Page 23 of Just One Look

“Payback?”

“I prefer to think of it as returning the favor.”

What the heck was he thinking? Another burger joint? That would certainly explain his not wanting her to wear another black dress. Not that anyone cared that she’d walked into one of the oldest burger joints in Houston dressed for a night of champagne and caviar.

Just outside the loop near a newer suburban development, Devlin slowed. When the car turned into a nearby parking lot, Liz glanced up at the sign—Top of the Putt. Miniature golf?

“Don’t look so excited,” he teased.

Opening her eyes wide to remove any frowns and wrinkles, she smiled at him. “I don’t think I’ve played putt putt golf since I was a little girl.”

“Did you like it then?” He pulled into a parking spot.

Actually, she’d loved it. To this day she wasn’t sure if Uncle Fred had intentionally let her win, or if she’d actually bested her mother’s brother, but she had enjoyed it. “If memory serves me correctly, I was pretty good at it.”

“Really?” He unsnapped his seatbelt.

She bobbed her head. “Really. And you?”

“My family enjoys competition on all levels. My brother Kyle has a friend who owns a few courses and every so often a few of us will pop over and see who’s king of the greens.”

“King of the greens?” She chuckled. “Is this one of his putt putt courses? The friend?”

“No. But it’s a nice one and not too far from Emily’s.” Stepping out of the car, he met her by the passenger door and extended his elbow to her. “Shall we?”

The closer they got to the actual course, she was able to recognize the theme. “This is Wonders of the World.”

Dev’s head bobbed. “The owner got the idea from an old movie.”

“Overboard.”

“You like old movies?”

“I like that one.” Though the place seemed way bigger and much more impressive than the course in the movie. Inside the main building that led to the actual course, her gaze darted over to the arcade room. Now that was something she wouldn’t mind a crack at.

Devlin got an enormous kick out of Liz’s reactions. Expressive eyes gave away her thoughts as clearly as a glass window. First when she spotted the sign for the miniature golf course, then again when she recognized the theme for the course, and again when she spotted the arcade section of the business. Everything about spending time with her was proving to be a sheer delight. “Ready?”

“You better believe it.” Her fingers gripped tightly around the golf club, Liz stood in front of the first hole, a replica of the Taj Mahal. Swinging the club slowly, right then left, her hips followed the motion sending the small ball down the side of the miniature pool and into the mouth of the famous monument. “I believe,” she grinned, “that would be a hole in one.”

He didn’t say a word, stood where she stood, studied the path to the monument, tested the weight of the club, eyed the path one more time for good measure, and slowly swung. The ball followed the same track as Liz’s ball and sailed into the mouth as smoothly as her ball had. Holding back on the grin that wanted to take over his face, he straightened and turned to her. “Shall we move on?”

For the next few holes, he watched her go through the same ritual, doing his best to ignore the cute way she wiggled her hips with each swing, as if that would somehow help the ball’s momentum. Coming up on the Great Wall of China, they were neck and neck and the playful tension was growing. The way she’d sway her hips, swing the club, then smile at him and do it all over again, it finally dawned on him that Liz was as competitive as anyone in his family. More importantly, she was going through all those motions merely to distract him from his game. The little stinker. It took everything in him not to laugh out loud. He’d been had. “When did you say was the last time you played?”

Her head tipped to one side and her gaze landed on him. “A long time. Apparently, it’s like riding a bike. You don’t forget.”

“Were you this good along timeago?”

She shrugged, then smiled. “Better.”

The twinkle in her eye whenever she smiled got him every time, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to beat the pants off her, so to speak. “Better, huh?”

Hefting a shoulder in another shrug, she smiled coyly. “Am I going to have to give you a handicap?”

“Handicap?” Oh, that did it. “Not on your life.” Stepping up for his turn, he squatted down, studied the layout, and pushing to his feet, he gripped the club firmly and gently knocked the ball in the right direction. Resisting the urge to do something silly and stupid like pretend to blow at the ball for it to go in the right direction, he stood straight and held his breath. The ball slipped into the designated hole and his arms shot up at the same second he happily shouted, “Yes!” Doing a fist pump and refraining from adding in a small jig, he spun around and smiled back at her. “I could, of course, give you a handicap if you’d like.”

“Ha,” she scoffed, and swinging her club at her side, she waved him on with the other arm. “Shall we continue?”

At the last hole, they’d been toggling back and forth with lead score. Devlin had no idea who was going to win. With steady confidence, Liz walked up to the next tee and in a quick move, sent her ball straight for the hole. When it swerved around instead of sliding in, she was as surprised as he was. “Well, foo.” On a sigh, she walked up and tapped the ball into the designated hole before slowly turning to face him, forcing a smile. “All yours.”

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