Burned(19)

With a glance that said she knew too much about where his thoughts were, she gathered her sweater and walked to the bar to join her dad. She didn’t avert her gaze from Hauk’s, but neither did she meet it as she slipped onto a stool.

“What can I get you, Vic?”

“Sex At My House would be great.”

Her dad sputtered on the drink he’d just taken. Vic patted his back and assured him, “It’s a drink, Dad. Would you rather I order a Hole In One?”

Hauk’s scalp tingled with heated pricks of awareness. He broke out in a sweat…on the inside. If she kept up her little game, he was going to give her a red backside, and it wouldn’t be the kind she could drink.

He set her drink before her with the warning “Behave yourself” before he released it. She lowered the volume of her outrageous behavior as she chatted with her dad, but it didn’t help Hauk focus on work. If anything, her less obvious approach was worse. It was especially worse when she shifted during a laugh in a way that had the scoop neck of her top giving him a flash of creamy breasts.

Grabbing the collar of his shirt, he tugged it down, attempting to loosen the noose.

Trouble was, he wasn’t sure if the noose was around his throat or his hardened heart.

The effort of holding himself back as he waited for the patrons to leave, as he watched Vic chat and laugh with everyone, while the memory of her singing and dancing lingered in his mind, had what began as frustration building into anger and then fury.





Hours later, after Sophie had gone to bed and Hauk was locking up behind the last patron, with the lights in the town going down as volunteers wrapped up their work on the festival booths, Vic turned her stool to watch him.

Pent-up rage drove his steps, as it had driven every move he’d made all night. It was an aggressive, dominant side of him she hadn’t seen in full swing before. She loved it.

“What are you doing, Vic?” He stopped a few feet away. His jaw flexed with tension.

“Looking for talent for the festival. Did you forget we were supposed to be working together?” She grabbed her drink, and without breaking their stare, she used her tongue to find the straw. Hauk practically growled, but he didn’t move.

“I’ve forgotten nothing.”

“I have some ideas on the headliner and have been thinking about some singing games that could be played to raise money for the community center. Night games mainly because they’re not exactly kid friendly.”

“Of course you have.” The energy he’d held in all evening snapped in each syllable he spoke.

“So.” She set her drink down and hopped off the stool. Moving around him, walking in a tight circle so she brushed his body, she smiled. “The first game is a sort of singing dating game.”

“How would that work?”

“We erect a screen with one chair on one side and three on the other. The bachelor…” sliding a finger down his spine, she lingered behind him, “…or bachelorette, sits in the one chair and asks questions of the contestants on the other side.”

His back rippled beneath her touch. “That’s not singing.”

“The questions have to be song related.”

He looked over his shoulder at her. “Like what?”

“Like…” She paused, leaned up on tiptoe to whisper at his ear. “How does it make you feel to hear a woman singing about the power of a kiss?”

Her breasts brushed his back and they both trembled. Her thong was getting wet as she seduced herself as much as Hauk. “Or, what would you sing to a woman you want to seduce?”

“This—” His voice cracked. “This is a dangerous game.”

She circled to his front, running her hand along his waist. Each step rubbed the moist lace against her clit, heightened her fever. “But is it one you want to play?”

“Fuck yeah.”

“Excellent!” She patted his stomach and moved back to the bar for her drink. “Everyone will pay to play with the money going to the community center. We could even have a setup where people see if they can identify their spouse by their answers.” She took another pull of her drink. “Now, as for actual singing… I thought about karaoke.”

“Unless I get to miss that part, please, God, no.”

“Then karaoke is in. The kids will like that one. Could we move your equipment out there?”

“Hell yes.” He moved behind the bar and started cleaning up. “Lose it while you’re at it.”

“You really don’t like karaoke night, do you?”

“Hate it.”

Vic leaned on the bar, bracing her head on a palm and smiled. Her blouse gaped. “All of it?”