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n one hand and her other hand on her hip, she batted her eyes playfully at the youngest of the two. Maybe she was pouring it on too thick. How did one gauge that.
"Can I play too?" Her voice was deliberately husky.
"Why shore honey. Can you shoot?"
"A little," she teased with a smile, glancing at the youngest man with exaggerated interest.
"Well hell fire honey, let's see what you can do." The other one said looking at her from head to toe.
Savannah edged closer to the younger one, thinking he might be a safer bet than this oversized stud.
"You wanna lag?" The youngest chimed in, moving closer.
She smiled, took a big deep breath, causing her chest to expand and the cowboy's eyes dropped to the first button of her shirt.
"Ladies first," said the older cowboy with a grin, and a quick lick of his lips.
Savannah summoned all her courage and brazenly strutted to the table, she took the younger cowboy's hat and put it on her head, then she took the cue and chalked it good, as her brother taught her. She wasn't doing anything she hadn't seen her friends do, but somehow, she seemed to come off different.
She was about to rack the balls when the bigger cowboy obliged and the younger man took both her hands in his and caressed each finger with added chalk.
"Suppose we make this interesting," she cleared her throat and stared into the young cowboy's eyes. He was handsome, but he didn't hold a candle to the Sheriff. She had to quit thinking about the Sheriff, he wasn't interested in playing games nor getting married. And she was. Marriage was utopia. Stamping out the Sheriff's image, she smiled and nodded.
"Sure, I win, you buy dinner, how's that?" She crooned playfully.
"Ah now honey, we can do better than dinner, can't we?"
"It's a date," she agreed, Just because she'd never played this game of cat and mouse, didn't mean she couldn't act.
"Rack 'em, Leroy," The youngest cowboy said staring straight into her smiling and unsuspecting face.
"The lady breaks 'em." Leroy nodded.
Savannah moved herself closer to the young cowboy, and extended her body over the table. Even though her daring display had caught the eye of everyone in the saloon, she wasn't paying attention. She hadn't realized that flirting took so much effort.
She took the cue stick and leaned into the table, stretching herself in an exotic pose. Then she heard the break of the balls and heard one drop into its pocket. Leroy whistled.
She glanced up at him and smiled, the younger cowboy pulled her up against him. She smelled the beer on his breath, saw the desire in his eyes and knew she was in the biggest trouble she had ever been in. Oh dear God, she'd gone too far.
Why oh why was she playing with such fire? Just because the only man she had ever almost married preferred male company to hers, didn't mean she had to prove to the world she was a woman. Did it? Well, maybe it did. Maybe her ego had been hurt more than she thought. Maybe she wasn't sure how to handle Chad's problem or her own. Chad was gay, but she was just alone, sad, and lost from the world she wanted to build.
Even though her brother Jarod had taught her to play pool and play well, these cowboys wanted much more than a game and she was flirting with sure disaster. A bet was one thing, what these fellas wanted was not flirting. And she suddenly knew it. She swallowed hard. She'd been the one to start this, somehow she had to get herself out of it. But how? She'd never dealt with a half drunk cowboy before.
There was no manual for getting out of something like this. How did her friends handle it? She couldn't remember.
A prayer went up, but she remained confident as the second ball found a pocket. The young cowboy pulled her to him and kissed her on the lips. He was more immature at kissing than talking and she bit back a retort when he tried to nuzzle her neck. Sweat peppered her upper lip. Her hands trembled, but she ignored the silent threat that lay between her and these men. Somehow she had to use her head and get out of this. But how?
This was simply flirting, and she could handle a couple of red-neck cowboys, couldn't she?
She poised herself for another shot, bent to take aim, and heard Leroy let loose with a big boast.
"This hot little mama is playing for keeps. Now honey, don't scratch. We might have to take you up on your generous offer. 'Course I wouldn't mind takin' you on, anytime." Leroy's hot breath filled the air around the room.
Smoke and beer seemed to reek. Savannah felt her knees quiver. She was in much too deep and how to get out wasn't spelled out on the wall. Innocent flirting, wasn't that what she was doing? But it had been her only intention. She'd seen her friends do it a million times. So why was she in so deep? What had she done wrong?
She could tell instantly from the looks of the other women in the bar, she was doing this all wrong. So how did she correct it?
But if she thought this was trouble, she had no idea.
