Emerson laughed, knowing exactly what she hadn’t said. And why. But he took mercy on her embarrassment and moved on. “You haven’t had dinner?”
“The lobster roll and a few bites of the burger,” she told him.
He was surprised at that statement, noticing how thin she already was. “But that was hours ago. You need to eat something else.”
Rachel’s eyes widened when he lifted his hand to signal to Dennis. “Two burgers with everything,” he called out. Dennis nodded his head, completely ignoring Rachel’s shaking head as he shuffled off to the kitchen to put in their order.
As the night progressed, she made it from one beer to three, downing the burger in no time since it was amazingly juicy and delicious, but the third beer was her undoing. They’d been talking about anything and everything, Rachel laughing at his insights into the various places she’d visited and offering her additional ideas. It was a fun night, good conversation and excellent food but she also started to feel a bit too relaxed. When Jack raised his hand to order another round, she pulled his hand down. “I think I’m sticking to seltzer water for the rest of the night.”
Emerson looked down at her, saw the bright smile in her eyes and acquiesced. “I suppose you’ve relaxed enough. Come on,” he told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her up out of the chair.
“Where are we going?” she asked, following despite the pain in her feet from walking all over town in these heels.
“I’m going to teach you how to play pool.”
Rachel kept a straight face as she followed behind, enjoying the strong hand pulling her behind him. She didn’t tell him about her pool-playing days in college. If he wanted to assume things about her, then he could go ahead. She thought it might be an easy way to make a few bucks. “I don’t know if pool will be as easy to teach as drinking beer,” she cautioned. She considered him forewarned with that shot.
“Here,” he said and handed her a pool stick. At one of the open pool tables in the back of the bar, he pulled all the balls together, sliding them into place. “Okay, so here’s how you play,” he said and moved behind her, pulling her close and bending her low over the table. “You have to sight the balls down the end of the cue stick,” he said softly, his voice deep and heavy in her ear with his warm breath blowing the wisps of hair along her overly sensitized skin.
She shivered when his right hand moved down her back, then along her arm to the end of the stick. “This hand will add force to the hit while,” and he leaned in even closer, sliding his left hand down her arm, his groin pressing against her bottom intimately and causing her eyes to close as the impact of his double caress hit her hard, “the other hand aims.”
He chuckled softly as he noticed her closed eyes, but he liked it, liked knowing that he could impact her like this. “You won’t hit many balls into the pockets with your eyes closed.”
She took a deep breath and stood up, moving out of his embrace. “I think I got this,” she whispered, shaking her head to get the clean scent of Jack out of her mind.
“Are you sure?” he asked softly, towering over her, enjoying the fascinating light in her green eyes. “I’m more than willing to show you how to do it for your first few tries.”
She narrowed her eyes in his direction, finally understanding what he was up to. “Stand over there,” she told him, her voice not nearly as firm as she’d intended. She pointed towards the other side of the pool table.
When he’d sauntered over to where she’d pointed, she leaned down again, starting to aim the pool stick. But her jacket was too tight. She stood up, laying the stick on the side of the pool table and slipped her arms out of the jacket, laying it on the top of one of the unused pool sticks.
“Better,” she said and leaned over once again. She didn’t see the man stare at her, didn’t know that Emerson’s mouth went dry at the sight of her body placed across the pool table in such a suggestive manner. He watched her, ignoring the solid and striped balls as he focused only on Rachel’s slender, voluptuous body stretched out so perfectly for his viewing pleasure.
He heard the balls strike but he was too busy watching her to see what had happened to the balls.
Rachel stood up and surveyed the pool table with satisfaction when three of the balls went into the pockets. Looking over at Jack, she smiled in his direction brilliantly. “Want to put some money on the game?” she asked.
He chuckled, almost more turned on by her smile than her round bottom that had been sticking up in the air a moment ago. “You sound like a pool shark. Are you telling me that you’re that good?”
She shrugged and looked at the table. “I don’t know. Are you any good?” she asked, glancing up at him with a sly smile.
Emerson wasn’t immune to those soft, green eyes. They were laughing at him and he instantly knew that he was about to be played. But if it meant he could watch her bend over the pool table like that again, he was all for it. “What’s your price?” he asked softly, watching her eyes light up even more. He knew he was in trouble then.
“How about the bar tab?” she suggested, grinning from ear to ear.
“Deal,” he laughed and moved forward. “My turn?”
“Not a chance. I just put three balls into the pocket.”
Emerson’s surprise was written plainly on his face. He looked down at the pool table and sure enough, three of the solid balls were gone. “Okay, City Girl. You’re on.”
She laughed and almost danced to her next position.
“I think I’ve been played,” Emerson said out loud, enjoying her laughter as well as her lush body as it moved in front of him.
One after another, she shot the solid balls into the pockets, barely even touching any of the striped balls unless she needed one for a ricochet.
“Excuse me,” she said, looking over her shoulder as she tried to get the angle for her last ball to go in.
“Absolutely,” he said, but he grabbed her waist, his breath warm as he said into her ear. “I’ll just wait on the other side of the table.” His hand slid along her waist and her back, causing shivers to move all through her body.
She knew exactly what he was doing but couldn’t stop it. “That’s cheating,” she whispered, closing her eyes to fight the heavy languor that melted her insides with his touch.