Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75152 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“I’m planning on it.”
The words had barely left my mouth when Rooster showed up at the door and announced, “Hey, brother. Your girl’s here.”
“Thanks, man.” I got up and started out of the bar as I told Cotton, “I’ll catch up with you later.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that.”
When I got to the parking lot, Jules was already out of her car and was talking to Hayes. The second she spotted me coming in their direction, Jules smiled and said, “There you are.”
As soon as I saw that light in her eyes, I wanted to scoop her up in my arms and kiss the hell out of her, but I’d been doing my best to take things slow. It wasn’t easy. Jules was smoking fucking hot and I wanted her more than I cared to admit, but she’d been through a lot. I didn’t want to scare her off by expecting too much too soon. “You ready?”
She nodded, then turned to Hayes and said, “I’ll see you later.”
“Later!”
I reached for her hand, then led her inside. Jules had mentioned that no one had ever taught her how to play pool, so I invited her out to the clubhouse so I could give her a few lessons. I took her back to the family room, where we’d have a little more privacy. As soon as I had the ball set up, I went over some of the basics with her. Showed her things like how to position her hips and how to use the hook of her thumb to guide the pool stick—all of which took hands-on instruction.
I knew it was a cheap ploy to get close to her, but fuck. A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. When she started getting the hang of it, I decided it was time for her to test her skills. “You up for a quick game?”
“I don’t know.” She raked her teeth across her bottom lip. “I don’t think I’m anywhere close to good enough to win against an expert like you.”
“An expert, huh?” I racked the balls as I told her, “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were fucking with me.”
Her mouth dropped open, and with a dramatic flutter of her eyelashes, she teased, “Who me? Never.”
“Um-hmm.” I racked the balls, then motioned her over to break them. “Okay, let’s see what you can do.”
“Okay, but don’t expect too much.” Jules looked nervous as she stepped over to the table and leaned into position. I stepped up behind her and was about to give her another pointer when she looked back at me with furrowed brows. “I’ve got it.”
And she did.
She eased the pool stick back and hit the cue ball just right. Hell, those balls broke like I’d been the one who’d made the shot. When one of the solids went into a side pocket, I gave her a nod and said, “Well, done.”
“Thanks, but I’m pretty sure I just got lucky.” She sauntered to the end of the table to make her next play and missed. “See?”
“You’ll get it next time.”
I walked over to make my shot, and as soon as I’d leaned in and tried to focus on the play, she’d slipped up behind me and brushed her hip against my ass. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Hm-hmm.” I knew she’d purposefully bumped into me, but played it off until she did again, forcing me to miss my shot. “Hey, now. You’re playing with fire.”
“Fire, huh?” She batted her eyelashes and sashayed over to the other end of the pool table. She leaned in to take her shot as she teased, “Well, you know what they say... if you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.”
When she made the shot, I smiled and said, “I can take the heat, baby. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Well, that’s good...” She gave me a playful wink, then skirted behind me with her breast lightly grazing my back. I could feel the warmth of her breath on my neck as she whispered, “Because things are really starting to warm up in here.”
“Yeah, they are.”
I watched a sexy little smirk sweep across her beautiful face as she leaned down to make her next play, and that’s when I decided it was time for me to turn the tables on her. I took a couple of steps back and positioned myself right behind her. When she realized I was staring at her ass, she whipped around and asked, “Can I help you with something?”
“Nope.” I continued looking at her ass as I added, “I’m good.”
Seeming completely unfazed, she made the shot, only this time, the ball didn’t go into the pocket. “I think that’s my cue to hit the lady’s room.”
“It’s through the door and down on the right.”
“Great. I’ll be right back.”