Queen of Hearts Read online

  This was something that hadn’t been true for a long time. She’d kind of sleepwalked through the past few years of her life, if she was being honest with herself. She never really stopped to just think about her emotions and feelings. Taking a moment to reflect on the past year or two, she realized she’d in many ways been dead inside. And now, suddenly, she was alive. So, so alive. Whether it was the poker, her newfound freedom away from her jaded routine in New York, or Tess remained to be seen. Or maybe it was a combination of these things. One thing Zoey knew for sure. She was loving it.

  * * * * *

  After the panel adjourned, the two women went their separate ways, but both of their minds were decidedly united around one particular subject – their upcoming coffee shop meeting. Tess took a moment to chat with the panel organizer before Angie pulled her aside.

  ‘So we never got a chance to talk after you spoke with Zoey. What happened? You both were much more relaxed afterwards.”

  Tess shrugged. “Oh, nothing much. I apologized. She accepted.”

  Angie looked at her curiously. “That’s all?”

  “Oh and we’re going for coffee at one.”

  “Mmmhmmm . . .

  “Don’t you mmmhmmm me. It’s nothing. I just figured I owed it to her to make nice and try and start over. I don’t like being the bad guy.”

  “Right.”

  “That’s it! Nothing more.” Angie continued to eye her. Finally, Tess let out an exasperated sigh. “Okay fine, maybe a little bit of me is excited that I get to spend time with her, but that’s irrelevant. She made it perfectly clear that she’d rather do just about anything than hang out with me, so it doesn’t matter what I feel. Though why she wouldn’t want to is beyond me. I’m an awesome friend.”

  Angie shook her head. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that you’ve been anything but friendly to her? And you relieved her of a big pile of cash and humiliated her in the process. From what I can tell, you weren’t exactly a gracious winner.”

  Tess offered a noncommittal grumble.

  “But what makes you think that she doesn’t want to spend time with you? She did agree to have coffee with you after all.”

  “Only because I won a bet. She said no, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to get to know her. So I made her a little friendly wager. She lost, so she has to have coffee with me.” Tess bit her lip anxiously as she admitted her little ploy.

  “Great way to win over the girl, Tess. Nothing like starting a friendship based upon forced commitments and obligation.”

  “Hey! She didn’t have to take the bet. This is on her too,” Tess said defensively.

  “Sure she did. She’s a poker player Tess, and you of all people should know that it’s nearly impossible for a poker player to turn down a good wager unless the odds are horrible.”

  “True,” Tess admitted. “It doesn’t matter though. By the end of our coffee, she’ll love me. I’ve just got to unleash my signature McLeod charm and she’ll see how fun and awesome I can be.”

  Angie shook her head. “Sometimes your self-confidence scares me, Tess.”

  “Only because you know I’m right. I am awesome.” She glanced down at her watch. “Gotta go. I’ll be late meeting Zoey.”

  Angie rolled her eyes as Tess walked away. Her friend was really a piece of work sometimes, but she loved her anyway.

  * * * * *

  Outside the conference room, Zoey leaned against the wall and sighed. “Why did I let myself get talked into this, Max? It’s going to be nothing but uncomfortable.”

  “Geez, Zo. You’re acting like you agreed to be tortured or something. It’s just coffee, and like I said before, Tess is a genuinely nice person. She and I may not always see eye-to-eye, but she’s nothing to be afraid of. There are plenty of worse people to spend an hour with.”

  Zoey let out another long, ragged sigh. “I know . . . it’s just. I don’t know. Something about her just throws me off balance. I’m not sure I like it.”

  “You know what, Cameron? It sounds to me like you have a little bit of a crush.”

  Zoey rolled her eyes. “In your dreams, Max. I am not into women.” She scoffed, perhaps in a slightly too exaggerated manner. “I like men. I am a huge fan of men.”

  Max sensed that she protested too much, but chose to ignore it. Unable to resist the opening Zoey had left him, he knew only one way to respond. “Well, if you’re ever looking for an outlet for your love affair with men let me know.”

  Zoey slapped him on the arm. “That’s never going to happen, Grayson. I’ll leave you to your cocktail waitresses and drunken bachelorettes and whatever other rare beauties are delusional enough to find you charming.” She walked away, headed to the coffee shop, attempting to suppress the warring nerves wreaking havoc on her body.

  * * * * *

  When Zoey arrived at the coffee shop, Tess was already there, standing off to the side fiddling with her phone. As she looked up, Tess’s breath hitched once again. The brunette had yet to cease causing an involuntary reaction deep within her. As Zoey approached, she offered Tess a nervous smile. “Hey.”

  Tess gave Zoey a wide smile. “Hey. I’m super glad you’re here. Shall we order?” Zoey nodded. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. The condescending, bitchy Tess seemed to have gone missing, replaced by a perky, decidedly more pleasant version of the woman.

  After they got their coffee, they made their way to a secluded table in the corner. As they sat down, Tess eyed her and smiled again. God, Zoey thought . . . stop with the smiles already . . . they were driving her insane.

