Page 35 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
‘Oh, no.’ She shook her head. ‘I’ll watch you.’
She was quickly discovering that was one of her favourite things to do around here – just watch him. He intrigued her. She knew the power he held, and that his job could be dirty and underhanded. She’d seen the way he clashed with Detective Morgan, and the image of him as the Black Knight took root. Yet up here, in his T-shirt and jeans, he looked like a college boy just out for a good time.
‘OK. This is the line here.’
There was literally a line of duct tape on the floor. She toyed with her ponytail. ‘You’re all about staying behind the lines, aren’t you?’
‘Unless crossing it gets me a better deal.’ He stepped up. ‘OK, it’s quick and easy. Don’t think too much. Just look where you want the dart to go.’
He tossed a dart with black skulls on the fins and hit a piece of the pie that made the electronic board beep with success. The following two darts hit their marks, too.
‘You’re good,’ Genieve said.
‘It’s my game.’ He pulled out his darts, and hit a button to switch the board over to player two.
She took her spot behind the line and peered at the board. She wound up.
‘Whoa, whoa, whoa.’ Brody quickly moved in. ‘You’re not pitching to home plate.’
‘What am I doing wrong?’
‘OK, first you want to hold the dart like a pencil, not a javelin.’ He tucked his set of darts in his back pocket and helped her set her fingers correctly. He adjusted one of the fins so it was all the way in and stepped back. ‘All the action is from the elbow and wrist.’
She winked at him. ‘I’ve heard that before.’
His eyes blinked wide in surprise as she let the dart fly. It embedded itself in the wall a good six inches from the board, and he winced.
‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘It’s OK. I’ve got spackle. Somewhere…’
‘Probably the garage.’ Genieve looked at her feet when his gaze slid down her body. ‘Am I standing wrong?’
‘Wrong?’ He let out a snort. ‘I wouldn’t say that, but it won’t work for darts.’
She grinned when he moved behind her, but quickly swallowed it before he could see. His hands settled on her hips as he turned her slightly to face the board more head-on. His touch was warm and his hands were big. She inhaled slowly. His heat was only inches from her back. He was taller than her by a good six inches. ‘Like this?’ she asked huskily.
‘That’s about right.’
She’d say. She held up the dart again like he’d shown her, but he stopped her. Folding his hand around hers, he repeated the motion. ‘Like this.’
‘This?’ She tried on her own.
His hand spread wide over her belly. Only her pink tank-top kept the touch from being skin-on-skin. ‘Don’t lean forward.’
Forward? It was taking everything inside her not to lean back into him.
‘Focus on where you want the dart to go and just let it fly in that direction.’
‘Now?’
‘On three,’ he said into her ear. ‘One…two…three.’
She hit the board this time and was so excited she bounced up and down. ‘That was good, wasn’t it?’
His breath hissed out of his lungs when her butt rubbed against the front of his jeans, and he moved back quickly. ‘Good for me. Try to hit one of the numbers we talked about this time.’
‘Right.’ Standing like he’d showed her, Genieve lined up. When she let the dart go this time, the board responded with an encouraging beep.
