rifled through a drawer for her deck of cards. Foolish, foolish man .
* * * *
Ben smiled when he heard laughter coming from inside Camilla’s quaint little house, which was tucked into an older, quiet neighborhood in Divine. It was after midnight and they were still up.
He knocked on the door and heard soft footsteps scamper across the house to the front door, then it opened. Camilla stood there, smiling, looking bright-eyed and happy. “Come on in, Ben.”
He nearly faltered, figuring that when he arrived she’d tell them again that she didn’t need them to stay. Instead, she looked happy to see him. He looked around for Quinten and located him at the small bistro-style table in the corner of her kitchen, and then he was struck speechless.
“Quinten is being a good sport,” she said with a snicker.
It was then that he noticed she was still wearing her costume but she was missing the outer bolero jacket that went over the bra-like top. In comparison, Quinten was down to his socks and boxers. Her jacket was draped over his shoulder like a prize. Quinten gave him a shit-eating grin and raised his shot glass to him. “Hey!”
Ben noted the bottle of tequila and shot glasses on the table and his mood did a one-eighty as he grinned at Camilla. “Strip poker?”
Her head bobbed up and down enthusiastically. “Uh-huh! I’m kicking his ass. Come on in.”
He was pleasantly surprised when she hugged him as he crossed the threshold. He couldn’t recall ever seeing her tipsy and surmised that she was affectionate when she was drunk. He walked into the kitchen and stood in the doorway and leaned against it, noting that the bottle of tequila was still two-thirds full. Quinten gave him a goofy grin, and then winked at him.
Ben schooled his expression. Quinten wasn’t nearly as drunk as he was letting on. He was probably not feeling any pain, but he wasn’t drunk enough to have lost most of his clothing. Ben also knew that Quinten was a pretty good poker player because he’d lost money to him before. Quinten had a gift for picking up on his opponent’s tells.
“Want to join us? I have his shirt, his boots, and his belt. Things are about to get interesting if he loses much more.”
Ben snorted. “Nah. I have no desire to see Quinten nekkid.”
Camilla leered at Quinten. “I do!” She tipped the shot glass to her lips. “You can close your eyes when his undies come off. Or maybe you can win some hands and even things out.”
Holy fuck. He’d never been so tempted before in his life. But he didn’t take advantage of drunken women either. It wasn’t lost on him that while he might not get turned on by the idea of Quinten naked in the same room with them, it was likely to happen if they were successful in wooing this little temptress into their bed.
“No, sugar.” He thought Quinten glared at him for a split second before he adjusted the boner in his shorts which she evidently hadn’t seen since he was sitting at the table.
“Okay,” she said with a pouty lip. “Here’s your pants, Quinten.”
“Thank you, Camster. I was about to start winning me some pieces of a genie costume, though.”
Camilla giggled as she poured a shot for Ben and handed it to him. “Sure you were, baby. Sure you were. Come in the living room. Wanna watch a movie?”
Quinten scowled at Ben and shot the bird at him as Camilla led the way into the living room carrying the shot glasses and the bottle of tequila.
Ben smiled at Quinten and followed her. Quinten might be horny right now but Ben knew he’d regret it in the morning if they took advantage of her endearing affectionate tipsiness. But that didn’t mean he wanted to turn out the lights and go to sleep either. It wouldn’t hurt to further their cause a little while she was feeling relaxed.
She sat down on the couch and he joined her on the comfy sectional, sitting right next to her as she popped open the recliner with a giggle.
Ben noticed that Quinten