Right. The annoying question. How long had it been? Several weeks before his brother Finn had given him this property in late November. Since then he’d been too busy getting it ready and striving to build his clientele while continuing to manage the Cerberus Club. “At least six months. How long since you slept with a man?”

Had she been with anyone since her husband died?

She gave him a sad smile, a small pouting of her lips. “My observation skills are somewhat lacking, but I don’t believe you’ve had a turn and earned a point yet, so you can’t ask any questions.”

She took three steps to the right, lined up her shot, and delivered another scoring play. Her saucy grin nearly had him drawing her into his arms. “Do you pay for your pleasures?”

He stared at her, at the confidence rolling off her. Four perfect shots. What were the odds that a novice—

Understanding dawned—bitter and sweet. Not four. Seven. The practice shots had been designed to make him believe she was unfamiliar with the details of the game. To add to her ruse, she’d claimed the incorrect ball as hers and asked silly questions of him regarding the rules. He released a great bark of laughter. “You conniving minx. I do believe you duped me. You’ve played before.”

She had anticipated that he might sulk or mope about, perhaps even get angry with her and refuse to play, but she’d wanted to gauge the type of man he truly was. For some reason it had been important as the moment of actually being intimate with him grew closer to becoming a reality, as the intensity with which he looked at her had seeded doubts as to whether she could truly go through with the venture. But of all the reactions she’d expected of him, laughter had never been considered. She rather wished he hadn’t laughed. It was boisterous and joyous, reached deep down inside her and made her want to laugh when she hadn’t in months, perhaps years. Not full laughter, not the sort that made her eyes water with tears. He grinned at her as though she’d suddenly been crowned queen, as though he quite enjoyed being made sport of. Or perhaps he enjoyed that she’d managed to pull one over on him.

“You have played before,” he repeated.

“You haven’t any points to ask questions,” she reminded him, “but then you didn’t really phrase it as a question, rather more as conversation, so yes, I have played. Many times. And I did mention we had a billiards room. You were forewarned.”

“Where all the gents go without the ladies in attendance,” he said in a falsetto voice that was more teasing than mocking and made her smile.