Power Play

by Warren, Nancy

  “Where I come from, we call it food,” he replied in that same accent.

  It took her a minute to get the joke, then she laughed and wished him a good trip.

  “That is a really bad accent,” Kirsten told him once they were alone.

  “Not at all, I assure you.” He dropped back to his usual voice. “Anyhow, she pissed me off. I don’t like being patronized, especially not by somebody who’s never been outside of Idaho. Somebody fed her curried chicken one time and now she’s an expert on Indian food.”

  She laughed. “Okay. I officially like you.”

  He grinned at her. He was good-looking and knew it. Usually she hated those kind of guys, but somehow with Sadhu she felt like he didn’t take it all that seriously.

  “Who’s Tyler?” he asked. A logical question. With no logical answer.

  They’d been talking for hours, and she thought she’d probably told him most of her life story. But somehow Tyler hadn’t come up in conversation.

  “He’s sort of my boyfriend.”

  Sadhu looked around at the nearly empty room. They’d already had last call and people were leaving. Nobody new was coming in. “He’s not picking you up, is he?”

  “Probably not.”

  “He got a good excuse?”

  She sighed. “Probably not.”

  He rose. “Come on. I’ll drive you home.”

  She took the hand he held out to her and got to her feet, stumbling slightly. If there was anybody sober enough to drive her, it was him. He’d been on soda water all night. “How come you don’t drink alcohol?”

  He opened his mouth and she stopped him. “And don’t give me any crap about ‘your people.’ You’re as American as I am.”

  “Okay. The truth is, my mother really hates it and I never got the big thrill out of getting drunk. I’d rather have a clear head when I’m playing sports.” He glanced at her through the thickest, silkiest eyelashes she’d ever seen on a man. “And especially when I’m spending time with a beautiful woman.”

  “Huh.” She wished she were a little clearer-headed right now.

  As they walked out, he took her hand in a loose grip that felt friendly and yet warm and a little sizzling as their palms touched. Unlike his ridiculously girlish eyelashes, his hands were tough man hands. Callused from all those sports, she supposed, but the fingers that threaded hers were long and supple. She imagined them touching her body and felt an insane surge of desire.

  He led her to a green SUV, and when she got inside she noticed it was spotless. He climbed in and started the engine.

  He turned to her, dark and mysterious in the dim light. “Where to?”

  She reviewed her options. She instinctively shrunk from taking him to her place. Not only was it a mess, but who knew when Tyler would remember she existed and maybe drop by.

  “Your place?” she suggested.

  “Too crowded. I’m sharing a hotel room with two other guys.” He tapped the steering wheel. “Your place?”

  “Too complicated.”

  “Want me to just drop you off?”

  “No.” She knew he was a player who only wanted to get her into bed, but it was so nice to have this kind of attention. And he made her feel good about things. No, she wasn’t ready for the night to end.

  “Well, this is your town. Where do two people go in the middle of the night?”

  She grinned at him, feeling like a kid again. “There are basically two options. You can go to the all-night diner just out of town, or you can go parking by the lake.” She felt about sixteen again. “Want to go parking?”

  His teeth gleamed in response. “Sure.”

  She directed him down a series of roads to one that ended in gravel and overlooked the lake. A few fishing cabins with docks awaited summer, but if anyone was staying out here on a Thursday night in November, they were already in bed. The place felt dark and deserted. The lake was a huge expanse of darkness, stippled with raindrops, tiny waves lapping the sodden shore.

  She felt a sudden burning need for a cigarette. She reached for her smokes and the door handle simultaneously. “I’m guessing you don’t like people smoking in your car. I’ll go outside.”

  “I didn’t know you smoked.” He sounded disappointed. Probably one of those guys who were disgusted by cigarette breath. Great. “You didn’t smoke all night.”

  She slumped back against the seat. “I’m trying to quit.”

  “Maybe you should try harder.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means either be a smoker or a nonsmoker. Anything in between sounds too undecided.”

  She looked at him, trying to figure out where the man who’d been so hot for her all evening had suddenly disappeared to.

  “You know, you’re a really interesting person. Beautiful, bright, sexy. Why would you put up with a guy who doesn’t remember to come and get you? The guy sounds like an asshole.”

  “It’s not like there are a lot of guys to choose from in Elk Crossing.”

  Which was why she was here, she supposed. Well, if there was one thing she knew how to do, it was to get a guy interested in her.

  Leaning over, she ran her fingers up his arm, scooched over so they were in easy mouth-reaching distance of each other, dropped her voice to a murmur. “Maybe you should take my mind off cigarettes.”

  She’d give him a second to make a move on her and if he didn’t she’d move in on him.

  But he didn’t move on her. To her shock she heard the engine start up. Her eyelids flew open. “Put your seat belt on and give me directions to that diner. I swear to God I’ve never said this to a woman in my life, but we have to talk.”

  They said barely another word until they were in Earl’s Diner. She ordered coffee, because it was three in the morning and she didn’t know what else to have. He ordered coffee, too, but told the waitress to leave the menu.

