Page 23 of Sizzle

Elliot looks at the table.

“Sonuvabitch. When did that happen?”

“Pay up, sucker,” I wiggle my fingers at him. “Unless it’s my turn to tell stories.”

“Oh, yes, please!” says Joelle.

She’s giving Elliot a hard time just like I am, but all my cock hears is a beautiful woman begging for more. I set the rack down and turn to the bar, but not before I catch a glimpse of Elliot.

I knew he had a thing for her; I goddamn knew it. The look on his face right now tells me his dick heard the same thing.

Not that I’m thinking about his dick. Jesus fuck.

“Anybody else want a refill?” I ask. My voice is about six times rougher than normal, but I ignore it and hope they will too.

“Are you sure it’s okay?” Joelle asks.

“Of course it’s okay,” says Elliot. “I’ve got an in with the boss.”

Joelle giggles. We had taken exactly one shot of tequila each, and I think even that may have been over her limit. She’s flushed and smiling, more relaxed than I’ve seen her before. And so damned beautiful. It’s hard not to stare but she’s not for me to be staring at, so I focus on getting our beers and heading back to the table.

Elliot takes his beer saying, “I’ll have to pay you back at home. I don’t have any cash on me.”

“Oh, well, in that case,” I say, setting down the rest of the drinks. “Joelle, let me tell you about the time Natalie Fleming stuck her—”

“Dude, really?”

Joelle laughs again, a full-out belly laugh this time. It’s impossible not to laugh along with her, at least for me. Elliot’s glaring like he means it.

“And on that note, I’m going to excuse myself for just a minute,” Elliot says, still glaring daggers at me. I try not to watch him adjust himself as he slides off his stool, obscuring the bulge behind his fly.

I shift, resisting the urge to do the same.

Joelle’s sneaking a look at me from the corner of her eye, and not for the first time tonight. I take advantage of Elliot’s absence to ask her.

“You keep looking at me like that, sunshine. Something on your mind?”

That blush rises in her cheeks again and my breath catches. I’m a junkie for that blush.

“Not really,” she says, almost whispering. Joelle looks around, making sure Elliot’s still gone.

“You can trust me, you know,” I say. “I can keep a secret.”

Understatement of the year.

“It’s just—” She looks so damn nervous again. I hate that. I walk around the pool table to take the stool next to her.

“Just what?”

“You flirted with me at the bar that night,” she says, the words coming out so fast I almost don’t catch them all.

“Of course I did. You’re a beautiful woman. I enjoyed talking with you.”

That blush peaks again.

“Thank you,” she says. “But I mean, you flirted. At first. But then you stopped.”

I take a long pull from my drink then set the bottle down and meet her eyes.