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“Hey! Penalty!”
“I’m afraid light tapping is permitted.”
She rolled her eyes, locked her jaw, and shot the third. This time it landed, but only earned her seventeen points. “Now who’s cheating?”
“Don’t be a poor sport.” He took his place behind the line while she removed her darts from the board, the floor, and the wall.
The bastard got a bullseye on his first shot. If he threw two more, he’d win. If he won, he’d kiss her. She didn’t know if she wanted him to miss or make the shot. Losing kind of felt like winning with so much on the line.
As he aimed, she couldn’t blink. He was completely focused. Nerves of steel. He threw and she sucked in a sharp breath.
Pivoting slowly, he smiled at her. Another bullseye.
She scowled. Had he been taking it easy on her all this time? She honestly didn’t know and felt hustled. Her heart raced as she waited for him to take the final shot.
Maybe he’d miss.
He threw the dart and—
She never actually saw a man smolder with such palpable self-satisfaction, but when Ryan turned to face her, he held nothing back. “And that’s game.” He bowed theatrically.
“You hustled me.”
“Hardly. I told you I’d win.” Sauntering to the scoreboard where she stood, he leaned over her and chalked in his winning total.
Her shoulders pressed into the wall as he caged her in. The scent of his skin filled her lungs as the warmth of his nearness filled her with a jumble of nervous energy.
“Pardon me.” He groaned, as if writing such a large score on the board was some sort of hardship. “Ah, there we go.” He dropped the chalk, letting it dangle from its tattered rope. “Now, I’m no mathematician, but I believe I’ve won the bet.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth, and her heart thundered in her chest. Was he going to do it right there, in front of everyone?
She always paid her debts and this was no different, but as she considered all the strangers sitting at the bar and in the booths, she got dizzy. “Ryan, wait.”
Leaning close, his warm breath teased her ear and he whispered, “I’ll collect my payment tonight.”
Tonight? He was going to make her wait until his shift was over? How long? Sometimes he didn’t get home until after midnight. Waiting seemed somehow worse than having to pay the piper now.
“I don’t want to wait.”
Ryan’s playful expression sobered and he did a double take. Had she just said that aloud?
“Really?”
The air stilled and the sound of the jukebox fell away. He looked into her eyes the way he often did, and she felt that deep longing Alec had asked about. Yes, she wanted him to kiss her but not here.
Ryan studied her, waiting for some form of consent. His patient façade failed in that moment as nothing but uncensored longing reflected in his blue eyes. “You want me to kiss you?”
She should take it back, but she didn’t want to. She wanted him to kiss her, but she didn’t want to feel guilty about it. This was a bet. She lost. A debt was a debt. She couldn’t be held responsible for what happened. It wasn’t like she hadn’t tried to win the game. She thought she had it in the bag. He was going to clean her gutters. But she lost.
The guilt and blame tangled up in enough excuses that she didn’t question her motives too deeply. She nodded and he stepped closer, grabbing her arm and whispering at a volume so low no one else could hear.
“You don’t want to wait until we’re alone?”
Maybe they should wait. But if she waited, the guilt would slip past her guard and she’d chicken out. Maybe that was wise to take a minute to cool off and think. Now she was second-guessing herself.
No. They were going to kiss, and she needed it to happen before she came up with a list of excuses. “The loft upstairs.”
Her words registered and his hand slid down her arm, his fingers lacing with hers. They disappeared through the entrance to the back hall. Without the crowd that had been clogging the space last time, they made it to the loft door in only a few seconds.
Her heart raced as he swiped a hand over the door molding and located a hidden key, his hands shaking as he slid the jagged metal into the lock. Any longer and she’d back out.
“Hurry.”
He looked at her in shock but didn’t say a word as the door opened and he pulled her inside. Her back hit the wall and the light from the hall disappeared as they were swallowed by the darkness.
“You sure this is okay?”
His hands cupped the side of her neck as the heat of his breath teased her lips. Her breasts pressed against the hard wall of muscle, and her stomach jolted with a rush of nerves. It had been so long since anyone touched her like that, since she felt a man’s body pressing against hers.