  “So, I just wanted to start off by apologizing again. I’m not sure what came over me, but I’m not normally one to pick fights. I’d like to think I’m generally a nice person and I wasn’t very nice to you.”

  Zoey waved a hand in dismissal. “It’s okay. Max told me the same thing – that you’re normally very sweet. Let’s just agree that you and I got off on the wrong foot and start over.”

  Tess nodded. “Awesome.” She smirked slightly before proceeding. “So if I can’t call you sweetie, what should I call you?”

  Zoey arched an eyebrow and chuckled lightly. “How about just Zoey? Sweetie’s just a bit patronizing . . . unless you want me to start calling you Red like Max does. If so, you can keep calling me that.”

  Tess rolled her eyes. “Fair enough. Max’s a nice guy, but a bit of a chauvinist pig. I’ve long since given up trying to get him call me by my name.” Zoey smiled, silently agreeing with Tess’s assessment of her friend. “So where did you learn to play poker?”

  “My dad always had a weekly poker game with his buddies. I learned from him. I finally convinced him to let me play in his home game when I was in college. Before long, I was too good for most of the people I played against, so I moved to Vegas to try going pro. The rest, as they say, is history. What about you?”

  Zoey drew a deep breath before she began. The memories weren’t all that positive. “My ex-boyfriend taught me.”

  Tess’s heart sunk at that word – ex-boyfriend. Not that she’d really expected Zoey to feel what she was feeling, but hearing actual confirmation of her sexual preferences still hurt. Doing her best to disguise her disappointment, Tess prodded Zoey for more information, sensing that the brunette was holding back. “Why do I feel like there’s more to this story, Zoey?”

  Zoey hesitated for a moment, not really wanting to delve into her painful past. However, something about Tess, and that enchanting smile of hers, just made her want to open up. “My ex, Steve, took me to one of his poker nights. I think he did it partially to show off to me, to show me how good he was at poker. I also think he wanted to show me off to his buddies. Anyway, he took me a few times and I picked up the game pretty quick. I actually am . . . was an accountant for my father’s business. The math and statistics involved with poker appealed to me. I’ve always been a bit of nerd when it comes to that stuff. I got pretty good, pretty fast. That’s when Steve stopped
bringing me. I think he didn’t like the fact that his girlfriend could beat him at a game that he was supposedly good at. Note to Steve – he wasn’t that good.”

  Tess chuckled and waited for Zoey to continue.

  “Anyway, by that time, I’d fallen in love with the game. I love the math, the trickery, the deception, the strategy.” It took Tess’s breath away as Zoey’s eyes lit up and her face became more and more animated. Clearly she was passionate about the game . . . and that passion was hot. “When I didn’t have my boyfriend’s game to go to anymore, I had to find another way to play. So I started playing online, and, as you said, the rest is history.”

  “What made you finally decide to make a go of it out here in Vegas?” Tess asked, curious as to what had finally pushed Zoey to make the move to live games.

  Zoey hesitated for a moment, unsure of how much to tell. She bit her lip nervously as she pondered. Tess’s eyes were transfixed by the gesture, uncontrollably drawn to the luscious lips. She wanted nothing more than take them with her own. It was at that moment that she realized she was falling, hard and fast for this woman, who was still almost as much of a mystery as she had been a day ago. “Well . . .” Zoey finally began. “I was with Steve for over four years. I thought we’d be together forever. We’d settle down, have a family, the whole nine yards. He worked for my father. My family loved him. We were comfortable, but looking back now, I realize he was always just the safe option. I always tried to live up to my father’s expectations of me. I made choices based on what I thought my father would want. Don’t get me wrong, I love him, but he can be a bit overbearing. I went to work for him because it’s what he wanted. I dated Steve because it’s what he expected. And I thought I was happy. I realize now I really wasn’t happy. I was just complacent.” Zoey paused, gathering her thoughts. Something about Tess’s sympathetic blue eyes made her want to spill her entire life story. Despite their rocky start, Zoey had the strange feeling she could trust her. “Anyway, I’d probably still be in New York, living my life on auto-pilot, if not for the fact that I walked in on Steve cheating on me with his secretary.”

  Tess shook her head. “What a jerk. And talk about unoriginal. The secretary? Come on.”

  “Tell me about it. The worst part is, he tried to blame it on me. He told me I was too boring, too predictable. Said he needed someone more exciting and adventurous. He’s probably right. Before I left for Vegas, I’d never taken a chance in my life. I always played it safe. I always did what was expected of me. I probably was . . . am boring.”

  Tess reached over and placed a gentle hand on Zoey’s forearm. Both were taken slightly aback at the invisible sparks shooting through their skin. Tess pushed the feelings aside and spoke. “That’s not true, Zoey. I can tell you, after having known you for just a short period of time, you are anything but boring. In fact, you are quite the opposite. If I had to describe you, I’d call you fiery. I’d call you passionate. Maybe Steve was just the wakeup call you needed.”

