no doubt explained why she thought she’d heard Kane describe her as his wife. Not that she was going to argue the point now. She’d seen the heated looks the Southern so-called gentlemen had been sending her way and she had a feeling their thoughts were as blue as the air. She had no intention of becoming the center of their unwanted attention. Kane was the lesser of two evils. For the moment, at least.
While she’d been momentarily distracted by her thoughts, Kane had finalized the arrangements for using her necklace as collateral for his latest bet. And, to her horror, he bet the entire amount on the cards he was holding.
“You’re going to need more than a garnet necklace to call my bet,” J.P. told Kane.
The room was suddenly still. Into the silence fell a sudden beep-beep.
“What was that?” J.P. demanded.
“My watch,” Kane replied.
“I never heard a watch make that sound before.”
“It’s a very unusual watch.”
“Let’s see it, then.”
Kane held out his wrist and showed them his watch, with its LCD digital display and numerous function buttons.
“That’s no watch,” J.P. scoffed. “Where’s the face?”
“Doesn’t need one. See, the time is displayed in numbers.”
“Toss in that strange watch of yours and you’ve got a deal,” J.P. declared.
“Done.”
Susannah wished she knew enough about poker to know if his hand was good or not. The expression on his face gave nothing away. The dismay on hers no doubt encouraged the other men around the table.
Susannah clung to her necklace, which Kane had been wise enough not to try to remove from around her neck. Closing her eyes, she sent up a prayer.
Moments later she heard the collective groans from the other men at the table. Was that good or bad?
Her eyes flew open to see Kane raking a large pile of coins and paper money in his direction. “Did we win?”
“We won,” he confirmed.
A wave of wild relief overtook her common sense. “Yes!” She let out a triumphant whoop worthy of a football fan while making an elated victorious gesture, fisting one hand and rocking back on one foot.
Seeing the openmouthed, wide-eyed stares of the men around the table, Kane knew he had to act fast. “My wife is prone to fits,” he quickly stated. “There’s only one cure.”
“Fits?” she exclaimed in protest. The next thing she knew, he’d taken her in his arms and was kissing her. Totally caught off guard, Susannah didn’t know what to do. She’d never expected such behavior from Kane. And who could have known he’d kiss like this—devilishly seductive, swooping down to capture her parted lips with utter confidence.
The heat, she told herself desperately. It was the heat. And he was generating plenty of it! Her lips quivered beneath his as he continued kissing her for another heart-stopping moment. She’d never been kissed this way in her entire life—as if she were Eve in the Garden of Eden. The passion was direct and all-consuming. Temptation. His kiss represented it. Promised it.
Desire shot through her system, rendering her speechless, even after he let her go. She blinked up at him, and saw in his eyes a flash of the same startled amazement she was feeling. That had been no ordinary kiss he’d just given her. It had been as sudden and intense as a bolt of lightning, coming out of nowhere and zapping her.
Okay, so traveling through time had rattled her. Shaken her to the soles of her feet, if the truth be known. That was understandable. Being rattled and shaken by his kiss wasn’t. And it wasn’t acceptable.
Unless it was just that the thrill of victory had momentarily left her senseless? Yes, that must have been it. She’d been that relieved that he’d won the poker game that she’d had a temporary bout of insanity. It was as good an explanation as any. It was less disturbing than the reality of being attracted to Kane Wilder.
She watched in silence as Kane gathered up his winnings. “Thank you, gentlemen,” he told his fellow poker players. “It’s been a very pleasurable experience.” He shot a fiery look at Susannah as he said that.
“Wait, sir,” J.P. protested. “You must give us the chance to recoup our losses.”
“Another time, perhaps,” Kane replied. “I must see to my wife’s health. Could one of you recommend a respectable boardinghouse nearby?”
“There’s one two blocks away,” J.P. said. “Turn right once you get outside. You can’t miss it.”
“Thank you.” With a nod, he returned Susannah’s jewelry to her before taking her arm and gallantly escorting her out of the tavern.
Once outside, she gratefully inhaled the fresh air. Turning to face him, she said, “Fits? I’m prone to fits?”
“I had to tell them something.”
“You didn’t have to kiss me!”
“Yes, I did. They were getting suspicious. I had to distract them.”
“Yes, well...” She floundered, the truth being he’d distracted her and how! “You’re just lucky things worked out as well as they did.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it,” he replied, stashing the remainder of the nineteenth-century money in his inside coat pocket before taking her arm and setting off at a brisk pace.
“Are you saying you cheated?” Susannah demanded, struggling to keep up.
“Of course not.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“That I’m an experienced poker player.”
“Sure, you are. And that was why you were losing?”
“Exactly. I was baiting the hook and they snapped.” Seeing her look of disbelief, he added, “Look, I’ve had a lot of experience testing software and one of the programs I designed a number of years back turned out to be the bestselling poker program on the market today. So trust me when I say that I knew what I was doing back there, okay?”
“No, it’s not okay!” Susannah couldn’t help herself. She socked him on the arm.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“For scaring me to death and not warning me what you were up to ahead of time!”
“And have you spill the beans by the look on your face? No way. Instead everything worked out just as I’d planned. You looked panic-stricken and that certainly helped our cause.”
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