Brennan eyed the dealer as he continued to assess whether the table was a good choice and shrugged absently. “Yeah, if I didn’t have something to distract me, I’d probably have imploded. Poker is the perfect combination of luck and strategy, and that is enough to keep your mind on the game and off the ugly shit.”
The dealer flipped his hands. “Good luck everybody.” The old man stepped away and a moment later another dealer, a younger man, took his place.
“What kind of ugly shit?”
Brennan pulled his gaze from the table and looked at Skye from under a furrowed brow. “Ugly shit. Like beyond anything you could possibly imagine,” he said, intentionally mimicking her words from earlier.
Her lips quirked. “You’re mocking me.”
He lifted his hands innocently. “Honey, come on…of course I’m not.”
Skye laughed. “Yes, you are. And it’s okay.” She gestured with her tiny purse between them. “You and I have an understanding. It works well for us.”
“What’s our understanding?”
She shrugged. “We are perfectly and equally closed-off, and that couldn’t be more ideal for this brief little fling of ours. Don’t you agree?”
“I don’t know. I have to admit I’m pretty curious what it is you think is too nasty for me to hear.” Brennan stood close to her and dipped his face to brush her cheek with a kiss. “You know how you said you’re going to remember this little adventure for the rest of your life?”
She smiled. “Yeah.”
“Well for the rest of my life, I’m going to be wondering what your big, scary secret is.”
She laughed and grasped his biceps. “Aw, Brennan. Does that mean you’ll never forget me after I’m gone?”
“Hell yeah it does.” He grinned widely, hovering his face close to hers. “You think I’d ever be able to forget panties on my head?”
She laughed again and placed her lips next to his ear. “And don’t forget the way I blew your…mind.”
“Mmm,” Brennan murmured against her neck, slipping his hands around her tiny waist. “There’s no way I’ll ever forget that either.”
“Good, because I intend to do that quite a few more times before I leave.”
There was a twitch of desire below his belt, but not only for what she suggested. “You know, you don’t have to feel like you have to do that. After all, the best way to make love is for both parties to be fully involved.”
Skye slid her hands under the back of his jacket and traced her nails up and down his spine. “Maybe, but I don’t think I need to tell you that what we’ve done, or what we’ll do later, has anything to do withlove.”
He licked his lips. “No, you don’t need to tell me that.”
“Should I remind you of what it’s called?” She grazed her bottom lip against his and then lowered her voice. “Should I use the F word again?”
“Not unless you want to risk me leaning you over one of these tables in front of all these people.”
A devilish smile pulled her pink lips away from her white teeth. “Then I guess I’ll just have to save that for later. Because if I recall, we didn’t get a chance to utilize all that beautiful furniture of yours last night.”
Brennan mirrored her mischievous smile. “Hey, I had to give you something to look forward to. Can’t exactly use all my moves in one night, can I?”
She laughed. “Yourmoves.”
“Baby, I’ve gotallthe moves.” He laughed with her, holding her hips firmly and shimmying them. “And you do, too. Look at’cha go.”
Skye added her shoulders to the shimmy. “You’readorable.”
“Now don’t go saying that too loudly. I’ve got a reputation to uphold in this joint.” He released her hips and draped his arm over her shoulder and then made a big show of looking around. “If these folks found out I’m adorable, they’d never respect my poker face again. I’d have all the little old ladies stopping the game to pinch my cheeks, and I just can’t have that, sweetheart.”
Skye laughed loudly. She clutched her slight cleavage, gasping for breath, and then she sighed contentedly as she nestled her head against his neck. Chuckling lightly as well, Brennan pressed a kiss or two on her forehead as a fullness bubbled up in his chest.
Simple happiness. Just from being with this woman.
