The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,224

felt so completely right that she decided to just go with it.

“God, I should hope not.”

“I don’t have any money, so you’ll have to spot me.”

He grinned. “I’ve got you covered.”

He opened the door and followed her inside. The noise from the games and screaming children was deafening.

The teenager at the entrance gave them a strange look as he stamped their hands with invisible ink.

“I’m hungry,” Garrett said. “Let’s get a pizza.”

She shook her head and laughed as he ordered a pepperoni and mushroom pizza, two beers, and got a cup full of tokens. She picked up the number for their order and found a table for them, then walked to the edge of the arcade. “Are you going to give me half those tokens?”

“No way. You have to earn them.”

“I already said I wasn’t sleeping with you.”

A mother with a baby on her hip walked past them at just the wrong moment and gave her a disapproving glare.

“Look at you. You’re in Chuck E. Cheese for less than five minutes, and you’re already making friends,” Garrett laughed. “And I never said I wanted to sleep with you.”

He might not have said it, but they both knew it. Correction: they wanted to sleep with each other, and the electricity in the air between them still scared the shit out of her. The panic hit again, and she took big gulps of air.

Garrett put his hands on her shoulders and squatted down so they were face to face. “Blazer. I would never try to convince you to do anything you didn’t want to do. You know that, right?”

She nodded. The night they’d spent together in Phoenix was proof enough of that.

“I promise you that I won’t make any moves on you at all tonight. No pressure. Just fun, okay?”

She nodded again, still trying to catch her breath.

“Everything’s going to be okay. Forget about everything else—except that you claim you can beat my ass in Skee-Ball. But I’ve been practicing, so I’m about to give you a run for your money.” He handed her the cup of tokens, but he didn’t let go of it. “Time to show me what you’re made of, Myers.”

She narrowed her eyes, but a grin tugged at her lips. “It’s Hansen now, and it’s time for you to kiss your ass goodbye.”

They carried their beers with them and headed for the Skee-Ball game. True to his word, he beat her in their first round.

“Lucky break, Lowry,” she said, putting another token into the machine. “I was just warming up.”

He gave her an ornery grin. “Bring it.”

Two boys who looked to be around eight years old picked the two lanes next to Garrett.

Blair leaned forward. “You boys any good at this game?”

They gave her a wary look. “Kind of.”

Garrett picked up his beer cup and took a sip.

“See this guy here?” She motioned her thumb toward Garrett. “He thinks he’s some kind of Skee-Ball king, and he’s offered to give five tokens to any kid who can beat him.”

Garrett choked on his beer, and Blair burst out laughing. “What’s the matter, Lowry?” she asked, slapping him on the back. “Afraid of a little healthy competition?”

“No way,” he grinned. “I can take ’em.”

The two quickly made mincemeat out of Garrett, and word got out that some old guy who wasn’t very good was holding a Skee-Ball contest. A line formed, and he ran out of tokens within ten minutes.

“So much for your mad Skee-Ball skills,” Blair teased, leaning against the basketball shooting game with her arms crossed. “You should demand a refund from your instructor.”

He laughed. “I think he fled to Mexico.”

“I can see why.” She waggled her eyebrows. “How about a basketball challenge?”

“Depends on who’s asking. You or every kid in this building?”

“I’ll go easy on you. Just me.” She winked.

“We need more tokens.”

She tapped her foot. “Get your ass moving. I’m not getting any younger.”

She beat him on the first round, and he beat her on the second before word spread through the building that the old Skee-Ball loser had moved on to basketball. He had to fend off a horde of power-hungry children as they moved away from the game.

Garrett pointed to the table. “The pizza’s ready.”

“Likely story,” Blair said. “Admit it, you need some time to lick your wounds.”

His eyes turned wicked. “Something like that,” he said with a grin.

“Hey, guy.” A little girl tugged on his shirt. “I want to win five tokens too.”

Blair laughed. “Come on, Lowry. Can you really turn her down?”

Garrett