by Tess Oliver
He stared down at the chalk.
“Emmie, they’re ready to break,” Derek huffed.
The biker lifted his face. Something about the artificial lighting in the room made some of his tattoos look as if they were vibrating with life. “If I kick it that direction, then I won’t have the pleasure of watching you walk over here in those skin tight jeans. A big improvement from the dress, by the way. Knew you were hiding something incredible under all that fabric.”
I stared down at the chalk and considered leaving it right where it lay. Unfortunately, I was one of those pathetic nerds who, if I sharpened a pencil and some errant shavings fell next to the trash can instead of inside of it, I’d drop to my knees to pick up each piece, no matter how small.
Derek was getting hot under his designer shirt collar while he waited for me, but my attention wasn’t on my pool partner. It was on the giant filling up the dark corner of the pool hall with his cocky grin tilting up the side of his moustache and brown eyes that, I hated to admit, had me slightly mesmerized.
I lifted my chin. If he wanted a show, then I was going to damn well give it to him. I swayed my hips and strode toward him. As expected, he stared at me, not missing one swing of my hips. I looked down at him for a long moment, bent down to the floor to pick up the chalk and then turned around directly in front of him. The magic jeans were giving me all kinds of confidence and I had no idea why, except that I felt pretty darn good in them.
I glanced at him over my shoulder. His gaze was riveted to my bottom. I cleared my throat. He lifted his dark brown eyes to my face.
“Was it all you anticipated?” I asked.
“More than you know, sweetheart.” His expression softened some and something about the way he was looking at me made my throat tighten. For the briefest second, I felt as if I was looking at the man who could steal my heart and keep it forever.
I dragged my gaze from his and faced the pool table. Derek looked about ready to walk.
“Are we playing or are you going to waste time with ‘easy rider’ over there?”
“Well, Emmie,” the biker spoke from behind. The way he said my name, with his whiskey toned voice, made my body flush with rosy warmth. “Are you gonna play?”
I sashayed to the table and added a little more sway to my hips just to give him another look. I stood behind the table end. I shot a quick, sharp glance at Derek, then leaned confidently over the table and shattered the neatly arranged triangle of balls.
Chapter 8
After a few semi-skilled shots, I managed to lose some of the fluster I was feeling, not because of my partner’s serious scowls but from the man hiding in the shadows, seemingly watching my every move.
Derek’s neck seemed to grow a darker red as each one of my stripes rolled obediently into a pocket. Several shots in, all the skills and moves Joe had taught me came flowing back. Word of a woman trouncing Derek, who was, by most standards, a good player and apparently had a reputation of always winning, had traveled all the way up to the bar. Even Coco had coasted in temporarily to watch me play. Then she’d left with a wink and a wave good-bye.
By the time the black ball rolled merrily into the pocket, Derek looked ready to chew off the end of his cue stick.
And, all the while, I’d taken more than my share of opportunity to catch the approving gaze of the spectator at the corner table.
Derek laughed in a tone that was anything but amused. “All right, did Larry hire you? That’s it. You’re one of those pool sharks, one of those two-bit hustlers who pretends they can’t play to win money.”
I raised a brow at him as I let the end of my cue stick rest on the ground. I was afraid if I didn’t, I might swing it at the idiot. “First of all, there was no bet, remember? You were going to teach me pointers?”
That comment earned a good round of laughter from the people who had gathered to watch. It only made the red on Derek’s neck rise up to his face. He’d added a bit of a nostril flare to his expression.
“I’m not a pool shark or hustler, and I’m definitely not two-bit. In truth, I haven’t picked up a pool cue in at least five years. Far as I’m concerned, this was just a warm up game.” More laughter and the red in Derek’s face was reaching the part in his hair.
“Bullshit. You’re a lying bi—” Before he could finish, the chair behind me scraped the floor. All eyes in the place, and especially Derek’s, which were now bulging in fear, had focused on something behind me.
