Chapter Nine
If Liz had a hard time deciding what to wear last night, today wasn’t proving to be any easier. Especially on only a few hours’ sleep. When Emily started yawning after every other sentence, Liz feigned being tired too and they both went off to bed, except Liz spent more hours thinking of Devlin than she finally did sleeping.
Standing in front of her sister’s closet, the sound of her cell phone ringing startled her out of her thoughts. Spinning about, she hurried to where she’d set her cell down and snatched it up. “Hello.”
“Hi.” There was no need for introductions. After only two evenings together, she recognized the voice that warmed her through the phone line.
“Hi.” If Devlin needed more words, he was plum out of luck. Right now her brain wasn’t capable of coming up with something brilliant to say.
“Listen.”
Her heart stuttered and her eyes slowly closed as she braced herself for the cancellation of their dinner date.
“I was thinking we should do something besides eat.”
Not what she expected, but he most definitely had her interest. “Like what?”
“No, ma’am. It’s a surprise, but wear comfortable clothes.”
“Comfortable? As in sweatpants, jeans, or my bathing suit?”
“Bathing suit,” the words came out so low they almost weren’t audible. On top of that, she wasn’t totally sure, but she thought she heard him sigh. “That might be a little too comfortable. Jeans or sweats or something else is up to you.”
“Up to me. Got it. All right.”
“I’m also going to pick you up a little earlier if that works?”
“How earlier?”
“Is four o’clock okay?”
Her gaze darted to the clock on the nightstand. No time for shopping, but enough time to make herself presentable. Actually, she wanted a lot more than presentable, she was hoping for knock his socks off. “I can do that.”
“Great. See you then.”
“See you.” She swiped her phone to end the call and her sister walked into the room.
“What did you decide to wear?”
“I haven’t. Devlin just called. He said to wear comfortable.” She lifted her eyes to meet her sister’s gaze. “How do you dress comfortably for a billionaire?”
Emily stepped closer. “What time is he coming?”
“Four.”
“Then he really does mean comfortable.” Emily stepped past her and pulled out a handful of clothing dangling from hangers and spread them out on the bed. About thirty minutes later she’d settled on a pair of black Capri pants that gently hugged her hips and a cobalt blue, three-quarter sleeve top with a splattering of small flowers with sparkling centers. Thirty minutes after that, she and Emily had found the perfect rubber sole sandals to go with it, and an hour and a half later she was climbing into Devlin’s car.
“Where are we going?” She clicked the seatbelt latch in place.
“You’ll see.” Repeating almost verbatim what she’d said to him last night, his lips tipped up in a teasing smile.
“Payback?”
“I prefer to think of it as returning the favor.”
What the heck was he thinking? Another burger joint? That would certainly explain his not wanting her to wear another black dress. Not that anyone cared that she’d walked into one of the oldest burger joints in Houston dressed for a night of champagne and caviar.
Just outside the loop near a newer suburban development, Devlin slowed. When the car turned into a nearby parking lot, Liz glanced up at the sign—Top of the Putt. Miniature golf?
“Don’t look so excited,” he teased.
Opening her eyes wide to remove any frowns and wrinkles, she smiled at him. “I don’t think I’ve played putt putt golf since I was a little girl.”
“Did you like it then?” He pulled into a parking spot.
Actually, she’d loved it. To this day she wasn’t sure if Uncle Fred had intentionally let her win, or if she’d actually bested her mother’s brother, but she had enjoyed it. “If memory serves me correctly, I was pretty good at it.”
“Really?” He unsnapped his seatbelt.
She bobbed her head. “Really. And you?”
“My family enjoys competition on all levels. My brother Kyle has a friend who owns a few courses and every so often a few of us will pop over and see who’s king of the greens.”
“King of the greens?” She chuckled. “Is this one of his putt putt courses? The friend?”
“No. But it’s a nice one and not too far from Emily’s.” Stepping out of the car, he met her by the passenger door and extended his elbow to her. “Shall we?”
The closer they got to the actual course, she was able to recognize the theme. “This is Wonders of the World.”
Dev’s head bobbed. “The owner got the idea from an old movie.”
“ Overboard .”
“You like old movies?”
“I like that one.” Though the place seemed way bigger and much more impressive than the course in the movie. Inside the main building that led to the actual course, her gaze darted over to the arcade room. Now that was something she wouldn’t mind a crack at.
Devlin got an enormous kick out of Liz’s reactions. Expressive eyes gave away her thoughts as clearly as a glass window. First when she spotted the sign for the miniature golf course, then again when she recognized the theme for the course, and again when she spotted the arcade section of the business. Everything about spending time with her was proving to be a sheer delight. “Ready?”
“You better believe it.” Her fingers gripped tightly around the golf club, Liz stood in front of the first hole, a replica of the Taj Mahal. Swinging the club slowly, right then left, her hips followed the motion sending the small ball down the side of the miniature pool and into the mouth of the famous monument. “I believe,” she grinned, “that would be a hole in one.”
He didn’t say a word, stood where she stood, studied the path to the monument, tested the weight of the club, eyed the path one more time for good measure, and slowly swung. The ball followed the same track as Liz’s ball and sailed into the mouth as smoothly as her ball had. Holding back on the grin that wanted to take over his face, he straightened and turned to her. “Shall we move on?”
