Scout's Honor by Tara Janzen Page B

went right from her throat
down her middle as she remembered the feel of his teeth beneath her
tongue. Delayed reaction.
    She thought about turning around, going back
in the house, and trying to come out again without looking at him.
Instead she pretended she was facing him across a poker table, and
her instinct for survival took over, cooling down her emotions and
erasing the animation on her face. She met his eyes across the deck
and knew he understood what she was doing, shutting him down in the
only way that seemed to work.
    “The game is on Friday night,” she said.
“Dumonde will be there along with a few others, a couple of
businessmen on vacation whom he invited—I’m sure in hopes of
fleecing them—and an old friend of mine who’ll be in on the con.”
She took a seat in the shade of the brightly striped umbrella over
the table. “The tourists are on their own and Nick will take a cut
of the cash I win. The land is yours, minus my ten acres.”
    “Sounds good,” Mitch said, pushing himself
away from the rail. He flipped a chair around, swung a leg over the
seat, and sat down, facing her across a pair of tanned arms. A pair
of arms whose imprint she could still feel around her waist and up
her back. “What did Dumonde say when you told him about the
land?”
    She forced her gaze away from his body,
hoping she didn’t look as dumbfounded as she felt. He had brought
out a beer for her, too, along with a couple of frosted glasses
from the freezer. She was surprised that he had known to look for
them. She poured her beer and took a swallow before answering his
question.
    “I haven’t talked to Dumonde. Nick set up
the game and told Dumonde he had a player interested in the
property. He’ll be ready to put the deed on the table when the time
comes.”
    Mitch’s eyes glazed over in thought for a
moment, and his face became serious. “I have some cash left, Anna.
Do you need it to get the game going?”
    “No.” She shook her head. “With your
property backing me, I’ll have everything I need.” She wasn’t about
to tell him that she and Nick had set up a deal of their own.
They’d both go in with a few grand to bait the trap, confident of
winning in the end.
    “What makes you so sure we’re going to win?”
Mitch asked.
    She let out a deep sigh. “I’ve done my best
to get the odds in our favor, but . . . there are no guarantees.
You can’t con an honest man, Mitch, because he’s not out to get
something for nothing, but you can con a cheat like Dumonde,
provided he isn’t running the same scam you are. Believe me, we’ll
be up a creek without a paddle if he catches on to what we’re doing
and knows how to . . . uh, play along.” She stammered over her
explanation, not wanting Mitch to know exactly what they were up
to. Sure, he knew she was going to cheat, but something about his
face made her want to keep the details to herself.
    “Should I wear my tux Friday night?” he
asked.
    She shot him a quick glance as she reached
for her beer. “Wear whatever you want. You’re not coming with
me.”
    “Wrong, boss,” he corrected her. “I’m not
letting you go in there alone.”
    “Wrong, scout,” she retorted. “And I won’t
be alone. Nick will be with me.”
    “Who’s this Nick guy?” His voice was leery
with doubt.
    There was only one way to nip this in the
bud, she thought, watching a proprietary frown form on his face.
“Nick Torrey. He’s my other boyfriend . . . the young one.”
    The lie didn’t come easily, but she knew
Nick would back her up if she needed him. He had been trying for
years to get their relationship past the platonic stage.
    Mitch mulled over her statement, staring at
some distant spot on the horizon, then looked back at her. “Does
this mean we can’t have dinner together tonight?”
    Disappointment was written all over his
face, and Anna wondered if he had any capacity at all for hiding
his feelings. Half of the human race—the half she