The red in Derek’s face drained away. He gripped the pool cue as if it was his only defense. I turned around, and a breath caught in my throat. He looked even bigger than he had out in the fog. He stepped out from the shadows. I was certain I heard more than one stunned gasp circle the room behind me.
His hard, dark stare was focused on Derek as he walked toward the table.
He stopped just a few feet short of my sore loser pool partner. “Good thing you decided not to finish that sentence.”
Derek lifted his shoulders as high as they would go, but he still looked comically insignificant next to the biker. “Yeah? Why don’t you mind your own damn business.”
With that comment, Derek had, at least, distanced himself from the David comparison. David would have already shuffled off on his loafers without looking back. Although, what Derek made up for in courage, he obviously lacked in common sense.
The sudden tense quiet in the pool hall had alerted Hank, the owner. He was the only other human in the place who could rival the biker in size and overall scariness. He looked none too pleased with the scene that met him in his pool room.
Onlookers parted as the giant owner lumbered to the pool table. “Damn it, Beck, don’t you go starting anything in here.”
I realized I’d already memorized the set of the man’s shoulders and the way the head of the ink snake on his neck moved as he flexed his arms and wrists, but it was the first time I’d heard his name. Beck. It fit.
“Not starting anything, Hank. This suit with the aftershave that smells like someone’s ass is proving to be a really bad loser. He needs to apologize to the woman for being such a dick.”
“Or what?” Derek asked. I had to hand it to the man, he might have been a terrible loser, but he had some guts.
Beck took another step forward, ignoring the fiery glare of the bar owner. Derek took a small step back. It seemed his tough shell was cracking.
I needed to step in. “Thank you.” I inclined my head at Beck. “But I don’t need an apology. Obviously my opponent hadn’t met his match yet. Until now.” I winked sweetly at Derek. “Maybe sometime I can drop by here and give you some pointers. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to be on my way.” It seemed every eye in the place was on me as I returned my cue to the rack and headed out.
“Stupid bitch,” Derek sneered as I walked past.
I hadn’t heard anything but a rush of air behind me, but every face in the bar froze in shock. I twisted around, and my own shock followed. Beck had his hand around Derek’s throat.
Derek swung the pool cue around, but Beck lifted his arm and intercepted it. He tossed the cue on the table. Hank circled around the table. Beck held up a hand to stop him. “I’m not going to hurt him, Hank. Just want him to apologize to the lady.” He was completely calm as he spoke. “Now, I’m going to let go of you, so you can come up with a nice, sincere apology. Then I’ll let you walk the fuck out of here.”
Derek’s eyes were wide with fear by the time Beck let him go. He coughed and sucked in long breaths. Derek briefly turned my direction, looking at me as if he wished he’d never laid eyes on me. “I’m sorry I called you a hustler and a bitch.” With that he stumbled out of the pool hall and out of the bar.
I glared hard at Beck. “You are a jerk.” I turned and walked out of the bar.
Chapter 9
T
he night was surprisingly warm, and I was feeling, even more surprisingly, amped up over the incident in the pool room. I’d never been called a stupid bitch before, and I’d, most assuredly, never had someone, a complete stranger at that, stand up for my honor. As pissed as I was that it had devolved to a smattering of violence, I had to admit I was feeling a little giddy about the whole thing. I just hadn’t been willing to let my arrogant knight in black leather know it.
A motorcycle rumbled in the distance, but my mind was still reeling with too much to pay attention to the sound. Until the loud rumbling machine rolled up next to me.
I stared straight ahead, pretending not to notice. I probably should have been frightened by the extremely intimidating looking man on the motorcycle, but, interestingly enough, I wasn’t. In fact, I would have been lying to myself if I didn’t admit that I was feeling a streak of excitement. Of course, I had no intention of letting that show. His head was already plenty of sizes too big for his helmet.
The turret and the pointed roof of the Silk Stocking Inn loomed tall and gothic in the night sky. Beck revved the bike once, startling me along with some night critter with a long tail out of a nearby bush. Then he rode off.
