Good with His Hands(6)

Dani stepped forward, leaning her pool cue against the railing. Looking  intrigued, he set down his beer as she moved closer, invading his  personal space.

She reached for his hand. His fingers were cool from the beer, but heat  rolled through her anyway. "I'm a woman, not a girl. If I want a man to  touch me, I don't need a lame excuse." She settled his hand on the  curve of her hip, her pulse kicking up a notch when they were close  enough that they could have been kissing.

His eyes were mesmerizing, light-colored but blazing with intensity.  "Good to know." Raising his free hand, he traced her lower lip with the  pad of his thumb. Desire had been sparking inside her since the moment  he'd smiled at her in the office hallway, but now a pang of sharp  arousal jolted her-and they were fully dressed in a public place.  Imagining the kind of magic he could work in the privacy of her  apartment left her dizzy.

If she didn't move away from him, she would be in no condition to shoot  pool accurately. Which might not matter in the larger scheme of things,  but she had to admit, part of her wanted to impress him.

When she stepped back, reaching for her drink, Gray gave her one more  scorching look, then took his place at the table. The competitor in her  wanted to watch the balls scatter and check for strategic positioning;  the female in her was having difficulty looking away from the back of  his jeans. When he'd said earlier that he liked physical activity, it  had obviously been more than innuendo. He was in fantastic shape.

"You're up," he said, drawing her attention back to the game.

She scanned the table. He'd pocketed the seven, so she was stripes. She  called the eleven and leaned down to take her shot. Recalling the  appreciative way she'd watched him shoot, she stole an involuntary  glance toward the mirrored wall at the last second. His reflected gaze  locked on hers-avid and hungry-and she fumbled her shot. The eleven  rolled in right where it was supposed to, but the cue ball followed.

Annoyed with herself for the undisciplined lapse in concentration, she let loose a stream of profanity.

Behind her, Gray laughed. "You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Actually, she died when I was a baby."

He paled. "Oh, God. I'm-"

"You didn't know." Whenever she told someone about her mom, she felt as  if she should be sadder, but she didn't remember the woman at all. The  deepest sorrow she'd experienced was for her father's loss. "My dad  raised me and, incidentally, taught me most of the bad words I know. He  wasn't above swearing at soldiers if it motivated them, and sometimes he  forgot to turn it off at home."

"Military, huh?"

She nodded. "Army."

"My father had his own roofing company and took on a lot of small  construction jobs for extra income. He was careful, but anyone who works  with tools that often is gonna catch his thumb with a hammer from time  to time or run afoul of a circular saw." He smiled. "Colorful words  abounded. Of course, he swore me to secrecy. Mom would've had a fit if  she'd known the vocabulary I was picking up in the garage."                       
       
           



       

He surveyed the table, nostalgia fading as he immersed himself in the  game. Using the conveniently positioned stripes, he knocked in two easy  shots before having to stop and think about what he wanted to do next.

"If I were a show-off," he said, "this is where I'd impress you with some fancy trick shot."

She smirked over the rim of her beer. "In my experience, guys who  really know how to handle their sticks don't need to compensate with  trick moves."

"Need? No. But nothing wrong with spicing things up every now and then,  right?" Giving her a suggestive smile, he executed a perfect  behind-the-back shot.

She bit back her own smile. "I refuse to contribute to your ego by applauding that."

"You can admit I make you weak in the knees. I won't lose respect for you."

She snorted. He sank a fourth ball before finally missing. Dani used  the opportunity to reclaim her dignity with a great stop shot. The  waitress brought another round of drinks while Dani pocketed two more,  steadily closing the gap. But then she was left without a shot. Even as  she banked the cue ball as best she could, she held no real hope.  Sometimes, physics was against you.

Gray returned to the table. She sipped her beer, watching in admiration  as he ran the table. His cockiness at pool was well warranted. After  knocking in the eight ball for the win, he sauntered back to the railing  with a satisfied smile.

"Now I wish we'd bet something," he said. "Or that I'd suggested strip pool."

The idea was appealing, if either of them had a pool table at home. She  slid off her stool and began gathering the balls to rerack. "You can't  play strip pool in public."

He joined her at the table, leaning close as he lowered his voice.  "Sure you can." His breath feathered against her ear, a tantalizing  tickle of warmth. "You just have to remove things that aren't obvious to  everyone else in the room." For the second time that night, he cupped  her hip. Then he traced a finger across the denim, just above the  elastic band of her panties. "Like...earrings."

His outrageous teasing made her laugh, and she shoved against his chest. "You are a bad man."

He dipped his head in agreement. "Being bad is my best quality."





      4

"NICE JOB." IT was damned uncommon for Sean Grayson to smile when he  lost, but he couldn't help an admiring grin as Dani pocketed the winning  ball in their second game.

She was a worthy opponent. Plus, she was sexy as hell. Watching her  lean over in that narrow skirt that hinted at naughtiness without  actually revealing anything lessened the sting of defeat. "Best two out  of three?" It was a logical suggestion, given that they were currently  tied and that the waitress had just brought them a basket of chips and  salsa to go with another round of beers. Yet, the longer he spent here  with Dani, the more desperate he was to get her alone.

The heated glances they'd shared had escalated to casual-and not so  casual-touches. He wanted her. Badly. If his jeans grew any tighter, he  wasn't sure he'd be able to keep playing.

"One more," she agreed. Her dark eyes gleamed with pleasure. Because  she was having such a good time? Or because, like him, she was looking  forward to what would follow their next match? She'd made it clear with  her flirtatious words and body language that she desired him every bit  as much as he desired her. "I hate to end on ties."

He chuckled. "Right? There should always be a clear winner. My mom used  to get aggravated at me and my brother for being too compet-" He  stopped abruptly. With Dani calling him Gray, like most of his buddies  did, and that way she had of grinning up at him as if he were the only  man in the world who mattered, he'd almost managed to forget that she  thought he was someone else.

"Lost my train of thought," he mumbled.

She nodded absently, her easy acceptance of his fib making him feel  like scum. As far as she knew, she had no reason to mistrust him. "You  go ahead and rack 'em," she suggested. "I'm going to run to the ladies'  room."

Five minutes ago, he would have watched her cross the pool hall,  enjoying the view and the graceful, confident way she moved. Now, he was  preoccupied with guilt. His almost-mention of Bryce had taken some of  the shine off the evening.

A beautiful woman who was supposed to be at her own wedding reception  right now had entreated him to show her a good time and help her forget a  broken engagement. When he'd agreed, he hadn't been thinking any  further than this evening. But now, thoughts of his brother brought  unwelcome reality with them. Unless he swung by Bryce's house tomorrow  and somehow convinced his twin to quit his job and never step foot in  his office again, odds were, Dani would run into him at some point. Even  though she'd stipulated that she only wanted someone for tonight, that  she wouldn't cling or act differently afterward, Sean couldn't let her  face someone she mistakenly believed she'd been intimate with.                       
       
           



       

Sean could give her exactly what she wanted-a raw, passionate night  with a near stranger to keep her mind off the wedding that hadn't  happened. But before he left, he'd have to find a way to tell her the  truth. In which case, she'll probably never speak to you again.

The realization sucked. He'd known within moments of meeting Dani that  he was attracted to her, but over the past couple of hours, he'd  discovered he really liked her. She was smart and sassy, shot excellent  pool, didn't seem to have a pretentious bone in her body and, when  provoked, had the R-rated vocabulary of a cranky trucker. She was all  wrong for Bryce, but exactly the kind of woman Sean could picture  himself falling for-except he wouldn't have the chance to fall. They  only had tonight.