New Game in Town(25)

Matt was easy to be with—fun. He didn’t threaten her hard-won confidence the way Connor did. If nothing else, his great athletic form might help her forget Connor for tonight. And that was the objective.

Forget Connor!

It was hard to miss Matt’s gaze of appreciation running over her. After all, she had dressed in the strapless plum silk dress knowing she would be attracting attention. Her entire new wardrobe was meant to entice the senses. The silk folded tightly across her chest in simple ruching and skimmed down snuggly to her knees, leaving her shoulders bare to Matt’s caressing fingers.

She desperately searched for a glimmer of passion at the feathery touches. The lack of heat from the feel of his hand slowly, lightly, running down her bare neck to her shoulder was disappointing. Gina was helpless to compare his touch to that of the man who had taken her to never-before-reached heights.

Instinctively, Gina pulled slightly away from Matt’s suggestive touch. She watched helplessly as he raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

The feel of the incessant buzzing of her cell phone against her leg had her breaking eye contact with Matt. Gina reached for the clutch nestled beside her and pulled out her phone.

“Sorry, Matt, but I need to take this call.” Without looking at her call display, she intuitively knew it was Connor. Pressing the talk button, she answered the call, bringing the cell up to her ear.

“Walk away from him.” The quiet steel of command came through loud and clear over the din of the music and cacophony of conversations surrounding her in the busy club.

Automatically, her green eyes darted around the busy room, searching for Connor in the crush of bodies—coming up empty, Gina avoided looking directly at Matt.

“Now, Gina, walk away from him now. If he touches you again…” She heard Connor draw a long harsh breath and then pause before he continued, “Don’t talk to him, just move away before I…”

Gina interrupted without thinking, “Before you—what?”

A small part of her knew that baiting a tiger was a sure way to get bitten. A delicious memory of those teeth raking down her smooth thighs had her fidgeting again, but a much bigger part of her couldn’t help but prod Connor a little. He was obviously in the club, watching her. How had she missed him?

“Did you really think you were going to go from my bed to his? Did you think I would allow another man to touch you?” Even though his voice grew quieter, it was infused with such coldness that she felt an involuntary shudder run down her back. “You let him put his damn hands on your skin. This isn’t a fucking game.”

Allow? Gina frowned. Really? Where was this possessiveness coming from? From the man who changed women on a daily basis, literally? Connor was the playboy hockey player who wrote the book on playing the field. In fact, she hadn’t expected to hear back from him on a personal level after their last night together.

“Connor…” Unsure of her own mixed feelings, she couldn’t finish responding. Gina knew she would be deluding herself if she didn’t acknowledge a secret thrill at his possessive words. The great Connor Waters, who could have any woman he wanted, wanted her! Then the tiny flame of fear in the pit of her belly ignited, burning brighter with each passing second.

Yeah, and when he gets tired of you, there will be plenty of other women who will be waiting to take your place at a moment’s notice.

“That’s right, say my name again,” he demanded harshly in her ear.

“Say it!” he ripped out when she hesitated.

“Connor,” she barely whispered, not even sure if he heard her over the loud music pumping around her.

“Meet me outside. I dare you.” The dead air echoed in her ear, indicating Connor had hung up before she could respond to his arrogant command.

Would she accept his dare?

Gina felt some of her newfound courage falter. Old self doubts impeded the hard-won poise she had worked so hard to attain with her new life makeover. Glancing down at herself, it was hard to reconcile the “new” Gina with the “old” one. Sure, the dress was new and her soft auburn curls were cut to artfully frame her features, but was she all that different from the meek woman she had been before her great transformation? Previous relationships had left painful and lasting impressions. The proverbial wounds may have healed, but the scar tissue was a keen reminder of her failures.

It was difficult to believe that Connor would stay interested in a woman like her for very long. Not when he had beauties throwing themselves at him.

* * * * *



Walking out the front doors of the busy club, Gina wrapped her coat tightly around herself as the wind pelted the rain like little bee stings across her cheeks.