by Mia Caldwell
And she dated A LOT of guys.
Phae hadn’t dated hardly anyone the past few years, and she hadn’t been out with anyone more than twice. It seemed the more independent and outspoken she became, the more time she spent without the company of the opposite sex.
Now here she was with the hottest man she’d ever known, and she’d been drawn into a contest that could ruin everything. Her old friend from high school would have never let this happen.
As Phae, Neesa, Kent and James moved from game to game, Phae discovered that Kent was as competitive as she was. He was determined to beat her, and no matter how hard she tried to squelch the feelings, she wanted to beat him every bit as badly.
A large crowd, filled mostly with members of the Jones family, began to follow them around. They were a boisterous cheering section, and a distraction, but at least they helped carry all of the competitors’ loot.
The scene at each booth grew increasingly rowdy as the spectators took sides and placed bets on the outcomes. Phae watched Kent as he teased and joked with everyone, but she could see how seriously he concentrated whenever it was his turn to play.
This man was used to winning, and he hated to lose.
By the time they completed seven rounds, full dark had fallen.
Bright lights flashed colorfully while the delicious smells of popcorn and cotton candy wafted on the night-cooled breeze. A cacophony of music from the amusement rides couldn’t completely overpower the shrieks and squeals of the thrill-seeking riders. Farther away, one could hear the muffled applause of the audience attending the judging in the fair barns.
But on the midway, few people noticed these other sights, smells and sounds. On the midway, everyone’s attention was firmly on two large piles of stuffed animals, plastic trinkets and cheap appliances.
The crowd circled the piles. tightly packed adults jostled for a view while children crawled around, under and over their elders to catch their own glimpses of the tantalizing goodies.
Phae stood aside while the adults argued over which pile was largest.
Sylvie sidled up and shouted, “Our pile is bigger than theirs!”
“I don’t know. They look pretty even to me. And what do you mean ‘ours?’”
“Hey, I contributed at the duck pond. We kicked their asses there.”
Phae had to admit it was true. Sylvie had told Phae and Neesa which ducks to pick, and they’d actually been good ones. They got lucky, she told herself. Sylvie would be crowing about her psychic ability for weeks, though, and Phae had to ask herself if the win was worth it.
Nearby, James argued hotly with his mother. Kent stood relaxed in the midst of the pandemonium, his thumbs tucked loosely into the pockets of his trousers, an amused expression on his handsome face.
Phae began to fear they’d never finish the challenge when Uncle Leon and Aunt Meg pushed their way into the center of the circle, calling for everyone to quiet down. They were both forceful, strong-minded people, and Phae was confident they could bring some order to the situation.
“I said simmer down,” Uncle Leon shouted.
Aunt Meg pointed at James. “Especially you, young man. You’re the sheriff, now get yourself together, apologize to your mother and act respectable.”
Phae and several others in the crowd chuckled when James immediately snapped to attention and asked his mother to forgive him.
He somewhat spoiled the effect, however, when he mumbled, “My own mother and she’s siding with the enemy.”
Most of the Jones clan was split on gender lines in this contest.
Uncle Leon and Aunt Meg declared they’d be referees in the final round and everyone agreed to obey their verdicts. They surveyed the two piles of cheap prizes, murmuring to one another and looking dutifully official.
After several minutes of contemplation, Meg turned to Phae and asked, “What’s the next game?”
“The basketball booth,” Neesa answered before Phae had a chance.
Phae frowned. She hated that game. And it was rigged. “No, not that one.”
“Yeah, yeah, everyone knows that one’s rigged.” Neesa looked out over the crowd and raised her voice so everyone could hear. “We all know the basketball game is extra hard to win, right? Because of all the stuff they do. The ball is smaller than regulation and the rim is barely big enough for it. And the backboard is tilted wonky. And sometimes they have hidden springs where the rim attaches to the backboard so the ball won’t bounce into the basket like normal.”
Phae was impressed. “Did you know about all that?” she asked Kent and James.
They agreed they had.
“Basketball it is, then,” Neesa said.
So be it, thought Phae.
Uncle Leon and Aunt Meg whispered to each other then Leon raised his hands for silence.
“We’ve made our decision,” Meg said. “These two piles are equal.”
The crowd erupted in dissent.
Leon plucked a whistle from a prize pile and blew hard, the shrill sound quickly quelling the mayhem.
“The decision is final,” he said in his booming voice. “And if any of you yay-hoos want to argue about it, then do it somewhere else. Now listen to my wife.”
Meg smiled at her husband. “Okay, so how many shots do you get for your money at the basketball booth?”
“Three,” several people called.
“Okay, then each of the four competitors will take their three shots. Whichever team makes the most shots, wins.”
The crowd burst into chatter and surged to the basketball booth, dragging Phae, Neesa, Kent and James, and their piles of prizes, along with it.
Phae paid the man behind the counter since it was her turn. He handed a basketball to James.
Several men called out encouragement while several women did a decent bit of smack talk.
“I hate basketball,” James muttered as he squinted in concentration.
He shot. He missed.
Phae glanced at Kent. He stood near James, calmly reassuring his friend.
James missed his second shot but made his third.
