“Who do you think I should flirt with?” I ask Cam, making him just as complacent in my plan. He looks around the bar and finally his eyes land on a guy who’s standing by one of the pool tables. He seems to be here with a group of friends.
“I’ve seen him looking at you.”
“Thank you, Cam. You are a very good friend.”
Cam looks at me with amusement. “Tell that to Connor when he tries to kill me.”
I give Sienna a kiss on the cheek and walk across the bar to the man Cam pointed out. The whole time, I feel Connor’s gaze following me. Is flirting a moot point when I’m still wearing Connor’s hat? Maybe. But that’s not going to stop me from doing it.
“Hi!” I say cheerfully when I walk up to the man.
He’s in the middle of taking a sip of his beer and chokes. He flushes red as his friends laugh.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” I say.
“He’s just not used to beautiful women walking up to him,” one of his friends says. His eyes linger on the swell on my breasts over my top.
I look the man up and down. He’s cute, messy dark hair, and soulful brown eyes. He’s about six feet so not so tall that I’m going to get a crick in my neck looking up at him. “I find that hard to believe,” I say with a quick flick of my eyes at his friend.
“I’m Scarlett,” I say, in the voice I usually reserve for my erotic audios. It’s deeper and raspier than my normal voice.
His face seems to get redder. “I’m Ryan.”
“Nice to meet you, Ryan. Do you live here or are you just traveling?”
“One of my friends has family here. We’re just visiting on our way to Whistler.”
“Oh, cool. I’ve always wanted to go to Whistler. But I’m so scared of those slopes. Are you a skier?” I tilt my head, letting the edges of my hair brush against the top of my breasts.
“I’m not an expert, but I can ski.”
“Maybe you can teach me sometime?” I look at him coyly.
This is just me flexing my flirting muscle and pissing off Connor. Otherwise, this man is doing nothing for me. He’s cute, without a doubt. But the last man I dated is still looking at me like I belong to him. I gave him my heart and I never got over it.
When Connor looks at me, it’s with the kind of possessiveness they write about in books. Even right now, I’m wondering how long it will take before he loses his patience.
Do I want him to lose his patience and come over here to stake his claim? Maybe. The idea makes my heart race faster. But Connor is too sensible to do something like that. I don’t know why I’m trying to push him. Maybe because I need reassurance. If he wants me, how far is he willing to go to get me?
Julia suddenly appears next to me. “Did you know they have a mechanical bull here?” She’s sweaty and exhilarated. “I’ve always wanted to ride one.”
I look to my new friend. “What do you say? Should we go see some bull riding?”
“Only if you’re planning on doing it?” Ryan asks.
I laugh teasingly. “Bold. Is the shy thing just an act, then?”
“Uh, not really,” he says, blushing. “I don’t really know why I said that.”
“Well, now you’ve already said it,” Julia says, with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “So, we may as well do it.”
She grabs my hand and pulls me towards the back. Belatedly, I reach back and take Ryan’s hand. If I’m doing this, I might as well commit.
The crowd is denser in the back and louder. When we push to the front, we see a girl riding the mechanical bull. It looks sexy and it looks dangerous. My sisters and Mia are also gathered on the other side, and I wave at them. Sienna shakes her head at me.
“I’m going next,” Julia says excitedly.
We all cheer her on when she gets up on the bull. It starts slow and then picks up speed. There are a lot of men watching and cheering and for a second, I feel nervous for having committed to this.
