The Winning Hand by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

be there at ten—after I work out in the health club, because he believes I’ve been neglecting my inner body, too. Charles is very strict. May I have some more?”
    “Sure.” A little war between amusement and baffled desire waged inside him as he poured more champagne.
    “This is a wonderful place. It has everything. Wonderful surprises around every corner. It’s like living in a castle.” Her eyes closed with pleasure as she drank. “I always wanted to. I’d be the princess under a spell. And the prince would scale the walls, tame the dragon—I always hated when they killed the dragon. They’re so magical and magnificent. Anyway, once the prince came, the spell would be broken, and everything in the castle would come to life. The colors and the sounds. There’d be musicand dancing. And everyone would be so happy. Ever after.”
    She stopped, laughed at herself. “The champagne’s going to my head. This isn’t at all what I wanted to talk to you about. Your uncle—”
    “We’ll talk about it over dinner.” He slipped the flute from her hand and set it aside. He spotted the glittery little evening bag on a table and handed it to her.
    She slanted him a look as he led her to the elevator. “Can I have more champagne at dinner?”
    Now he had to laugh. “Darling, you can have whatever you want.”
    “Imagine that.” With a blissful sigh, she leaned against the smoked glass wall.
    He pushed the button for the circular restaurant on the top floor. She’d bought perfume, he thought, something woodsy and perfect for her. He decided the best place for his hands was in his pockets. “Did you try out the casino?”
    “No. There was so much else to do. I looked around a little, but I didn’t know where to begin.”
    “I think you began pretty well already.”
    She beamed up at him as the doors opened. “I did, didn’t I?”
    He led her through a small palm-decked foyer and into a candlelit dining room ringed by windows where silver gleamed against white linen.
    “Good evening, Mr. Blade. Madam.” The maître d’ made a slight bow and, with his shoe-black hair and round body, reminded Darcy of Tweedledee of Alice fame.
    Another rabbit hole, she thought as they were led to a curved banquette by the window. She never wanted to find her way out.
    “The lady enjoys champagne, Steven.”
    “Of course. Right away.”
    “It must be so exciting living here. It’s like a world to itself. You like it, don’t you?”
    “Very much. I was born with a pair of dice in one hand and a deck of cards in the other. My mother and father met over a blackjack table. She was working as a dealer on a cruise ship, and he wanted herthe minute he saw her.”
    “A shipboard romance.” It made her sigh. “She was beautiful.”
    “Yes, she is beautiful.”
    “And he would have been dark and handsome, and maybe a little dangerous.”
    “More than a little. My mother likes to gamble.”
    “And they both won.” Her lips tipped up, deepening the dip in the center. “You have a big family.”
    “Unwieldy.”
    “Only children are always jealous of big, unwieldy families. You’re never lonely, I bet.”
    “No.” She had been, he thought. There was no doubt of it. “Loneliness isn’t an option.” He nodded approval to the label as the sommelier offered the bottle of champagne.
    Thrilled by the ritual, Darcy studied every step, the elegant spin of the white cloth, the subtle movement of the sommelier’s hands, the muffled pop of cork. At Mac’s signal, a small amount was poured into Darcy’s glass for tasting.
    “It’s wonderful. Like drinking gold.”
    That earned her a pleased smile from the sommelier, who finished pouring with a flourish before nestling the bottle in a silver bucket of ice.
    “Now.” Mac tapped his glass lightly against hers. “You talked with my uncle.”
    “Yes. I didn’t realize, not until I’d made the call. Then I did—Caine MacGregor, Boston. I know I started to stutter.” She