“That dumb kid wanted only one person’s eyes on him, and in the end, he had her undivided attention. Dislocated shoulder or not, I’m thinking he’s not feeling too badly right now.”
Charity’s eyes widened as she gleaned his meaning, and she chuckled as well. Of course! That made so much sense.
“Oh, my goodness!” she exclaimed, feeling silly for not realizing it herself. “He has a crush on Charlie.”
“Major one, poor bastard. He’s in for a tough time with her brothers.”
“How many brothers?” Miles asked..
“Just two. You know Mason, my former business partner. But I don’t think you’ve met his brother, a big taciturn guy named Spencer. They’re married to Lia’s sisters. And they’ll eat that poor kid for breakfast.” Sam put the tray of meat on the kitchen counter. He then made a beeline for Lia and wrapped his free arm around her slender waist.
“Hey there, sunshine, did you miss me?”
“While you were miles away on the patio, tending the fire?” She laughed, raising her hand to cup his jaw. “Of course, I did.”
He nuzzled her neck, and she playfully pushed him away.
“You smell like smoke and sweat,” she protested, wrinkling her nose.
“Like a manly man, you mean?”
Charity watched them lightheartedly bicker, grateful that their interest had shifted from her. She sneaked a glance at the silent man who had come to stand beside her at the kitchen counter. He wasn’t watching the playful couple, instead his eyes were trained on her face. He smiled lazily when he recognized that he’d been caught staring, but did nothing to disguise the smoldering intent in his gaze.
Lia was right. Charity’s every nerve ending felt scorched by that penetrating stare. She felt stripped naked, vulnerable, and on edge. Her skin was too tight for her body, her nipples were hard, painful points, and her knees threatened to give way. She fought to control her breathing, a little embarrassed—and a lot exhilarated—by how quickly a single look could turn her on. She already knew how fast he could make her come, but she was starting to wonder exactly what else he could do with his body, hands, and mouth.
She took a fortifying gulp from her glass of red wine.
This was going to be a draining evening.
It started innocently enough. They were having a perfectly civilized, adult evening. The conversation had been pleasant, the food good…and Charity was surprised to recognize that she was enjoying herself.
Until Sam produced the deck of cards. Miles, who had been reclining on the love seat next to Charity, his arm stretched out behind her and his hand idly playing with the loose strands of her hair in the nape of her neck, sat upright in an instant at the sight of the cards. He rubbed his hands together, in a gesture that could only be described as gleeful and grinned wickedly.
“Oh hell, yes. I’m a legendary Uno player.”
“Please, you haven’t played until you’ve been stuck with a squad of bored, soldiers waiting to go on a covert op. We would do anything to alleviate the tedium and tension. This game was our number one boredom buster. It got fucking cutthroat…”
“Sam,” Lia rolled her eyes with a sigh. “Language.”
“Sorry. Forgot myself. It got darned fucking cutthroat.”
Charity choked on her wine, before hooting with laughter, and Lia palmed her face in exasperation.
“We’re talking about edgy, highly trained, SAS men, with itchy trigger fingers…all of that pent-up aggression and frustration had to go somewhere. We got really good at this game really fast.”
“Well, I had equally cutthroat competitors. It was my siblings’ favorite school holiday pastime growing up. You ever try playing this game with a ten and twelve-year-old? I assure you, your SAS buddies would cower in terror.”
“I’ve never played this game before,” Charity ventured, and they all three turned to gape at her in shock. She flushed and felt immediately self-conscious. Truthfully, her parents and Faith had probably played it often, but a game like this would have seemed much too tame for her younger self. If it wasn’t physical and didn’t contain some element of danger, it just wouldn’t have interested her. Even as a child, Charity had always been outside, on her bike, board, or blades. Card or board games could never hold her interest for long.
But now, the idea of a fun activity that didn’t involve any kind of risk to her physical well-being, was highly appealing.
“Uh…it’s pretty easy,” Lia said, after a beat. “It’s fun. A little juvenile, we like to pretend that