Unlucky by Jana DeLeon Read Free Book Online

that she smoked. Right now, something to take the edge off would be wonderful, and a beer at nine o'clock in the morning was pushing it unless you were fishing. This situation was much more complicated than she had planned when she'd agreed to cool, and the players hadn't even entered the room yet.
    She looked across the room and saw Jake McMillan talking to her uncle--probably trying to figure out a way to get rid of her. Mallory had seen the look he'd given her when Reginald had announced her card-cooling ability. Skeptical was a polite way of putting it. Mallory got the impression Jake would prefer a dim-witted, big-boobed blonde working his table. A mute Pamela Anderson.
    Which was a shame, really, because Jake McMillan wasn't a bad-looking man, and in different circumstances, Mallory might have considered taking a shot at him.
    He was taller than the other men she'd dated since college--well, all two of them--lean legs, broad shoulders and a muscular build that could be seen even beneath his white button-up shirt and black slacks. His face was rugged, a man's man sort of face, with brown hair cut in one of those short "ready for action" sort of cuts that suited him well. She'd felt a small jolt when he'd first turned his amber eyes on her, studying her with the precision of a cat stalking prey, and she couldn't help wondering how a dealer from Atlantic City had found his way to Royal Flush and her uncle's tournament.
    She was just starting to wonder when the players would arrive, when the double doors to the casino opened and Louisiana's Most Wanted began to enter the room. Studying them carefully, she tried to place who they were, what they did for public record, and what they were suspected of doing otherwise. After the first ten or so had received their seating placement from the hostess and headed toward their tables, Mallory decided Reginald had been wise to put in the metal detector.
    Five of the first ten had been suspects in murder investigations and the fact that one of them was a current Louisiana politician didn't deter her from believing the man would do anything to get what he wanted, public eye or no. She cringed for a moment as the men made their way across the casino and hoped like hell she got a murderer instead of the politician.
    Even in Louisiana, a girl still had standards.
    A smile played on her lips as the politician headed to Amy's table. How appropriate. He might as well get used to her now since she planned on running the country in a few years.
    The politician stood at the edge of the table and stared at Amy as if uncertain how to proceed. Amy gave him a dazzling smile and extended her hand. The politician narrowed his eyes at her and said something that Mallory couldn't hear from across the room. Amy looked bewildered for a moment, and then her expression turned to irritated. She yanked her purse out from under the table and presented the politician with her driver's license.
    It was all Mallory could do not to laugh.
    Served Amy right for putting herself in a situation like this. Certainly Mallory didn't doubt her card-playing ability. Amy had blown her mind with some of the tricks she did with numbers, and it wasn't exactly like Mallory was a slouch. Most engineers were fairly adept at math but she wasn't anywhere near Amy's league.
    She took one final look at her friend and shook her head. If she hadn't been trying so hard to be sneaky, Mallory could have given her a bit of advice concerning high-stakes poker playing. Starting with, a black skirt with white daisies and a ruffled white lace blouse were not exactly dealer dress standard. And you never, ever shook hands with the players. Stern nods were the most common fare.
    A man sat down at the far end of her table and Mallory gave him a nod and a smile, trying to get a feel for him from his looks alone. He reminded her of someone she'd seen before and it took her a minute to realize that she'd seen him on television and not in person. An