Beautiful Rose by Missy Johnson Page B

raises you need to match their bet in order to stay in the game."
    "Yeah, and Jack's always raising," Ash smirked, winking at Rose. Laughter followed his comment, only I wasn't laughing. I was too busy giving Ash a death stare. "What?" he asked innocently, his blue eyes twinkling. "It's true. You like to raise don't you?"
    I threw three more chips in front of me, ignoring his comment. "We have a pretty good cards so it makes sense to raise. If you have a good hand you can hold off raising and let everyone think that they are holding shit. The beauty of this is that someone, probably Ash,” I said, glaring at him, “will try and bluff their way into buying the pot. Buying the pot means they will go in with a big bet to scare everyone into thinking they're holding something really good."
    "And then I can match that bet?" Rose asked, her brow creasing in concentration. She was so damned cute. I reached over to the cards she held in her hands partly because I’d forgotten and partly because I wanted another excuse to touch her. My hand overlapped hers, until she lifted them high enough for me to see.
    “Nice hand,” I whispered in her ear. She turned to me and grinned.
    “I’m going to assume you’re talking about the cards.”
    “Them too. Y ou can raise. If you're feeling really confident, you can put him all in." Ash snorted at my comment. I glared at him. "Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked. "I mean, what are you, twelve?" laughter erupted around the table.
    "What can I say? Words like 'raise' and 'all in' make me horny," he teased. He grinned at Rose, who shook her head and rolled her eyes, clearly not falling for his oh-so-smooth attitude. My heart was pounding so loud it was all I could hear.  I was glad she wasn't falling for Ash's charms. He was a good-looking guy, and he knew it. Ash was me three years ago. A different chick every night and everything was about fun. The thought of Rose falling for that—for him—made my stomach turn.
    She never would have fallen for me three years ago.
    "Save your sweet talk for tomorrow," I growled at Ash. He shrugged and glanced at Rose, then back at me. I saw something in his eyes. Realization. That I wasn't fucking around. He had really pissed me off, and now he thought he knew why.
    Fuck him.
    Whatever he thought he knew, it was wrong. So I didn't want Rose ending up in his clutches. That didn't mean I wanted her. She was just some girl I was attracted to. So what? It didn't mean anything. But even as I thought the words I knew there was more to it than just attraction. I'd been attracted to pretty girls before. Hell, I was attracted to Harmony, but what I felt with Rose was different. 
    The mood in the room completely changed. Suddenly it was serious, as everyone focused on the cards in front of them like they were the most interesting things on earth. I caught a look exchanged by Benj and Darcy and shot them a deathly look.
    "You play this hand, and I'll watch you," I murmured.
    She glanced at me, and nodded. God, there were so many things I wanted to watch this girl do, and playing cards was way down the bottom of that list. Unless the card game was strip poker. Now there’s an idea. A really bad one. We would all end up naked except Ash.
    After a few more hands, she seemed to have the hang of things. Enough for her to play on her own anyway. I moved my chair back. Our proximity was beginning to make me perspire. Fuck it was hot in here. I pushed my chair back. I needed another drink, and more importantly I needed a few seconds away from this girl. She was clouding my thoughts, and she was sending each and every one of my senses into overdrive. The scent of her perfume, the sound of her voice, the way I felt when her skin brushed past mine, and god, how I longed to taste those lips. I'd been in the same room with her for less than an hour and it was driving me fucking crazy.
    "Anyone want a drink?" I called out. Responses came in thick and fast, everyone