Risking it All (Crossing the Line, #1)(40)

Twenty minutes later, they were tied at two games apiece. He could not wipe the stupid grin off his face. She’d turned out to be a little competitor, his Sera.

Having ditched school as a kid in favor of the arcade countless times, he’d played more than his fair share of air hockey. Fighting had kicked his reflexes up

another

notch,

making

him

unbeatable. Sera was giving him a legitimate run for his money, and he wasn’t taking it easy on her.

“Who taught you how to play? Don’t tell me the nuns, I won’t believe you.”

Her smile was so gorgeous it made his stomach ache. “My brother and I used to play. When my…family came to visit us at school. They’d take us to lunch and the arcade. Had to drag us away from the table.”

“Visit you?” He dropped two quarters into the slot. “How far away was college?”

She didn’t answer right away.

“Massachusetts. From third grade up, actually. At least for me. My brother was older.”

“What?” When his fingers started to hurt, he realized he was squeezing the mallet in his hand. “Why would they send you that far away?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She put on a brave smile. “Anyway, I can just tell you’re stalling to delay your inevitable loss.”

All this time, he’d pictured her childhood filled with barbecues and pet kittens. Knowing it wasn’t, knowing she’d been sent away and left on her own, reminded him he didn’t know enough about her. And if he asked, all he would get was her cover story, which he’d already memorized. She wouldn’t tell him anything about her parents, her upbringing. Suddenly it felt unacceptable that he didn’t know every single detail about her.

She tapped her mallet against her thigh, those big brown eyes practically begging him for a distraction from the subject. “Bowen?”

“You’re right.” He cleared the rust out of his throat. “I’m shaking in my boots, Ladybug.”

“Are you patronizing me now? That’s not a good strategy with me.”

“I’ll have to remember that.” He sent the puck flying across the table. “I’m all about strategy when it comes to you.”

“Is that right? You seem to be doing well so far.”

“I can do even better.”

Jesus, he didn’t even know if they were talking about the same thing anymore, but the challenge in her voice was making his dick hard. Every time she slapped the puck back in his direction, her tits bounced underneath her dress. Her white teeth were sunk into that full lower lip as she bent over the table. It was a f*cking shame he wasn’t standing behind her. The backs of her thighs would be exposed, flashing every time her hips bumped the table. Dammit, he couldn’t concentrate anymore.

Right on cue, she scored on him.

“Hey, you want to wake up and give me a decent game?”

God, she was cute. “I wanted you to get at least one point before I smoked you.”

“All right, big talker. Show, don’t tell.”

Taking advantage of her distraction, he knocked the puck off the rail and scored, laughing at her look of outrage.

“Whoever wins picks what we do next.”

“That’s a pretty broad wager.”

“Take it or leave it.”

“I’ll take it.”

Yes, you will . With what he had in mind, no way was he losing. She put up a good fight, but in the end, he won by two points. No sooner had the puck been swallowed by the machine, Bowen circled the table and dragged her up against him. Both hands went to her ass, depositing her on the edge of the table.

Her head tipped back as he kissed her, as if she’d expected it. Had been dying for it, just like him. They were in a dark corner of the mostly empty arcade, but he needed to get her somewhere more private. Pulling away wasn’t easy when his body demanded he step between those thighs and take the hard, driving f*ck he needed.

He jerked away from her with a growl. “Come on, my choice.” After checking to make sure no one was watching, he tugged her off the table and led her across the arcade to the photo booth he’d spotted while they played.

“Bowen.” She tried to slow him down. “I don’t like having my picture taken.”

Right. Probably rule number one for an undercover cop. Still, he needed something he could use to remember today. So if one day he woke up and she wasn’t there, he would know she hadn’t been a dream. They stopped outside the booth. “Make an exception for me?”

She looked conflicted, but eventually nodded once. Without giving her a chance to change her mind, he ducked and led her inside, closing the curtain behind them. When she dug into her pocket for change, he shook his head.

“Not yet, sweetheart.” He sat down on the stool and settled her on his lap facing away from him, loving the little gasp she let slip when her ass pressed down against his erection. Desperate to taste her skin, he wrapped her hair around his fist and tilted her head to the side, tongue licking up the side of her neck to taste ocean air and sunlight. When he snapped his teeth down on her ear, she jumped a little and came down hard on his cock, making his vision dull. “Feel me? I need to be sucked off again by that pretty pink mouth. You going to do it for me again later?”