expert, so I’ll even go easy on you,” he said smoothly, unable to hide what he knew was a shit-eating grin spread across his lips. The reaction was immediate. Just what he wanted. Well, almost.
All humor faded for a second before she snapped her well-known cool façade into place. He’d wanted to prick her pride, bring out her competitive edge, not piss her off. Time to tread a bit more carefully…then again, to hell with tip toeing around. Drew wanted Sydni to see him, the real him. Not the pretty playboy toy most women thought he was.
One perfectly manicured black brow winged upward as Sydni’s neck canted to the left. “Make it easy for me? I don’t need you to make anything easy on me, Drew. I’ve never done easy in my life. Besides, I’m not some simpering twenty year old just beginning to make her way in the world. I know who I am. And who I’m not,” Sydni snapped quietly, stabbing her cheesecake like she was mad at it.
Ah, so that’s her problem , Drew thought. Fine. He had no problem jumping right into what was really on the woman’s mind. “What do simpering twenty year olds have to do with a bet over something fun and meaningless, like movie trivia?” Drew kept right on smiling. After all, even if she was mad, he was still enjoying her company. A soft huff and a couple of soft grumbles that sounded something like “damn man” and “off guard” told him she felt a bit on the silly side. But Drew also knew that the devil would be having blizzard weather before she admitted such a thing. Instead, she forced the frown from her brow and painted on an easy smile.
Meeting his eyes, she said, “Fine. Sorry ‘bout that. What do you want to bet?”
“I bet you that Lee Meriweather was Catwoman in the 1966 Batman movie.”
It sounded easy enough, but Drew knew his movies. Especially ones with sexy black women in them who pioneered the way for the current generations. Women like Eartha Kitt and Lola Falana . And it was a common misconception about who played what during those ground-breaking times.
“And what are you willing to wager since you’re going to lose?” Sydni asked, all shameless confidence, showing almost every tooth in her mouth. She was all glowing confidence and feminine grace as she tilted her head again. But this time her almond shaped eyes twinkled with an expression as old as Eve. Drew laughed outright, ridiculously thrilled that she was flirting back.
Suddenly, Sydni went still.
Drew’s laugh cut off abruptly when his eyes tracked Sydni’s line of sight. He almost groaned aloud. His guffaw had caught the attention of the woman working the counter. The chick proceeded to tilt her head at a saucy angle and wink his way. What was it that urged these airheaded women to flirt shamelessly with a man, even when said man had another woman at his table? Not to mention the fact Drew wasn’t paying anyone but Sydni the least bit of attention.
Totally ignoring the counter floozy, Drew said, “Since I’m determined to see you again, when I win I get a date and a kiss, not necessarily in that order.”
“And if I win?” she asked. With eyes suddenly gone shy, Sydni looked down at the fork she was playing with. The tip of her tongue left a moist trail over her bottom lip. Drew wanted to taste her more than, than…hell, he couldn’t think of a comparison just now. She made him feel untamed, wild. A lion. A predator. So high on his own testosterone he wanted to lift her onto the table and mercilessly tease her lush body until she spread her legs and yelled, “Do me now!”
“Well?” she asked.
Hell, he’d almost forgotten the question. Slowly reaching across the table, Drew took her hand in his and gently kissed the knuckles from left to right.
“I’ll wear this ugly ass neon green workout shirt for you again.”
Now it was Sydni’s turn to laugh outright as she took her hand back.
“You’re on, handsome.”
Handsome. Mmm . The word sounded so different, more
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley