Erik joined her, eyeing the barely put-together puzzle. “You want to adios Moby Dick?”
“If we do, we can play cards.”
“Strip poker?” Erik asked, his eyes glinting naughtily.
This was her chance to flirt back, to let him know she wasn’t opposed to dropping her clothes and making the best of a bad situation.
But did she want to go there with him? Sure, she’d wanted him only forever and a day, but if they got nasty, there was no undoing it. They’d have that between them forever. And that might get rough since both Emma and Alexis had moved within thirty miles of each other. More than likely she’d not go another seven years without seeing Erik.
“Well, if I had known we were going to play that, I wouldn’t have drunk so much wine. I need my wits about me or I’ll end up as naked as the day I was born.”
“More wine?” he asked.
“You’re a naughty man, aren’t you?” she teased.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Erik opened the warped puzzle box and slid the pieces inside, clearing the table. Then he removed the cards from the box and started shuffling them expertly. “And I will give you this one warning. While you’re talking about Milton and Chaucer, I’m playing Mexican Sweat with the fellows at the firehouse. So if we go the strip route, you will be naked.”
His blue eyes sparkled and he looked even more insanely attractive than normal. He’d skipped shaving that morning and now his face looked gruff and sexy. “You know I can’t resist a challenge.”
“My gain then because I’m betting you look spectacular naked.”
Emma smiled. “Maybe you’ll get to find out.” She opened the tequila, not because she needed liquid courage at the moment. Okay, maybe she did a little. She wasn’t like his sister who bought men drinks when they were at bars and dressed in tight dresses that showed off her curves. Emma had always been the more cautious of the two friends, but one thing she knew, she could hang with any man in the bedroom. “Now, what are we playing?”
Erik rattled off some game she’d never played, going over the rules. Then they played a practice hand that he easily won.
“Give me another practice round...and another shot. Then we play for real.” Emma said, feeling the warmth of the Jose Cuervo all the way down to her toes. Her tongue felt a bit thicker, her thighs tingly.
“You sure you want to do this?” he asked.
Something told her this wasn’t just about the game. He knew what tequila, strip poker and a box of condoms could get them. He was giving her a way out, as only a guy like Erik could do.
Emma shrugged. “It’s nearly a blizzard out there and we have to stay warm someway.”
“That’s usually not by taking your clothes off.”
“Who said I’m taking my clothes off anyway,” Emma said, giving him her best card-shark grin. “Deal me in, fireman.”
* * *
AN HOUR LATER, Erik was down to his Calvin Kleins.
Emma, however, had only lost her pants. Even the fluffy wool socks stayed on her feet. And damn if she didn’t look sexy in that sweater and fluffy socks.
“How did this happen?” he asked, truly baffled. He was good at poker. Really good. “You must be the luckiest woman I’ve ever met.”
“Or really good at five-card draw,” she said as she shuffled the cards and eyed his naked chest. “And from where I’m sitting, the view is very nice.”
“Oh, now the cardsharp gets flirty,” he said, lifting the tequila and taking a swig.
“Hey, I sang a burlesque tune when you took off your pants,” she said.
And she had. Her green eyes had sparkled like emeralds in the light of the fire as she ba-ba-ba-da-dummed him as he unbuttoned his Levi’s and shimmied out of them.
“I want you to know my feet are freezing,” he said.
“Just one more hand,” she teased, wiggling her eyebrows.
He nodded, hoping like hell he could keep his boxers on. Already he’d had an embarrassing thickening of his cock when she tugged off her leggings and again when she’d licked her lips. He felt like one of the boys who’d no doubt flipped through those girlie magazines. Horny as hell for Miss Emma Rose.
He dealt the hand. Emma rearranged the cards in her hand several times, frowning and making a moue with her pretty lips. “Hmm, I’m going to give these two and get two more.”
He slid two cards from the deck and handed them to Emma then discarded three from his hand and took three new cards for himself.