Meant to Be (Sweetbriar Cove #1)(14)

"Deal me in."





7





An hour later, Cooper's smirk was wider than ever. He lounged back in his seat like he owned the poker table-which he did, if the stack of M&Ms in front of him was anything to go by. Poppy should be infuriated, but this time, she didn't mind his cocky smile.

Her plan was working.

"I'll see your five, and raise you . . . ten." Cooper carefully counted out from his hoard and pushed them to the center of the table.

Riley recklessly tossed in a handful of candy. "What the hell, I'll see that bet. Grayson?"

The bookstore owner shook his head. "This is getting too rich for me." He folded, tossing his cards down. Cooper turned to Poppy.

"Remember, face cards beat numbers," he said, patronizing.

"Thanks." She smiled sweetly, even though she was boiling at his tone. "I can't believe I forgot that last time!"

"Hey, we all make mistakes starting out," Riley said, encouraging. Poppy flashed him a quick smile, then checked her cards again. She was finally sitting on an unbeatable hand, which meant the past hour of acting totally clueless was about to pay off.

Big-time.

Maybe it wasn't fair, acting like she'd never played before, but it was their fault for assuming she didn't know a royal flush from a pair. Aunt June had taught her everything she knew at family holidays-and June was a card shark in goldfish's clothing. 

Poppy hid a smile, and eyed the massive stack of candy in the middle of the table. Her aunt had always told her to pick the right moment to play to win, and it looked like that moment was now.

"Any time soon would be great," Cooper reminded her, impatience flashing in his blue eyes.

"Hmmm." She pretended to think about it. "I guess . . . I'll see your bet." She pushed some M&Ms over. "And raise you . . . twenty." Poppy counted her candy and added it to the pile.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Riley frowned, leaning in. "If you bust now, you're out of the game."

"Go big or go home," Poppy said brightly. "What do you think, Cooper-want to fold?"

He gave her an arrogant smile. "Nope, I'm good. I'll see you on that. And raise it, too."

The pile of candy grew. Riley let out a whistle, and threw down his cards. "I'm out."

"Guess it's just me and you, pipsqueak." Cooper grinned across the table.

"I guess so." Poppy made sure to bite her lip and give an anxious look at her cards.

Cooper's smile couldn't get any wider. He must think he had this game locked down, and Poppy couldn't blame him. She'd spent all night betting carefully-and losing every hand. But she hadn't been paying attention to her cards, she'd been watching the other players instead, learning all their secret tells. And they had plenty. Riley scratched his beard on a bad hand, Grayson gulped his beer to hide a smile when he was on a winning streak, and Cooper?

Cooper got impatient when he was bluffing. His knee bounced, just beneath the table, and he always pushed the other players to make their move before they had a chance to figure it out.

Like now.

He made a show of sighing. "You can still fold," he offered, like he was doing her a favor. "Keep those last chips for one more game."

"Thanks for the advice." She smiled again. "But I'm all in." She pushed the last of her candy forward. "I call."

Cooper raised an eyebrow. "If you say so." He lay down his cards. "Four of a kind."

"Decent." Poppy celebrated inside. She'd been right about his tell. He'd been bluffing all along. "That would be a winning hand . . . if I didn't have a royal flush. King, Queen, Jack, Ace. Boom!"

She laid her cards out. Jackpot.

Riley let out a whoop, and even Grayson chuckled. "You dark horse, you," he said approvingly.

"Face cards beat numbers, right?" she echoed Cooper's helpful advice.

"How did you . . . ?" he spluttered, looking totally shocked.

"Must be beginner's luck," she said, putting her arms out to sweep the massive stash of candy closer. "Or maybe it's the fact you're a terrible bluffer. Just some advice," she added, "but try not to tap your cards like that. It's a sure sign you've got nothing over sixes."

Riley hooted with laughter. Cooper scowled. "So you've been playing us all this time?" he demanded.

"You say 'playing,' I say 'letting you underestimate me.' " Poppy beamed. She tossed an M&M in her mouth and crunched. Delicious.

"This is your fault," Cooper grumbled to Riley. "You invited her."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know she had a secret life as a Vegas hustler." Riley looked impressed. He put his hand up to Poppy, and she high-fived him. "What are you doing next week?" he asked. "There are some guys out in Provincetown we could take to the bank."