“So,” Roxanne prodded, “how do you think he got that tattoo?”
Mattie wanted to get back to her examination of the games in progress, and Zeke was in her line of vision. She examined the tattoo impassively, an exquisitely rendered stallion that emblazoned his right shoulder. “Same way everyone else gets one,” she said. “With a needle.”
“You know what I mean. What possesses a person to sit down and let somebody stick a needle in their arm like that, over and over?”
Mattie had seen what she needed to see of the remaining pool players, and she looked back to Zeke’s tattoo. The sight of it, moving with the muscles in his arms, sent a sharp tiny spiral of heat through her middle, and she hastily tore her gaze away. “I don’t know,” she said, turning back to Roxanne. “Why don’t you ask him?” She slid out of the booth. “I’m going to play pool.”
This was the hard part for Mattie, the walk through the room in her close-fitting dress. She’d learned how important it was, but it shamed her to know the men in the room were examining her body—looking at her breasts and hips and legs as if she were fried chicken. Jamie had insisted she learn how to do it; he had forced her to try making the game work in a loose pair of jeans and old blouse and no makeup.
It didn’t work nearly as well.
There was only one really bad moment this time. Zeke caught sight of her as she neared his spot at the bar. His face didn’t change, but she saw a hard, cynical shimmer light his eyes.
“Well, Miss Mary,” he said in greeting. “Looks like I underestimated you all the way around.” His gaze swept her head to toe and back again. “Guess you do know the rules.”
His mouth was tight, as if he was disappointed, and it was nearly enough to send her scuttling right back to her spot at the table with Roxanne.
Instead, she met the judgment in those harsh pale eyes and called up a memory of three men lying in their own blood in a warehouse in Kansas City. She squared her shoulders. “You bet,” she said, and passed him. Her thigh brushed his knee.
At the pool table, she grinned at the man she knew from the café. “I’ve been watching. You play pretty well.”
“Thanks. You play?”
This was the critical moment. Jamie always wanted her to pretend she couldn’t play until the stakes were high. She never could fake bad pool well enough, nor did she feel comfortable with a true hustle. “Yes,” she said honestly. “Five dollars a game?”
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “You sure, honey? I’ve been playin’ since I was three years old. Not many folks can beat me.”
Mattie smiled. “I can.”
The game was on.
Chapter 4
*
FROM HIS PERCH on the bar stool, Zeke watched Mary in action, cursing himself for believing she was an innocent anything. How could he have been so blind?
Tonight she looked as sweet as an ice cream sundae in her blue chess and bare legs. And she knew it, knew it in the way she moved her body as she studied the table; knew just exactly where men were looking when she bent over, just exactly how little attention they were paying her game and just exactly how far to push before pulling back.
Why the hell was he so disappointed?
The dress, to her credit, wasn’t particularly suggestive. Women all around him wore a lot worse. It was a simple blue T-shirt knit, belted at the waist, with a modest scoop neckline. Short sleeves and plenty of room to move in.
It was the way she wore the damn thing that was so alluring. Her hips swayed, and her breasts moved gently, and when she bent over to take a shot, he could glimpse just the smallest expanse of creamy flesh. Just enough to tantalize, not enough to satisfy.
She was a pro. He drank beer, watching her manipulate the macho boys clustering around to watch and place bets and wait for their turn to play. They didn’t care if they lost, and Mary knew it.
Once, she caught sight of him staring at her, and she blushed. At least she had the grace to look ashamed, he thought darkly.
He didn’t know why he sat there so long. His shift was over. He could have gone home any time. But he couldn’t seem to make himself take that first step. Like every other idiot male in the joint, he was transfixed.
She didn’t act like a siren or a coy courtesan—she wasn’t even the slightest bit beautiful except for those pretty lips and big eyes—just played a good game of pool over and over again, winning consistently. No one could beat her, and the more she won, the more they wanted to try. The stakes went up as some of the challengers drank a little more. She met them all with friendly smiles and good grace.
