His Last Gamble by Maxine Barry Page B

little-girl-act the moment the words were out of her mouth. It was no use. She was just no good at this sort of thing. Still, at least he was by her side, and hadn’t simply gone off with Jinx. Which must mean that she hadn’t totally put him off with her stupid behaviour this morning.
    Unless, of course, he was just waiting for a chance to get his revenge.
    She looked up at him nervously, but his face was calm and alert. She looked around, seeing the place through his eyes. Yes, she could see why there was such pride of ownership in his countenance. This was his kingdom. A man who could gamble everything he owned, and win, would be king here forever.
    He lead her to the roulette table. Over to her right, she heard Dee-Dee mock moan as she lost at cards.
    â€˜What’s she playing?’ she asked curiously, and Payne turned his head for the briefest of moments, eyes flickering over the table. The dealer met his eye, seeming to silently ask if he wanted anything, and just as silently received the answer. No. Everything ran like clockwork, and all revolving around this man—this master of chance.
    â€˜Pontoon. Or twenty one.’ He smiled wolfishly. ‘The French pronunciation is the prettiest, of course, but basically the dealer deals two cards. The object of the game is to get as close to twenty one points as you can without going over. A face card and an ace is an immediate black jack, the ace counting for eleven, and the bank pays. You’re friend just twisted on twelve, and got another face card, putting her over with twenty two points. Unlucky.’
    Charmaine nodded. ‘Doesn’t the bank always win?’ she asked cynically.
    Payne grinned wolfishly. ‘The odds always favour the house, of course,’ he said simply, ‘otherwise there’d be no casinos. We’d all go bankrupt. But the lure is in beating the odds. Occasionally there are big winners, which only encourages the others.’
    â€˜Has anyone ever broken the bank here?’ she asked curiously, and Payne gave a cold, hard smile.
    â€˜No,’ he said simply.
    No. Of course not, Charmaine thought sourly. As if anyone would dare!
    â€˜Here were are,’ he said, moving up to a table containing a roulette wheel. A woman who was not playing but only watching, quickly made way for him. The man behind the wheel, resplendent in ‘The Palace’ uniform of gold waistcoat, red bow tie, crisp white shirt and black trousers, looked up anxiously at his employer, but Payne merely smiled.
    His hand came to rest on the small of her back, making a long sensuous shudder travel the length of her spine.
    She hoped he didn’t notice.
    At the same time, her breath became trapped in her throat as the heat of his casually resting fingertips burned through the fabric of her dress, and her nipples hardened and tightened like little tell-tales in the clinging, revealing dress.
    Don’t let him notice that either, she thought frantically. Oh please!
    She coughed, managing to dislodge her breath, and plastered a bright, false smile onto her face. ‘So, what do I do?’ she asked brightly. And looked up to find him staring down at her, his eyes dreamily caressing the curve of her breast.
    â€˜Hmmm? Oh, with the chips you mean,’ he teased, watching yet again as she blushed in mortification.
    Really, he must stop doing this to her. But it was so hard to resist. He did so love the way her icy, sometimes frightening beauty, melted so charmingly into consternation.
    â€˜Yes,’ Charmaine gritted. ‘You were going to teach me to play Roulette, remember?’
    This man was a monster! He knew exactly what a hold he had over women, and used it with all the skill of a surgeon wielding a knife. No wonder poor Lucy had been unable to resist him.
    He was like a drug. Even now, as mad as she was with him, as humiliated and flustered, she was aware of the sharp pine tang of his aftershave. The smooth line of