Chapter 2 – Game On
A smirk had settled upon her features, she took another swig of beer after momentarily forgetting the horrible taste. It hadn't gotten any better the second time around.
"Okay, prepare to have your butt kicked by a girl." She grinned and brushed past him to the back of the bar. She had never played pool in her life, but she daren't show any sign of weakness to him. She felt his hand on her back guiding her to the table in the far back corner. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed him grin and nod to the group of men she had seen earlier.
He shrugged off the jacket he had put back on earlier and slung it over a nearby bar stool. She let her bag slip from her shoulder and placed it on top of his jacket. She put her drink down on the edge of the pool table; she glanced at the group of men with all eyes fixated on her.
"Your friends are staring." She pointed out as she took a pool cue from his grip.
"Can you blame them?" She wanted to scoff at his poor attempt for a compliment. She wore a pair of Michael Kors white broadcloth mini shorts and red and white striped Kain tank. Her shoulder length honey blonde hair framed her face. She had spent the day at her dear friend's beautiful beach condo soaking up the rays.
She watched on as he set up the balls on the felt, the lights above the table shadowed half of his face. He glanced up, his green eyes burned into her. He walked around the table and leant down to speak beside her ear, "Ladies first." His deep voice vibrated across her skin.
She stared at the table, then turned to Stu smiling sweetly; "Remind me how to play again?"
He chuckled, "I sensed an empty threat, you don't even know how to play!"
"Ok well teach me and I'll still kick your ass." He laughed again, she was feisty and he liked that.
"Hit the ball with the stick." She rolled her eyes, and then moved closer to the table. She bent over and aimed the stick, "Let me help you."
She stood up straight and held her hand out; her palm hit his stomach stopping him to getting any closer to her. She felt the heat seeping through to her skin. He smirked and tensed his abs. She wondered what he would do if she slipped her hand under his shirt. She shook herself from those thoughts and quickly pulled her hand away.
"You stay right there." She knew what he was up to; he would bend her over the pool table and 'teach' her how to shoot.
He chuckled lightly, the smirk never leaving his face; "Alright." He took a step back keeping his eyes on her. She leant over again; hit the cue ball with more force than necessary sending a red ball flying over the edge of the table and onto the floor. After a loud bang, it rolled across the wooden floor in the direction of Stu's friends. She inwardly groaned as it stopped just short of one of the men.
Looking towards Stu he looked pretty amused, she pointed her finger at him; "That was just a practice."
He took one large stride to reach her and took the pool cue out of her hand, "How about we play by the rules?"
"You don't look like the type of guy who likes to play by the rules." He looked like the type of guy who broke all of the rules.
"Ah think yeh might have dropped this." She turned her attention from Stu to the man now stood next to her. His strong Irish accent was the first thing she noticed; next to his huge size and stark red hair. She smiled sheepishly as he dropped the ball on the table.
He held his hand out to her, "Stephen." She smiled and placed her hand in his, his hand engulfed hers and he squeezed lightly.
"Erm, I would tell you my name. But then this game of pool would lose its purpose." She watched as confusion spread across his face.
"I'll tell you her name in 5 minutes Stephen, this won't take long." She snapped her head back to Stu and narrowed her eyes.
Turning back to Stephen she asked, "Is he always like this?" Before she could answer Stu was stood close behind her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. The warmth of his hand spread across her skin like fire.
"Am I always like what?" She knew if she turned around that stupid smirk would be settled on his face.
"Cocky, annoying, egotistical." She paused for a moment and looked up at him over her shoulder, she was right, "Would you like me to go on?"
"You've only known me an hour." His brows furrowed at her.
"So the list is endless?" It was her turn to smirk as disbelief etched his face.
Stephen laughed at the banter before he turned to walk back to the booth, "Good luck lass."
"Rack em up." She pulled the pool cue out of his hand and pointed at the table. He shook his head and smiled at her. He wouldn't usually let people tell him what to do, but he would make an exception just this once. He set the balls up again and let her take another shot. Out of sheer luck she pocketed two striped balls, which meant she was leading. That was until Stu started aiming for the solid colour balls, getting in four.
He missed the next giving her the opportunity to catch up. She leant over trying to judge where to hit the cue ball from. After a bit of shuffling around, she found the right spot. As she hit the ball, she felt Stu's hand brush across her shoulder. His actions caused her to jump slightly, sending the ball in the opposite direction. She frowned at him and his behaviour.
"You had a fly on your shoulder." She wasn't stupid; if he wanted to play dirty she was game.
"Right, so you have to cheat to win?" He grinned as he took the pool cue from her.
"Honey, I'm doing no such thing." She carefully watched as he walked around to the opposite end of the table. She placed both of her hands onto the side and bent over, knowing he would have a lovely view of her cleavage. Her eyes smouldered as he looked up and licked his lips. He hit the cue ball and pocketed another ball. He stood up straight and flashed this teeth, she was tempted to sock him one.