  Earl’s was the kind of diner you still find outside small towns. Family-owned, it catered to the truck trade, shift workers and kids who stayed out too late. Other than a heavyset guy in a baseball cap eating a chicken pot pie and drinking soda, yesterday’s newspaper spread in front of him, they were the only customers.

  She was prepared for anything including an admission that Sadhu was gay or a grilling about her sexual health, but she was still shocked when, after dumping too much milk and sugar into his coffee he sat back and said, “Tell me about yourself.”

  “Is this a job interview?” she snapped. What kind of game was he playing?

  “No. You are the most interesting woman I’ve met in a long time and I want to know all about you.”

  “At three in the morning?”

  He sipped his coffee and settled back against the beige vinyl booth. “What better time? No distractions. I don’t know any of the people in your life. You can tell me anything.”

  And because it was just about the craziest thing she’d ever heard, she did. She told him about growing up near Seattle with a hairdresser mother and a schoolteacher father. How she’d got in with a bad crowd in high school and nearly flunked out. After which she’d left home, worked as a waitress and finally realized she wanted more out of life. So she saved up her money, went to college and got a marketing/PR diploma. Working at the radio station in Elk Crossing had been her big break. Even as she told a virtual stranger about the experience she remembered the excitement of feeling she was finally on her way. She was good at promotions, bursting with ideas and enthusiasm.

  The salary at the radio station was pitiful, but she’d seen it as an entry level position, one she knew she could advance from.

  Then she discovered the station manager. All he wanted was cheap staff he could push around. He was more interested in how she made coffee than her ideas. She answered the phones, made excuses for him when he wasn’t around and the closest she got to running a promotion was the filing cabinet.

  By the time she’d quit she was going out with Tyler and it seemed easier simply to stay
and find any job at all than to go through all that wasted effort and dashed hopes again. She couldn’t quite meet Sadhu’s eyes as she told him she’d gone back to being a server.

  There was nothing wrong with what she was doing; serving was a respectable profession and she was in the best restaurant in town, but somehow she knew he’d understand how she felt about it. Like she’d given up.

  Sadhu listened to her as though her story was the most fascinating thing he’d ever heard.

  “What does Tyler do?”

  “When his dad passed away, his mom took over the hardware store. He helps her.”

  He made a strange sound, kind of like a snort.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Let’s order. I’m starving.”

  When she thought about it, she was starving, too. And getting jittery from too many fill-ups of coffee. Sadhu ordered Earl’s special breakfast, which was three fried eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes and a small steak.

  She settled on waffles.

  There was something about sharing breakfast with a man you’d only just met the night before that was intimate. Even though they hadn’t had sex, hadn’t even kissed, she found herself telling him things she normally kept to herself. Asking him about himself.

  It seemed the most natural thing in the world to reach over and snag a piece of bacon off his plate, then sample the steak he held out to her on a fork.

  “The atmosphere isn’t much at Earl’s but the food is good,” she said, when she’d eaten as much as she could of the huge crispy waffles. To her everlasting amazement, Sadhu finished his plate. Then finished hers.

  “Where do you put all that food?”

  He patted his belly. “It’s fuel, baby. We’re playing the quarterfinals tomorrow.” He shook his head. “No. Today. You should come watch.”

  She should go home and never see this guy again. That’s what a smart girl who didn’t want her life turned upside down would do. “What time?”

  “We play at four. And we don’t have too many cheerleaders.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  By the time they left, the sky was lightening. Even though it was officially morning, she had no desire to go home. She dug out gum from her purse, offered him some and then helped herself on the assumption that they’d soon be kissing and she thought fresh breath would be nice. His eyes gleamed as he popped the gum into his mouth and she figured he was as eager as she was to get to the good stuff.

  But again he surprised her.

  “The rain’s stopped. Let’s go back to the lake and watch the sunrise.” He took them back the way they’d come.

  While they did so, she used every flirtatious tool in her arsenal. Quick little touches, holding his gaze for a second longer than comfortable. She undid her seat belt and turned to face him, pushing her chest forward, so her body language was more like a tirade: Touch me, kiss me, take me.

  Instead he put on music and talked about his job as a firefighter. Until she was so horny she wanted to climb in his lap and show him exactly what kids in Elk Crossing did when they went parking.

  The sunrise was predictably gorgeous, flaming over the mountains and lighting the lake. It wasn’t a sight she was around to see very often, but her pleasure was ruined by the very annoying behavior of the man who’d been all over her right up until the moment he got her alone.

  When he turned to her and said, “We should probably get back. I have to shower and get to practice,” she was at the end of her rope.

  Yanking her seat belt on and snapping it with a vicious click, she wailed, “What do you think you’re doing?”

  He looked a little embarrassed. Put his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes. “I think I’m playing hard to get.”

  She was understandably incensed. “Playing hard to get? In the first place, this isn’t the fifties, and in the second place, you’re a guy!”

