“Then those who say so are stupid.” I laughed softly, placing one hand over my mouth. He swung his head toward me, his upper lip curling.
“I think that’s the best compliment I’ve had in weeks. Maybe months.”
I allowed myself to study him, noticing the tattoo on his arm. The sudden urge to trace my tongue over the intricate design caught me off guard.
He glanced down after realizing what I was looking at. “For the Marines. I gave eight years of my life to them.”
“Something else to admire you about.”
“It was an honor to serve my country.”
Another moment of silence.
Another moment of longing.
For both of us.
I knew the signs. The electricity in the air. The scent of our combined desire.
The longing looks and breathless statements.
We were playing with fire. I wasn’t certain I cared. Tonight, it felt as if I was free for the first time in years.
Just as I’d experienced on one sultry night. Yet somehow, I felt the need to tell him I didn’t expect us to share anything like what we’d had ever again. It wasn’t fair to either one of us.
“Hudson, I?—”
“There’s no need to say anything,” he interrupted. “What happened between us was something I’ve remembered fondly.”
He didn’t need to say anything else. The subtle line had been drawn.
“Yes, I understand.” He continued watching me as I moved around the room, studying photographs he’d had taken with various celebrities over the years. He was so handsome in every one of them. So much so, I knew a visible shudder had given my thoughts away. Turning, I rolled my fingers across the surface of the pool table while studying the cards still strewn across one another. “Do you play?”
“Which game?”
“All of them?”
His smile was broader than before. “I do. I play poker with some buddies of mine twice a month and usually come in here after a long day and play a game of pool or two.”
Sighing, I shifted my full attention to the huge pool table, the red felt a welcome change to the usual green. I noticed the pool cues in a rack on the wall. Maybe I was just trying to break the ice orit was simply my nervousness in being around him, but I put my drink on the bar and headed for the rack.
After selecting one, I chalked the end, trying my best to keep from looking at him. In his judge robes, he was intimidating as hell. He had to be at least six foot four, formidable to everyone who walked into his courtroom.
Even in his casual clothes, he had an air about him that screamed of danger, his physique more muscular than I’d thought. I’d admired his butt when he’d been walking up the stairs. The jeans fit as if he’d been created by a Greek god perfecting the art of designing a human. I wasn’t sure if his hand could even slide into the back pocket.
He watched me from where he was standing as I removed the triangle rack and gathered up the various balls. I moved around the table, taking my time doing so. Maybe a game would calm my nerves.
“Solids or stripes?” he asked and I hadn’t realized he’d moved right behind me.
“Solids. I’m a primal girl.”
“Really? I’ll keep that in mind. Break. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“I do like a challenge from a powerful man.”
“You think I’m a powerful man?”
I lifted my head, allowing myself to smile. “Isn’t that evident to everyone?”
