After taking care of business and washing up, he left the restroom and started down the dim hallway back to the bar. And ran into Cass, leaning against the wall. Waiting for him?
“Is this a shakedown?” he asked.
She smirked. “Why? You going to cut out on me?”
“Maybe.” He patted his pocket and realized he’d given his cash to Tex for his share of beer and food. “Um, I might have given your money away earlier. I bought the food with it. But I’m good for it, I swear.”
She didn’t look amused.
“Wait. Do you seriously think I won’t pay you?” Had she really been waiting for him outside the bathroom? That was a little weird.
“I don’t trust men who smile all the time.”
He purposefully let his smile drop.
She didn’t react.
“But—”
And then shemoved. She slammed him up against the wall, her arm across his throat, not hard, but firmly keeping him in place. He let her, curious to see what she would do and more than happy with anything that eliminated the space between them.
So close he could smell the beer on her breath, and he felt thirsty for a sip.
She stared up at him, her eyes bright. “You think you can stiff me out of my win, eh?”
Stiff you? Oh, hell, yes.He blinked. “Er, ah, no. I’ll pay you. I promise.”
She looked from his eyes to his mouth and stayed there. “Well, how about a first installment?”
Before he could ask what the hell she was talking about, he felt her lips on his.
Mack froze, wondering if perhaps he was imagining what he’d been dreaming about for days. But, no, Cass Carmichael was kissing him, her eyes closed, her lips soft, waiting for him to respond. Apparently, she didn’t like to wait because her tongue slipped between his lips, drawing him out of his haze.
Mack groaned and kissed her back, trying to get closer despite her forearm, which she finally moved to pull him closer, her hands behind his neck. Not close enough though. In seconds, he turned them around and had her back to the wall, pushing closer to plaster his mouth against hers, conscious not to press for the full body hug he wanted for fear of breaking the spell she’d cast.
The taste of her sent his entire body into a tailspin, his dick like steel, his ability to breathe caught up in inhaling the intoxicating perfume of Cass herself. Then she moved her hands to his waist and yanked, and his body met hers.
Heat licked from his mouth down to his balls, the feel of her breasts against his chest burning him from the inside out. And then she shifted, and his groin notched perfectly against hers, their heights more than compatible for what he had in mind.
Unfortunately, Cass shoved him back and stared, wide-eyed. “Whoa. You’re lethal.”
He wanted to grin and say something smart, but he just stared at her like a jackass, unable to put a thought together.
“Okay, Revere. That’s a down payment on the interest you’re accruing.” She gave him a snotty look that had him aching to reach for her and give her what they both wanted. And, no, that wasn’t him acting arrogant. The frustrating woman was staring at the fly of his jeans and smiling. “Well, the jury’s still out on how amazing you really are. But I’ll take that twenty when you have it.”
The door behind her opened, and a woman walked out patting her hair. She smiled at Mack and Cass and walked away.
Cass entered the ladies’ room, the snick of the lock loud in the otherwise-empty hallway.
Mack blinked. She’d been waiting in the hallway for the bathroom. Yeah. That made more sense than that she’d been waiting to accost him in the hallway for her money. Except he wanted desperately to pay her everything he owed. Twenty dollars and then some.
He walked back down the hall, not wanting her to see how badly she’d shaken him yet not ready to rejoin the guys now sitting at a table by the back, arguing about something. Holy fuck, but Cass had shaken him. He’d known they shared some chemistry. At least,he’dfelt it. But after that kiss, there could be no doubt she’d felt it too.
Her nipples had turned to hard points against his chest, and he’d sworn he’d heard her sigh into his mouth. But to just push him away? She’d gone straight into the restroom. Like him, she’d consumed her fair share of beer. Oh hell. Had she been drunk?
He wasn’t. A few beers spaced over a few hours were nothing to his weight and metabolism. But maybe Cass had been a little loopy. He’d have to wait and see how she acted when she rejoined them. Should he be with the others to make things easier for her? Would she be upset after realizing she’d kissed him? She didn’t seem shy. Not that he knew too much about her. For all that they’d spent time together, their concentration had been on games, not on getting to know each other better.
The blasted woman had refused to talk to him while playing.
