He’d specifically chosen this place with the hopes that she had never picked up a golf club in her life. Ever since that first pop-up workout at Zilker Park, he and Taylor had been engaged in a friendly competition, and he was just enough of an asshole to admit that he finally wanted to beat his girlfriend at something.
His girlfriend.
Damn, he liked the sound of that.
Sitting at the pub-style table in their private bay, Jamar draped an elbow over the back of the barstool and looked on as Taylor positioned her feet, using the yellow footprints on the artificial green turf as guides. She moved up a couple of inches, then back a couple of inches. She shifted her hands on the club’s grip, then shifted them back into the previous position.
He rubbed the spot between his eyes. They would be here forever.
Finally, she swung the driver back and smacked the golf ball. It sputtered off the tee and took a nosedive off the platform.
“All that dancing around andthat’swhat you give me?” Jamar asked. “I see why you don’t like golf. Your swing is pathetic. Stay right there.”
He hopped off the barstool and rounded the table, lifting a lob wedge from the collection of clubs on his way to the platform.
“First of all, you’re using the wrong club.” He pointed to the LCD screen, which displayed the targets for their current game. “You’re aiming for yellow. It’s the shortest target on the entire green, so you want to hit with a lighter club. And when you do hit, use a softer touch.”
He handed her the wedge, then stood behind her. Wrapping his arms around her front, he moved her hands into position on the grip.
She looked over her shoulder. “Do you think I don’t know what you’re doing?”
“Teaching you to play golf?”
“Sure you are,” she said. She wiggled her hips, her ass brushing against his crotch.
“You’re trying to get us in trouble,” Jamar whispered in her ear.
“We’re supposed to play the part of the happy couple, remember?”
“We’re no longerplayinga part. Remember?”
“Oh yeah.” She tilted her head to the side. “For some reason it doesn’t feel all that different. What does that say about us?”
“That neither of us are very good actors,” Jamar whispered, skimming his lips along her exposed neck. He pressed a kiss to the spot behind her ear and said, “Now get your mind out of the gutter and pay attention.”
He cocooned her with his body, enclosing his hands over hers and guiding her through the swing. The ball missed the target, but at least it made it onto the green.
“I think you purposely made me miss so that you can rack up a higher score,” she said in an accusatory tone.
Jamar gestured to the screen. He was ahead by three hundred points. “I can finish out the game for both of us and you still wouldn’t catch me,” he pointed out.
One corner of her mouth twisted upward. “Just so we’re clear, this is thelasttime we play golf.”
“Nah-uh.” He shook his head. “It’s golf from here on out, baby.”
“You’re ridiculous,” she said with a laugh. She jutted her chin toward the table. “Our wings just arrived.”
He followed her back to the table where the table attendant had just set down two orders of hot wings. She’d nixed his order of nachos, rebuffing the notion that she was no longer in charge of his diet now that she wasn’t his trainer.
He’d attempted to order them with the sole purpose of getting her riled up. Now that he was down to the final three weeks before his tryouts, he wasn’t taking any chances. He’d ordered his chicken wings baked and naked, not wanting to put anything into his body that would undermine the work they’d done.
“Are you sure this is enough for dinner?” Taylor asked. “I’m sure there are a couple of low-carb options we can order.” She picked up the menu, but then lowered it so she could look at him. “I’m about to read the menu. And, yes, I will likely say the words out loud. Do you have a problem with that?”
She said it jokingly, but there was an edge to her voice that made Jamar wonder if her warning was really all in good fun.
“Doyouhave a problem with it?” he asked. He caught the way her jaw tightened. Before she could speak, he asked, “Were you ever tested for a learning disorder?”
“Your choice of topic when it comes to date night conversations leaves much to be desired,” she said. “Usually, you pick a subject that will help you get laid later on. This ain’t it.”
