Chapter 8
Luke washed the dishes while Tara dried them. Their conversation had been friendly rather than flirty, but it hadn’t stopped them in their game of finding ways to touch each other without having to admit to it.
She moved around him to put away the sauce pan, brushing her hand along his lower back. It sent delicious tingles up his spine.
He finished washing the ladle and stole the dishtowel off her shoulder to dry it, knowing she’d have to steal it back. When she did, he was ready for her, giving a surprise tug in return to pull her close. She braced herself with her hands on his shoulders and gave him a saucy grin before backing away, taking the towel with her.
“Ready for some ping pong?” she asked.
“Um, sure.” Luke hadn’t been expecting that. “Do you play?”
“Are you asking if I’m any good?” She walked into the dining room and took a paddle from the wall cupboard before rejecting it and pulling out a smooth leather one. “I plan to win, if that tells you anything.”
“Bring it on. Let’s play to twenty-one.” He took the paddle she rejected and moved to face her across the table. “Practice volley?” It was a chance to feel her out. He had a feeling she wouldn’t like it if he tried to go easy on her, so he assessed her swing and serve as they casually hit the ball back and forth, looking for her weaknesses just like he would with any other opponent. “Youngest goes first?”
She laughed. “And who’s that? I’m twenty-six. How old are you?”
“Twenty-six.”
“For real?” She blew a curl out of her face, but it slid right back. Setting her paddle down, he watched her pull the elastic out of her hair and gather it all back up. She blushed red under his gaze, obviously not understanding how truly beautiful her hair was. How beautiful all of her was.
“When’s your birthday?” he asked.
“November twentieth. Just turned. What about you?”
“October fourth.” He threw her the ball and she caught it, moving fluidly into a serve that caught him off guard. He managed to hit it back, and their game immediately turned furious. By the time they were neck and neck at fifteen points each, both of them were out of breath, and he was shaking the front of his shirt to cool off. They decided to take a water break.
She had rolled the sleeves of her sweater up past her elbows, but still looked uncomfortable. “I have to change,” she said, moving across to the front entryway where she’d hung up her bag.
“Do you have something to change into? Other than your swimsuit?” His voice had the audacity to change pitch on that last part.
She smirked. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“It would definitely throw off my game. How badly do you want to win?”
“I brought an extra t-shirt. And I’ll still spank you. At ping pong.” She bent over laughing. “I didn’t win that one, did I?” She walked down the hall with her bag, coming back a minute later in a gray t-shirt, attempting to look composed.
She stood waiting for his serve, but their stare-off only resulted in both of them busting up laughing.
“Have you thought more about sledding on Christmas?” he asked.
She immediately sobered. His invitation to join him had come right before Derek saw them together.
“I haven’t talked to Aunt Sandy about it yet. I didn’t know if we were still… you know.”
“You’re still invited.” In fact, the thought of going anywhere fun without her sounded downright dull.
He served and the conversation paused while they hit back and forth. She had an unnatural ability to skim the ball over the top of the net so he had to lunge across the table to hit it back over.
She gained the point and picked up the ball from the floor, turning it over in her hands. “You said Heston and Sarah were going, and your brother and sister-in-law.”
“And their kids.”
“What about Derek and Jody?”
He froze. Was she making sure they wouldn’t be going before she decided? “I hadn’t asked them yet. Derek’s family usually spends Christmas at his grandparents’ house. Maybe you already knew that.”
“That’s right. They do.”