She watched on as he walked around her and the table, he spoke close her ear as he passed "Nice try." He successfully pocketed two more balls which meant he only had the 8 ball left; they both missed their next shots. She knew he would win, but she wished the score hadn't been so bad. He finally hit the 8 ball sending it flying into a corner pocket.
He had won. She inwardly groaned as a smug look crept onto his face. He laid the pool cue down on the table and approached her slowly, he held out his hand to her; "Stu."
She stared at him for a moment, his emerald green eyes looking back at her expectantly. Her hand slipped into his again; he was gentle as his thumb brushed over her skin, "Mandi."
The smile he sent her made her smile back like it was contagious. Everything he did had some kind of effect on her, "Very nice to meet you Mandi." He let her hand fall to her side, "Now about this date."
"I already told you there would be no date." She was deadly serious; a date with this man would not end well for her.
"That's not what we shook on." He folded his arms across his chest, sending her a fresh reminder of just how big he was.
She frowned at him, "We didn't shake on anything."
"But you still told me your name." He had her stumped; she didn't know what to say.
"Erm, I think I should be going. I need to call a taxi." She tried to move around him to pick up her bag, his large hand wrapping around her forearm stopped her. His touch sent electricity shooting up her arm for the countless time that evening.
"I'll take you home." She couldn't let him; after all he was still a stranger.
"You don't have to do that, but it's kind of you to offer." His hand remained on her arm, she sensed he wasn't taking no for an answer.
"I need to make sure you get home safe." He didn't need to do anything; his eyes glanced down to her lips for a moment then back up to her eyes.
"You've been drinking." She was fast running out of excuses. Her last excuse would be that she didn't trust herself around him, but she wasn't about to tell him that.
He pointed to his beer on the side of the table, "First drink tonight." She sighed, his hand moved down to her wrist. Her heart started beating faster, she wondered if he could feel her pulse.
"What about your friends?" He glanced over her shoulder, they were sat around laughing.
"They won't miss me." Her house was a 10 minute drive, she finally gave in.
"Okay, if you really don't mind?" The smile on his face grew wider; she hoped she wasn't making a horrendous decision.
"It's not a problem." He let go of her hand and picked up her bag passing it to her. He put on his jacket and quickly left her to let his friends know he would be back later. In unison they all turned to look at her; she smiled then ducked her head feeling self conscious. She looked up again and they had stopped staring, but Stu was approaching her. She followed him out of the bar and onto the street, his hand settled on her lower back. Shivers shot across her skin.
"Are you cold?" She shook her head and looked up at him.
"No, I'm fine." She smiled softly.
"Here." He shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders; his bad boy persona was slowly crumbling. It unnerved her a little.
"Thank you." Her voice was quiet as he led her to the car park to the side of the bar, he pulled his keys from his pocket. The lights on a black Mercedes SLR flashed twice, "That's your car?" Her mouth hung open, she thought her BMW was fancy. She could only dream of owning a car like this, now she could only be curious as to how he could afford such a beautiful machine.
He opened the door for her; she hesitated slightly before slipping onto the cool leather. He shut the door and quickly moved to the driver's side. Once inside he started the engine, the rumble echoed through the car. She glanced at his arm, spots of oil still visible. She did feel quite bad now. Through the journey she stayed quiet other than giving him directions. She kept her eyes on the road. She could feel his gaze on her a few times; she daren't look at him though.
A sigh of relief left her lips as they drove up beside her house. Before she could utter a word he shot out of the car to open her door. She smiled as she climbed out and handed him his jacket, "Thank you again, you really didn't have to."
"I'll walk you up." He threw his jacket onto the passenger seat and closed the door. She walked up the stone path leading to the white wooden front door. Turning around he was dangerously close to her. She looked up at him, trying to read his face. He wasn't smirking, or looking smug. "Tomorrow night, 7pm. I'll pick you up." He was being demanding again.
"You're not taking no for an answer?" His smirk appeared again.
"You can say no, but I'm still turning up at 7pm." She didn't for one second doubt him; she sensed there was no way out of this.
"How do you know I don't have a boyfriend?" She raised an eyebrow, he hadn't stopped to think if she had a boyfriend, though she knew her behaviour this evening may have given him a clue.
"I don't. Do you have a boyfriend?" She slowly shook her head, "Good, I'll see you tomorrow night then." She could only look on as he inched closer to her, she struggled for breath. His hand moved to her shoulder then to the base of her neck. He leant down, she could smell his aftershave. She had no control over her body; just the thought of him kissing her made her forget how cocky he was, it also made her knees weak. Her eyes drifted shut, his lips were supposed to come crashing down onto hers; instead they lightly brushed her cheek, the words 'Wear something sexy.' were whispered against her ear. Her eyes shot open, his eyes sparkled back at hers with mischief. Before she could reply with a quick witted comment, he winked at her and strode back to his car. He had left her stunned and bewildered; never had she met a man like him in her life. She opened the front door and stepped into the hallway, quickly shutting the door behind her. She needed to erase his smirk now clearly etched in her mind.
A/N – Thank you SandraSmit19, celticfighter, Hugsieee, alana2awesome and vipergirl86 for the reviews. :D:D
