Smiling, he stepped inside. "They're not in here. Come in and see, sw—"
Damn. He'd almost called her sweetheart again.
Luckily, she was so concerned about trespassing, she didn't notice. After peeking her head in, she breathed a sigh of relief. "We're not supposed to be in here, James. The door is marked private."
"It's Thomas Wheeler's office," he said with a shrug. "The Demonstrator who went home earlier. He's a friend; he wouldn't mind." He tugged on her hand. "Come in, Juliana."
Reluctantly, she came inside. "It is private."
It was a tiny cubby, with a compact desk against the inside wall and a small round wooden table with two chairs in the center. "The table is for demonstrations," he explained. "Private demonstrations." The exterior wall was glass, of course, it being part of the greenhouse. But trees grew so closely all around that no one could possibly see in, and plenty of light filtered in through the leaves and the glass ceiling overhead.
He shut the door, shutting them off from the world.
She whirled to face him, dropping his hand. "What are you doing, James?"
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the deck of cards. "Since we can't seem to find our companions, I remembered I wanted you to teach me to play casino," he said casually. "It's cold out there and warm in here, so I thought it might be nice to sit a while and play cards."
She eyed him warily, her gaze still blue-green. "Maybe for a minute."
"Excellent." He sat and waved her toward the second chair. After she sat, he slid his chair around the table and up against hers.
Taking the cards, she frowned. "You're supposed to sit across from me."
"I will after I learn. Right now I need to see your cards."
"Very well." When she shuffled the cards, he could feel the vibrations. They were that close. She dealt out four cards to each of them and four more faceup on the table, then put the rest aside. "Pick up your hand," she instructed, "and see if any of your cards match the ones on the table." Then she proceeded to explain all the rules, none of which he bothered listening to, since he already knew how to play casino.
As she talked and moved the cards around, he noticed her wheaten hair shining in the waning sunlight and thought about how much he wanted to see it slip from its pins. He leaned even closer to smell it, inhaling sunshine and flowers. He rubbed his shoulder against her arm and watched her eyes turn a little bluer. He pressed his thigh up against her thin skirts.
"Are you listening, James? Did you get all of that?"
"Of course." It was a very simple game, really. At least for him. He and his brother had kept a running score for years, and he'd always stayed miles ahead. "I think I'm ready to play now."
"All right." She gathered the cards and began reshuffling them. "You can move to the other side of the table."
"I'd rather stay here for the first couple of hands. In case I need your help. By the way, what shall we wager?"
"Wager? We don't need to wager."
"I never play games without a wager. A wager makes it much more interesting and fun."
"Is that so?" She stopped shuffling and slanted him a sideways glance. "I heard about how Griffin lost thirty guineas to you last month playing chess. I have no money."
"We'll wager something else, then," he said blithely.
"Like what?" She turned to him, looking wary again. But her eyes weren't turning green. They were staying rather blue. Amused, he ran a finger down her arm and watched them get even bluer.
"How about buttons?" he suggested.
"Buttons? We didn't bring buttons."
"We have buttons on our clothes. When one of us loses, he or she can unbutton a button."
THIRTY-FIVE
JULIANA WAS scandalized. Absolutely, positively scandalized. She'd never heard of wagering buttons. Amanda would faint dead away if James ever suggested wagering buttons with her. The mere idea seemed wicked and immoral and sinful and…
Tempting.
Dear heavens, it was tempting. It would teach James a lesson, that was for certain. After all, he was sure to lose, given that he didn't know how to play the game and he'd been daydreaming while she'd explained it to him. Daydreaming and touching her, making her stumble over her words. If she agreed, he would lose, and then he'd know not to wager buttons with Amanda. It was very, very tempting to say yes.
She did enjoy seeing James with his buttons unbuttoned. And since she was certain to win, she wouldn't have to unbutton any of her own. The whole thing could turn out to be rather pleasurable and amusing. And James would learn a lesson.
"All right," she said, "we'll wager buttons."
James looked surprised, but very pleased. After that, everything started happening rather quickly. His fingers went immediately to his neckcloth, working the knot.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Exposing my buttons. Go ahead and deal." He all but ripped off his tailcoat and dropped it to the floor. "Deal, Juliana."
She dealt. They picked up their cards. James spread his and smiled. "I go first—is that right?" She nodded, and he plucked a king from his hand and used it to claim the king on the table. "Aha," he said. "You have to unbutton a button."
"You haven't won yet!" she protested. "That was just a single trick." Anyone could win a trick; the real skill was winning the whole game. "Were you not listening, James? We have to play until all the cards are gone, and then we add up the points, and whoever has the most points wins. Then somebody unbuttons a button."
She'd almost said then you unbutton a button, but she'd stopped herself in time. Although she was going to win, there was no reason to sound smug about it.
"Oh,