My shoulders dropped in disappointment. It was silly. A man like Beck would never have the slightest interest in a bookish type like me. I was, no doubt, the complete opposite of the kind of woman he’d be interested in. I wasn’t even certain why I was having a mind debate about it. Then I remembered back to my last date with David, when the unsavory looking biker had walked into the bistro, looking completely out of place. I’d found myself watching him and his girlfriend, and I’d found the whole idea of being with a man like that more than a bit intriguing. That was it. That explained the excitement. My dark, deep fantasy man had just come to my rescue in the pool hall. And I’d returned the favor by calling him a jerk. Well done, Emmie.
I decided to just push the whole evening out of my mind. A cozy bed awaited me, and tomorrow, I’d be back at home. Back in my safe, dull and excitement-free life, I thought wistfully.
I reached the long road that wound up the hill to the inn. The front porch light was on. Coco had mentioned leaving the door unlocked for me. She was a very accommodating hostess, even if I had no way to describe or explain how I’d ended up at her inn.
The night glittered with an unusually vast amount of stars. I was far from the usual lights of the city, and it seemed every star in the sky was twinkling without the artificial glare to dim their brilliance. With only one dusty porch lamp to light up the front of the house, it took me a second to discern the silhouette of the motorcycle parked out front. My heart jumped at the sight of it. It might have been from alarm, but it seemed more to be from the thrill of seeing Beck again.
My pool hall hero was sitting on the front steps, still clad in his black leather jacket. He leaned his elbows back on the step behind him and peered up at me with that disarming, brown gaze. I had definitely been hasty in calling him a jerk. Still, he didn’t need to know that.
“Interesting coincidence meeting you here,” I noted tersely.
“Probably not as big a coincidence as you might think. Seems we are both staying at the inn tonight.”
“You’re the other guest?” I laughed. “I somehow doubt that.”
“You can doubt whatever you like, sweetheart.”
Not completely sure what compelled me to do it, but I found myself sitting down beside him. Even sitting, he towered over me.
“Where’d you learn to play pool like that? I assume they didn’t teach you that in librarian school.”
“You can assume whatever you like,” I said, throwing his quip back at him. “But pool shark 101and advanced hustling are integral parts of the library science degree.”
His laugh was as deep and to the point as the way he spoke. “You are cute and feisty as hell for a bookworm, I’ll give you that.”
“Not at all. We bookworms are not just deep thinkers, we’re a helluva lot of fun. Feisty just comes with the territory.”
He gazed down at me. “How about cute? Does that come with this so-called territory too?”
“No. I’m just particularly cute for a librarian.”
Another deep laugh. He reached around and offered me his hand to shake. “Beckett, but you can call me Beck.”
His hand made mine look absurdly small. His grip was firm, and something about it sent a tremble through my entire body.
It took me a second to remember my own name. “Emmie. Nice to meet you. Sorry about calling you a jerk back there.”
“Probably deserved it.” He leaned back again and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Don’t really know what got into me. I’ve watched that numbskull play a lot of games. He’s just as bad of a winner as a loser. I never get involved with the social interactions in that place, but when he called you—” He stopped and I waited for him to finish. “Something just snapped, and all I could think about was grinding his clean shaven, baby face into the floor.”
“I’ve never had anyone come to my defense like that.”
“You handled yourself pretty damn perfectly back there. Especially when you told him he could come to you for some pointers. Nice.” He stood up and lowered his hand for me to take.
I placed my hand in his. He popped me easily to my feet. Before I knew it, I was standing nearly toe to toe and face to chest with the man.
I peered up at him, instantly wondering what it would be like to be kissed by a man like Beck. He was all leather and masculinity and the kind of bad boy a girl might try and hide from her parents. With the exception of my wildly, open-minded mother, of course. That’s when it occurred to me, it was entirely possible I hadn’t snuck around with the unseemly bad boys in town like some of my friends because the thrill of keeping it from my mom hadn’t been there.
