Shifters of Grrr 2 (55 page)

"Um – no, not really.
 
And, I don't want to know," she lied. She was, in fact, starting to wonder about what she was missing. But then she asked the really important question. "Is it illegal or something?
 
Am I going to be punished?"

Jason found himself chewing on his lip and sneering.

"Yes, actually is, except no she-wolf ever turns an Alpha down.
 
The old lore requires that a rebellious she-wolf be cast permanently out of her pack.
 
And no other pack is allowed to accept her as a new member for at least two years."

"That doesn't sound good," Carly said. "Um, are you going to rat me out?"

"You could just make it up to me," Jason slyly suggested. "You could come meet me up in my suite later. Tell me your name."

"It's Carly.
 
Carly Davis."

"I'm Jason Irvine."

"Believe me, I already know who you are."

Carly felt nervous. She just knew that if she did, in fact, hook up with Jason – he would either be turned off by her once she got naked, or she'd be faced with the deja vu of being used by a Were and then dumped the next morning. She didn't want to be cast out of her pack, but she couldn't take any more heartache.
 

So she called his bluff. He couldn't be so mean as to make her pack reject her, could he?

"I just don't have time for that," Carly said. "You know, I hear that sleeping with an Alpha really isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Jason looked mortified.

Carly couldn't believe the words had popped out of her mouth.
 
She hadn't meant to sound so mean. She was just being defensive. And it was the biggest lie she had ever put on someone.

Suddenly, Jason's arm shot out and he snapped his fingers to grab Max's attention.
 
He knew Max was still hiding behind the potted plant.

Max hurried back to the table.
 
He gave Carly a quick and worried look, but then turned all of his attention on the Alpha.

"I'll skip my dinner reservation," Jason said,
 
"and I will continue to play poker, as I know you want me to.
 
But only under one condition."

"What's the condition?" Max and Carly asked simultaneously.

"I'll play poker with this dealer.
 
But it has to be
strip
poker," Jason said.

"What?!" Carly exclaimed.
 
"Absolutely not!!"

Max raised his eyebrows.
 
This was tricky.
 
He certainly couldn't actually force one of his dealers to play strip poker.
 
But $20 million and house bankruptcy was at stake.

He looked at Carly, thinking about what to say.
 
He would have to choose his words very carefully.

"Max – tell him to go to hell!"

Jason looked smug that he had gotten the Beta she-wolf all hot and bothered.

"Carly – now, I know – "

"Tell him to go screw!" Carly exclaimed.

"That's exactly what I'm
trying
to do," Jason said teasingly.

Max turned to Jason and started to negotiate.

"What if it wasn't total strip poker," he proposed.
 
"If she gets down to her lingerie, then she doesn't have to take anything more off."

"Max!!" Carly yelled.

They were starting to cause a scene and security approached, but Max waved them off, motioning to them that everything was under control.

"That's unacceptable," Jason said. "
Strip
poker means just that.
 

He looked over at Carly and gave her a seductive wink.

Carly was mortified.
 
This could turn out to be a worse scenario than if she had just caved in and agreed to meet him up at his suite.
 
At least up there she could have made him turn the lights off when she got naked.
 
But she couldn't demand that during a game of poker.

"Plus I'll be stripping too," he added.
 
"Which makes things perfectly fair.
 
You get to see mine, and I get to see yours."

I wouldn't mind seeing yours
, came the involuntary thought.
 
She was getting a very clear picture in mind of Jason nixing his expensive suit. But then Carly snapped out of her reverie.

This was just over the top.

Before Carly realized what she was doing, she grabbed a fistful of Mr. Rich Alpha's casino chips and threw them in his face.
 
Then she stormed off.

"I think she likes you, Max said.

Jason had a moment of arrogant satisfaction that he was driving this woman crazy.
 
But then his feeling of victory wore off when he realized that for the second time this evening, the she-wolf had spurned his advances.

Chapter 6

Carly found herself crying in the employee's Ladies Room. In walked Debbie.

"I thought you had gone home," Carly said, sniffling.

"No – I just needed a few hours off.
 
But the best tips are late night, you know that.
 
What the hell is wrong, sweetheart?"

"Jason Irvine wants to play strip poker with me!"

Carly's mascara was running down her face now.

"Wh-what the hell?
 
Really? How did that happen?"

Carly told Debbie everything.
 
How she had gone to Red Rock Canyon to shift and blow of some steam.
 
How he had been there, too, and gave her a mating call.
 
How she had run away.

"Why the hell would you run away from an Alpha like that? How could you run away from THAT Alpha in particular?!"

Carly couldn't explain it to her.
 
Debbie wouldn't understand her misgivings and insecurities about getting naked with an Alpha.

"Well, he obviously isn't taking no for an answer.
 
He wants you pretty bad, toots."

"I think he's just messing with me.
 
And even if he does score with me, he won't give a damn afterward.
 
And, that's just not what I want – getting laid and then never hearing from someone again.
 
It's happened a few too many times with Betas, and quite frankly, I hate men."

Debbie sat down next to her on a couch in the dressing area.
 
