Hot and Bothered - Erika Wilde Page 0,3
of her fingers tingled at the thought of touching all that virile strength, of smoothing her hand down the slope of his spine and testing the heat and texture of his skin.
God, it had been so, so long…
Her throat grew dry and she swallowed hard. A change in subject was definitely in order. “Where’s Cole been lately?” she asked, clearing off a nearby table that had been recently vacated.
A loud, solid crack rent the air as the cue ball made contact, sending the rest of the colored balls scattering across the table. Three made it into pockets—two solids and a stripe.
“Solids,” Noah called to Bobby, then said to Natalie, “Cole’s got something better to do with his evenings than hang out here with us confirmed bachelors.”
“Oh, and what’s that?” she asked, curious.
He moved around the table, and spying a straight shot into the corner pocket, he lined up his cue. “Spending it with his fiancée, Melodie.” He scored another point.
She crumpled up damp cocktail napkins and stuffed them into the empty glasses on her tray. “That’s right. Aren’t they getting married soon?”
“Next Saturday, actually.” He glanced up before making his next shot, his expression heated and hopeful. “Care to accompany me to the wedding?”
There was that temptation again, and she steeled herself against his sensual allure. “Sorry, but I have to work that night.”
He hit the cue ball, which barely grazed a solid. He sighed, the sound tinged with the barest hint of defeat. “Can’t blame a guy for asking.” He moved away from the table to give Bobby his turn, and strolled slowly over to join her where she stood in the corner of the room. “One of these days I might get lucky and you’ll say yes.”
“Gina would be happy to go with you,” she suggested without thinking, and nearly bit off her tongue. While she knew she’d never accept a date with Noah, she hated the idea of him getting close and intimate with anyone else. God, she was pathetic. She had no claim to him, other than her nightly erotic dreams.
He stopped inches away, so close she could feel the warmth of his big body, could smell the scent of his woodsy aftershave. It struck her just how big he was, how tall. How overwhelmingly male in every way. And if he so much as inhaled a deep breath, his chest would graze her full breasts and taut nipples.
She held her own breath.
He bent his knees until they were face-to-face, his mouth a kiss away. His dark blue gaze locked with hers, and in a low, rumbling voice he said, “Sweetheart, it’s not Gina I’m interested in.”
Her legs turned to rubber, and her heart thumped hard and fast, pumping with a need that was almost painful. He hadn’t touched her physically, so why did she feel as though he’d caressed her intimately with his hands, from breasts to thighs?
She managed a smile, along with a stubborn tip of her chin. “Then it looks like you’ll be attending the affair solo.”
He lifted a brow at the subtle challenge in her tone, but before he could say anything more, or seduce her completely senseless with his eyes and voice, she slipped past him. Shaken, she made her way back to the bar, asked Gina to deliver Bobby’s bottle of beer, and received the okay from Murphy to leave for the evening.
She headed to the storeroom to get her jacket and purse, grateful that her shift was over. And so very disappointed that she couldn’t bring herself to say yes to Noah.
CHAPTER TWO
“Better luck next time, buddy,” Bobby said, and slapped Noah’s back in a show of sympathetic male camaraderie.
“I wouldn’t count on it.” Noah pulled his gaze from where Natalie had disappeared down a short hallway to the storeroom, certain his luck wasn’t going to improve anytime soon where she was concerned. “Melodie put a curse on me, and I’m beginning to think she’s a true witch.” His tone was wry, but the words his soon-to-be sister-in-law had spoken to him months ago haunted him now.
Bobby chuckled and continued their game of pool, sinking a striped ball into the side pocket. “Why do you say that?”
Thrusting his fingers through his thick hair, Noah alternated his gaze from his friend to the back hall, waiting for Natalie to reappear. “One day a while back when Melodie was trying to get my brother’s attention, she took her frustration out on me. Not only did she call me a rake, but