By one, Zeke had enough. He stood up and counted out a hundred dollars. “I’m next,” he said. “You’ve all had a chance to beat the lady. Let me show you how to do it.”
Mary met his eyes. No fear. But he caught the flicker of her eyes on the stack of bills in his hand. She lifted a shoulder. “You can try.”
He stuck his cigarette in the corner of his mouth and chose a stick from the wall, holding it up to eye level to check the true. She watched him calmly, but he could see she was a little more tense by the time he rounded the table.
The bartender blinked the lights. Last call. Zeke waved at her to bring two beers.
The crowd had already thinned, and at this signal, most of the rest of the watching group shook their heads and ambled away. “Let us know, Zeke,” called one, “if you beat her. I want to see how it’s done tomorrow.”
Mary stood by the table, her cue clutched before her. When Sue delivered the beers, he made a show of giving Mary hers. “Thought that other one might be getting a little warm by now.”
She slid a guilty look toward the half-full bottle. “Maybe a little.” Glancing around, she said, “It’s getting awfully late. We can meet tomorrow to play this game if you want to.”
Zeke shook his head slowly. Unless he sorely missed his guess, Miss Mary would be halfway to Timbuktu by tomorrow evening. “Nope. I lock up most nights, anyway.”
She lifted an eyebrow in concession. “Your break.”
“Let’s play a warm-up, first, shall we?” It was a measured ploy—maybe she’d take it, maybe she wouldn’t. He watched her weigh the choice, biting on the inside of her cheek as she looked at him through narrowed eyes.
He could almost see the gears turning. If she played him cold, she might lose because she didn’t know his game. She wasn’t fool enough not to take him seriously. On the other hand, a warm-up game might give him an edge.
“All right,” she said, evidently opting to check out his game. “One warm-up.”
He’d watched her through innumerable games over the evening and had learned a lot more than she would have liked. Her bank shots were a little weak. Not much, but enough. She didn’t get cocky or lose her edge when she was winning, and that was to her benefit because she could shift a hip just so and an opponent might be more interested in the play of her legs than the table.
She was very, very good. Honorable if you didn’t count the sweet curves beneath her modest and all-too-alluring dress. And that honor would be her downfall.
Zeke didn’t have but one rule about pool: he played to win. Even after drinking a little bit more than his share, his wits were sharp, and he was irritated enough by her manipulations tonight that he thought she deserved to be taught a lesson.
The first game, he held back. Missed a shot or two, carefully. A bank shot that missed by a sixteenth of an inch; a corner shot that bounced on the edge.
She won with the eight-ball, but it could have gone either way. As she bent over the black number eight, he found his attention straying to the simple straight muscle in her upper arm, noticing the sleek way it moved as she shot. Her hair swung forward, the brown strands taking on a golden shimmer as the light over the table struck it.
He mentally shook himself. Damn. He knew what she was doing and fell for it, anyway.
“I’m leaving,” Sue called. “I already checked the back door.”
“Thanks, hone
y. See you tomorrow.” Zeke looked around in satisfaction. The bar was empty. He crossed the room and locked the door behind Sue, then took a couple of dollars in quarters out of his pocket and dropped them in the jukebox.
Then he turned and met Mary’s gaze with a small grin. “You nervous?” he asked.
She straightened. “No.”
“Good. Let’s play.”
*
IT WAS THE hardest game of pool she’d ever played in her life. Mattie had been lulled a little by his warm-up game, and it had been a mistake. Now she didn’t dare let down her guard. If he took her for a hundred dollars, she’d be in sorry shape, and had already tipped her hand in this little town. She’d have to go to Flagstaff and start over. The idea made her feel ill.
Now he bent over the table, eyeing a tough bank shot for the two-ball. Light from the fixture hanging low over the table swam over his flesh in long, loving strokes, catching on the sheen of sweat that glossed his skin and caressed his muscles, each and every one.