She put her arm around Carly and gave her a hug.

"I think that this man is definitely, legitimately attracted to you," she said. "But of course he's a bit of a jerk.
 
He's an Alpha! It goes with the territory. They have to be cocky and all 'bad boy' just to survive and stay at the top. But the thing about Alphas is – they expect themselves to be good in bed – no matter what it takes.
 
It's a badge of honor – being a great lay. So how can you pass up the opportunity to be with a man whose single, solitary goal, is to make sure he is the best lay of your whole entire life?
 
Do you have any idea what kind of effort he's going to put into making you a happy woman?"

Carly thought about it for a moment.
 
Debbie had a point.
 
But she had to be sure.
 
She had to be sure that proving himself to her was more important than just getting her to acquiesce.

"Okay," Carly said, drying her eyes.
 
"Maybe you're right.
 
But I'm not going to make it easy for him.
 
And, it's a good thing I always wear decent lingerie.
 
I hadn't expected to be showing it to anybody – ever again.
 
But tonight's as good a night as any."

"That's my girl," Debbie said. "Goddamn I'm jealous."

Carly fixed herself up and emerged from the Ladies' Room looking like absolutely nothing was wrong.

Max was waiting for her.

"Please, please, Carly – I know I don't have any right, but – "

"It's fine, I'll do it," Carly said.

She marched back to the poker table.
 
Jason was slouched a bit, puffing away on his cigar.
 
She had to admit, she did love the smell of a Cuban.

Carly noticed that Jason had loosened his tie. Involuntarily, she reached out and tugged on his tie a bit.
 
She surprised both herself and him with her boldness.

"It's good to see you've already started undressing a bit, since I'm literally going to beat your pants off."

Then she yanked on the tie, pulling Jason out of his seat.

"C'mon, Alpha," she said, dragging him off.

Jason was absolutely astounded.
 
He was publicly being led through the casino by the she-wolf as if he were on a leash.
 
Finally he had enough. He grabbed her hand and peeled her fingers off his tie.
 
Then he gripped her hand fully and pulled her toward him.

Carly felt herself suddenly go off-balance. She had been yanked backward, spun around and now was hip to hip with Jason as he stared down at her, willing her to submit.
 
Submit she did.
 
She couldn't look him in the eye.

"Stop fighting me," he whispered.

"I'm – I'm not fighting you," she hoarsely replied. "I'm just doing my job."

Jason let her go.
 
This last comment almost deflated him more than her two previous rejections.
 
She saw him as 'just doing her job.'

Fine, then,
he thought.
 
He was still going to get what he wanted.
 
What he expected.
 
And he was going to not only keep his $20 million – he was going to win even bigger. And he would have his way with the Beta she-wolf to boot.
 

And she was going to
like
it.

Max took them to a very chic private room.
 
A butler brought in a bottle of champagne that had been chilling.

Carly looked at Max with a question mark on her face.
 
Dealers were not allowed to drink on-the-job.
 
Max waved away her concern.
 
He knew that if she were going to play strip poker with Jason Irvine, she would need a drink.
 
Or at least, just a little sip.

Max left them alone with just the butler to check in on them every once in awhile. The Eye-in-the-Sky would not watch them in this private room. This was a relief for Carly. If she really had to strip, then she would really start to succumb to her desire for him and she would lose for the casino.
 
And she didn't want any of that caught on camera.

They played for the next two hours.

Jason was mostly losing. He actually was impressed by Carly's skill. He first took off his loosened tie, then he stripped off his jacket.
 
Then he unbuttoned his shirt and peeled off the t-shirt underneath. He wasn't remotely shy about any of it.
 
He seemed pretty damn amused by the whole thing.
 
He stared hard at Carly trying to read her discomfort level.
 

Carly wasn't winning because she had such a brilliant mind.
 
Her talent was in reading an opponent's 'tells'.
 
Everyone had involuntary little tics that gave away their thoughts and emotions. She could read Jason's hand by reading his face – the slight twitches of his facial muscles.
 
The tapping of a finger. A slight move of his foot under the table.
 

She was very good at reading gamblers.
 
It's too bad,
she thought,
that I'm not so very good at reading men when it comes to relationships
.

Carly tried not to stare at Jason as he undressed little by little, with each losing hand.
 
To say that the man was buff would be the understatement of the year.
 
Clearly, this was what the most expensive personal trainers could do for a man.
 

His lip curled up into an arrogant smile.
 
Then he sat upright and leaned back.

He played his next hand and lost again.

Shaking his head, he stood up and stripped off his pants.

Carly blushed.

Then she started getting angry.
 
At first she didn't understand why.
 
But then she realized it was because she knew she could never have this man.
 
Not for real.

For just one moment, Jason hunched over to study his cards, chin in hand. He looked just like Rodin's famous sculpture "The Thinker". He was chiseled to perfection, lost in thought almost as if she wasn't there.

Carly decided to let him know she was most definitely there.
 
With her next hand, his briefs were gone.
 
But he had more to lose.
 
She was going to dig him a hole and toss him in it.