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I let out a groan and lifted my beer for anotherlargerdrink. “I did have a date. It was really nice.”
He lifted a brow, and I could have sworn he’d shifted closer. He’d never quite invaded my personal space as closely as he was then. I could feel heat emanating from his body. The smell of his cologne hit me, something intoxicating like amber and leather. It was subtle, something you needed to be close to smell, and for the first time in four years, I finally was. I wanted to bury my face in his neck and breathe in deep so I could pull more of that delicious scent into my lungs.
“You know, if a woman I took on a date described it asnice, I’m not sure I’d come back from a shot to the ego like that.”
I narrowed my eyes into a glare. “It’s not an insult!” I insisted. “Itwasnice. I had a lovely time.”
“But?” He wasn’t letting me off the hook. Something told me he’d keep me right there until I confessed the truth.
“But, it was just lacking,” I admitted on a sigh. “The dinner was great, and I really enjoyed his company, but there was no... oomph.”
He lifted his beer bottle to his lips and took a drink, the way his throat bobbed drawing my attention. As I stared at the strong cords of his neck, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if I were to lean in and drag my tongue along one of them.
“Oh, sweetheart, you gotta have the oomph,” he said on a chuckle, drawing out my own laugh.
“Believe me. I know.” My shoulders slumped as I faced forward on my stool, picking up the cardboard coaster and flipping it end over end. “It’s sad, really. I’d hoped for more. It’s been so long since I went out on a first date. I guess I wanted, I don’t know, fireworks or something.”
I twisted back around to him. “I miss the excitement that used to come with dating. Do you remember that?” A smile stretched across my face as I was lost in the past. “The giddy nerves, wondering if you were going to kiss the guy once the date was over, or maybe take things a little further,” I murmured with a waggle of my brow. “The anticipation the next day of whether he was going to call or not. I miss all of that. I guess I was hoping to relive the past. I would have settled for a tiny taste of that. But it didn’t happen. I was on my way home, and decided it would have been a waste of a killer outfit to go home so I ended up here on a whim.”
I hadn’t meant to dump all of that on him. On anyone, really, but especially him. It never felt good to admit your love life failures to an unrequited crush.
“I think guys might have a different take on dating than women, but I get what you’re saying.” Before I could lift the beer to my lips and take another drink, he took it out of my hand and moved backward. “Come on.”
I spun on the stool. “What? Where?”
“We’re gonna have fun. It might not be all that giddy nerves and anticipation you were talking about, but I can still show you a good time while I whip your ass at pool.”
My head fell back on a loud scoff as I hopped off the stool and grabbed my clutch. “You really think you can whip my ass at pool?”
He walked backward as he led the way to the pool tables, and the way his eyes were drinking me in had me putting a little extra sway in my hips.
“Oh, I know I can, sweetheart. The only question is: how sore of a loser are you?”
I snorted and shook my head. “All right, fire boy. Move your ass. I’m about to make you regret all that trash talk.”
* * *
I looked up from beneath the thick fan of my lashes as I lined my pool cue. Ford stood at the other end of the table, scowling since the moment he realized he’d been hustled. “Care to take it back?” I teased, giving him a chance to admit I was the superior pool player. It was the same chance I’d given him during the other three games he’d already lost.
That stupid male pride refused to let him relent. “Just shoot, already,” he grunted. “You won’t make it. That’s an impossible shot.”
I gave him a fake look of innocence and shrugged my shoulders. “Okay, your funeral.” I pushed the cue through the crook of my fingers. It hit the cue ball perfectly, sending it flying across the table before it slammed into the eight ball. A second later, the shiny black ball made a thunk as it dropped into the pocket.
I stood tall on a laugh, bringing my pint glass to my lips and drinking the last of the beer inside. I felt damn good. I’d had three beers over the past couple hours, not nearly enough to get me drunk, but enough to feel loose and relaxed in a way I hadn’t been in a very long time.
I was glad I decided to make that left turn. This was exactly what I needed: a night of fun where all the responsibilities of being a mother were put on the back burner.
“Jesus,” Ford hissed, lifting a hand and raking his fingers through his dark, silky hair, sending it into that disarray I always thought looked so damn good on him. “How the hell did you get so good at this game?”
I set the empty glass on the table and racked my cue against the wall with all the others. “You’ve met my brother, right?” I asked with a sarcastic lift of my brows. “Being his best friend, you probably know better than most how competitive he is. Well, I’m the same. There wasn’t anything we didn’t compete over growing up. Pool just happened to be a favorite of ours.”
My feet were killing me after standing so long in those shoes, so I pulled out a chair at one of the high-top tables surrounding the pool area and took a seat. Bracing an elbow on the table, I propped my chin in my hand and smiled over at Ford as he joined me. “I dominated at pool, but he kicks my ass at darts every single time. Horseshoes too. And, oh god,” I groaned playfully, “don’teversuggest a game of Pictionary or Twister. Many a family game night nearly devolved into a blood bath over those two.”
Ford chuckled before taking another swallow, and I had to divert my attention to the bar to keep from watching his throat work. With the glass of wine I’d had at dinner and the beers here, I had loosened enough to start contemplating making some not so great decisions.
“I would have liked to see that.”
I shook my head on a laugh. “Trust me, you wouldn’t. It was so bad, my parents banned family game night for the rest of our lives. They even took all the board games out of the house and burned them in the backyard.”
