by Debra Kayn
She opened the door, expecting another renter to have a problem, needing her help, and found Wyatt standing in front of her.
Surprised to see him, her mouth opened in shock.
Wyatt stuck out his hand. She blinked several times before the material dangling from his finger made sense to her. Snatching her panties from him, she tossed them behind her.
"I thought you looked familiar last night." His low voice rolled through her.
Her neck warmed. She swallowed hard. A one-night stand with him seemed harmless at the time. She was single and had every right to have sex with whoever she wanted, but facing him, remembering the way he'd licked her like a sweet drop of candy, she tried to come up with a reason for her lapse of judgment that night, and came up blank.
"Cat got your tongue, tiger." He hooked her chin with his finger and raised her gaze. "I might've been drunk that night we got together, but I remember what that tongue can do..." He strummed her lower lip with his thumb. "And what your mouth felt like on me."
Her nipples peaked, and she shivered. She was too old to fall for a smooth-talker and yet she obviously forgot to tell her body not to listen to him, because she melted.
She opened her mouth and snapped her teeth down on his thumb. He grunted, and she let him go, stepping back. The extra distance failed to stop her from getting turned on.
"Thanks for bringing my, uh, panties back." She half-turned, hoping by not looking directly at him, her heart would stop pounding out of her chest. "I'll see you around."
"Hold up."
At his tone, she faced him from a safer distance. "What?"
"That night—"
"You were drunk. I...knew what I was doing." She shrugged. "There's nothing more to say."
His gaze intensified. She arched her brow. If he tried to excuse what happened between them, he'd disappoint her.
He shouldn't defend his reasons for taking her home two weeks ago and having sex or ask her why she easily had sex with a man she'd only admired from afar.
In her mind, he was a man who owned his attitude. She lowered her gaze, rocked by the force of his attention. By his silence, he was everything she'd imagined, and it was hard for her not to feel how attracted she was to him.
"If they never mentioned it, thanks for feeding my kids. It meant a lot to them, and because it did, it means a lot to me. You didn't have to do that, and you did." He paused. "If your reasons had to do with us having sex—"
"It didn't." Her body stiffened, and she faced him. "Your kids are sweet."
His gaze warmed. "I appreciate what you've done for them. They lost their mom last month, and like me, you sharing that softness and acceptance goes a long way when life has been turned upside down."
Her throat closed, and she nodded. Knocked speechless by his kindness, she held on to the gratitude he gave her.
He looked at the front of her shirt. "Playing pool tonight?"
She lowered her chin to her chest, reminding herself of what outfit she wore. The short dress with the zipper from neck to hem was undone to the middle of her breasts. To make sure she wouldn't fall out of the dress while she played, the outfit was tight, leaving nothing to the imagination.
"Yeah." She inhaled deeply, checking her fake Rolex. "I need to leave, or I'll be late to sign in.
"I won't keep you." He turned to go, stopped, and looked at her. "Did you win the night we were at the bar?"
She pressed her hand to her stomach, needing to lose the butterflies Wyatt had caused. "You were there."
He scratched his beard. "You were a little distracting."
Amusement lightened his eyes. She inwardly moaned in pleasure. He knew exactly how she reacted to him.
"Maybe I'll swing by and watch you play again someday." He stepped back.
"It's a free country." She walked over and picked up her case, making sure she had the money inside and grabbed her car keys. "I can't stop you."
"Would you try to?"
She walked out of the apartment, locked the door, and looked at him. "Honestly? Probably not."
Leaving him standing on the sidewalk, her spirited bravery got the best of her. Filled with adrenaline, she strode as fast as her high heels would allow and slipped into her car before she could yell back at him that she was only kidding.
Flirting wasn't one of her skills. She preferred the bare truth, and often times that embarrassed her when she realized what had come out of her mouth.
She drove away, going the two blocks to the bar. Her mind not on the night ahead of her but back at the apartment with Wyatt. Never had she imagined him coming over with her panties hanging off his finger or mentioning their one-night stand.
Obviously, he hadn't been as drunk as she believed. How much had he remembered?
Had he seen the way she was affected by him watching her play pool? Had he noticed how she came unglued every time he'd touched her? Had he seen how wild she'd gone, kissing him like there was no tomorrow when he'd picked her up?
She parked and walked into the bar. Luckily, the smaller crowd helped calm her nerves.
At the pool table, Charlie, Rabbit, and Davis talked with the server. Not bothering to check her watch, she weaved around the tables and approached the group.
"I'm in." She set her case on the table and smiled at the three men. "Evening."
"Joey." Charlie eyed her. "New rules for tonight."
She groaned inwardly. Small pick-up games often changed with the opinion of the majority. Considering Riverside Bar allotted Friday nights to cash play and she'd arrived too late to voice her preference, she would be stuck with whatever the others had decided.
"Gene's in the restroom, and he needs to leave by nine o'clock. We're going to round-robin it down to two. Then we'll finish the night with partners." Charlie stuck a toothpick in his mouth. "You have until eight o'clock to write down who you'll play with."
Shit. She pressed her lips together. Charlie knew she was new to the circuit in Montana.
