Page 9 of Spellbound
He grinned, and I was tempted to put my finger to his mouth and trace his lips. Trace the wide smile I captured while doodling that brought out the sparkle in his dark eyes and the captivating dent in his chin.
Instead, he tilted his head and rubbed his cheek against mine as he whispered in my ear. “Sex and greed, the greatest motives of life and fiction.” He clinked the neck of his bottle to the rim of my glass. “And I’m beginning to feel a little greedy about sex with you.”
My. Heart. Stopped. And then I forgot to breathe. Could it be I wasn’t imagining this . . . this . . . whatever the hell it was? Was there even a word for what seemed to be happening between us, and so damn quickly? I reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Darling, we’ve got this in the bag.”
The room was abuzz, but not so loud we couldn’t carry on a conversation from a distance of more than twelve inches, yet I didn’t move. Didn’t turn my gaze from his except when the announcer tossed out the first question. Was it possible my attraction wasn’t one-sided? Dear God, I could hope.
We sat through the first couple of questions, movies from before we were born and could probably be found on Netflix, but . . . I shrugged internally. The Fireball was heating my libido, which was a little distracting. When I shot my hand into the air, then answered the third question wrong, Eli high-fived me anyway. And so went my night.
Eli knew how hair extensions were applied. It was probably the whiskey, but that seemed inordinately funny and I followed his subtle laughter with peals of my own.
I knew the year the first Nintendo came out.
He raised a questioning brow. “Who on Earth even knows this?”
I shrugged and played it low-key. “Apparently, me.”
He knew the relatively unknown commercial actress daughter of mega-recording star Star Taylor.
I blinked in amazement. “There’s a story behind that, I imagine.”
“Met her at a media event. One I never want to remember again in my life.”
Media event?
The next question was a movie quote, a phrase that was iconic now, more than thirty years later. Eli leaned back in his seat, a cat-who-ate-the-canary smile hovering on his lips.
I tilted my head to the side. “This movie’s about baseball, right? You know this?”
“I know a bit about baseball.”
We answered some questions, let others pass, and at the end of the night I had an envelope of cash to share with him, the prize for coming in third, along with the memory of a good time with a charismatic and fun gentleman.
And a heart that would mourn on Sunday when I left for home. And probably for a while after that.
But Sunday was days away. I pulled out a few bills and slapped them on the table between us. “Last drink’s on me.” When he opened his mouth as if to object, I only laughed and laid my hand on his forearm. It was warm beneath my palm, firm and corded with muscle. I wouldn’t mind ogling him in the gym. “Come on, Eli, let me share my portion of the winnings. I had fun tonight.”
The bartender drew my attention when he chose that moment to shout out last call; I stood, then peered back and caught Eli staring at me with shadows in his eyes, a look of befuddlement clouding his expression.
“What’s the matter?” I resumed my seat, and without a second thought, laid my palm on his cotton-covered thigh.
He lifted my hand. Placed it over his heart and held it between his palms. The muscles of his torso were well-honed, and my imagination enjoyed a quick frolic across that uncharted territory. My inner vixen sighed in delight.
Our table mates had abandoned us with a quick good-bye minutes ago. And while the music overhead had returned as loud as before, the dance floor was empty, the bar nearly deserted.
The night was almost over, and I found myself wondering how many hours till I saw him again. Spent precious hours with him again. The idea more than appealed.
“Tonight, I want—” He gave my hand a light squeeze, and then cleared his throat. “Ah hell, tonight was fun but you probably have duties in the morning. For the wedding, I mean. When my sister got married two summers ago, the women in my family fretted over a million mysterious details.” He turned his face upward, then gave his head a slight shake. “Christ, I didn’t even ask, but I might have responsibilities, too.”
Why did that sound like a brush-off? Should I ask if he had a girlfriend?My brain froze. I hadn’t considered it, and raised my fingertips to my brow in consternation. He was the last thing I was looking for when I agreed to visit his hometown. My heart—the core of me that had been so optimistic only moments ago—sank. I lowered my hand to my lap, dismayed and a little embarrassed. I was all right with a weekend hookup, but I was no homewrecker.
“Is someone— Do you have—” I locked my hands together and squeezed. I looked away, unseeingly toward the empty stage on the far side of the cavernous room. It was dark, surrounded by straw bales and a variety of carved pumpkins.
“No, Emma Grayce. The only person waiting for me these days in my grandmother.” Eli’s gaze was sweet, almost grateful.
He put a finger under my chin, tilted my head toward him, then up. “Should I ask the same of you?”
