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“Donnelley, you can bait a mouse trap with a lot of different things,” she explained slowly, as if talking to a small child. “But I’ve had the best success with cheese almost every time. You know why? Because it works. And that,Elijah, was what that kiss was—cheese. You took the bait.”
He threaded his fingers through his dark hair, brushing it away from his face as a gleam lit his light brown eyes. “Keep telling yourself that, Wilkes. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
“I sleep just fine,” she retorted, crossing her arms again.
His trademarked cocky grin reappeared, and he leaned forward, invading all her personal space with his six-foot-two frame.
A sharp intake of breath escaped her, and she swore inwardly. He was so near that she could smell the light, spicy scent of his cologne.
Breathe.
Eli’s lips brushed against her ear. “I’m glad you sleep well, Wilkes,” he murmured. “But I’m willing to bet you dream of me as much as I dream about you. And I’ve learned to never bet on anything unless I know it’s a sure thing.” He pulled back and met her gaze once more. “Like I said before, I always win.”
He turned on his heel and headed back down the hall. When he reached the doorway, he glanced back over his shoulder and grinned. “You should probably rememberthat, baby doll.”
Holly gritted her teeth as he disappeared from sight, then put her palms against her forehead and let out a squeak of frustration.
The man was completely, utterly infuriating. He got under her skin and pressed every single button that made her temper flare. Unfortunately, he also pressed every one of the buttons that got her hot and bothered.
Gathering her composure, she took a deep breath and pulled her compact from her purse. After a quick touch up of powder and lip gloss, she ran her fingers through her hair and smoothed the purple and black locks down around her face.
She snapped the compact closed and shoved it back into her bag. Tipping her head back, she sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes, mulling over what had just transpired.
On one hand, she was grateful to Eli for getting the risqué photos of Brandon and Hannah taken down from theLucky Bouncewebsite. The blog was dedicated to the lives and exploits of the Las Vegas Kingsnakes hockey team, and Brandon was one of their star centers.
Her boss, Lyla, knew those pictures gave the website a lot of traffic. And traffic meant money in Lyla’s pocket.
On the other hand, what he’d done to negotiate the take down—promising Lyla that a reporter for theLucky Bouncewould have 30 days of exclusive access to him in order to pen an in-depth, exclusive feature about his life and career—had screwed her over big time.
Because he would only do it if Holly was the reporter.
She snorted and gave her head a shake. Lyla must be hopping mad over that one. The last thing she’d ever want was to hand her biggest story over to Holly.
Her boss hated that she was friends with many of the WAGS—wives and girlfriends—and resented the fact that she wouldn’t exploit those relationships to make a few bucks for the blog.
Annoying the shit out of Lyla almost made having to spend 30 days of researching and interviewing Eli Donnelley tolerable.
Almost.
Raucous laughter from the party downstairs distracted her from her thoughts, and she let out a sigh. Time to rejoin the group and grab another well-needed drink.
* * *
“Holly? Babe, is everything okay?”
Holly glanced up from her martini glass, directly into the concerned blue eyes of her best friend, Penelope Foster.
Penn was dating the Kingsnakes number-one goaltender, West Keller. They were usually glued together at the hip, but thankfully not tonight. West was hanging out at the bar’s pool table with Kingsnakes captain, Ryder O’Bryan, and their first-line center, Shaw Castle. And of course, Eli was right nearby, chalking a pool cue.
Ugh.
She should have left the party right after their run-in. She wasn’t in a celebratory mood any longer.
“I’m fine, Curly Cue.” Holly reached over and playfully tugged on a lock of Penn’s wavy blonde hair. “Why aren’t you over at the pool table with your man?”
Penn made a face. “No thanks. I’m not a fan of pool, and they’re betting on the game. You know how they get with their betting. Besides, I don’t have enough cash to join in with that crowd,” she joked.
“Good point. They’re high rollers.” Holly glanced back down at her drink, then rubbed the bridge of her nose.