If partners were called, she had no one to team up with. She planted her hand on her hip. There was no way she could play singles and stop before the partners finished the competition. She'd be eliminated from winning the pot at the end of the night.
"Charlie," she drawled. "You know I have no one to team up with."
Not to mention, she wouldn't want to take on someone with less skill than her. She could hold her own but couldn't pull a win for the night with someone who couldn’t keep up.
"It looks like you'll have to sit out this time, doll." Charlie smirked.
Her palms itched to smack him upside the head and wipe that look off his face. Not willing to give up, she looked around at the customers.
"Give me two minutes before you write the teams down." She walked to the first table. "Excuse me. Do any of you play pool?"
"I'll play anything with you." An older man, pushing sixty years old or so, winked.
She laughed. "I only need a pool partner tonight."
The man snapped his fingers in disappointment and grinned at her. "You should find Sam. He plays."
"Can you point him out to me?" she asked.
The older man pushed up from the table, searched the room, and then stepped over to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "That's him in the blue shirt."
She followed the direction of his finger and found a man wearing the right color top. "The one with the mustache?"
"That's him." The man patted her back.
"Thanks." She made her escape before his hand wandered.
She stopped at the table. "Excuse me. Sam?"
The man across from her raised his brows. "That's me."
"I need a partner for tonight's pool tournament. Are you interested?"
"Go on, Sam." The guy to Sam's right elbowed him. "You were talking about needing money for the new trolling motor."
Sam leaned back in his chair. "How much to join?"
She waved off his question. "I'll cover the cost and split the pot with you at th
e end of the night if you'll play."
"You're confident that you'll win." Sam stood and rounded the table. "I can't turn down that offer. Let's do it."
She smiled and walked back to the pool table with her new partner. If she lost, she'd chalk it up to a one-hundred-dollar payment for some much-needed practice before the end of the year's tournament.
Chapter 7
Wyatt
STEPPING INSIDE RIVERSIDE Bar, Wyatt's gaze went straight to the back of the room. His reward for scrubbing the apartment from top to bottom and getting all the kids' belongings in their bedrooms, stood beside the pool table.
He walked over to the counter, checking out Joey. She lined up a shot and bent over with her ass in his direction. One time with her wasn't enough.
"What can I get you?"
He turned to the bartender. "Rainier."
"Pitcher, mug, or glass?"
"Glass." He leaned against the bar.
Tonight, he planned to remember everything. Plus, he'd ridden his motorcycle over and never drank more than a glass when he had to get back on the road.
"Hey, boss." Carter gave him the peace sign and nodded his head toward the middle of the room. "We've got beer if you want to pull up a chair."
Tony, Darren, Rocky, and Matt sat around the table. Only Roddy and Frank were missing from his crew. He glanced over at the Tarkio members filling three tables and found his other employees.
"Maybe later." He picked up the glass the bartender sat on the counter in front of him and walked to the pool table.
The only empty table with a clear view of the game had a pool stick case on top. He pulled the chair over to the wall, tipped back on two legs, and took a drink at the same time Joey stepped away from play and caught sight of him.
By the time he lowered his beer, he'd schooled his face. She walked straight to him, turned, and put her back against the wall to stand beside him.
As she kept her gaze on the pool table, she said, "What are you doing?"
"Having a beer." He rested the glass on his thigh. "I figured with the kids at my mom's house for the night, I'd come and see if you're any good at pool."
"I am." She walked away, took her shot at the table, and returned to his side. "Don't think because you're here, I'm going home with you."
"Do I stand a chance at changing your mind?"
"You'd have to work harder than showing up at the end of the game and assuming I'd be grateful for the invite." She swung her ass side to side as she returned to play.
Amused at the bite of her comeback, he settled in and enjoyed the remainder of the game. For once, he couldn't peg Joey's personality. She was sex on legs one minute, the girl next door the next, and he had a feeling her tongue could bite as well as bring him pleasure.
The game ended and he couldn't tell who'd won. Fascinated by Joey, he ignored the play by play.
She planted the end of the pool cue on the floor between her feet and held on to the stick like a stripper getting ready to dance around a pole. He drained the last of his beer that'd grown warm with all the distractions.
Her interactions with her opponents were faker than a Hollywood movie star's breasts. Her bending, looking, hair flinging was an act. He'd seen her moves, heard her moans, felt her body against his. Drunk or not, he'd had the real thing, not the poser act she played tonight.
Another man joined the group. An intense session of beeping went off in the room like an alarm, and the man beside her pulled off a pager from his belt.
Joey's pose changed to concern, and she leaned forward, nodding insistently at the man before he left, hurrying across the room. Wyatt brought his attention back to Joey. She held up her hand and shook her head.
Nobody had to tell him she was unhappy with whatever was happening.
She walked away from the other players, unscrewing the cue stick, and arrived at the table beside him. He dropped the chair to all four legs.
"Done?" he asked.
She glanced at him. "I was supposed to finish the tournament with Sam, and it turned out he is a volunteer fireman and had to go on a fire call. Without a partner, I'm eliminated."
