“Now, what card game did you ‘ave in mind?” he asked with a sly smile. “War? Poker? Speed?”

She only knew one other card game and it wasn’t easy to cheat at it. “I pick snap.”

Billy laughed, his smile wide and smug. “Excellent choice, Kitten.”

He quickly dished out the cards and slammed the first card in the middle of the table. The first round went on for several seconds until Billy’s hand smacked back down on two sevens. Cat bit the inside of her cheeks in frustration, she cursed at herself for not paying close enough attention.

She managed to win the second and third but Billy won the next three. He leaned back in his chair, grinning like a fox with being pleased with his successes. He hummed a little tune and then placed done a card for round seven.

His pile of cards were thicker than her small pile, she quickly counted and only have eight cards left. She had to win. She couldn’t lose to Billy, she’d never hear the end of it from him. Her card went down, and then another and another and then finally there was a snap.

Her hand crashed down on the pair but before she could pull away Billy’s hand came upon her’s. It wasn’t a hard impact, it was almost gentle. Cat lifted her gaze to meet his and was taken aback by how soft his eyes looked.

And then, he said: “I love you, Cat.”

Cat’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Was he serious? She looked at his hand still on top of her’s and back to his face. She could feel her face bloom red. Trying to find the right words to say she was suddenly pulled away from her thoughts as a burst of laughter filled the room.

Billy flashed a smile, full with glee then lifted her hand to his lips. “Did I get you, Cat?”

She stared hard at him for a moment. He was trying to distract her! He was getting her flustered to embarrass her and make her lose!

“Don’t be foolish, Billy,” she said through clenched teeth. “You don’t want to give your heart to me. And I don’t think you even know what love is.”