“Guess we should head inside,” the words creaked out of my throat. I was still thinking about the kiss. But I seriously doubted a man like Beck would be the slightest bit interested in kissing a woman like me. He clearly had plenty of plump pink lips waiting for him at home or wherever he’d rode in from.
As we turned toward the house, a splash of pink color caught my eye. It was a cluster of roses, bright and fragrant, clinging to what I’d determined to be a dead vine. I stared in confusion at the flowers.
“Anything wrong?” Beck asked.
I pulled my attention away from the flowers. “No, just surprised to see those roses. Let’s go in.”
We walked into a quiet house. Coco had left a lamp on in the front room, but it seemed she had long since gone to bed. Beck tried to take light, quiet steps with his heavy-soled boots as we climbed the stairs to the top floor.
I reached the landing first and turned around to bid my neighbor good night. But he had different plans. With a few fast steps, he had his arm around my waist and me pulled against his rock solid chest.
A small gasp of surprise left my mouth as I lifted my eyes to him.
“I’ve always wondered just how luscious a librarian’s lips might taste.”
I held back a nervous smile. “You, sir, are a terrible liar.”
His brown eyes sparkled with silent laughter. “All right. Then let’s just say that I’ve been wondering what your luscious lips taste like. The librarian gig is optional.” His mouth covered mine. Within seconds, my body had melted into his arms as if he was a giant mold and I was warm chocolate.
As he brazenly reached under my shirt to smooth his palm over my back, I told myself I should stop this before it went too far. I tamped down that silly notion for the moment. His kiss was just too damn good. Besides, when would I ever be standing in the arms of a man like Beck again?
He paused, and I realized I’d been clutching at his shirt to keep steady on my feet. The narrow hallway, made even smaller by his presence,
was closing in on me. But I knew, with no uncertainty, that the cause of the spinning in my head was the intoxicating kiss from the even more intoxicating man.
“I was thinking we might finish this good night kiss in your room. Might even take all night.” His suggestion was bold, but my reaction to it was even bolder.
“I should be saying ‘no’ and ‘how dare you?’”
“Yep, that’s what you should be saying.” He looked down at my breasts and ran his thumb across my nipple. It tightened and seemed to be begging for more. “But I think you want me just as much as I want you, library lady. What do you say?” He slipped his hand beneath my shirt, and his thumb found its way to the same nipple. He hooked his finger over the top of my bra and pulled it down so that there was no longer a fabric barrier to his touch. His thumb ran a tantalizing circle around my breast. My pulse had a hard time keeping up.
“I don’t know,” I uttered between breaths.
He removed his hand and straightened. Utter disappointment washed over me.
“You’re right. You don’t want to stray away from your sensible life in your sensible shoes. Because, library lady, I’m about as far away from sensible as you can get. Good night, then.”
He turned his broad shoulders around and went inside his room.
I stood stunned and blinking in surprise at his bedroom door. That was the second time in the same night that I’d brushed away the most exciting thing that had happened to me since the college sit down protest for better salad bar choices. What a pathetically boring life I led.
I shuffled back to my room, looking what I was sure was amazing in the perfect fitting jeans and wondering how someone who was so darn smart could make such daft decisions.
Chapter 10
I stepped inside the room and the aroma of chocolate and something else, cinnamon maybe, wafted toward my nose. A tray with a whipped cream topped mug and two thick oatmeal cookies was sitting on the nightstand by the bed. I walked over to it. Chocolaty steam was curling up from the mug. My brows pinched in confusion as I reached down and wrapped my hand around it. The cocoa inside was hot. The whipped cream was still rich and piled high on top of the steamy liquid. Scientifically, none of it made sense. We hadn’t seen Coco coming down the stairs, and we’d spent a few extra minutes lingering on the landing. My face warmed to the temperature of the mug, thinking about the kiss. Speaking of steamy. I pressed my fingers to my lips. They were still a little tingly from the kiss. I could still feel Beck’s moustache and beard rubbing along my tender skin.