  Zoey nodded and smiled weakly. “Thanks. And you’re right. For the first time, I really feel awake, like I’m actually living my life. I’d have never quit my job and come here if I hadn’t caught him. So I guess I have to thank him for that.”

  Tess smiled warmly. “Don’t give him too much credit. It’s your talent, your courage, your brains that got you here. He just gave you the little nudge you needed. If I’m being honest, I think one of the reasons I reacted so badly to you last night was because I felt you were selling yourself short by dressing the way you did and flirting with those guys. You don’t need to do that. You’ve got all the ammunition you need right up here. “ Tess reached up and gently patted Zoey’s temple. Shocked by the sudden jolt of feeling that the redhead’s touch caused inside her, Zoey took a sharp intake of breath. She hoped Tess hadn’t noticed. If she did, she didn’t let on as she dropped her hand back to the table.

  Zoey nodded timidly. “I suppose you’re right. If I’m being honest, I’ve always had a bit of a confidence problem. I just figured if I could act the part of this sexy, confident woman, maybe I’d feel that way inside too.”

  Tess nodded. “You’re right about one thing, Zoey. Poker is all about image and people’s perceptions of you. If you know what image you’re projecting, you can use that to your advantage and you can manipulate people based on their incorrect assumptions as to the type of player you are. However, I think you’re going about it the wrong way. In the long run, you want respect. Not only will people not respect you if show up with your boobs hanging out, but it’ll be harder and harder to respect yourself.”

  “You sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

  “I do. I’ve been there. I made the same mistake when I was first starting out. That doesn’t mean you can’t craft an image for yourself that helps boost your confidence. You just have to go about it the right way. And soon enough, those self-doubts will go away. Not because your outer image will change, but because your own view of yourself will change as you become more and more successful. I can tell you, Zoey, without a doubt, that you’re going to make it. I see real talent in you. You’ve just got to trust yourself. In the meantime, let’s help you with the outer image, while we wait for your self-confidence to catch up.”

  “What do you mean?” Zoey asked, confused.

  “It’s time for a makeover, Zoey. Lucky for you, I’m awesome at makeovers. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll live up to your online poker name.” She grinned, flashing Zoey her heart-melting smile. “You’ll be a rock star.”

  Zoey laughed and shook her head, but let Tess grab her hand and lead her from the coffee shop.

  Chapter Four

  As Tess dragged her out of the coffee shop, Zoey could only smile and follow along. There was something about her exuberance and enthusiasm that was contagious. Finally, Zoey pulled to a halt. “Where are we going?”

  Tess turned and smiled. “Your place, of course. That’s where your clothes are I presume.”

  Zoey smiled back. “And how exactly do you expect to drag me there when you don’t know where I live? Unless you’ve been secretly stalking me or something, which means we’ve got bigger problems than the fact that you don’t know where you’re going . . .” She winked, letting Tess know she was kidding.

  Tess shook her head, her auburn locks brushing her shoulders. “You are one interesting girl, Zoey and stalking you would undoubtedly turn out to be all kinds of fun and awesome. However, I’ve managed to resist temptation thus far. You’ll have to lead the way.” She grinned and gestured for Zoey to take the lead.

  Zoey led them to the parking garage, where she turned to Tess. “Should I drive or do you want to follow in your car?”

  Tess shook her head. “My car and I aren’t getting along today – you drive, if you don’t mind dropping me back off here later.”

  Zoey laughed lightly at Tess’s mention of her car. The melodious sound sent shivers down Tess’s spine. “I wasn’t aware it was possible to have a fight with an inanimate object like a car.”

  “Yeah, well tell that to my car. I was running late this morning and it decided to get a flat tire. So yes, we’re not speaking right now.”

  Zoey shook her head as they approached her car. “You are ridiculous, Tess. Hilarious and adorable, but ridiculous all the same.” The smile faded from Zoey’s face the moment the words left her mouth. Had she just said that out loud? Had she just called Tess adorable? What was going on with her? It was like she was completely out of her mind when she was around the woman. It was seriously unnerving, but part of her was savoring every moment of it. Luckily, she’d been walking a few paces in front of Tess, so she didn’t have to hide her sudden change of expression. Composing herself, she turned around and smiled briefly at Tess. Gesturing to a rather flashy red convertible ahead, she spoke and hoped her voice didn’t betray her inner conflict. “That’s my car over there.”

  Tess nodded, but wasn’t really paying attention. One word was running on
repeat through her brain – “adorable.” Had Zoey really just called her adorable? She was pretty sure she had. Though Zoey had definitely messed quite a bit with her normally logical head, she was fairly certain that she wasn’t hallucinating. Granted, Zoey probably meant nothing by the comment, but she still couldn’t quell the rumblings of excitement in her stomach. As they came to a halt in front of an expensive red car, Tess finally registered that it was Zoey’s ride.

  Taking it in, she gasped. “This is your car?” She ran a hand across the slick finish of the hood. “It’s gorgeous! How on earth do you afford it?”

  Zoey smiled. “Let’s just say my dad’s done pretty well with his business.”