2. Chapter 2
Chapter two
Pony
For years, I’ve approached dating by playing the field and avoiding getting too close to anyone. Now that I’m older, that lifestyle feels empty, and I’ve been looking for something more fulfilling. Something real.
I have no interest in dating apps, and unfortunately, my options here at McQueen’s are somewhat limited since the female clientele—while over twenty-one—leans toward the younger side. So, the dilemma is finding a woman I want for something more than a brief fling.
Then, a long-legged beauty with rich, amber-brown eyes named Remington sat down at the bar next to me at McQueen’s. The first time her eyes met mine, it was like a punch to the chest. I can’t believe my good fortune.
Her hair’s the color of mahogany with hints of reddish highlights woven in.
Her skin is untouched by makeup. She’s dressed casually in ass-hugging jeans, a Queen t-shirt from Wembley that looks vintage, and sneakers.
She’s not dressed to impress and isn’t trying to turn heads, but she’s undoubtedly caught my attention.
She’s gorgeous, fun, easy to talk to, and has a great sense of humor. She’s the first woman in ages I’ve felt a connection with.
Just my luck, I meet the woman of my dreams the night before she’s leaving town. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make the best of it. And it isn’t as if she won’t return after this assignment. How long can it take to snap some pictures?
I take in every detail of her. The way she pushes her hair over her shoulder. The elegant outline of her neck. The way her smile reaches her eyes. The sensual curve of her breasts.
I have an overwhelming need to put my hands on her. I don’t know what her plans are for the rest of the night, but I’m not ready to let her get away.
“Do you play pool?” I ask.
“I’ve been known to run a rack from time to time.”
“Would you be interested in playing a game or two?”
She slips off her barstool and gives me a Cheshire-cat grin. “If you think you’re up for it.”
I admit, her confidence is a huge turn-on.
I slide off my stool and step next to her, placing my hand on the small of her back. “Shall we?”
We relocate to McQueen’s big game room and snag a table. “Care to make it interesting?” I ask, handing her a pool cue.
“What’d you have in mind?”
I move into her space, but I’m not touching her. “If I win, I get a kiss.”
Her head tilts, those brown eyes shining with mischief. “And if I win?”
I smirk. “You get a kiss.”
“Hmm. Maybe it’s just me, but that seems rather one-sided since you win either way.”
“Oh, trust me, it’ll be a win for both of us.”
She unleashes a charming, lopsided smile at me. “You’re awfully confident, aren’t you? Okay, you’re on, but you buy the beers.”
Her response is casual, but I don’t miss her soft inhale of breath or the way her pupils dilated when I made my offer.
“Deal.”
I rack the balls and let her break. She sinks solids. Studying the table, she saunters around it and bends over in front of me, lining up her next shot. I stand behind her enjoying the view with a grin on my face.
As though she feels me staring at her, she twists to peer at me over her shoulder. “You’re not looking at my ass, are you?”
I don’t think before the words spill from my mouth, “Can you blame me? It is the most perfect ass I’ve ever seen.”
She lets my response hang in the air between us. Then her lips quirk, and her smile spreads. “You know, you throw a pretty good line for someone who doesn’t think he’s got game.”
A burst of heat flares in my chest at her flirty response.
She turns back toward the table. Her stick glides back and forth, back and forth between her fingers before hitting the cue ball and dropping the seven ball into one of the side pockets.
“Why do I get the feeling I’m being hustled?” I ask after she makes her next three shots.
She flashes a grin at me over her shoulder. She misses her next attempt, and I sink mine, but fail to make it two in a row.
By the way she works the table, I’m not surprised when she wins two out of three games we play. The surprise is her sultry smirk when she saunters up to me. “I believe that’s game, and a bet’s a bet.”
I lay both pool cues on the table and step closer, sliding my hands around her waist and tugging her until she’s pressed flush against me.
Without hesitation, her arms loop around my neck.
The kiss starts slow and tentative, but it’s as though we feel the explosion of heat at the same time.
Our lips part, and our tongues tangle together.
Her mouth is heaven. The kiss is demanding, claiming, ravaging.
It may be the best kiss of my life. I don’t want it to end, but we’re in public, and I don’t want to embarrass her or take it too far.
When our lips separate, her palms rest against my chest, and her voice is husky and breathy. “I know this might seem forward, but I’m staying at the hotel across the street. Would you be interested in getting out of here?”
I don’t try to fight the smile that twitches my lips. “Absolutely.”