Neesa stepped up to the counter. Phae had a pretty good idea how this one would go.
Taking her time, Neesa aimed carefully. Everyone cheered heartily as Neesa sunk all three balls, one after the other.
She sauntered over to James and tossed her prize to him, a large plush basketball. “I still got it. Didn’t win a state championship for nothing, old man.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he said. “But have you noticed how tall Kent is? I’m thinking he may have played some b-ball back in his school years, too.”
The smug expression dropped from Neesa’s face as she turned to watch Kent belly up to the counter.
“Give me three balls,” Kent said to the attendant.
“Oh no,” Neesa groaned.
Phae could only shake her head and smile.
In a gracefully fluid motion, Kent launched the balls into the air. One, two, three. Nothing but net.
The crowd roared its appreciation. Kent threw his prize to them like he was a golfer who’d won the U.S. Open.
Phae clapped loudly as she walked up beside him. “Impressive jump shot you’ve got.”
He looked down at her, his eyes and expression unreadable. “Thanks. It’s all up to you now.”
Phae turned and took the ball that the booth attendant held out to her.
Neesa slipped up next to her. “You can do it, Phae. Just two baskets and we win!”
“Yeah, I know. By the way, great job of distracting James so Kent and I could slip away quietly.”
“I’ll concede my plan may have gotten a little out of hand. Beat their asses anyway. Come on now.”
Uncle Leon’s voice rang out from behind. “I’m rubbin’ my rabbit’s foot, Phae-girl, so you can’t miss. You can do it! I’ve got five bucks riding on you.”
James peered out into the crowd. “Hey! What are you doing rubbing your rabbit’s foot for the women! We men have to
stick together. And you’re my uncle too. And the judge!”
“Sorry, my boy,” Leon said, “but your Aunt Meg stole my wallet and made the decision without me.”
Some people in the crowd hooted and hollered.
“Damn, thanks for the support, Uncle Leon,” Phae called without turning around.
“Ow!” Leon cried. “Don’t go beatin’ on me, wife. Phae’ll do fine.”
Phae mentally upgraded Meg to most-favored aunt status.
She blocked out the rowdy crowd. It’s a stupid game, she told herself. Then she shot the ball.
It fell through the hoop.
Phae nodded in relief. Only one more, she chanted silently.
She grabbed up a ball, aimed and shot. The ball spun around the rim several times then rolled out over the edge. She’d missed.
Chapter 9
THE CALLS OF THE HORDE penetrated Phae’s concentration.
She heard Sylvie and Neesa chanting, “You can do it. You can do it. You can do it.”
Phae hadn’t been this nervous since … she couldn’t remember. She briefly considered chucking the next ball and missing deliberately. Kent would probably be pacified if she did.
But no. She didn’t care about his reaction, not if beating him in a friendly competition made him dislike her. She’d be better off without him.
She took a deep breath and picked up the basketball. Don’t think, she told herself. Shoot it already. She arced the ball into the air.
Everyone held their breath as the ball sailed toward the basket. It hit the back of the rim which propelled it into the front of the metal hoop. The ball banged back against the rear of the rim again. Then, swoosh! The ball dived through the basket.
Phae barely had time to register her victory before the onlookers surrounded her. The women in the crowd cheered so loudly that Phae thought her eardrums might burst.
To her astonishment, her dainty widowed aunts, Charmaine and Chelly, gave one another snappy fist bumps.
Someone grabbed Phae’s wrist and began pulling her through the swarm. So many people were crushed against her, it took several moments to figure out that it was Kent dragging her away.
At the edge of the crowd, Phae tried to yank her arm away. Kent only tightened his grip and began walking more quickly. Phae resisted.
“Stop it,” Kent hissed. “We’ve got to get out of here while the getting’s good.”
Startled by his vehemence, Phae allowed him to lead her away from the crowd. Then she noticed the big stuffed yellow dog tucked under his free arm and the fuzzy dice dangling from his fingers.
Somehow, during all that craziness, he’d managed to retrieve those particular two prizes. This could prove interesting.
They were both jogging by the time they reached the end of the midway. Kent slowed his pace once they’d left the fairgrounds behind.
“Where are we going?” Phae asked.
“A little farther away from all these lights.”
“Why?”
“Shh!” Kent quickly glanced behind him.
She glanced back, too, but saw no one pursuing them. “You’re making me feel like we’re escaping prison or something.”
“In a way we are, if you can call a sheriff a warden.”
When he led her into a grove of tall trees, Kent finally released her hand. Though the night was clear and the moon glowed softly, it was shadowy under the canopy of leafy branches.
She took a few moments to catch her breath, a situation caused as much by her excitement as physical exertion.
She knew where they were. The rise of land hid the lights of the carnival but she could still plainly hear the music and other carnival sounds, and the scents of sugar and funnel cakes, caramel and grease floated past in breezy puffs.
Kent’s shadow was large, and though he stood less than ten feet away, she couldn’t see his face clearly. She could see, however, that he’d dropped the dog and dice onto the ground.
“Why have you brought me here?” she asked, though she knew the answer.
“Come here,” he said crisply, the deep bass of his voice making Phae tremble slightly, but not from fear.