He was the best player in the bar tonight, and like Jamie, he was dangerous. He didn’t care about hurting someone who was game enough to play. He played ruthlessly and played to win.
He swung back to shoot and she closed her eyes tight to whisper a prayer. “Oh, please, let him miss!”
The clunk of a ball falling home told her he hadn’t. With a sigh, she opened her eyes to check the damages. The eight-ball hung on the edge of the corner pocket. A whisper would knock it in.
Zeke picked up the chalk and lazily rolled it over the tip of his cue. He gave her a slow grin. “Well, Miss Mary, it looks bad for your side.”
She glanced at the table and shrugged. “Win some, lose some.”
“We could go double or nothing.” He bent over, and with a graceful move, nudged the cue ball to kiss the eight. It tumbled home.
“I don’t have that much money,” she said. It wasn’t strictly true, but she sure didn’t have enough to gamble two hundred dollars.
“Sure you do.” He rounded the table to stand in front of her. “I saw you tucking it away in your shoe all night.”
The jukebox, which had been playing steadily, suddenly clicked off, plunging the room into thick silence. And suddenly, Mattie was aware that she was alone with this man in the middle of the night in a locked bar. Desperate straits, even for her.
Don’t ever let ’em know they’ve got you.
It was as if Jamie were right there speaking to her, and his words steadied her nerves. As calmly as she was able, she met Zeke’s pale gaze. “I said I don’t choose to play again.”
“Is that right.” He stepped a little closer, huge as a giant, his broad, burly shoulders blocking her view.
She forced herself to stand her ground. “That’s right.”
He smiled. It was a dangerous, deeply sexual smile. “A hundred dollars is a pretty big sum of money to lose,” he said. With one finger, he reached out to stroke her arm, and his gaze followed the movement over her skin. She felt every millimeter of the journey, but forced herself not to react.
“It’s a risk you take.” She shifted to put her cue aside. “I have to go.”
His hand curled around her arm. “Not yet.”
Violently, Mattie jerked away. “You’ve got your money. What do you want?”
“I’ll make you a deal.”
She crossed her arms. “What deal?” Again he stepped closer, and Mattie felt an irrational sense of disappointment. He was going to offer to cancel the debt in trade for sex. In spite of some of her fear of him, she’d thought him a cut above that. And yet, her eyes caught on his lips and she couldn’t help wishing she could kiss him just once, to see what it was like. He had the most beautiful mouth she’d ever seen on a man. Firm and sensual, as if there was no end to the pleasures it could give. As she watched, the corners of that mouth quirked into a little smile.
“No, Miss Mary,” he said. “Not that. I already told you I have rules about good girls.”
“You are the most arrogant man I’ve ever met,” she said in a wondering tone. “Why do you think every woman you run into wants to go to bed with you?”
“I don’t.” He grinned and edged one step closer, so close she could feel his extraordinary heat. “But you’re a liar if you tell me you haven’t given the notion some thought.”
She looked at him, about to tell him just that. But she was caught in the pale sea-color of his eyes, and for the first time she noticed how thick and dark his lashes were.
His face changed as she stared at him. His lids grew sleepy and his mouth softened, and he edged closer still. His enormous hand curled around the back of her neck.
“You’ve got the most kissable lips I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said quietly.
Her breath caught and her body stilled in an agony of waiting. She became aware of his earthy scent, and then everything was blotted out by his mouth.
His mouth. It touched hers lightly, just touched at first. And it seemed every nerve in her body suddenly rushed toward her mouth to join the explosion of sensation his lips brought. He moved his head and his mouth slid one way, then the other, and his fingers tightened around her neck, pulling her closer.
He suckled her lower lip with a lazy kind of savoring, then moved with the same slow hunger to her upper. She found her hands on his arms and wasn’t sure if she was bracing herself or had just lost her mind entirely, but she couldn’t pull away.
