Dead Man's Hand by Steven Meehan

one of the players, especially one so beautiful.
    With a genuine smile I
answered, “You would be a very pleasant addition to my table.”
    As she began to sit down
in the chair across from me I widened my field of vision to take her in
completely.  Her beauty wasn’t limited to her eyes, in fact it was
accentuated by them.  She was dressed simply so I guessed she was one of
the professional gamblers.  Definitely not one of the elite crowded into
the room with us.  The sleeveless teal shirt she wore emphasized just how
pale her skin was.  She had strawberry blond hair that cascaded down over
her right shoulder and with her hair landing across her bare skin I was able to
pick up on the very slight coloring.  It had just the barest touch of
honey.
    With an effort I tore my
eyes from her exposed shoulder and was amazed when I realized she was wearing
almost no makeup.  And yet she still managed to look stunning.  Her
ruby red lips were widened with a warm smile and I was able to see her
glisteningly white teeth.  She was quite simply gorgeous and by the way
she carried herself, she seemed to know it.
    As she settled in her
chair I really wanted to say something smart, something clever.  Instead,
my idiot mouth blurted out, “Though I do hope we won’t start at the same table
when the tournament begins.”
    By the time I finished
speaking, her smile had been replaced by an ugly grimace full of an intense
contempt for my words.  While keeping that glare upon me she somehow
managed to keep her pleasant tone, “So you’re one of those types of players.”
    As she started to back
her chair from the table I rushed in to try and fix my stupidity, “I think you
misunderstood what I was saying…”
    But she didn’t seem to be
all that interested in letting me finish.  As she interrupted me she
managed to keep that pleasant tone in her voice, which was in complete
contradiction to the angry look in her eyes.  “No I understood perfectly,
you don’t like women intruding into your precious game.”
    Forcing my body to relax
I shook my head and clarified what I had meant, “No that’s not it at all. 
I love playing with women.  I just don’t like the thought of separating a
beautiful woman from her money.”  For whatever reason I was actually
attempting to keep her from leaving, and it certainly helped that I was being
very sincere, though perhaps a bit too specific.  Matt and I would run
scams on just about anyone, but I did have one guiding rule when selecting our
marks.  I never targeted women or children, in fact sometime I would
typically enlist random women or children and let them in on the take.
    Early on I had had to
enforce the rule with Matt, he believed that everyone was fair game.  Who
they were didn’t matter to him.  I certainly had to reign in his
enthusiasm from time to time.  Now-a-days he mostly lived by the same
rule, though I could tell when he thought about going after the occasional rich
woman.  When those thoughts started creeping in, I took steps to present
him with a better alternative, which usually worked.
    My words must have
registered with her because she froze halfway out of her chair.  And her
scowl had eased itself into more of a neutral line.  She must have been
flattered by what I had said, though still a little wary.  After another
moment of consideration her smile reappeared.  She then guessed at what I
had left unsaid.  “I’ll assume you don’t have the same sentiment when it
comes to men.”  She paused, pursed her lips a bit and asked, “Or ugly
women?”
    Nodding I told her the
rule that I, more or less lived my life by.  “My dear lady, men are easily
parted from their money.  But should anyone dare to try and part a woman
from hers; that poor fool will suffer for a lifetime.”
    This time she laughed as
she eased herself back into her chair, “Should I take your flattery as a way to
put me off balance.”
    “No, the flattery was
sincere.  You