktail waitress appeared with a drink for her opponent.

  “Here’s your drink, Tess,” the waitress said.

  “Thanks, Mary. This is for you” she said as she handed the waitress a $20 tip.

  Turning her attention back to the table, the redhead studied Zoey, a slight grin on her face as she expertly shuffled a stack of poker chips between her fingers.

  Great, Zoey thought. The woman, who was apparently named Tess, was obviously a regular if she was on a first-name basis with the waitressing staff. That probably meant that she had a ton of experience, a ton more than Zoey had. Zoey felt a lump form in her throat as the niggling thoughts of self-doubt crept in once again. It didn’t help that the woman was staring right at her. She swore she could feel her eyes burning their way straight through into her brain, as if reading her very private thoughts. Tess flashed her a knowing smile as if to confirm Zoey’s doubts – that she knew that Zoey was doubting herself.

  “Come on sweetie, you know you want to fold this hand. Just throw your cards away and we’ll move on,” her opponent urged, a full smile spreading across her face.

  Something about the overconfident smirk on Tess’s face cut through Zoey’s anxiety. She had to shake things up. No more being the always cautious, always predictable Zoey Cameron. She studied her opponent, trying not to get distracted by the woman’s captivating and slightly magical grin. Wait . . . had she just admitted this woman was captivating? And magical? Clearly she was tired and needed to quit for the evening.

  Then, Tess winked at her.

  The move pushed Zoey over the edge. That cocky bitch thought she was going to push her around. What, just because she flashed her a smile, Zoey was supposed to do her bidding and fold her hand? No. Unlike most of the players at the table, she didn’t think solely with her libido. Now was the time to take chances. “I’m all in as well,” she announced as she pushed all her chips towards the dealer. As she did so, Zoey stared straight into Tess’s piercing blue eyes in an attempt to show her that she was messing with the wrong woman.

  Tess grinned smugly and shook her head. “You really shouldn’t have done that, sweetie.”

  Zoey’s heart dropped as Tess turned over two kings, which meant that Zoey had lost all of her money on the table. Deciding that she was in no state to continue playing, Zoey opted not to buy more chips. She stood, trying to hurry away from the table before anyone saw how upset she was. As she turned to leave, Tess called after her.

  “Sweetie, you’ve got to work on your poker face. Your expression told me all I needed to know about your hand. Let me guess, you’re one of those Internet players who’s never played face-to-face in a casino before?” Tess felt slightly guilty for the way she was teasing the brunette, but it helped distract her from the unsettling feelings the woman was causing deep within her.

  Fuming, Zoey turned to reply. “Thanks for the advice, but you just got lucky. The odds were in my favor. Most times, you wouldn’t have had kings and I’d have won that hand. So wipe that smug grin off your face.”

  Tess studied her, admiring her chocolate brown eyes, which sparkled with emotion. Her sexy attire masked the fact that this woman was really quite a good player. She didn’t do herself justice – playing up her bodily assets while not recognizing her true talents, namely her intelligence. Tess was definitely attracted to her, but now was not the time or place to indulge in fantasies. She had a poker game to win.

  “I’m just trying to help you out, sweetie,” Tess replied, perhaps a little too sweetly.

  “I’m fine on my own, thanks,” Zoey retorted, anger flashing in her eyes. “I’m not some damsel in distress that needs some stranger to tell me how to live my life or how to play my cards.”

  With that, Zoey stormed off, muttering under her breath “what does she know anyway?”

  “Quite a lot, actually,” a bystander commented. “Don’t you know who that is? That’s Tess McLeod. They call her the Queen of Hearts. She’s won more tournaments than any other woman player and more than most men on the poker circuit. She’s a world class player.”

  “Thanks, but that doesn’t mean she’s also not a world class jerk,” Zoey replied as she walked away.

