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Knoll and Sedarno each had half their buckets of balls remaining; they wouldn’t be moving for at least five more minutes. Casually, Adam strolled back to where all of the carts were parked. His contact on Knoll’s staff told him that Knoll’s golf bag could be identified by obnoxiously large Chicago Bears golf club covers. He spied the navy and orange covers on a cart parked directly behind Knoll’s place on the practice tees.
With the bug in his left hand, he paced slowly toward the cart, doing hamstring stretches. It took three long seconds to get the bug in place under the steering wheel. Then he hamstring-stretched his way back to his own spot and hit the rest of his bucket of balls.
Another reason he’d left Jess’s room so abruptly was that he could barely speak calmly to her while she was standing there in an indecently short towel. He’d lost his breath when she came out of the bathroom. Wet, tan skin. Miles of perfect leg. Her long hair was combed away from her face. Those eyelashes had actual droplets from the shower on them.
He’d gone as hard as a spike. He’d never been a monk, but damn, he didn’t even know he was capable of being that hard. He’d long thought that the true measure of a woman’s beauty was how she looked soaking wet, free of all makeup and artifice. Now he knew what Jess looked like soaking wet. Jesus Christ, he was toast.
Knoll and Sedarno got into their cart and drove to the first tee. Adam followed from a safe distance, putting a headphone bud in one ear. The men weren’t speaking, but he could tell the receiver was working just fine when Sedarno coughed. Good enough. He didn’t really need to wait in the clubhouse all afternoon. He shouldn’t be seen with Jess, but maybe they could—
“Hi there, gentlemen. I have a proposition for you.” A familiar voice in his ear. Adam froze, and his heart began to pound. Fuck, no. She did not.
Sedarno responded in his raspy voice. It sounded like he was smiling. “I always enjoy a proposition from a charming young lady.”
Adam pulled his cart over and climbed out. From here, he had a clear view. Knoll and Sedarno sat in their cart next to the first tee. Jess stood next to their cart in the tiniest pair of golf shorts he’d ever seen. On top, she wore a sleeveless collared shirt with a zipper. Which was currently pushed all the way down. Her breasts, on the other hand, were pushed all the way up. Holding a driver in her hands, a visor was perched on her head, and her hair dangled in a high ponytail down her back. If she’d been blonde, she would have looked like Golf ’’Course Barbie. As she was, she looked like she’d walked out of a beer commercial.
Either unaware or unconcerned with Adam’s open-mouthed scrutiny, she said, “I’m a last-minute single.” She grinned at Knoll and Sedarno. “The starter told me you’re a pair. I was wondering if I could join you.”
Before they could answer, she said, “Drinks on me, all day long.”
Knoll and Sedarno exchanged glances. Then Knoll answered exactly as Adam would have predicted. “Sorry, sweets. We’re on the clock here. You seem sweet, but the answer is no.”
Adam was so angry at her that he couldn’t wait to yell “I told you so” in her face. He waited for her to walk away. Christ, he was going to wrap his hand around that ponytail and—
She didn’t walk away. Instead, she licked her lips and raised one eyebrow. “What if we made it interesting?”
Knoll raised a hand like a fly swatter, as if he were about to flick her away. But Sedarno said, “What do you mean?” Knoll dropped the hand. Sedarno was unquestionably the boss.
Jess pointed to the first tee. “Let’s all go tee off. If I outdrive both of you, you’ll let me join you. If not, your first round of drinks is still on me.”
Sedarno’s raspy voice was wry. “It’s not that big a deal for you to outdrive us from the ladies’ tees, sweetheart.”
She laughed then, and it was such a sexy sound that even through his anger, Adam had to shift in his seat. Damn pants were getting way too uncomfortable. “I’ll use the men’s tees,” she promised.
“Well, I can’t resist seeing her outdrive you, Maurice,” Sedarno teased. The men climbed out of the cart, and the three of them walked up to the tee, away from his bug. Since he couldn’t hear anymore, Adam carefully walked closer. There weren’t a lot of things to hide behind, but he just had to see what happened next.
What the fuck was she doing? Exposing her face—and her entire freakin’ body—to the eyes of the two men they were supposed to be discreetly following? Clearly, she had no clue as to the long-term consequences of this impromptu decision. He never should have brought her along. She was only thinking about the short-term goal. And she’d exposed herself for no good reason! Adam was a fairly good golfer, but he never would have challenged them to a driving contest. Both men were solid, experienced,
strong players. But, of course, she wouldn’t know that.
Ugh, he was going to kill her. It was unlike her to be so stupid. She didn’t know their golfing skills. She couldn’t. She could only know her own.
She could only know her own.
The thought echoed in his head as Knoll went first, striking the ball hard and straight. It landed on the left side of the fairway, about 230 yards away. Both Jess and Sedarno clapped. “Not terrible, Maurice,” Sedarno said.
Fumbling for his phone, Adam Googled “Jessica Hughes Chicago golf.” The reception on the course wasn’t great. He looked up from the spinning pinwheel in time to see Sedarno take a great swing, sending the ball careening past Knoll’s. It had to have gone at least 250 yards.
Knoll chortled. “Get out your wallet, girlie. I’m thirsty.”
Jess made a show of wiping sweat off her brow. Then she bent over, straight-legged, to stick her tee in the ground. Adam would have enjoyed the view except he noticed how much Knoll and Sedarno were enjoying it.
He glanced down at his search results—and almost groaned aloud. The first article was from thirteen years ago, entitled “Hughes does it again.” For fuck’s sake. He should have known. In high school, Jessica won the Illinois state golf tournament two years in a row. The article cited her unusual power and mental toughness as the key secrets of her success.
Ignoring Knoll and Sedarno’s stares, Jess got into position, squatting behind the ball, straightening her arms. Adam held his breath, not sure if he hoped she’d do it or not. Without even taking a practice swing, she nailed the ball into the center of the fairway.
Ten yards past Sedarno’s.
The two men stared at the ball and then at her face. Back and forth, like it was a tennis match. Jess just raised her eyebrows and smiled pleasantly. “Shall we, gentlemen?” She gestured to their carts.
