“Who is the world-famous writer and director ofSamurai Seven?”
“Ooh, ooh! Akira Kurosawa!” Olivia grabbed his phone and answered for them. A table across the aisle looked at them, then repeated her answer to themselves. Jake narrowed his eyes.
“Watch how loud you say the answers, you’re giving them away.” He tried to keep his voice light; the last thing he wanted to do was scare her, but he hated to lose. Almost as much as he hated cheaters.
She looked up at him, fierce aquamarine eyes glittering. “Someone stole my answer?” she hissed.
“Technically, you gave it to them. I know you didn’t mean to …”
“Damn it.I’m coming over so they can’t hear me.” She slid over into his side of the booth, their thighs pressed together in the tight space meant only to fit one person. Her brows furrowed in determination as she waited for the next question.
Oh shit. If he wasn’t a goner before, he would have been now. Nothing was hotter than a competitive woman. Especially when she was onhisteam.
“What kind of animal is Knuckles fromSonic the Hedgehog?” The computer droned on.
Their heads pressed together, they didn’t even need to speak. They played the rest of the game in tense silence, her rainfall scent wrapped around his nostrils and overwhelming his senses. In the brief moments between questions, Jake wished it was the weekend so he could take her home and show her how hot she made him all night long. But that would have to wait for another night.
The game wound down, and Olivia did end up getting a box for her sandwich. So did he. The fries were demolished, though. When the final tally went up on the screen, Team Moonlight had the top score!
“We won!” Olivia turned to him with pure joy on her face as she turned in the booth and hugged him. He pressed a subtle kiss to her temple, and felt the loss when she left his embrace to go back to her side of the booth.
He paid the check, and they made their way out into the night. “We make a good team.”
“Hell yeah, we do. I want to do this again.”
“We’ll definitely be back.” He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “I usually come out once a month with Caleb, but you’re way better at this game.”
“Part of that is luck. Like you said, the questions are random.” He unlocked the car, and she hopped into the passenger seat.
“Still…” He pressed himself into the open door of the SUV. “Your feisty attitude washot.”
“Really?” Her voice was husky, one eyebrow raised seductively.
“Yeah. I’m pretty competitive, even over silly games. It’s nice to not scare someone off with that side of myself.”
“Well, in case you didn’t figure it out from UNO last weekend, so am I.” She raised her chin to him, their lips only inches apart.
“Good to hear. It makes me want to do things like this.” Then he grabbed the back of her neck and crushed his lips to hers in a savage, take-no-prisoners kiss. Fire licked through his veins as she responded, her tongue invading his mouth and claiming it for herself. Reluctantly he pulled away. “I better get you home, it’s late.” She nodded, a dazed look on her face as he shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side.
That should give her something to dream about tonight.
It was a sunny Saturday morning in September at the peewee football field. It was actually a soccer field that the league rented, or so Jake had told her. Olivia strode up to the bleachers, taking a seat in the first row. Jake was throwing a football back and forth with each of his kids, having them take turns to warm up. Then he was leading them through stretches. When he caught sight of her sitting there, a devastating grin spread out under a white baseball cap smudged with dirt. He waved to a woman with graying hair in a matching green Dragon’s Pizza shirt. That had to be Marie. She took his place in front of the stretching kids, while he jogged over to where Olivia sat behind the chain link fence.
“Hey there, beautiful. The kids are going to be so excited you’re here,” he said, grabbing onto the chain.
“Just the kids, huh?” She’d worn a green tank to cheer them on. She got up from her seat and waltzed to the fence, linking her hand with his.
“And me.” He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers through the links in a quick kiss.
“Tell them I said good luck.”
He nodded, grabbed another quick kiss, then jogged back to the sideline. Olivia let her hips sway as she made her way back to her seat. Ignoring the glares coming from some of the moms, she settled in to watch.
Jake was in his element with those kids. She couldn’t begin to follow the action on the field, so she watched him interact with his team. When the other team scored, he sent the offense out with a cheer and consoled the defense when they returned to the sideline. He had them distracted cheering for their teammates in no time.
Something happened in the second half that made Olivia’s ovaries explode. One little boy got elbowed in the nose by accident, and came off the field crying, blood dripping down his face. Jake was perfectly calm, helping him with the bloody nose until the medic, a mom in the medical field, came to take over. He handled the tears with kindness, none of the ‘boys don’t cry’ bullshit she’d heard people say to her brother so often.
He would make such a good father. While she resisted her mom’s nagging, Olivia did want to settle down eventually. She wanted a wedding, a husband, children. But she wouldn’t sacrifice her career as her mother had. Whoever she married needed to accept she wasn’t giving up graphic design.
