“Do I look like I need it?”
“You’re pretty, but you don’t look very happy.”
She sipped her scotch, somehow sadder to know that it showed. “Thanks for the drink.”
She turned around, taking in all the people gambling, the laughter, the noise. She didn’t want to spend this week wallowing over Leo. She wanted to enjoy the cruise.
No sooner did she think it than she saw Cowboy across the way.
Dammit.
He was with that woman again from the Academy, who was just cute enough and hanging on to his arm just tightly enough that she wondered if he was sleeping with her.
Probably.
If that wasn’t salt for her wounds, she didn’t know what was. Was this how the whole freaking week was going to go? Seeing Cowboy every time she turned around? She took another sip of her drink as their eyes met across the room.
Her stomach clenched, and just as quickly her ire went up. She was not going to sit here and feel uncomfortable. She’d march right over there and make him uncomfortable, instead.
She swore she could see the panic in his eyes as she crossed the casino floor to reach him and her mouth pulled into a self-satisfied grin. “Hello, Leo. Abby. You two here for a little gambling?”
“I’m going to play blackjack and keep an eye on our friends,” said Abby. She looked from Cowboy to Charlotte and back again, a smile firmly fixed on her face. “Why don’t I go do that right now?” She walked away.
Charlotte stepped closer to Cowboy. “What about you?”
“I’m not much of a gambler.”
“Really? That surprises me. But then again, you’re just full of surprises today.”
“You’re upset.”
She took a sip of her scotch. “No. Disillusioned maybe.”
“How so?”
She leaned in and lowered her voice. “You work so hard to sell this fun, playboy persona. I guess I just thought it was real.”
His eyes darkened and he put his hands in his pockets.
“Why me, Charlotte? Why did you come all this way just to share my bed for a few days?”
Because you’re the best man who ever looked twice at me.
She couldn’t tell him that, and her mind steadfastly refused to come up with a more appropriate answer.
“There must be a reason,” he said.
“I wanted some company.”
His stare took in her whole face, pausing on her lips before meeting her eyes again. “A gorgeous woman like you could find company closer to home.”
Her stomach flip-flopped. Did he really think she was gorgeous? His voice was gravelly — a bedroom voice — and she clenched her knees together.
She could feel the heat of him, and she dared to hope she might get her way after all. “I wanted you.”
He leaned toward her, just inches from her face. Her eyelids drooped heavily and she licked her lips. The moment stretched out between them, her heart leaping frantically as she willed him to kiss her.
He pulled back.