  He shook his head, looking rueful. “Don’t think I don’t realize how foolish it sounds. But I like you a lot. And I think you sell yourself too cheaply.” He looked over at her and she saw that his dark eyes were serious. “I think you deserve better. You’re an amazing woman. Your friends love you. You’re beautiful, smart, a lot of fun. So why would you settle? You got a crappy job? Okay. Happens to all of us.” He leaned closer. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

  “It’s not—”

  He interrupted her ruthlessly. “You really want to stay with some mama’s boy who says he’ll meet you and doesn’t show up? Are you that woman?”

  She shook her head.

  “No.”

  He pointed to her bag. “You want to kill yourself with those cigarettes or are you going to quit?”

  “I’m trying, but—”

  “No more excuses. I think it’s time you start running your life from now on.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Her voice was barely a whisper. It was hard to speak up against so much truth. It hurt, stung like being outside naked in a hailstorm, but he was right. She knew he was right. When was she going to take charge of her life?

  “I’m trying to help.”

  “You barely know me.”

  His smile went a little crooked. “I know a woman a lot like you. My sister. She won’t listen to me and I can’t stand watching her waste her best years. But I think you might listen to me.”

  “And why might I do that?”

  His grin was pure male arrogance. Which, like everything else, looked gorgeous on him. “Because you want in my pants, and you’re not getting any until you quit smoking and dump that sack of useless you call your ‘sort of boyfriend.’”

  She looked as tough as she knew how to look, which wasn’t easy when she’d been up all night, hadn’t seen a mirror in a while and was pretty sure her mascara was smudged.

  “You think I’d change my whole life so I could have sex with you?”

  He shrugged in a gesture of pure male arrogance as though he imagined women would do a lot more than change their jobs, dump their boyfriends and quit smoking in order to be with him.

  “No idea. Decision’s yours, babe. But I hope so.”

  “I should change my whole life for a guy who’s in town for a few days?”

  “No. You should change your life because you want to.”

  Hi picked up her hand, brushed a kiss across the thin, sensitive skin of her inner wrist, sparking a torrent of feeling.

  “And I’m in town for four days.” He set her hand back in her lap. “A lot can happen in four days.”

  13

  EMILY STRETCHED, FEELING every deliciously satisfied inch of her body purr with sensation. After a night of loving, they’d awakened this morning ravenous for each other.

  Jonah, who had just rolled out of bed muttering about being late for his practice, eyed her and from the look on his face only his waiting teammates prevented him from crawling back into bed with her.

  She smiled at him. “That should give you some good energy for your games today.”

  He scratched the stubble on his chin. “Are you kidding? I can’t even feel my legs.”

  She laughed. “I know. I’m actually a plant from the other team, paid a lot of money to seduce you and wear you out before you play.”

  He chuckled. “You’re good at what you do.”

  “You’re pretty good yourself.” And wasn’t that an understatement. She realized that she hadn’t expected a lot of finesse from Jonah. More athleticism and enthusiasm, but when he got between the sheets he was a sensitive and intuitive lover. He seemed to know exactly how and where she liked to be touched, when she wanted to play and be goofy, when she wanted to be serious.

  Or maybe they simply connected in a way that made them understand each other. She didn’t really feel like analyzing any of it, only reveling in this strange and very short-lived affair.

  “I guess I got my fantasy after all.”

  “Huh?”

  “Sex with a stranger. Number one female fantasy, remember?
That’s what you told me and you seem like you’ve done some research.”

  “I was just throwing the idea out there in case you wanted to use me, that’s all.” He walked on his way to the bathroom nude and she enjoyed watching his truly excellent butt, the long strong thighs. Mmm.

  “And I appreciate it.”

  He got to the bathroom door and turned. This time giving her a most excellent view of the front of him. Mmm-mmm. “And hey, if you’ve got any other fantasies you want to explore, I am telling you right now that I am open-minded, pretty athletic.” He looked at her, squinting as though reading all the secrets lodged within her. “And not afraid of heights.”

  And as he disappeared into the bathroom, the corners of his eyes crinkled in amusement, she suddenly pictured the two of them up high. On a Ferris wheel. No, too tame. A roller coaster. Making love while people screamed during the stomach-plunging drop. No, that wasn’t going to work. Ooh, one of those treetop canopies in the jungle, the world spread beneath them, their bed a mat of palm leaves. He’d twist his athlete’s body to pick ripe fruit from above them. Mango maybe, if it even grew in jungle tops, and he’d peel the fruit, squeeze the juice onto her skin.

  Oh, if she didn’t get out of bed soon she wasn’t getting out.

  “What are you up to today?” Jonah asked her when he came out of the shower, this time not bothering with his modesty towel. It was nice to look at him in the daylight.

  “Up to?” With a feeling of regret she dragged her gaze away from a body part she’d love to play with all day and tried to marshal her thoughts. “I have a free day today. I’ll go for a run, maybe have lunch out with a friend. Then tonight it’s the rehearsal dinner. Then the wedding tomorrow and we’re all done.” With a pang she realized she was checking out on Sunday, back to her real life. Living in the same city as Jonah, but he hadn’t said anything about seeing her again once this was over. Maybe he was the one with the sex with a stranger fantasy, and he was quite happy to keep her as a stranger in his life.

  His jaw tightened. “Is that fool dentist going to be drooling all over you at the dinner?”