Page 23 of Sensual Games

He jerked his chin at Brad, and I damn near threw up. Don’t say anything stupid, please. “I heard you were kicking ass last night at the pool table in the games room,” he said.

Brad chuckled, shrugging. “I misspent a lot of hours at the pool hall when I was a kid.”

“We’ll have to shoot a game before the weekend’s over. I wasted a lot of time around a pool table, myself.” With that, he smiled at all of us then moved on to the next table.

“Wonders never cease. Somebody decided to participate,” Laney mused, watching him closely as he moved through the room. “God, he is gorgeous.”

“Girl talk? I think I’ll pass.” Brad rolled his eyes, snickering at us as he got up and mercifully walked away. His presence didn’t always irk me the way it did now. What changed? And why did it set my teeth on edge to watch Laney follow Lucian around the room with her eyes?

“I thoughtyou said this was going to be a hike. It’s more like a walk.” Laney looked behind us at the clusters of coworkers making their way down the path. “Not that I’m complaining. I hate hiking.”

“All right, so I might have exaggerated a little when I called it a hike,” I confessed in a whisper. “I couldn’t call it a group walk, you know. It just didn’t sound right. Besides, I’m sure the older people won’t mind.”

The nice, leisurely stroll through a shaded, beautifully landscaped path was pleasant, even refreshing. The humidity that had been such a problem in the city was practically nonexistent up here, and the air was crystal clear. Everybody seemed to be in a good mood too. This was working.

“Ow!”

I should’ve known.

The shout was so sudden it made me jump before I spun around and found Molly Kegan on the ground a few dozen feet behind me. A handful of people clustered around her while she grabbed her ankle and winced. “I stumbled over a rock and twisted it,” she explained, wincing again at her scraped palms.

Lucian’s voice rang out behind me, coming closer. “Let me in here.” I watched, stunned into silence, as he nudged his way through the crowd.

“I’m such an idiot,” Molly grumbled while he gently moved her hands away from her ankle so he could take a look. It already looked thicker than it should, and she sucked in a breath when he touched it.

“All right,” he announced. “We need to get this shoe off before your foot swells too much. It’s going to hurt a lot worse if we wait.”

“I’m completely in your hands,” she told him. Was I imagining the way her voice sounded different now? Softer. It wasn’t easy to pry my gaze away from him. Fuck, it was hot watching him jump into action to observe her. She would’ve gladly broken a bone to earn even more attention, practically batting her eyelashes and swooning.

And she wasn’t the only one. I glanced around, sizing up the reactions of the other women. They all either looked like they wanted to melt or, in Barbara’s case, pinch his cheeks, maybe after melting.

“Let’s get you back to the lodge. One second.” Lucian pulled out his phone and chose a contact before holding the device to his ear. “This is Lucian Diamond. I’m bringing an injured woman back to the lodge after walking on the trail. It’s not an emergency,” he explained, giving Molly a little wink. “I would like an Ace bandage and an ice pack on arrival. I’m going to bring her back up right now.”

“You really don’t have to do that,” Molly protested, but it was weak at best. Her eyes were practically twinkling at this point while Chuck and Brad helped her stand on her good leg.

“Sure, I do.” Then, as if the entire experience wasn’t already enough to make me want to drop my panties, he picked her up. “Let’s go. Sorry to leave you all,” Lucian called out over his shoulder.

“Holy shit.” Laney leaned against me and heaved a quiet sigh. “That might have been the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Same here.

“No, really. I’m beat!”I was about to turn into the girl who took her shoes off in public because they were aching after I’d danced my ass off for three hours. The band was great, the drinks were potent, and I deserved it.

“Stay down here with us!” Laney draped an arm around my waist and tried to steer me toward the lounge, which would be open for another hour or so. A bunch of people were headed that way now that the party was over, and my heart just about burst when I noticed the way everybody mingled like old friends. Put enough booze in people, get some good music playing, and magic happened.

I wanted to stay with them if only to keep soaking in this good feeling, but I was already walking the line between tipsy and drunk and didn’t want to go any further. “Honestly, I am wiped out. What I need more than anything is a shower and bed.”

“Boo!” She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted it again. I could only laugh and shake my head, turning toward the lobby. Everybody would keep having a great time without me, and that was okay. After a day full of hanging out together outdoors, visiting the spa, shooting pool, and playing air hockey and old-school arcade games, I was more than ready for sleep.

The most pleasant surprise of this weekend was, of course, Lucian. I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t dance along with the rest of us, but he did hang out, have a few drinks, and generally seemed to enjoy himself. He shot pool with Brad earlier, played air hockey with Chuck and a couple of the other guys, and had granted me a wide berth the entire day. I hadn’t even run into him in our room before dinner and the party following.

The less time we spent together, the better since there was less chance of him saying anything unforgivably stupid or me rising to the bait and barely stopping short of biting his head off.

Right now, though, I didn’t want to avoid him. I wanted to thank him for playing along all day and jumping into action when Molly got hurt. In fact, I was feeling so much warmer toward him by the time I took the elevator up to the fourth floor. I was glad I hadn’t gone to the lounge for another drink or two. I was already dangerously close to liking him. Add too much vodka into the mix, and things could get dicey. And naked.

Remember how he’s treated you. Yes, that was a good idea. He thought I slept with him to get ahead at work. Accused me of kissing ass around the office. He had rescheduled my meeting and sabotaged the retreat. And that was only the stuff I knew about.

I was feeling considerably less pleasant as I opened the door to the room, but that was for the best. Another night spent with pillows between us wouldn’t kill me. By this time tomorrow, we would be home, and it would all be behind us.

---