Phae feared no man; she knew she could defend herself. And something about Kent made her trust him, though she couldn’t put her finger on what it was, exactly. She simply knew he’d never hurt her, physically, anyway.
She stepped forward slowly. She clearly heard his rough, ragged breathing and stopped less than a foot away from him.
The manly lines of his face appeared harsh in the faint moonlight filtering through the leaves. She didn’t flinch when he raised his hand to her face. With a feathery touch, he skimmed his fingertips down her cheek.
His touch strayed to her sensitive neck then into the base of her loose braid as he pulled her closer. “You’re so beautiful, Phae. I’ve got to—”
He kissed her then, a searing, powerful kiss, his lips slanting across hers and claiming what he wanted. He probed with his hot tongue and she opened for him, letting him claim what he wanted there, as well.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and locked her hands at the base of his spine. He held her head and turned her how he wanted, drinking from her like she held intoxicating nectar.
And she tasted him, too. He was sweet, like the cakes they’d been eating, and fresh and clean, and there was no way she’d ever get enough of it.
Her breasts smashed against his chest and her nipples went rock hard. Down low, something inside her turned over. Desire, long lying dormant within her, was waking up at last. And it was starved for attention.
Kent jerked away and inhaled sharply. “I’ve got to stop.”
Phae’s eyes popped open. “What? Why?”
He rubbed his chest against hers, then released her head and stepped backward. “Because your nipples are hard and you’ve got me so worked up I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop myself from tearing your clothes off and throwing you to the ground.”
“Um, okay. The tearing part might be a problem because I won’t have anything to wear. But I have no objection to getting naked the normal way.”
He groaned, leaned against a tree and slowly slid downward until he sat at the base of it. “Don’t come near me. Knowing that you want me makes it worse.”
“I don’t get you.”
“Would you please sit down or something? You’re too tempting standing like that. You don’t know what your sexy legs do to me.”
She blew out a breath and sat under a nearby tree. “I can’t believe this is happening. I’m alone in the woods with a man tease. It’s just my luck.”
“You’re quite a woman, Phae Jones. Even when I think it’s not possible, you find a way to make me smile.”
“Great, I make you smile. If you would tell me what I need to do to get you to do more than that, my life would be complete.”
“Make James disappear,” he answered. “That’s what we need. You do realize that he’s undoubtedly looking for us already?”
She silently cursed her cousin. “Damn. You’re right. I didn’t think about him. So why did you drag me out here if you knew James would be behind us?”
“I lost my head. When I saw you standing there with that basketball, so calm and collected while everyone around you was going nuts and then you made the shot … it was incredible. I had no idea basketball could be so hot. I wish you could have seen yourself.”
Phae’s stomach tightened.
“I wanted to be alone with you,” he continued. “So I grabbed you and ran. You were so beautiful in the moonlight, but I had to stop. When you and I make love, and don’t think for one second that we won’t, we’re going to do it right. Not like this, in the dark, scrambling around like teenagers whose parents might come home at any second.”
His voice dropped deeper. “When you and I make love, I want plenty of light so I can see that gorgeous body of yours. And I want lots of time so I can taste every last inch of you before I—”
“You could still
taste me.”
“Oh God,” Kent groaned. “You’re killing me. We don’t have much time, damn it.”
“Sometimes, when you’re ready, fast can be good. Fast can be better than good if—”
She never got the chance to finish. Kent rose in a flash and loomed over her in another instant.
“Do you mean it?” he asked, or more like, growled. “I can taste you?”
She swallowed hard. “Hell yes.”
HE LANDED ON HIS KNEES in front of her and without preamble, reached out and unbuttoned her shorts. Yanking down the zipper, he tugged on the waistband. She lifted herself up to help.
He took her panties with her shorts, and in an instant, she was bare to him from the waist down. He spread her knees and looked at her most private place.
“I wish I had a flashlight,” he said, stroking his fingers over her inner thighs and around her sex.
Phae was glad he didn’t, while at the same time excited that he wanted one.
“I can’t hold back,” he said, and dipped his head between her legs.
She gasped as his tongue flicked over her labia then dove between her folds. He murmured in pleasure.
He wrapped his hands around her thighs. She reached down and tangled her fingers in his thick hair, pulling him closer.
His tongue teased up and down her slit. With gently pinching fingers, he spread her open and pulled back to look at her.
“You’re so damned beautiful,” he said. “So hot. I want to—” and he bent his head down and bit lightly on her pussy lips, nibbling up one side and down the other.
Phae squirmed and moaned his name. Yes, that was it. It was perfect. Touch me. Lick me. Squeeze me. Take me.
He tugged on her nipple, making it harder than ever. His hand slipped under her shirt and pulled up her bra to reveal her swollen breast. He squeezed her and made her push against him for more.
She was swept away. She pulled his hair and didn’t mind what sounds she made. It was good. So good. Do that more. Do it more. Lick me there. Pinch me here.
Then his tongue dipped deeper inside her and she thrust her hips upward. His thumb rolled over her clit and sent sparks shooting from her womb all the way to the top of her head and down to the tips of her toes.