Strangers with Benefits (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

“Nah, just cocky.” Sidonie laughed and racked the balls.

She hadn’t even chosen a stick yet, but she would get around to that in a minute.

When she walked to the wall and looked at the really sad, overworked sticks that rested there, she knew that she had nothing more than a choice of which was the least bad off.

There was one that was a bit large for her grip, but she could manage it well enough to get the job done.

When Patrick broke the rack apart, there was a heavy crack reminiscent of thunder as the balls flew across the table haphazardly. Three balls fell into the pockets, stripe heavy, so she assumed he would take the white and colored ball combo.

“I’ve got solids. And that is the last solid I’ll do you in this game.” Patrick winked.

“Har-dee, har-har.” He wasn’t doing her any favors. Really, she could sink every ball on this table with a break shot if she wanted to.

But he had no idea who he played against.

Although, he was about to find out.

Once Patrick took his second shot, he tagged two striped balls as if it was nothing, but he miscalculated the shot and tapped one of her balls in the back left corner pocket as a casualty from lack of finesse.

“Looks like you did me another, Patrick.”

“Maybe, maybe, not.” She took a good look at the table after all movement stopped.

Yeah, he hadn’t done her any favors.

For most players, there would have been no shot available.

But Sidonie could work with it.

She took another swig from the neck of her lukewarm 60 minute IPA and popped the ball at the base with a flick of the wrist. The cue jumped the table and landed in front of her target a ball that hung inches from the right corner pocket. The ball fell and then she tapped the stick again to sink a ball in the right side.

From there she ran the table, sank her remaining balls, one by one as Patrick shook his head.

“Damn, I’m lucky I didn’t bet on this one. Might have lost my shirt.” He chuckled as he chalked the cue. “Table’s yours. But I’ll get next when you and Den get finished.”

Den must have been one of the guys that came over before Jack and Patrick’s game a few minutes before.

“Den?” she asked.

“Yeah, he was just here a minute ago. He must have gone for another beer.” Patrick squinted over in the direction of the bar and nodded. “As a matter of fact, there he is. Hey, Den, the lady was looking for her next conquest!”

Sidonie peeked around Patrick’s broad shoulders and saw a very familiar face.

Den was none other than Officer McTavish.

As handsome as he was in uniform, he was even more so dressed casually. A pair of old blue jeans clung to his thickly muscled thighs for dear life and simple black T-shirt highlighted the details of his carved chest.

Damn, it had been a long time since her libido perked up and begged for attention.

Actually, it never had.

Not like this.

Heart racing wildly.

Panties dripping wet.

Nipples erect, disgustingly visible.

She had the wild urge to rub herself against him, just so she would know what it felt like.

Of course, it would have to be with someone totally unsuitable and likely someone that would never give her the time of day.

McTavish was out of her league and Sidonie was barely able to speak basic English. “Uh, hi.”

“Do I know you?” he asked as he looked her over.

His gaze rolled over her from head to toe and she knew he was trying to place her.

But he saw her at her worst, so there was little surprise he wasn’t able to figure it out. She did clean up nicely. Although, anything would have been an improvement on the unmade face, ball cap, ponytail, and leggings he had seen her in when she was at the laundromat.

He stared at her as she racked the balls, and she looked away from McTavish, but there was no safe place to cast her gaze. Jack and Patrick watched the two of them interact, as if their wordless conversation was the most interesting thing to happen all night.

“You aren’t going to answer my question?” he asked, but the despite the inflection, the words seemed more like a demand than a query.

“Sorry, I was thinking if I needed quarters or not. But you can break if you want.” He looked at the table, where at least five bucks worth of silver waited.

She didn’t want to make the situation any more uncomfortable than it was already.

If he didn’t recognize her it was for the best.

At least she didn’t have to think about what he thought of her, or watch him go from the casual man he was now to the officer that she met a week ago. Not that the controlling nature of the officer was unappealing.

Far from it.

But she liked seeing him as a regular person rather than an authority figure.

“You won, you sure you want to give up the break?” he asked and she nodded.

“Man, this chick could give you half your balls and still win.” Patrick claimed and Sidonie felt the heat of a flush burn over her chest.

He was probably right.

But she hadn’t seen Officer McTavish play yet, so she might be wrong.

She was.

As powerful as he might be professionally, he was even more so as a regular Joe out on the town.

He was masculine enough that she felt like even more of a woman in his presence and she watched him take the first shot, breaking the racked balls into flurry of motion.

More balls fell in the pockets than remained on the table. The split was fifty-fifty and she wondered what type he would choose.

“Stripes.” He called out and sank another simple shot.

But thankfully it was the only one left without scratching the cue or taking one of her solid balls with his.

“Scratch.” He flicked the ball an inch to the left and Sidonie grinned.

He was pretty good. He didn’t have a shot, but he didn’t leave her with anything, either.

Sidonie leaned over the table and felt his eyes roll over her too cushy frame. He must have been trying to figure out why he recognized her.

If he didn’t figure out why by the end of the night, she might tell him.

Or she might not.

“How about we make it interesting?” McTavish asked.

Sidonie was about afraid of what that actually meant. Or rather, she was really afraid that she wanted to hear one thing, but that he was about to ask for something totally different. “How so?”