She couldn’t resist tasting him, exploring him. Hungrily she moved, testing the curve and shape and pliant give of his mouth; she let her tongue inch out to tease the edge, just to see how it felt against hers.
Zeke made a low sound in his throat, and she found herself abruptly free, staring again into his harsh and compelling face. For a long moment, he simply looked at her intently, then pulled away, shaking his head.
“Damn,” he said, shoving his hand through his hair. “That wasn’t what—I didn’t…”
He whirled and grabbed the money from their bet off the bar. With a violent gesture, he flung it all on the pool table. “I know you’ve got trouble and you need this money. Just tell me who you are, and I’ll let you walk away with every single penny.”
Mattie stared at him, at the money settling in scattered little flutters on the table and the floor. One twenty-dollar bill landed on her toe.
In an agonized whisper, she asked, “Why do you care? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”
“I don’t know.” He sighed. “It bugs me that I can’t remember why I know you. It seems—” he frowned “—important.”
Mattie didn’t wait to hear any more. She whirled and ran for the door. She grabbed the handle and yanked. Futilely. A dead bolt held it firm. With a soft sound of panic, she tugged again.
“I’ve got the key.” Zeke came up behind her. “If you’ll get the hell out of the way, I’ll open it for you.”
She schooled herself to step back, watching as he turned the key and jerked open the door with a sharp, annoyed gesture. “Go on, now,” he said. “Run on home, Miss Mary.”
Something in that derisive tone chased away her fear. “I forgot something,” she said, and squatted to take the money out of her shoe. With a gesture as patronizing as she could manage, she tucked the bills into his shirt pocket.
Or tried. He dodged out of reach when he realized her intent. “C’mon, Mary. Keep it.”
“You won it fair and square.” Firmly, she stuffed it in the pocket and brushed by him.
“Mary!”
She ignored him. The thin, dry desert air had a bite this time of night, even in full summer. She should have brought a jacket with her.
“Mary, will you hold on one cotton-pickin’ minute?”
She kept walking, striking out into the inky blackness of the mountain night without a second thought. At home in Kansas City, she wouldn’t have crossed the street by herself this time of night. Here, there was no danger in the three blocks to her little cabin. It was deeply silent and smelled of pines.
She would miss that fresh smell and the quiet.
A pithy word bit the night. Mattie heard the door slam. She didn’t look back to see if he’d gone inside—surely he wouldn’t walk off and leave a hundred dollars scattered over the pool table.
He would. The sound of his bike engine growled into the quiet. Mattie tensed, hearing him approach. He idled up beside her. “I suppose giving you a ride home is out of the question?”
The headlamp on the bike shot a path through the darkness. Mattie followed it, unwilling to admit she wanted the light, liked the comfort of engine noises in the quiet. She spared him a single glance, seeing only the sheen of his skin and the long tumble of his hair.
She kept walking.
“I’ll just tag along for my own peace of mind, then.”
Mattie stopped. “Zeke, what do you want from me? I wasn’t even going to play you a game of pool until you insisted. I gave you the money you won. I haven’t done anything to you—why won’t you leave me alone?”
The bike stopped when she did and he held it upright easily, the engine idling lazily between his legs. “I don’t honestly know, Mary. You just seem like you—” He shook his head. “Like you’re all alone.”
“You’re all alone.”
“That’s different.”
“Right. You’re a big bad man and I’m just a helpless little woman.”
“Partly.” He took a cigarette from his shirt pocket as he spoke. “I’m also a lot meaner and tougher than you. You aren’t the kind of woman who ought to be hanging out in pool halls and walking home in the dark at all times of night.”
“Thank you for your insight.” Mattie started walking again.
His voice followed her. “I’ll make you a deal, Miss Mary.”
“Another one?”
“Just tell me your real first name.” He cocked his head, and his smile was coaxing, friendly, sexy. “Just for my own satisfaction.”
Bad Boy Heroes Boxed Set Page 105
