In the living room, several of the candles had been lit. The soft light belied the tension in her body, the hope that something would happen between her and either of these hunky men in her loft. Lea had been right about that ... it had been far too long since either of them had been with a man, even though their lack of companionship had been entirely their own choice. Damn the graduate program to hell!
"I opened a bottle of wine," Lea announced to Sylvia. "I hope you don't mind."
Sylvia shook her head. "Not at all." She looked from one to the other but wasn't able to get a feel for just exactly what the guys were thinking. Lea, on the other hand, practically vibrated with excitement. "So, Brad, what did you have in mind?"
"You mentioned 'Truth or Dare' and I thought that maybe if you had a deck of cards we could really find out how into games the two of you are."
That challenge was in his voice again, the one tone that she always seemed to react to. "Yeah, I've a deck from the Ritz Carlton. Never been opened. What game?"
Brad sat on the floor, holding a glass of wine in one hand and patting the couch cushion with another. "A friendly game of poker ... five card draw. Know it?"
Sure she did if it was anything like the video poker she played in Black Hawk. She positioned herself on the floor across from him, a coffee table between them and set her wine glass down. Travis sat next to her while Lea flopped onto the waxed wooden floor next to Brad.
"What are the stakes?" Travis asked.
"I know, I know," Lea exclaimed. "Strip poker."
The candles revealed enough for Sylvia to read the excitement in the eyes of her friends. "Okay. Strip poker it is."
"Well, not exactly," said Brad. "I thought we'd combine it with your game of 'Truth or Dare' and that way we could find out a bit more about each other."
)
