Page 26 of Coming Home to Sturcombe Bay
She straightened from the table, smiling. She hadn’t intended to glance at Liam, but her gaze inevitably slid in his direction. He nodded, a glint of warm approval in his eyes.
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Casual, friendly. Don’t let anyone see that your heart just skipped.
* * *
Liam sipped his beer as he watched the action at the pool table. Everyone seemed to have forgotten that Cassie had been pretty good at pool before she left. They had often played, here or in the pub near his Bristol digs when she had come up to visit.
She’d clearly played a lot since then. If anyone thought that first win had been a fluke, he suspected they were soon going to find out that it wasn’t.
“Okay, Terry, you’re up,” someone called. “Good luck.”
Terry was one of the older players. It was a tighter game than Liam had expected — Cassie missed a couple of easy shots. Then he realised that she was being mindful of Terry’s dignity, giving him space to pocket a few of his balls without being too obvious about it before clearing the table.
He was glad of the game as cover, enabling him to let his gaze linger without looking too obvious. She was wearing a plain white sleeveless T-shirt and well-worn jeans that clung over hertrim derrière as if she’d been born in them. As she leaned over the table to line up a shot, he felt as if he’d been tasered.
But it was her smile that held his attention the most. Wide and generous, it seemed to encompass everybody while making you feel it was just for you.
It was that smile that had first caught his attention, that night at Lisa Channing’s party. It was the memory of that smile that had lingered in his mind long after she had left him behind.
* * *
“Ah, that were a good game, my luvver.” Terry was beaming, not minding that he’d lost. He patted her shoulder. “Well done. Where’d you learn to play like that?”
“Right here,” Cassie responded, smiling. “Though I’ve been practising a bit since then.”
He chuckled with laughter. “I bet you have, I just bet you have.”
It was Liam’s turn at the table next. She was aware that her smile was a little wobbly as he picked up his coin and handed it to her. “Tails.”
She had a sudden moment of panic that nerves were going to get the better of her. Fumbling the coin toss would be a very bad way to start.
But hell, she’d jumped off a small metal platform and plunged almost four hundred and fifty feet attached to a bungee rope. Eight and a half seconds of free fall — pure terror, pure adrenalin. She could cope with a game of pool — even against Liam Ellis.
Smiling with a confidence she didn’t feel, she tossed the coin and called, “Tails it is.”
“I’ll take the break.” Liam’s eyes glinted with amusement. “By the look of it, it could be the only time I get to the table.”
“Good luck,” Tom teased as Liam picked up his cue.
Lucky or not, he sank a yellow on the break, and a second on his next shot. He missed the third, but left the cue ball in a tricky place, making it difficult for Cassie to avoid a foul.
She walked round the table, carefully studying the angles. It was difficult to focus — she was all too conscious of him standing there, just a few feet away. Watching her, smiling slightly.
She needed to win the game. If she didn’t, would he think she had let him beat her? Would the others remember that ten years ago they had been an item, and assume that she was still soft on him?
Dammit, that just added to the pressure. Bending over her cue, she drew in a long, deep breath and held it.Steady, don’t force it, keep it smooth. . .
The cue kissed the white, the white bounced off the cushion and nudged one of her red balls, and she let go of the breath from her lungs as she relaxed, smiling. No foul.
Liam laughed. “Well done! You could make a fortune as a hustler.”
She slanted him a challenging glance and stood back for him to take his turn.
He pocketed two more balls before failing to sink his next shot. Stepping up to the table, she studied the lay of the balls, then systematically pocketed all seven red balls in one run, finishing with an awkward long shot on the black. Liam led the congratulations, shaking her hand, and her heart skipped again.
She managed a smile. “Thank you.”