For the next few holes, he watched her go through the same ritual, doing his best to ignore the cute way she wiggled her hips with each swing, as if that would somehow help the ball’s momentum. Coming up on the Great Wall of China, they were neck and neck and the playful tension was growing. The way she’d sway her hips, swing the club, then smile at him and do it all over again, it finally dawned on him that Liz was as competitive as anyone in his family. More importantly, she was going through all those motions merely to distract him from his game. The little stinker. It took everything in him not to laugh out loud. He’d been had. “When did you say was the last time you played?”
Her head tipped to one side and her gaze landed on him. “A long time. Apparently, it’s like riding a bike. You don’t forget.”
“Were you this good a long time ago?”
She shrugged, then smiled. “Better.”
The twinkle in her eye whenever she smiled got him every time, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to beat the pants off her, so to speak. “Better, huh?”
Hefting a shoulder in another shrug, she smiled coyly. “Am I going to have to give you a handicap?”
“Handicap?” Oh, that did it. “Not on your life.” Stepping up for his turn, he squatted down, studied the layout, and pushing to his feet, he gripped the club firmly and gently knocked the ball in the right direction. Resisting the urge to do something silly and stupid like pretend to blow at the ball for it to go in the right direction, he stood straight and held his breath. The ball slipped into the designated hole and his arms shot up at the same second he happily shouted, “Yes!” Doing a fist pump and refraining from adding in a small jig, he spun around and smiled back at her. “I could, of course, give you a handicap if you’d like.”
“Ha,” she scoffed, and swinging her club at her side, she waved him on with the other arm. “Shall we continue?”
At the last hole, they’d been toggling back and forth with lead score. Devlin had no idea who was going to win. With steady confidence, Liz walked up to the next tee and in a quick move, sent her ball straight for the hole. When it swerved around instead of sliding in, she was as surprised as he was. “Well, foo.” On a sigh, she walked up and tapped the ball into the designated hole before slowly turning to face him, forcing a smile. “All yours.”
Only one stroke and Devlin accomplished what Liz had not, he was now ahead of her. Somehow, winning within his grasp wasn’t as rewarding as it usually was. He wasn’t ready to win, to end the interaction, or to gloat over his accomplishment. “Care to go for double or nothing?”
“We didn’t bet.”
“Not too late.” Playfully, he wiggled his brows at her.
Momentarily biting back a grin, her gaze shifted to the main building. “How about a change of pace?”
“How much of a change?”
“The arcade?”
Determined not to smile widely, he shrugged. “Works for me.” Especially since he and his siblings and cousins were pinball stars. He dared to place his hand on the small of her back and guide them forward. Maneuvering through the crowd of teens and families, they crossed into the arcade area of the entertainment center.
Without hesitation, Liz marched forward, stopping in front of her game of choice.
“Skee ball?”
She nodded.
“Wouldn’t you rather test out one of the pinball machines?”
Dropping one hand on her hip and lifting a single brow as she stared at him, she didn’t say a word.
“I guess not. Okay. Skee ball it is.” After all, how hard can it be to toss a medium-sized ball into a big hole?
At first, she seemed to take it easy on him. Only landing her balls in the center forty point spot. Each time she handed the turn over to Devlin, she’d smile. Except after the first few turns, that sparkle in her eye sharpened and he just knew he was in trouble.
Sure enough, her next turn, she stood low to the table and the next thing he knew the ball landed in the upper corner with the 100-point hole. Sucking in a deep breath, he stood where she’d stood, stared at the destination and willed the ball to do what he wanted. Instead it bounced over and rolled around then sank into the twenty-point hole.
“Want some tips?”
He shook his head. “I’ll find my rhythm.”
Liz shrugged and her next few turns, once again, landed in the high score slot. The woman clearly had a golden arm, and he wasn’t the only one to notice. A small crowd had formed behind them. Every time she landed the top point spot, the growing crowd erupted in cheers or applause. The odd thing, anyone else, any other time, and his Baron competitive streak would kick in. In his younger days, he might even have been annoyed that she was not only beating him, but garnering all the attention. Not tonight. Right now, a slow grin tugged at one side of his mouth. He was actually proud of her performance. An overwhelming urge to growl at a few of the guys eyeing her with a little too much interest and shout at them to back off, the girl was his. Just one problem. The girl wasn’t his. The girl was the twin sister of one of his dearest and most important friends, and as well as he knew Emily, he had no idea what she would say if she knew that Devlin was most definitely smitten with her sister.
It was time for the last ball of the game. No way Devlin could come even close to beating her, and he didn’t care. Holy cow. He didn’t care. How was that for a first? She stood in the same spot as always, winked at Devlin, and then tossed the ball up the board and into the designated hole. The group that had grown even larger cheered. There was little point in Devlin continuing to play, she had won handily, but as she stepped aside and waved him up for his turn, he smiled at her and took the ball. Almost with no concern or planning, he tossed the ball and to his surprise, the thing bopped up and into the 100-point hole. How about that?
Another second and Liz had flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and cheering in his ear. “You did it.”
Unable to resist, he wrapped his arms around her waist and enjoyed the moment of exuberance. How special was she? Not reveling in her victory, but delighted in his final accomplishment.
Liz inched back and smiling, took another step in retreat.
As if sucker punched in the gut by a heavyweight champ, Devlin was not a believer in love at first, second, or third sight, but right about now, he was most certainly in big trouble. Believer or not, there was no doubt in his mind that he was most definitely falling for Emily’s sister, and that scared the hell out of him.