Page 24 of Just One Look

Only one stroke and Devlin accomplished what Liz had not, he was now ahead of her. Somehow, winning within his grasp wasn’t as rewarding as it usually was. He wasn’t ready to win, to end the interaction, or to gloat over his accomplishment. “Care to go for double or nothing?”

“We didn’t bet.”

“Not too late.” Playfully, he wiggled his brows at her.

Momentarily biting back a grin, her gaze shifted to the main building. “How about a change of pace?”

“How much of a change?”

“The arcade?”

Determined not to smile widely, he shrugged. “Works for me.” Especially since he and his siblings and cousins were pinball stars. He dared to place his hand on the small of her back and guide them forward. Maneuvering through the crowd of teens and families, they crossed into the arcade area of the entertainment center.

Without hesitation, Liz marched forward, stopping in front of her game of choice.

“Skee ball?”

She nodded.

“Wouldn’t you rather test out one of the pinball machines?”

Dropping one hand on her hip and lifting a single brow as she stared at him, she didn’t say a word.

“I guess not. Okay. Skee ball it is.” After all, how hard can it be to toss a medium-sized ball into a big hole?

At first, she seemed to take it easy on him. Only landing her balls in the center forty point spot. Each time she handed the turn over to Devlin, she’d smile. Except after the first few turns, that sparkle in her eye sharpened and he just knew he was in trouble.

Sure enough, her next turn, she stood low to the table and the next thing he knew the ball landed in the upper corner with the 100-point hole. Sucking in a deep breath, he stood where she’d stood, stared at the destination and willed the ball to do what he wanted. Instead it bounced over and rolled around then sank into the twenty-point hole.

“Want some tips?”

He shook his head. “I’ll find my rhythm.”

Liz shrugged and her next few turns, once again, landed in the high score slot. The woman clearly had a golden arm, and he wasn’t the only one to notice. A small crowd had formed behind them. Every time she landed the top point spot, the growing crowd erupted in cheers or applause. The odd thing, anyone else, any other time, and his Baron competitive streak would kick in. In his younger days, he might even have been annoyed that she was not only beating him, but garnering all the attention. Not tonight. Right now, a slow grin tugged at one side of his mouth. He was actually proud of her performance. An overwhelming urge to growl at a few of the guys eyeing her with a little too much interest and shout at them to back off, the girl was his. Just one problem. The girl wasn’t his. The girl was the twin sister of one of his dearest and most important friends, and as well as he knew Emily, he had no idea what she would say if she knew that Devlin was most definitely smitten with her sister.

It was time for the last ball of the game. No way Devlin could come even close to beating her, and he didn’t care. Holy cow. He didn’t care. How was that for a first? She stood in the same spot as always, winked at Devlin, and then tossed the ball up the board and into the designated hole. The group that had grown even larger cheered. There was little point in Devlin continuing to play, she had won handily, but as she stepped aside and waved him up for his turn, he smiled at her and took the ball. Almost with no concern or planning, he tossed the ball and to his surprise, the thing bopped up and into the 100-point hole. How about that?

Another second and Liz had flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and cheering in his ear. “You did it.”

Unable to resist, he wrapped his arms around her waist and enjoyed the moment of exuberance. How special was she? Not reveling in her victory, but delighted in his final accomplishment.

Liz inched back and smiling, took another step in retreat.

As if sucker punched in the gut by a heavyweight champ, Devlin was not a believer in love at first, second, or third sight, but right about now, he was most certainly in big trouble. Believer or not, there was no doubt in his mind that he was most definitely falling for Emily’s sister, and that scared the hell out of him.

Chapter Ten

“I don’t think that will work at all.” Liz had spent the better part of the last few days trying to gather sources for this make or break project. It had taken her years to develop a stable of reliable—quality—sources. Why she’d thought she could just scrounge up the same stable in less than a week in Houston was beyond her. Delusional was the only word that came to mind.

“Like it or not, if you really want to expand outside of Dallas, you may have to let Sid and Glen come down.” Her assistant had been pushing for transporting trusted craftsmen to Houston. Thankfully, they were willing to bail her out, but the cost of housing and meals and gas for the drive with all their tools and equipment would undercut the bottom line of the job. “This is do-or-die. You know, like a loss leader. Once you prove you’re as good as you say, then you’ll have the jobs coming in hand over fist.”

“All right. I’m going to keep interviewing and researching, but tell Glen and Sid to pencil me in.” She wanted this to work very badly. Ever since she and her sister graduated college, they’d lived in separate towns. It was time to be closer again.

“Done. I got a call from Mr. Belker wanting to know when you’d be ready to show them your ideas on the house?”

The urge to growl surprised her. “Tell him that I’m delayed in Houston but I’m working on them now.”

“I’ll tell him. Maybe I’ll send Mrs. Belker some gourmet chocolate covered strawberries. She seems to have a weakness for specialty anything.”

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