LITMIR.BIZ

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joined the others at the table. They were playing in the dining room of the small bungalow, and Wayne had set out bowls of nuts, pretzels and chips.

      Alex noticed a high chair in the corner but no sign of a child or a wife. What he’d seen of the house was homey and had a woman’s touch, so he figured there must be a female in the equation.

      “Let’s get started,” Rick said. He began to shuffle the cards as the others dug out their money.

      “What do you guys play?” Alex asked.

      “Texas hold ’em,” Wayne said.

      “My favorite,” Alex said.

      “You play much poker, Alex?” The question came from Jim.

      “Whenever I get the chance.”

      Rick explained the rules. “No one’s allowed to lose more than twenty dollars. Once your twenty bucks is gone, you gotta just watch.”

      The first hand was a dud for Alex. Dealt the three of hearts and nine of spades, he immediately folded.

      P.J., on the other hand, had a pair of jacks in the hole and when the river card was a third jack, the pot was hers.

      “That was nice,” she said as she scooped up her winnings.

      “For you, maybe,” grumbled Jim.

      Alex smothered a smile. Most men hated losing to a woman. A lot of women might have made a disparaging remark, saying something like, “Oh, I was just lucky,” but not her. She grinned happily, quite obviously pleased with herself.

      Of course, considering her background, it didn’t surprise him that she had so much self-confidence or that she wasn’t falsely modest. It was funny how now that he knew who she really was, he could see evidence of it in everything she said and did.

      Rick dealt the next hand. Alex’s hole cards were the two red kings. Wayne folded immediately, throwing his cards down in disgust. P.J. bet the minimum and Jim called. Then it was Alex’s turn. He had decided not to raise, because he didn’t want to give his hand away. He’d wait and see what happened with the flop. “Call,” he said.

      The flop consisted of the Queen of Spades, the deuce of clubs and the eight of diamonds. P.J. again bid the minimum and Jim raised. Alex called again, and P.J. threw her money in, staying with the hand.

      When the turn card was another eight, Jim couldn’t disguise his excitement. Alex figured he probably had two eights in the hole. He almost folded, but then threw in his money. He’d stayed this long, he might as well see what the river brought. What it brought was the Queen of Hearts. Disgusted, Alex finally folded. He was certain Jim had a full house.

      But to his amazement—and Jim’s shock—after two more rounds of bidding and raising, P.J. revealed her hole cards to be the two missing queens.

      That hand set the tone for the night. Alex was a good player—a very good player, in fact—yet he was outplayed by P.J., who was not only skillful but lucky, and who ended up the night’s big winner.

      “See why we’re considering making this a men-only night?” Rick said, half-jokingly. “She cleans us out every time.”

      P.J. grinned. “Better not try it. I have ways of retaliating, you know.”

      As they got ready to leave, there was the sound of a car in the driveway, and a few minutes later the back door opened. A pretty dark-haired woman holding a sleeping child walked into the dining room.

      “Hey, Lauren,” chorused the men.

      Lauren smiled and said hello. Her gaze moved to Alex.

      “Honey,” Wayne said, “this is Alex Noble. He works with us. Alex, my wife, Lauren, and that’s our rug rat, Billy, sleeping on her shoulder.” Wayne’s smile was proud. “He was a year old last week.”

      “Hi, Lauren,” Alex said. “Nice to meet you.”

      By now, P.J. had gotten up and walked over to where Lauren and the baby stood. “Wow, he’s grown,” she said softly, touching his silky dark hair. Her smile was tender as she peeked at him. “He gets cuter every day.”

      Lauren smiled and Wayne beamed. “And smarter,” Wayne said.

      “And more demanding,” Lauren said. “He actually thinks he runs this household.”

      P.J. chuckled. “And I’d be willing to bet he does.”

      Wayne made a face.

      “Well,” Rick said. “We’d better be going. Let you people get to bed.”

      As Alex drove home, he kept thinking about P.J. How she’d looked that night—her face flushed with excitement, her hair tumbling out of its clips, her eyes sparkling. He thought about how they came from similar backgrounds and spoke the same language. He thought about how smart she was and how good with people and what a wicked game of poker she played. But mostly, he thought about how she’d looked and acted toward little Billy. It was obvious she loved kids.

      That was a huge factor to Alex, because even if Harry hadn’t made having a child part of the challenge he’d issued, Alex definitely wanted children. In fact, he wanted lots of them.

      And from what he’d seen tonight, it looked as if P.J. felt exactly the same way.

       Chapter Seven

      Alex walked up the flagstone driveway toward the laughter and noise of his sister’s birthday party. He’d much rather have gone to Jake’s tonight with the rest of the guys from work, but he’d promised Julie he’d be here.

      When he reached the wrought-iron gate, he stood for a moment before opening it and entering. Even then, he didn’t head toward the merrymaking, but took a few minutes to observe the crush of guests gathered on the back veranda and around the pool. There were about forty people there, he estimated, most of them his sister’s friends. Looking around, he spied Julie, who looked spectacular in a form-fitting black strapless dress, laughing and talking to a group of young people about her age. Suddenly, as if she felt his gaze, she turned.

      “Alex!” she cried. “You made it!”

      Beaming, she rushed to his side. Putting his arm around her, he kissed her cheek. “Hello, birthday girl.”

      Her blue eyes shone with excitement. Julie loved nothing better than a party. And a party in her honor was the best of all possible worlds.

      Alex handed her the small, silver-wrapped box he carried. “Happy Birthday.”

      “Thank you! Oh, I love presents.” Taking his hand, she led him toward her friends. “C’mon. I want to introduce you.”

      Alex knew it was useless to protest, so he let himself be led. Six pairs of eyes turned his way.

      “This is my gorgeous brother, Alex,” Julie said. “Alex, these are…” One by one, she named them. “Crystal, Russ, Scott, Madison, Penn and Phoebe.”

      The girl named Phoebe, a truly spectacular blonde, gave him a seductive look from under long eyelashes.

      “Gorgeous is right,” she murmured.

      Alex would never get used to the boldness of Julie’s crowd. The girls didn’t seem to care what they said or how they said it. If they wanted something, they went after it, no holds barred.

      Not waiting for Alex to answer, Phoebe slipped her arm through his and said, “He’s mine.”

      The others laughed.

      Gently but firmly, Alex removed her arm. “It’s nice to have met all of you, but I have to go say hello to my mother.” Directing his smile at all of them, he said, “Excuse me.”

      Shaking his head mentally, he headed toward

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