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She needed to keep reminding herself that Flynn was not her real betrothed and that this was a fake relationship, but telling herself this was beginning to get more difficult with every passing day.
Flynn nodded and immediately got up from the sofa to bring the stack of cards. She watched him move stealthily towards the table and open a drawer where the cards must have been kept. Her mind constantly reminded her how she still needed to maintain certain boundaries with Flynn, but as he sat down in front of her, leisurely shuffling the deck, all such thoughts flew out of her mind. He was an extremely handsome man, and she had no desire to deny herself his company.
“Shall we begin, Me Lady?”
“We shall,” she answered, mimicking his tone of grand formality.
He dealt the first hand, and Astrid noticed how perfectly he had mastered the poker face. As he looked at his cards, his expressions did not for one moment betray anything at all, and she wondered what he could have gotten. The two continued to play as she realized she had been dealt quite a good hand, and there was a high chance of her winning.
The knowledge that if she won Flynn would have to remove an item of clothing made her even more competitive. Whenever she had the pleasure of running her hands across his chest and arms, she had noticed that her betrothed was nothing but plain, hard muscle under skin. The mere thought of staring at the smooth planes of his chest made her wish to win.
“I am winning this one, Flynn,” she said, and he simply cocked an eyebrow, exposing all his cards in front of her.
“Are you?” he asked.
Astrid could understand his confidence, since he had really great cards, but she maintained her poker face despite knowing she had better cards. After waiting for a few seconds, she revealed her cards in front of him, and he was stunned at the unexpectedness of it.
“I think I have won,” she whispered with a smug smile while Flynn only laughed.
He stood up wordlessly and easily removed both of his shoes. Even such a simple, innocent action from him had her heart racing as she wondered what would follow if he lost again. He was dressed very simply in just his shoes, kilt, and a leine.
“Happy?”
Astrid nodded at his question, hoping for her heartbeat to calm down a little as he resumed his position in front of her.
“Now, we play again. I can assure ye that ye will lose this time.”
“We will see about that,” Astrid replied confidently, and he laughed.
He dealt the cards again, and the game continued, each of them making sure to hide their expressions as best as they could. Astrid had been playing poker with Keira and her father since she had been a young girl and had mastered the game quite early on, thus she knew she was not easily beatable. It was true that Flynn must be just as good at it, which was the sole reason he had suggested the game.
As they revealed their cards for the second time, Astrid broke down into peals of laughter, as she had won once again. Flynn looked stupidly at her as if something akin to this had never happened to him before.
“How are ye cheating?” he asked, and Astrid’s gaze widened at the accusation.
“I am nae cheating!” she all but shouted, and he only shook his head as if he did not believe her.
“Lie to someone else. I cannae lose like that two times in a row,” he replied, standing up once again.
Astrid forgot what she was about to say as she watched him slowly reach for the bottom hem of his leine. He slowly raised it over his chest, revealing each hard line on his lower abdomen one at a time. She knew she should have looked away the very instant he pulled the garment off his head, but his gaze immediately landed on her.
Astrid knew her eyes must be dilated at the sight. He was as handsome as she had imagined him to be.
A thin patch of hair ran down to the very edge of his stomach, right where his kilt hid everything underneath. He was built on muscle alone, and she was certain she had never seen a more handsome man in front of her. Flynn was unparalleled.
“Astrid?” he called out, and she finally tore away her gaze from his naked abdomen and looked into his eyes.
A familiar, knowing smug smile stretched his lips as if he knew exactly what Astrid was thinking.
“Yes?”
“Did ye enjoy the show?” he questioned, coming back to sit down on the sofa.
Astrid laughed nervously at the question. She knew she couldn’t have made it any more obvious that she was clearly enjoying every second of it, but she could not admit that in front of him.
“I wasnae even looking.”
“Damn right ye were nae. I had only imagined ye staring,” he replied sarcastically, and she knew lying to him was pointless. Instead, she decided to remain quiet and silently continue the game.
