And then it was his turn.
He only had two more balls left to sink, and with a trick shot, he could do it. So he was going to give it a shot. Because she wasplaying with him, and he was over it. He was going to help her out with her scheme, but she didn’t get to be in charge. She didn’t get to dictate how he felt or crash his get-togethers with his friends. He was a man who had control over his life. The last time he’d let anybody yank him around …
He just didn’t do it. The end.
He took the shot, and knocked one of the balls against the other; then both rolled into the pocket, the white going just to the edge and resting there.
He slammed the end of the pool cue down the floor and blew across the top of it as if it was a smoking gun. “I win.”
But there was a feral light in Jessie’s eyes, and he knew that he had pushed her a step too far. That she was about to get her revenge.
She walked toward him and grabbed the front of his shirt. “I think we need to have a campaign meeting.”
And then she tugged him away from the pool table, down the narrow hall, and straight into the single-occupancy bathroom. Where she slammed the door and locked it behind them. He could hear cheering and hollering from the bar.
“What the fuck?” he asked.
She stared up at him, her breathing hard.
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright. She wanted him. He wanted her.
He didn’t think he could fight it anymore.
He grabbed her arm and pushed her back against the wall, his own breathing unsteady. Were they doing this? With everybody outside, were they doing it as part of a performance? Finally. He reached out and moved his thumb over her lower lip, and the sound that escaped her lips was something like a wretched cry. And then she ducked under his arm, unlocked the door, and scurried out. He went out after her, and looked toward the bar, then looked out toward the back door, which was just closing.
“For God’s sake.”
He followed her outside, into the alley behind the bar. “What the hell are you doing?”
“We can’t be taking up the bathroom. We can just cool our heels out here for a minute.”
“To what end?”
“The show, Flynn.”
“That wasn’t a show.”
“It was a show,” she said. “That’s all this is. Don’t let it go to your head.”
“My head? That’s not where it went to, Jessie, and I think you know that.”
“Darn. I didn’t realize that you were as gullible as the rest of them.”
Oh, that did it. That brat. “You are not unaffected by this, Jessie Jane Hancock.”
“I am going home, Flynn Wilder.”
“We have to leave together,” he said.
“They’ll think we did.” She picked up her phone and was on a call before Flynn could say anything else. “Gus? I’ll come by and square up tomorrow. No. I swear. I’m good for it. I gotta go. See you.”
She hung up and started to walk quickly away from him. “Now I have to leave.”
“Yeah. Guess so.” He paused. “You know, you really made this a miserable evening.”
“You’re not the first man to say that to me.”
And with that, she left him standing there in a nearly empty street staring after her hips as she walked quickly to her truck and got in.