"Do you get your money back?"
She shook her head.
"How much was it to play?" He took out his wallet.
She put her hand on his wrist. "Don't."
"I'm not paying you." He handed her two hundred dollars. "I'll be your partner."
"Do you know how to play?"
"I wouldn't offer if I couldn't." He put the cash in her hand. "Go ask if you can substitute a player."
"Are you serious?"
He curled her fingers around the money. "Go, put us back in."
She shoved them back into his hand. "I'll ask. You don't have to pay since I already did."
Joey walked over to the group. He stayed back, letting her deal with the business side of the Friday night tournament. Besides playing pool for twenty bucks here and there, he had no idea how the rules for higher stake games were conducted.
Wyatt put the money back in his pocket. If he lost the game for her, he'd give her the money she more than likely would have won without him as her partner.
Joey strutted back to him, leaned in, and whispered. "Game's on. Do you know what to do?"
"Win." He hooked the back of her neck and brought her forward again when she moved back. "Just don't play me like you're playing those other guys."
Her body stiffened. He kissed her cheek. "If you want to swish that ass of yours, you do it for me."
She quivered. He let his fingers slide off her neck. She stayed closed to him.
"Let's play, tiger." He walked over and grabbed one of the pool sticks off the rack.
As he chalked the tip, Joey gawked at him. He cocked his brow. Yeah, she was going home with him tonight.
The other team, Charlie and Rabbit, won the toss and started the game with a solid break. He wasn't worried about holding up his part of the game because he had all the faith that Joey could wipe the table with every opponent that faced her.
A skill he admired and found sexier than hell.
Joey walked over to him. "You'll go after Rabbit."
He put his hand around her back and palmed her hip through her tight dress. "How about we make a side bet?"
"I've already spent the money I brought with me."
He patted her hip. "I never said anything about money."
Her gaze narrowed, and she turned, curling against the front of him. "I don't know all the laws in Montana, but I'm pretty sure you could get arrested for propositioning me."
"Then, we better keep this agreement between ourselves." He gazed at her lips. "Are you in?"
She pulled away from him and stepped forward. After making half a lap around the table, she lined up her shot. She was going for solids.
Three shots later, she missed. It was Rabbit's turn.
And he got her back by his side.
He put his arm behind her and slid his hand underneath her hair to caress her neck. She remained tense as she played. He couldn't figure out if it was her competitive spirit or if the winning pot was that important to her.
"They're one shot ahead," she muttered.
He couldn't promise her he'd sink a ball the next turn. For him, he was playing a good game of pool.
"You never mentioned how much the pot is worth tonight." He brought her over and kissed her temple. "My turn."
"Good luck," she mumbled.
He walked to the table. The shot he'd planned on taking looked harder once he got into position. Taking his time, he walked to the corner, peered down the playing area. The only opening would be a bounce off the side with the hope that he missed the two balls covering the one he needed to hit.
Looking over at Joey, he winked. She dipped her chin, pushing him to go with his gut. With her confidence in him, he chalked the end of the cue stick and lined up the shot. He kept his fingers loose. Any tension would move the stick. He knew measurements. He knew angles. Shooting pool was
a lot like running a circular saw down a hard piece of oak. He knew what the piece would look like as soon as he made the first cut.
The stick slid between his fingers. At contact with the ball, he straightened. The shot was now out of his control.
Bouncing off the wall of the table, the ball rolled between the four and seven solids, tapped the striped eleven ball, knocking it against the bumper of the corner pocket.
That's all he needed to do. He'd set Joey up for the shot while blocking the corner pocket from the other team.
Unless Charlie cleared the table in the next turn, he and Joey were still in the game. He met Joey's gaze across the table. Her eyes warmed, and she lifted her brows, tipping her head in respect. He couldn't have planned that move better.
He returned to her side and stood beside her. She brushed her shoulder against his arm, and he put his hand on the back of her neck, enjoying the hell out of having her close.
"Pretty sweet shot, Carr." Her gaze dropped to his mouth. "You might've saved the game."
"Nah, the pressure is on you." He caught sight of her tongue, wetting her bottom lip. "I don't think you'll have any problem with cleaning the table."
"Hm." The muscles in her slim neck contracted as she swallowed. "We'll see."
Her turn came with four striped balls on the table and one solid. He slid his hand down her back and patted her butt in good luck. She took two steps and pivoted on the spiked heel of her left foot. Striding back to him, she stood close and put her hands on his chest.
"Kiss me," she whispered loud enough he heard her over the music. "Now."
Bossy. He liked it. He took it as a challenge.
Slipping his arm around her, he palmed her ass and yanked her forward. Her pelvis hit him solidly, driving her upper body against his chest. He captured her mouth, opening her lips, and kissed her deeply.
She made the moves. She used her tongue. She draped herself against the front of him.
But it was fake. It was a show for the men watching from the pool table.
He sprawled his hand on her ass and squeezed, pulling her stiff body closer. She held on to her tight control.
Understanding her need to distract the other players and gain the advantage, he wanted her to know that she needed no help. Not from him. Not from diverting her opponents.
