His sister played pretty good pool too, and hit the ball into a side pocket. Another slid into a different pocket. She did a little dance. “Dang, I’m good!”
“Cocky, too,” Sly teased. “Wait’ll it’s my turn.”
She missed the next shot. Sly chalked his cue. “Watch and learn, little sister.” He took aim and dropped a striped ball into the corner pocket. He put away four more, then missed.
Before Dani took aim, she angled her head at him. “I’m glad to hear you met someone, big brother. How and where did it happen?”
“Remember that dinner meeting with my lawyer a couple weeks ago at the Bitter & Sweet? She was there with a girlfriend. We ended up dancing the whole night.”
“The whole night?”
Sly wasn’t about to answer that. “Are you ever going to move that cue?”
Dani ignored him. “Her girlfriend must’ve been bored silly.”
“Yeah. She went home.” He nudged her aside. “I’ll shoot for you.”
“No way.” She gave him a friendly poke in the ribs. “Does this woman have a name?”
“Lana Carpenter.” The words rolled off his tongue and left a sweet taste in his mouth.
“That sounds familiar. Where have I heard that name?” Dani wondered, tapping the cue with her finger. “I don’t think she’s one of my regulars.”
She worked at Big Mama’s Cafe, a popular place open for breakfast and lunch that Big Mama had started some thirty years earlier. Someday when the woman retired, the restaurant would be Dani’s.
His sister finally took her shot, pocketed one and missed the next. “Shoot,” she grumbled. “You’re up. Is Lana related to Tim Carpenter?”
Sly sure as hell hoped not. “Haven’t asked her.”
“She doesn’t know you’re thinking about suing a man who could be related to her?”
“Forget thinking about it. I’m definitely doing it.” Sly was still unhappy about having to take legal action. He missed his shot, too. “He should have gotten the papers yesterday.”
“I’m sorry it had to come to that.” Dani made a face. “Have you heard anything back?”
“It’s all going through my lawyer. When he hears, he’ll call.”
She nodded. “Where does Lana Carpenter work?”
“She owns a business called Tender Loving Daycare.”
“Now I remember why her name sounded familiar. Her daycare was profiled as small business of the month in the paper. Customers have been talking about it a lot. Her picture was in the paper. She’s pretty.” His sister gave him a speculative look. “So where are you taking her this weekend?”
Sly almost told her about stopping by the daycare, but he didn’t want to stir up his sister’s curiosity any more than it already was. “We’re not dating.”
“Why the heck not?”
Because something told Sly that Lana was the one woman who could cut right past his defenses. He wasn’t about to let anyone do that.
“Let me get this straight,” his sister said when he didn’t answer. “The weekend before last, you danced the night away with Lana Carpenter. Tonight, you mentioned her to me, but you haven’t asked her out. You must like her a lot.”
He snorted and shook his head, but Dani had a point. He did like Lana. No, he lusted after her. It was easy to confuse the two, but he was smart enough to know the difference. “I’m getting awful hungry,” he said. “Let’s finish this game and then grab a couple of burgers. The winner treats.”
“You’re on.” Dani lined up her cue and shot. The ball sailed neatly into a pocket. She missed the next one. “Why haven’t you asked her out?”
Sly exhaled loudly. His sister could be a pit bull about some things. Should’ve figured she wasn’t through with the subject of Lana Carpenter yet. “I don’t have her number,” he said.
Dani rolled her eyes. “Check out social media and find out what you can that way. Or, duh, look up the phone number of the daycare.”
