Page 15 of One Snowy Seduction
His thumbs were rubbing along the backs of her hands as they stood there reminiscing. A little more light had started to seep through the windows, but she could see, when she glanced away from Kendrick’s warm gaze momentarily, that the snow was still coming down fast.
“He’s a gym teacher and high school basketball coach,” she said and then cleared her throat as she looked at him again. “We finally hooked up two years ago.”
The shock that flitted across Kendrick’s face was quick as his thumbs stilled on her hands. “Oh. So you ended up being Jazz’s girl after all.”
“I guess.” She slipped her hands free but still needed something to do with them. Something to steady the unsettled feeling that had started to bloom in the pit of her stomach. Kendrick had done all the prep work, but like she’d told him, she could cook too. She moved to the stove to turn it on. There was a can of cooking spray on the counter and a tub of soft spread butter. She always used both whenever she made omelets. After spraying the pan and then adding a couple pats of butter, she picked up the fork and stirred the egg mixture again. “We dated for almost a year and broke up in January. You had a point when you said we weren’t the same people we were back in college. Jazz definitely wasn’t, or maybe he was and I’d just been too young to notice back then.” She sighed and poured some of the egg mixture into the sizzling buttered pan. “Anyway, that’s over now and I’m not looking to make the same mistakes I’ve made in the past.”
There was a long silence after that, so long she’d flipped the omelet over—she liked her omelets well done—and had started to sprinkle the cheese in the center before he spoke.
“You still take lots of cream and sugar in your coffee?” He’d moved from the spot where they’d been standing and headed over to the coffee machine.
“Yep, that’s the only way to drink coffee.”
He laughed and she realized they’d had that exchange many times before. Kendrick liked cream and sugar in his coffee too, but never as much as she did. There were so many things they’d had in common back then, so many things that had solidified their friendship bond. A bond she’d never expected to have again, certainly not with him. But as they sat in that kitchen having breakfast together, talking about any and everything the way they used to, the laughter came easily. The comfort of being with someone who wasn’t judging her or expecting her to do something he wanted her to do blanketed her in the same way it had so long ago. And no, he definitely wasn’t the tall and lanky guy she’d loved talking tech to or playing video games with. He’d changed and from what she could see and what she’d experienced last night, in all good ways. She could’ve been stuck in a blizzard with someone less attractive and less interesting. But she wasn’t. She was stuck in this chalet with Kendrick, her former best friend, and—even if only for last night—her new lover.
CHAPTER7
“Pool was never your strongest game,” Kendrick said later that evening as he watched her miss her third ball in a row.
To be fair she looked a hell of a lot better each time she leaned over the pool table to take the shot, than she did when that ball failed to roll into the pocket she’d expected. They’d stayed in all day, watching the snow fall through the windows. It had continued to come down at a steady pace and the concierge had called a couple times throughout the day with updated weather reports and to ask if they needed anything at the chalet.
They hadn’t. As far as Kendrick was concerned, he had everything he needed for this vacation. He’d done a cursory check of his emails on his phone while they’d watched some romantic holiday movie she’d insisted on. It hadn’t been a bad movie, but he’d wished it were at least in color. Teesha had enjoyed it and when he’d finished on his phone, he’d relished observing the play of emotions on her face as she watched the movie. He’d forgotten how much she liked old movies. She’d told him once that each time she’d gone to her grandmother’s house, the television was on old movies, so that’s how she’d grown accustomed to watching them.
He’d also forgotten how competitive she could be. Well, that had been something he’d chosen to forget considering it had been her competitive nature that had led to the demise of their friendship. He wondered if he should be careful about playing this game of pool with her now.
“Don’t be smart,” she replied and studied the table like she was lining up another shot.
It was his turn now and he walked past her to get to the other side of the table. Holding his pool stick, he stood at one corner staring down at the balls. She was stripes and he had solids. “Five ball in the center pocket,” he said before leaning over the table.
Taking his time, he positioned his stick, keeping the line of the shot in sight. Feeling like he might be a little off, he stood, leaned forward and readjusted himself. He’d just eased his stick forward to take the shot, when she bumped into him.
“Whoops!”
His stick tapped the cue ball, but not as hard as he intended so it rolled slowly in a different direction and tapped the nine ball, edging it a little closer to the corner pocket.
“Oh, that’s what we doin’ now?” He couldn’t be angry. She looked way too cute walking back to the other side of the table wearing another pair of those thin lounge pants that hung low on her hips.
He had to find out what company made them and make a hefty investment as a “thank you” gift. The top to today was a zipper front in the same peach colored material as the pants. On her feet were those ridiculous socks again and she’d pulled her hair up into a ponytail.
“What? You were all stretched out and in my way. I couldn’t get back,” she said her tone holding a hint of laughter even as she tried to play innocent.
“Yeah, okay. Take your shot, Ms. Clumsy.”
This felt good. It felt way too good and for about an hour right before they’d had dinner, he’d thought it was too good to be true. What were the odds that the two of them would end up here together after all this time? And that the conditions would change so that they had to stay here and hash out their differences, to put the past behind them? The odds were very slim, there was no doubt about that. And while he knew Teesha believed in all things happening for a reason, he hadn’t been a subscriber to that notion.
If it were true, then what was the reason his mother had to be killed when he was young? And why had he been sent to live with his Aunt Renee and her house full of dysfunctional kids? In all his years he’d never come up with an answer to either of those questions and so he’d learned that it was up to him to determine his own fate. He had to make the right decisions, always do the right things to make his life exactly what he wanted it to be. He hadn’t been doing too good in that department lately.
Watching those perfect pants sliding down lower as Teesha leaned over the table to take her next shot, effectively tore his thoughts from his tumultuous past. But reminded him again that he had to make the right decisions. Where Teesha was concerned, he didn’t always know what that was. Especially not after last night. He hadn’t gotten much sleep, but instead had lay in that bed convincing himself that it would be too much to go knock on the door of her room and ask her for more.
More kisses, more touching, more moans as he moved deep inside her. He’d figured that would make him seem needy or greedy, or a combo of both. And Teesha’s smart ass wouldn’t hesitate to call him on it. So he’d stayed in his room, with a hard dick, getting no sleep.
Now, his dick was wide awake as the band of the black thong she wore peeked from the top of her pants. He almost groaned when she shifted her position, moving so that her pants dipped even lower as she reached further over the pool table. On instinct, he walked around to the side of the table where she stood.
“Don’t you dare,” she warned with a glance over her shoulder as he approached.
He shook his head. “I’d never stoop to those pitiful tactics you just used,” he told her. “I’m actually coming to offer my assistance.”
Kendrick propped his stick up against the side of the table and then moved behind her.
