"Watch out, guys, this one's a hustler," Kevin said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder toward Lora as they rejoined the table after their game.
"I did not scam you," Lora insisted with a sassy grin as she took the empty seat next to Joel, and Kevin settled into the chair next to her. "It's not my fault you underestimated my skills just because I'm a woman."
"That is so not true," Kevin denied emphatically, but Joel knew that's exactly what had happened. Kevin had made it way too easy for Lora to dupe him.
"If you didn't think that Lora could play, then why were you teaching her all the different shots?" Ben asked, taking great delight in giving Kevin a hard time.
Joel was just damn grateful that Ben was no longer focused on harassing him.
Kevin slanted Lora a chastising glance. "She didn't bother to tell me that she knew how to play pool."
"That's because you made your own assumptions without giving me a chance to tell you otherwise," she informed him with a very sweet smile. "Besides, I was having too much fun watching your mouth drop open in shock when I cleared the table on that last game."
"Yeah, and now I'm twenty bucks poorer," he grumbled good-naturedly. "You're a pool shark."
"It was like taking candy from a baby," she teased as laughter danced in her green eyes.
Joel couldn't take his gaze off of Lora, especially not when she unconsciously shook her hair back and away from her face in a move that was as feminine as it was sensual. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her expression vibrant as she reveled in her recent victory over Kevin. The graceful curve of her neck and the upper swells of her breasts, and in between, were damp with perspiration from the warmth in the bar. All that glowing, dewy skin made Joel think about how she'd look after a night of hot, illicit sex. With him, of course.
He shifted in his seat as his body reacted to that little fantasy, and swallowed back a groan at the torturous, it's-never-gonna-happen thought.
"You know, I'm going to have to demand a rematch," Kevin said in an attempt to preserve his manhood.
Lora braced her elbow on the table, rested her chin in her hand, and batted her lashes at Kevin. "I don't know if that's a good idea. I really hate to see grown men cry."
Both Jon and Ben burst out laughing, and even Joel couldn't help but chuckle at Lora's quick wit and amusing banter. Their humor at Kevin's expense earned them all a dark look from their friend, but it was all in good fun.
"By the way, the next round of drinks is on me, boys," Lora said as she slapped the twenty-dollar bill on the table, then signaled for the nearby cocktail waitress to come by after she was done with her other customers. "Or rather, drinks are on Kevin, since this is his money."
Kevin dragged his hand through his hair. "Man, I'm not going to be able to live this down, am I?"
"Not anytime soon, I'm guessing," Lora said with a grin.
"Well, the least you can do is tell me how you learned to play so well."
She shrugged. "I've worked in a lot of bars over the years as a cocktail waitress. It was decent part-time work while I was going to college, and some of the places had pool tables. So on occasion I'd stay after work and play with the guys."
Joel continued to listen to Lora, as well as watch how easily she managed to capture not only Kevin's attention, but Jon's and Ben's, as well. She was so genuine, so easy to like, and definitely a guy's kind of girl. The type who was comfortable in any situation, and effortlessly fit in and meshed well with his friends. And she was the exact opposite of the high-maintenance women he normally hooked up with… then promptly dumped when they began to cling, make demands, and make him feel way too stifled.
Lora was far from the clingy, demanding type. And that made his job of watching over her a helluva lot easier.
"What can I get you all to drink?" the waitress asked as she came up to their table a few minutes later.
Ben, Jon, and Kevin ordered fresh beers, and Lora stuck with her drink of the night, an iced water with a lemon twist, keeping with her claim that she didn't drink liquor. Joel passed on a refill, since it was getting late and they'd be leaving soon.
"I need to go to the restroom," Lora said after the waitress was gone, then stood up and glanced at Joel with a too-tempting smile. "How about a dance when I get back?"
Hell, no, he thought firmly. He'd seen the way she danced at The Electric Blue, and he knew for certain he'd never be able to handle Lora brushing her body sinuously along his, tantalizing him with a shimmying sway of her hips, an intimate press of her soft, yielding breasts against his chest.
His pulse thudded through his veins as he looked into her inviting gaze. There was no way he'd survive such a close, erotic encounter without showing her, and the rest of the patrons in the bar, just how much this woman affected his libido. One dance, and he'd be walking around for the rest of the night with his cock raised at full mast.
Yet… how could he tell her no? "Uh, sure," he finally said.
She flashed him a smile that told him she definitely had seduction on her mind. "Great," she said, then headed off in the direction of the women's restroom, which Joel luckily had a perfect view of so he could watch her the entire way.
Chuckling, Ben gave Joel an amicable pat on the back. "Oh, yeah, you are so in over your head with this one."
This time, Joel didn't bother denying Ben's claim. It was no use, because he could feel himself falling under her spell, with no cure in sight.
Chapter Seven
"HAS there been any more word from Zach?" Jon asked, once Lora was out of earshot. It was the first time the four of them had been alone all evening and could talk business.
Joel shook his head, watching as Lora pushed the door open to the women's restroom and slipped inside. "He hasn't contacted me since his initial phone call. There haven't been any threats against Lora, either."
"Yet," Kevin added grimly.
"There won't be a yet," Joel stated adamantly. "She's covered twenty-four/seven, by either myself or one of you. That doesn't give someone a whole lot of opportunity to get to her."
Even as he said the words, Lora was leaving the rest-room and making her way back to table to get him for the dance he'd promised her-while a guy in his mid-thirties was walking directly toward Lora. The man could have been headed to the John, but the way he remained purposefully in Lora's path, instead of veering to the left to let her pass him, made the approach far more personal.
Joel stiffened as every primal instinct within him surged to life and he automatically went into military combat mode. His sudden, intense reaction caused his three friends to turn in their seats to see what had captured Joel's attention. As soon as the guy stopped in front of Lora, which forced her to come to an unexpected halt, Joel knew some kind of trouble was about to erupt. The big question was, was this one of the thugs who was out to terrorize Lora on Zach's creditors' behalf, or was he a harmless guy looking to hook up with a woman for the evening?
Either way, Lora wouldn't be involved.
"Fuck," Joel muttered beneath his breath, and abruptly stood up, ready to tackle the problem.
At the same exact moment, three other chairs scraped against the hardwood floor as Ben, Jon, and Kevin joined him in his stance, instantly prepared to provide additional reinforcement. Their unwavering fidelity reminded him of their time in the military and the way they'd always banded together whenever a threat was imminent.
Joel appreciated his friends' support, but he didn't want to make a scene if it could be helped, and the daunting sight of four big, strapping guys striding across the establishment would attract way too much attention.
"I'll take care of this," he said, one hundred percent certain that he could handle the smarmy guy on his own.