“Winner buys drinks.”

She was oddly disappointed.

Down girl! It’s not like he was going to ask you to strip right here.

Although, if he came at her with an indecent proposal, she would have a hard time saying no. That was a lie. She wouldn’t say no.

“Okay. I can afford that much.” Sidonie laughed and McTavish shook his head in response.

“Already throwing in the towel?”

“No. But I never bet more than I can afford to lose.” Not to mention that she was a hundred lighter in the pocket, heck with the card and whatnot, it was closer to a buck fifty before she even counted her insurance replacement.

“Smart woman.” He grinned wickedly and she wondered if he knew that she was halfway ready to ask him to do something reckless.

And slightly illegal.

Sidonie looked down at the table and leaned over, adjusted her stance slightly to afford her a better angle at the balls.

She had a couple of shots she could go for, but none of them would help her much. She would either, knock two balls down for herself and give him one ball, or she would take two and leave him with two shots for himself.

Neither situation was pretty, but she would rather take her two balls and leave him without a shot at all, unless he jumped the cue.

He shot off quicker than she expected and she knew based on his inspired choice that he was a seat by the pants player, but he had excellent instincts. Not to mention that he had excellent control over the table.

She was a semi pro, but his gut was spot on and he actually had a chance at beating her if she let him distract her too much during their play.

As they went back and forth from one turn to the next, she enjoyed playing with him enough that she wanted to actually watch him play with someone else. Patrick wouldn’t be much competition, unless the other man got really lucky on the break. But it would be better than the poor showing she had seen with Jack.

There was one other guy, but she could tell his hand-eye coordination was terrible. The man could barely reach for his beer without fumbling it.

When she was about to take her next shot, she was looking at her last play before she could go for the eight ball.

But when she flicked the stick, she heard her name and the cue went wild, before the white ball fell into the corner pocket.

She scratched her shot.

Damn.

She looked up, it was Mimi and Maya. Diyah and Gina must have decided to stay behind at Bourbon Street.

“Hey guys. I was just getting in a game of pool.”

“I see. But I think you’re about to lose.” Mimi lifted a brow, and then looked over at Sidonie’s opponent.

She knew the moment her friend had connected the dots.

“Wow, so you found—”

“Hey, I need a beer. Can you grab one for me from the bar please?” She didn’t want her friend to help Officer McTavish connect the dots.

Mimi looked askance at her and Sidonie knew that her friend was going to want all of the details, and soon. Sidonie nodded and Mimi walked off without even asking for her debit card first.

That was her friend, always supportive.

Jack looked over at Maya and winked. Maya shook her head and turned back to the table.

“You ready to resume?” McTavish asked.

As per her norm with this man, she saw his mouth move, but damn if she knew what he had asked her. To save face, she nodded and he leaned over. One sharp stroke backward was all he needed to gauge his angle and thrust.

Sidonie licked her lips in anticipation. Geez, he was sexy in the most effortless of ways. Even watching the pool stick in his hands made her wish that she could have first-hand knowledge of whether he used his cock the same way or not.

The last four balls chased one another around the table with the shot and she watched as every ball fell into a separate pocket, one by one.

Until the eight ball spun in the back corner, hung on the edge and she held her breath as it finally tipped into the pocket.

“What do you drink?” Sidonie asked, her voice dropped to a husky level that left her embarrassed and clearing her throat.

“Since you’re buying, let’s have a couple of shots. Vodka, if that works for you.”

“All right, I’m not driving, so I can have one with you.”

She walked to the bar where Mimi waited for the bartender to serve up the beer she requested.

“Mimi?”

“Yeah, girl?”

“He doesn’t recognize me. And I don’t plan to rectify that.”

Mimi looked at her and shook her head. “You are a plumb idiot.”

“Maybe.” Sidonie agreed as there was no reason to hide the information as to who she really was. But she just wanted to be a woman that he met on the street, not the bedraggled mom he’d met at the laundromat last week.

“It’s your life.” Mimi grabbed the beers and offered one to her.

“I have to grab a couple of shots. Do you want one?”

“Nah, since I’m driving, I’m going to nurse this last one and call it quits.” Mimi was normally pretty good about sticking to a two beer limit when she was the DD.

“Okay. But we can call a cab if you want. I can bring you back tomorrow to get the car if you want to do that. I’ll even pay for half of the overnight parking charge.” Sidonie winked.

“Nah. That is way too much money, between the taxis for all of us and the garage fee. I’m good.”

“All right, suit yourself.”

Sidonie turned back to the bar and waited for the bartender to come back.

“Can I get two shots of vodka?”

“Top shelf?” the bartender asked and she nodded.

“That’s fine.”

She paid the fifteen dollars for the two drinks and walked back to the pool table.

Patrick and McTavish stood at the table.

The balls were already racked and she wondered if the two were going to play or not.

Jack and Theo were on the dance floor, gyrating wildly to a slow beat that highlighted just how drunk the pair was.

Mimi and Maya were with them, and the small group made a tiny mosh pit of sorts with a series of goofy, but coordinated moves that looked familiar.

They were doing the Macarena.

Sidonie shook her head, her friends needed help.

And the worst part was that Mimi was, for all intents and purposes, sober. There was no reason for her to show out like that.