AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I think of the nights I’ve seen him up until the wee hours of the morning, pacing or staring into the fire. “Guess that’s why you live in the big city, huh?”
He walks over to a standing dartboard and opens the cabinets.
“Partly,” he says, gathering six darts in his hand, “but also because Seattle is where my parents settled down, and me and Archer didn’t think it was smart to uproot our lives and start over somewhere new.”
“What did your parents do?”
With confident strides, he backtracks to me and places three red-tailed darts in my palm. “If you’re going to ask me a million questions, you may as well humor me.”
I’ve never played darts a day in my life, but I take a throat burning gulp of whiskey, exhaling the oaky vapors before roughly setting my glass on the table.
“All right. Deal.” I align my body to the board, tongue snaking out as I steady my aim.
Rowan widens his stance with an arrogant smirk, and I let the first dart fly. It sails across the room before sinking into a piece of green cork on the lower right edge.
“Ha!”
When I beam up at him, he twirls one of the long metal stems between his fingers, smirking at the sharp metal point. “Not bad, kitten.”
The alcohol warms my bloodstream nearly as much as the amusement glittering in that dark gaze. “And now you owe me an answer.”
Positioning himself where I was standing, he raises an arm. “Dad was an engineer for Futura Airlines, where he created the radar technology nearly half the airlines in the world still use today, and Mom stayed home, molding us into perfectly obedient young men.” He gives me a pointed look before releasing his dart and nailing the bullseye. “I, of course, never stepped a toe out of line.”
I scrunch my nose, even though the tip has gone numb. “No wonder you don’t lie. You’re terrible at it.”
I’m dazzled by his dimpling cheeks and the crinkling lines softening his expression. “That was Mom’s thing. She said we could be whatever we wanted, but never a liar.”
“I bet I’d like her,” I say, barely above a whisper.
He holds my gaze, and though I try, I can’t look away, not when I’m finally seeing a flicker of life in those frostbitten eyes. “I bet she’d like you, too.”
When he moves to let me take another shot, I plant my feet, determined to beat him, but the front of his shirt whispering against my spine interferes with my focus.
“What’s your favorite color?” I ask to distract myself from the warm whiskey spices mixing with the masculine scent of cologne.
He murmurs beside my ear, “I’d have to check your lingerie drawer again, but I’d say red, probably.”
My hand stutters mid-throw, banking the dart hard to the left and embedding it into the wall. I whirl on him, but he takes the opportunity to sink another one beside his first.
Rowan retrieves his glass from the table and cocks a brow at me. “Is there a problem?”
“That wasn’t fair, and you know it.”
Bringing the rim to his lips, he drains what’s left. “Rumor has it, you’re easily caught off guard.”
I narrow my gaze as I swipe my drink and follow suit. My eyes water with the sting of alcohol burning my taste buds, but the delicious buzz I’m rewarded with is worth it.
I sway a little once the ice hits my teeth and the last drop lands on my tongue, then slam the glass back down on the table. “There’s no way you can do that a third time.”
“Watch and learn,” he says, oblivious that I’m setting him up.
The moment his arm extends, I bump his ribs with my elbow, and the dart careens to the left, thunking into the drywall next to mine.
He whirls on me. “You filthy cheat.”
I squeal when his arms clamp around my waist. “It’s not cheating. It’s payback!”
Game forgotten, Rowan’s big body eclipses mine as we fall back onto the couch. Laughter vibrates through me, spreading from my chest to my toes. We’re tipsy and flirting, and it feels so gratifyingly domestic that, for a solitary moment, I can almost believe it’s real.
