’m smiling because I just realized you have gorgeous legs,” Mitchell replied wryly, I never saw them before.”
was wearing both of them earlier,” she said flippantly. fact, I distinctly remember that they were attached to me when we were in bed.”
was too close to get a full-length look when we were in bed.”
She walked up to him and turned her back. you pull my zipper up the last inch?” she asked, lifting her hair out of the way for him. can’t reach it.”
Mitchell had performed that same service for other women countless times in the past, but as he looked down at Kate’s exposed nape, there was an intimacy and pleasure associated with the simple act that surprised him. As he located the tab of the zipper and slid it up, she joked with him about his reaction to her legs. me guess,” she said, ’re a leg man, aren’t you?”
Normally, Mitchell would have answered ” without hesitation or thought, but for some obscure reason, the question seemed all wrong, especially coming from her. Curving his hands over her shoulders, he bent his head and kissed her cheek. ’s not have that conversation,” he whispered.
Kate turned slowly around and looked at him. He hadn’t answered the question for the same reason she’d instantly regretted asking it—she didn’t want to know what female body parts he was partial to. In fact, right now, she wanted to think he was partial to her as a whole being. answer,” she said, smiling into his eyes.
thought so, too.”
THE CASINO HEtook her to was in the Dutch section, and it was a large private club where the members spoke an amazing variety of foreign languages and the table limits were very high. On the way there, Mitchell had described the casino as having a “European flavor,” which Kate now realized translated into an atmosphere that was elegant, sophisticated, and subdued. It was an atmosphere that suited him perfectly, Kate thought. Wearing an impeccably tailored gray suit, dark gray shirt, and pale gray tie, he personified elegant sophistication and calm self-assurance.
The only resemblance between the casinos she’d been to in the States and this one was that gambling was legal in both. In fact, the only times she’d ever seen casinos like this were in movies that were filmed in locales like Monaco.
Trying not to look as if she’d never been inside a place like this, or been around people like this, Kate glanced past baccarat and roulette tables populated by wealthy men with large stacks of chips in front of them and well-kept women with glittering jewels at their wrists and throats.
you looking for something in particular?” Mitchell asked.
,” Kate replied, flashing him a laughing look, Bond.”
’ll have to settle for me tonight.”
can do that,” she replied unhesitatingly, and he grinned.
original question referred to what game you prefer,” Mitchell explained, suppressing the sophomoric impulse to put his arm around her as they walked.
prefer whatever game I can win money playing.”
that case, we need to leave now,” he joked.
’m actually very lucky at cards,” Kate said truthfully. machines like me, too. And craps tables are often very friendly to me.”
is your luck at blackjack?”
varies.”
They found two seats together at a blackjack table, and although Kate inwardly shuddered at the $100 minimum, she opened her purse and resolutely withdrew five $100 traveler’s checks before she sat down. need to cash these first.”
intended to back you or I wouldn’t have brought you here.”
can’t gamble with your money. One of the things my father taught me was that a ladyalways gambles with her own money, or she doesn’t gamble at all.”
father had some very novel notions,” Mitchell replied drily as she turned and walked away, heading toward the cashier’s window nearby. With an unconscious smile, he watched her walk, admiring her natural grace and the way her flame-colored hair changed from waves into thick curls below her shoulders.
femme,”the man on Mitchell’s right remarked, his gaze also following Kate.
, she is,” Mitchell replied. He signaled to the dealer and signed the usual table form to draw money against his line of credit. that the young lady doesn’t run out of chips when she gets low,” Mitchell instructed the dealer as he began sliding Mitchell’s chips toward him.
, Mr. Wyatt.”
An hour later, she was $2,400 ahead, and Mitchell had stopped playing so that he could lean over and watch Kate play her hand. It had been obvious from the first that she knew when to ask for another card, when to stay with the hand she had, and when to double-down. When she followed the usual procedure, she won an inordinate amount of times, but what fascinated him was that, on a whim, she would do the opposite of what she should—and she still won. Unfortunately those intuitive whims of hers made it difficult for the other players to anticipate her actions, and they were screwing up their own hands as a result. He was wondering if she realized that, when she slid her chips toward the dealer and said, ’d like to cash these in, please”; then she looked at the four men seated at the table with her and said graciously, apologize for disrupting your hands. It’s difficult for me to ignore my hunches when I have them.”
The Frenchman who’d spoken to Mitchell earlier grinned broadly at her, lifted her hand, and kissed it in sheer gratitude. est une trbelle femme!”he said to Mitchell. Caught between amusement and shock, Kate gathered up her winnings while the man spoke animatedly in French to Mitchell, who replied to him in the same language.
was that all about?” Kate asked as they walked away.
noticed that you’re not only very beautiful, but you are also very lucky at blackjack.”
said more than that. He asked you a question, too, because you shook your head and answered him in a rather chilly voice.”
Mitchell grinned at her. I sound ‘chilly’? That was rude of me, and I’m rarely rude.”
did he ask you?” Kate persevered.
asked if I would be willing to let you stand beside his chair so that he would have not only the benefit of your beauty but also, perhaps, your good fortune at cards.”
Kate gave an indelicate snort and shook her head. ’s an old letch, and that was a total crock.” Mitchell’s shoulders shook with laughter at her phrasing, and he suppressed another sophomoric urge—the urge to snatch her up into his arms and indulge in a public display of affection.
did you say to him?”
’s difficult to translate it accurately.”