“Yes, ha-ha, throw my words back at me. You’re so clever. Let’s all laugh.” She traced her nail along the edge of the old, beat-up box. “I haven’t played this since I was… I don’t know. Ten?”
“Really?” Jude seemed genuinely surprised as he opened the box and handed her one of the game boards. “The twins and I play all the time. It’s our go-to game when we’re bored.”
“But…you’re adults.”
“So?” With that, he pulled out a chair, sat down, and focused on placing his ships. She watched him for a moment, amazed at the pure enjoyment he got out of finding the perfect position for each of his game pieces. He muttered to himself—a mix of “hmm” and “nope” and “ah-ha!” until he was finally satisfied and gazed up. He frowned when he realized she still hadn’t opened her board. “You don’t want to play?”
Sighing, she gave in. Like he said, it wasn’t as if she had anything else to do. She retrieved her wine from the island, then sat down across from him. Opening her board, she took considerably less time placing her ships.
His frown only deepened. “You’re supposed to strategize. That’s part of the fun.”
“I did.”
He made a face.
“I did!” she insisted.
“Uh-huh. You’re making this too easy.”
“I am not!”
“All right, then how about we up the ante?”
“I’m not betting on a children’s game.”
“No betting. Well, not really.” A smile—that damned quicksilver grin she found so appealing—twitched at the corner of his mouth. “More like…strip poker. Or in this case, Battleship.”
She stared at him.
“What?” he asked, all blue-eyed innocence. “It’ll make things interesting. I get a hit, you take off a piece of clothing.”
“And vice versa?” she asked.
He chuckled. “Always the negotiating lawyer, huh?”
“It’s not fair if the rules only apply to me.”
“All’s fair in love and Battleship.”
“Uh-huh.” She picked up her wineglass and pushed away from the table. “I’m not playing.”
“Ah, c’mon, Libs. I was joking. Of course the strip rule applies to me, too. It wouldn’t be fun otherwise.”
Libby knew she was dancing too close to the fire, but the wine was a warm, heavy buzz in her head, muffling the little voice inside her mind that always told her the proper way to act, the right thing to say. In fact, it felt good to ignore that annoying voice. And, besides, she never could resist a challenge.
She returned to her seat. “All right. Deal.”
Jude grinned and waved a hand in a flourish, indicating she should start. “Ladies first.”
“Because you are such a gentleman.”
He waggled his brows. “We already established that I’m most definitely not.”
At the reminder, a hot flush blazed just under the surface of her skin. The wine, she told herself. The sudden jump in the room’s temp was only from the wine. Seeing as she was on her second glass, she should probably slow down.
“Well?” Jude prompted. “Give me your best shot.”
She emptied her glass and pushed it away before studying her game board. “B-four.”