and maces were far too big to manage.
And then their mother had caught them and that had ended that. Loudly and cruelly.
She swallowed. “Perhaps another time.”
He tilted his head and looked at her as if he could see the painful thoughts in her mind. Then he shrugged. “Very well. Now, I am proficient at billiards, that is true.”
She rolled her eyes but found herself laughing. “It must be nice to think so highly of oneself in every way.”
“Not every way,” he retorted with a wink that was far too cheeky. “Just the ways that I am excellent.”
“A fine distinction,” she said with an even stare.
“What I am better at than the game is making what we like to call trick shots.”
“Trick shots?” she asked.
He didn’t respond but swept up one of the cues and set out the balls on the table one behind the other. He leaned over, and her breath caught at the sudden pure focus on his face. Then he snapped the cue forward and the ball closest to him launched up and forward, hopping over the ball next to it in line and hitting the third to send it to the pocket, where it swished in.
She stared at him, knowing her eyes were wide. “That is…damned impressive.”
He stood up and leaned on the cue, crossing one ankle over the other. “It must have greatly pained you to say such a thing to me.”
“It did,” she admitted. “I shall wash my mouth with soap when I return home to get the taste of it out.”
He threw his head back and laughed, and her heart, damn it, stuttered. He was really very handsome and it was so irritating. He shouldn’t be handsome. She shouldn’t find him thus, not when she wanted to keep disliking him.
She sighed. “Impressive or not, I’m not sure what you want me to do now.”
“Jump the ball with the other. You don’t have to push the third into the pocket, just do the jump,” he said. “If you can do it, then you win not one pound, but five. If you can’t, I’ll claim my pound back.”
“Five pounds!” she repeated, eyes widening. That was not an insignificant amount of money. She wasn’t hurting for funds, despite Erasmus’s bad behavior. Rhys had settled her with enough for her household and a few pleasantries.
But five pounds would afford her a luxury. Like the pretty hat she’d seen at the milliner on Bond Street last week.
She licked her lips. “What are the further terms? Because you must know I couldn’t do that now.”
“Of course not, and I’m not unfair, despite what you think of me. I will teach you the trick for half an hour. You will get to practice another quarter hour after that. And then you’ll get five tries to do it. Does that seem fair?”
“It sounds fair,” she said slowly. “But I suppose I won’t know if it is fair until I have been taught.”
His eyes sparkled as he faced her. “Interesting. Well, how about this: I will teach you. If at the end of the time you think this too difficult, you may refuse the wager.”
“And have you call me a coward?” she said.
“Only behind your back…” he replied.
She wrinkled her brow. A year ago this man had only been hard with her. Harsh. But now he was playful, teasing. As if their rivalry was a game, not something deeper. And in that moment, it almost felt like it could be. A playful flirtation with a handsome man for fun.
She tightened her jaw. She didn’t trust him—that hadn’t changed. She had to be careful how far she let him in. She’d learned that from her time with Erasmus, if nothing else.
“I’m not a coward. Very well, let us start the time to teach me.”
He held her gaze a moment and then shrugged. “Let me show you the steps first.”
As she watched, he slowly repeated what he’d initially done, only this time talking her through the exact spot where he’d hit the first ball, the speed and angle he’d used. She moved closer, tilting her head to watch as he repeated the shot once, twice. She crouched down to have an even view of the third time he did it.
“I see,” she said.
“Now I think I should show you,” he said, and motioned her toward the spot between him and the table.
She hesitated. It was a narrow space, indeed. To step there would make them…very close. Closer than they ever had been before.
“Giving up?” he