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“Maybe.” This time I bounce a shoulder. “It’s a bit hard this close to the holidays.”
“You’re telling me. Tarryn is pissed. If we go on this cruise it means she misses out on seeing her family for Christmas, and she’s real close to her mom and sister. We’ve never skipped them before.”
“I never thought of it like that,” I say with a frown. “N—I mean…Liam, hasn’t even mentioned Christmas with his family.” I’m kicking myself for that almost slip up, but more than anything, I’m wondering what Nate’s real situation is. He didn’t even blink about the fact this cruise takes place over the holidays. Does he not have anyone to spend it with?
“Is he close to them?”
I shake my head. “He doesn’t really talk about them.”
“Well, you might want to get a read on that. Or you’ll be in the doghouse like I am with Tarryn.”
“Is that the real reason she isn’t here today?”
“Yeah. She’s spending Thanksgiving with her family since they’ll miss out on Christmas. Marriage is all about compromise, Del. You’ll see.”
I release a laugh and shake my head. “We’re not ready for that yet.”
“Try telling Aunty Joan that,” he says, handing me the bocce ball. “If she gets her way, Liam will be proposing before the day is out, and believe me, that woman has some amazing convincing skills.”
NATE
“So, what do I do with this game?” I ask, tossing the weighted red ball up and catching it again. Delany, holding a blue ball, takes a step away to show me. I have to fight the urge not to pull her closer again. The more time I spend with her, the less I like being apart.
“It’s kind of like bowling. Except the goal is to get your ball as close to that little white one as possible.”
“Closest wins?” I ask.
“That’s right,” she says, pulling her hand back and rolling the ball along the immaculate lawn. It taps against another ball and knocks it further away before it rests a few inches from the tiny white ball in the center.
“Oh, I see. We can play dirty by knocking each other’s ball away?”
“Whatever gets you into the winning position.”
“And what happens if you hit the white ball?”
“Well, if it’s just a tap, nothing. If your ball rests against it, it’s called a kiss.” I waggle my eyebrows at that, and she laughs. “But if you hit it so hard it goes outside the boundary, then it’s game over, and no one gets any points.”
“OK,” I say, moving into position so I can take my shot. “Let’s see if I can get myself a kiss.” That delicious heat brightens her cheeks as she smiles and drops her gaze. I’m so distracted looking at her that I release the ball and it just rolls across the lawn, completely missing the play zone.
“I’m sure you’re really good at a great deal of things,” Delaney says. “But bocce is not one of them.”
“Hmm. You may be right,” I say, watching as my ball finally comes to a rest at the edge of a flower bed. “Maybe you should show me your form again so I can pick up a couple of pointers?”
“OK,” she says, picking up her ball and moving into position. “Keep your eyes on the space you want to occupy”—I knowexactlywhat space I’d like to occupy—"then lean over andgentlyrelease.” As she bowls, she’s completely oblivious of the fact I’m standing directly behind her just to look at her ass when she leans forward. We get four chances in this game and we’re two in, so the next shot, I’ll make sure I’m standing in front of her so I get a nice view of her cleavage. After that, it’ll be a tossup what side of her I prefer a repeat performance of. Ireallyenjoy looking at her.
“OK. Your turn again.” She hands me a ball.
“Maybe you could…I don’t know, lean over me like guys in movies do when they’re showing girls how to play pool. I think that might help me with my aim,” I tease, loving the way she giggles and tucks her hair behind her ear even though it’s already off her face.
“Just roll the ball, slugger,” she says, disappointingly keeping her distance.
I do as she says, and by the time the game is over, she’s won by a mile, but I don’t feel the loss at all since my dick is enjoying a gentle throb of attraction.
The longer we’re here, the more I dislike the fact that I agreed to come here and act as this dude Liam. If I’d been even a tiny bit smart when I first met her, I would have told her I didn’t want to pretend. That I wanted to date her for real. But now we’re here, and I’m not sure how to change the dynamic without making Delaney look foolish—that’s the last thing I want to do.
“You really do suck at this game,” Delaney says, grinning as we collect the balls and bring them back to their case.
“I might have been a teeny bit distracted,” I admit, dropping the last ball into its allocated slot.
