Read Bucking the Tiger for Free Online

this morning,” came the practiced response. After he saw a critical glare from Caleb, the barkeep said, “Actually, you may want to try something else. This morning’s batch don’t exactly taste so fresh.”
    â€œWhy? Because it’s been sitting around for a few months?”
    The barkeep didn’t say anything, but he did roll his eyes just enough to answer the question.
    â€œThanks for the warning,” Caleb said. “I’ll have a whiskey.”
    â€œComing right up.”
    When he got his glass full of whiskey, Caleb carried it across the room toward the faro table. He sipped the liquor and felt it burn down his throat. Once the taste hit him, it was much easier to bear when he was jostled enough for more than half of the whiskey to be spilled onto the floor.

5
    Caleb fought the tide of drunks and working girls until he made it to Lottie’s table. He stood there for all of two seconds before the redhead glanced up and made eye contact with him. It was worth the wait.
    Lottie wore a dark green dress with a plunging neckline that displayed a generous amount of cleavage. Her skin was smooth and pale, accented here and there by the occasional freckle. She sat with perfect posture and her arms situated nicely on the table. Her lips curled into a seductive smile before parting just enough to let out a few words.
    â€œCare to have a seat, stranger?” she asked.
    â€œI think I’ll just watch for a while,” Caleb replied.
    â€œIf you’re watching to check up on me, you don’t have to worry. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you this is an honest game.”
    â€œMaybe it’s not the cards I’m watching.”
    Smiling as she laughed under her breath, Lottie started shuffling the cards in flowing, easy motions. “How many times have I heard that today, Earl?”
    A slender man with an unkempt beard shifted in his seat next to the abacus at the corner of the table and scratched his chin. “Today? At least two. I’d say it’s been a couple dozen times this week, though.”
    â€œWell, if you want to stop hearing compliments,” Caleb told her, “you’re going to stop looking so pretty.”
    Turning over the last card and settling up on the bets, Lottie grinned and shifted her eyes back to Caleb. “That wasn’t as smooth, but it was newer than the rest of the lines I get around here.”
    â€œHey, now!” blustered a gray-haired fellow who wore the dust of a weeklong ride on his face. “I take exception to that!”
    â€œAll except for Jordan,” Lottie corrected. “He’s got the tongue of an angel.”
    â€œAnd the hands of a devil,” Jordan said, which elicited a round of bawdy laughter from all the other men gathered around the table. Despite all the encouragement, however, Jordan kept his hands over his money and his backside attached to his chair. His eyes, on the other hand, were glued to the pale, supple curves of Lottie’s breasts.
    Caleb joined in and laughed with all the rest, but also made a point of taking another look around the table. It was then that he spotted a few men who weren’t laughing. In fact, those men grew more stern as more attention was being drawn to Lottie’s table.
    When one of those men with the sour expressions took a seat around the table, Lottie lost a bit of the warmth in her smile. It came back once she noticed that another seat had just been filled.
    â€œMaybe I will try my luck,” Caleb said as he scooted his chair up close to the table.
    Lottie nodded to acknowledge all the players as she shuffled up the cards and spread them on the table. Every one of her movements flowed like steam drifting along the edge of a bathtub. When she placed the cards into the dealing box, Lottie pulled the edge of the first card out, but kept enough of it inside the box to keep the one beneath it from being seen.
    â€œEnough with the soda,”