of her panties… fuck. Forcing my mind to think through the fog, I ask, “do you ever think things through?”
Her eyes snap to mine. “Of course I do.”
“Really,” I say, pitching my tone to hurt. It’s the only emotion I know I can reliably call forward. “And where is this little game supposed to lead, huh?”
Her exhale is shaky, but the fire burning in her eyes is fierce. My angry kitten, indeed. “To victory, of course.”
“Ah.” I exchange one of my cards for the river and secure another nine. A triple, now. There’s no way I’m not winning. “And after this, you’ll stop holding the poker game from eight years ago over my head?”
“Yes.” She deals the river, eyes studying the cards. Her hair falls forward. Would it feel like golden silk through my fingers?
She reveals her three-pair of sevens. There’s a smile on her lips.
I reveal my nines. “Damn,” I say softly. “I guess you’re not playing for victory at all.”
Blair stands, her breasts rising and falling with the depth of her sigh. “Perhaps I’m not aiming for that kind of victory,” she says darkly, reaching for her panties.
And that’s when her words sink in. She’d consider this a victory—me, watching her. Me, aroused by her. Her dislike is still there, coloring her words and her perception of me. This has never been about starting something—only confirming it. And letting her know I want her would be losing.
“No.” My order is whip-like. “Those stay on.”
“But I lost.” Her fingers curl around the lacy fabric on her hips, ready to tug them down. “Are you saying it would be too much? Too difficult to… I don’t know… control ourselves?”
I turn from her, from the softness of her skin and the curves of her body. My blood is pounding in my ears. The line between what I can have and what I want has never been this clearly marked before.
There is no path to victory here. In her direction lies only failure. What I can offer her won’t be enough. Not to mention ruining this will ruin my friendship with Cole as well. It’s too high a price.
So I say the one thing that I know she’ll hate hearing, pitching my voice to nastiness. “Perhaps I don’t want to see any more.”
The silence in her direction tells me I’ve hit home, at least enough to stop the stripping. Thank God for the small mercies, I think, as I turn back and see those panties still in place.
But the expression on her face isn’t the hurt I’d expected. It’s something far worse. Speculation.
“Fine,” she says. “I’ll keep them on. Who knew Nicholas Park was a prude?” And then, as calmly as if she were fully dressed, she starts gathering up the cards.
I stare at her for longer than I should, want and anger chasing one another through my veins. And despite it all, a begrudging respect. She had seen me looking yesterday and all but confirmed my attraction today.
“You won, then.” She shuffles them one last time before heading to the dresser to put the cards back. As she bends over, I’m greeted with one of the best views of my life.
Yeah, I need to get out of here. Right now.
“At least there’s that,” I say, edging backwards. “Good night, Blair.”
If she says it back, it’s not something I hear. I’m already halfway down the hallway to my bedroom, my hand itching to wrap itself around the steel ache she’d inspired.
Blair Porter just got a whole new level of dangerous.
The next day is a very delicious kind of torture. Forced to meet her gaze at breakfast, knowing how her breasts look beneath her soft sweater. Seeing her long legs in ski pants, knowing how soft her thighs appear. Blair might have confirmed something for herself, but she had ignited the desire in me that I’d managed to keep at bay for years.
It’s made worse when Cole comments on it. “You all right, man? You’ve been quiet all morning.”
I hand him the gear we’ll need for the glacier tour and refuse to look in Blair’s direction, to see the humor I suspect is in her eyes at the question. “I’m fine.”
Cole drops it, knowing when not to push, and sits beside me in the car. A friend when I’ve had none, Cole is better than I deserve. The episode last night made that especially clear—what would he say if he knew I’d let his sister undress in front of me?
I banish the thought,