  Chapter Two

  As Tess watched the sexy (and apparently fiery) brunette storm away from the table, Tess felt a momentary bit of regret in the pit of her stomach. Why had she been so snarky with the woman? It wasn’t like her. Tess prided herself on being a pleasant, agreeable person – not a condescending know-it-all, which, if she really took a minute to reflect on her behavior, was what she’d just been.

  She shook her head slightly. Clearly, for whatever reason, the woman had gotten under her skin. She quickly pushed these thoughts aside. She had a game to play and most likely she’d never see the woman again. She played for a few more hours, and while she managed to make money, her head wasn’t really in the game. Her concentration was constantly broken by the nagging thoughts surrounding the mysterious woman. She was filled with guilt and self-doubt, which was not an emotion she was used to dealing with. Additionally, she felt like all of the joy in the room had left with her sexy former opponent. It was if she’d taken all of Tess’s positive energy with her as she’d stormed off.

  Finally, Tess let out a sigh mixed with exhaustion and frustration and got up to leave. After cashing in her chips, she made her way home. Normally, she would have played long into the night. Tonight, however, she didn’t have it in her. She convinced herself that she’d left because she had an early day the next morning. However, if she really allowed herself to stop and do some self-reflection, she knew that her reason for fatigue came from a decidedly different direction.

  * * * * *

  The next morning got off to a rocky start for Tess. She was exhausted, though she didn’t know why. Unlike most nights, where she played poker until the wee hours of the morning, she’d gotten to bed at a decent hour. To make matters worse, she had a speaking engagement and she was not looking forward to it. Tess didn’t mind being one of the public faces of the poker world, but the whole public speaking thing was not something she enjoyed. She usually avoided such events, but she’d somehow allowed herself to be talked into speaking on a panel called “Women in Poker.” She felt that she had a duty, as one of the most successful women poker players in the world, to make appearances such as this on occasion. However, today she was not in the mood.

  She grabbed her keys off of the counter and headed out the door, already running a few minutes late for the breakfast that the event planners had put together for the speakers on the panel. Tess had no idea who else would be there, other than her good friend and fellow poker pro, Angie Goodman. As she approached her car, she silently cursed. Of all days, today would have to be the day she had a flat tire. She looked down at her watch. There was no way she had time to change the flat and still make the breakfast. Never one to be the damsel in distress, she decided to change the tire herself, figuring she’d still have time to make it to the engagement. Swearing again, Tess put a quick call into Angie, asking her to let the organizer know that she’d have to miss breakfast, but that she’d still be there for the panel.

  * * * * *

  As she pulled up to the convention center, Tess quickly parked and hopped out, making a m
ad dash for the meeting room where the panel discussion was being held. It had taken her a little longer than she’d estimated to fix the car and she was cutting it rather close. As she neared the room, she spotted Angie standing outside the door, along with Kate, the woman who’d organized the event. She jogged over to them, panting and a little disheveled.

  “I’m so sorry I’m late,” she said as she attempted to catch her breath. “Flat tire.”

  Kate nodded. “Angie told me. Not a problem. You’re just in time. We’re just in the process of announcing the speakers.”

  Tess could hear the emcee announcing the first name from inside the room. “An up and coming internet phenom, playing under the online alias Rock Star, she’s made a name for herself over the past year cashing in several tournaments, including a first place finish in the prestigious pokeraces.com $1 million championship. She’s decided to take her virtual game to the real world and is here in Vegas to test her skills at the World Series of Poker. We have no doubt that by the end of the series a few months from now, she’ll be a household name. Please welcome Zoey Cameron.”

  A round of applause welcomed the first guest, whom Tess had never met. She had, however, heard about this player. She was supposed to be the next big thing. Tess was skeptical of such claims. Many Internet sensations never successfully made the transition to playing in a brick-and-mortar casino. Tess looked through the doorway, curious to see what this up-and-comer looked like. As she did so, her breath caught in her throat. Making her way to the stage was none other than the mystery woman she’d played against the night before.