He looks directly at me as he says it, but there’s no way I’d take that pleasure away from my sister. After all, she seems far more his type than I am.
“Well, I’d like to be on Pat’s team,” I say, “if Asha’s okay playing with you.” My wording makes my sister blush bright crimson. Kieran raises his eyebrows but doesn’t protest. Hiding that we know each other feels like an exciting, clandestine secret, and that’s not helping me feel less attracted to him. Neither is the way he’s holding my gaze. I look away from him and back to my sister. “That okay with you, Ash?”
She nods and tucks some hair behind her ear as she glances at Kieran. “Sure. That works for me.”
God, she has it so bad. Could Kieran be the guy who breaks her cast-iron ban on sleeping with a guy on the first date? Judging from the way she’s looking at him, there’s a strong chance she’s going to throw him onto the pool table and straddle him in front of everyone.
It’s bizarre that we’re both drawn to the same man. I don’t think this has ever happened before. Usually our taste in men is completely different, which works out well, because sisters should never compete for the same guy. But I guess we’ve finally found that rare creature that bridges the gap between men I want to bang and princes she wants to date. I don’t think this is a good thing.
I know I have no reason to be jealous of her crush, considering Kieran and I have only shared one brief conversation, but I can’t help feeling disappointed about this turn of events. A low, bitter hum is prickling my blood, and a small childish voice inside me whispers that I saw him first. Asha was clueless to his very existence while he was asking me out.
I shake my head to clear it. How petty can I be? I already made the decision that he’s not my type, but even if he was, it wouldn’t make a difference now. I’m sure that as soon as he clapped eyes on my sister, he regretted even talking to me. By the time he spends half an hour in her incandescent presence, I’ll have well and truly faded into the background.
“Well, alright then,” Pat says as he passes pool cues around. “Since Asha is working with a Kieran-shaped handicap, she can break. Not that it will help when Eden and I kick your asses.”
Asha flashes Kieran a flirty smile as she walks to the end of the table and waits for Pat to finish racking the balls. When he pulls away the plastic triangle, Asha shrugs and says, “Here goes nothing,” before bending over and taking a wild shot.
I roll my eyes. My sister knows her way around a pool table. We both do. And yet whenever we play with guys, she pulls the clueless-girl card. It’s kind of ridiculous.
Pat goes next and sinks a solid ball.
“Guess you guys are on stripes,” he says to Kieran as he lines up for another shot. “Let the slaughter commence.”
Over the next half hour, we take turns trying to sink balls. Well, three of us do. Asha flirts with Kieran and does her best to appear non-threatening by missing most of her shots. At one stage, she even pulls out the old clichéd, “Am I even holding this right?”
If Kieran recognizes her shameless ploy, he doesn’t let on. He adjusts her stance and grip as best he can without being all over her, but it still makes me flush with jealousy. I’m slightly placated when he moves away just as she leans back against him.
As for me, I make up for my sister’s incompetence by sinking the lion’s share of the balls, and even though both Pat and Kieran are good, I dominate the table.
“I’m beginning to think we have a hustler on our hands,” Kieran says as I sink another one, and I don’t miss how he looks at me when he says it.
“Not at all,” I say and give him a smile. “A hustler pretends to suck at first to lull you into a false sense of security. I was happy to let you know how kickass I was from the start.”
His stare intensifies, and the heat of it shoots sparks from my head down to my toes. “I guess you were.”
It’s no surprise to anyone when I sink the winning ball. Pat does a ridiculous victory dance that makes us all laugh. He moves well for a big guy.
“Winners buy drinks?” I say to Kieran and Ash. “What can I get you guys?”
Kieran walks over to me. “I know what Pat wants. I’ll give you a hand. Be back in a sec, guys.”
He steers me toward the bar, and even though it’s starting to get crowded, we find an empty spot down at the end and wait to be noticed.
Kieran stands behind me, gripping the bar with one hand. The heat of his chest seeps into my back, lighting up my skin, and I have to admit Asha was right. He does smell divine.
“So,” he says, his mouth close enough to my ear to make me shiver. “What an unexpected surprise to see you here tonight. Don’t take this as the corny line it seems to be, but do you come here often?”
I laugh. “Actually, yes. This is our local bar. Ash and I come here a few times a week.”
“Oh? So, you live nearby?”
“Just around the corner. What about you? I’ve never seen you here before.”
In my peripheral vision, I see him staring at me. “I’ve only been in the states for a week. Pat’s been here for nearly six months and lives nearby. I’m crashing on his couch, until I can find a place of my own. He’s the one who told me about the gym.”
“Uh huh.”
At this point Joe comes over, and we give him our order. As he’s preparing our drinks, Kieran slides in and puts his elbow on the bar as he faces me. He’s a head taller than I am, so I have to look up to see his face.
“Do you think it’s fate that we saw each other tonight after I asked you out earlier?” he asks.
I focus on his chin, knowing damn well that if I look into his eyes, he’ll see exactly how drawn I in am. “More like a coincidence. Either that, or you’re stalking me.”
He moves closer when someone presses in behind him, and I close my eyes as I experience how good it feels to have his body brush against mine. “I’m not really the stalking type, Eden, but if I were, I’d happily stalk you.”
His voice is hypnotizing, and when I submit to looking into his eyes, I’m completely enthralled.
“You look great tonight, by the way,” he says, quiet but intense. “And the way you just kicked my ass at pool ... sexy as hell.”
The way he’s looking at me makes it hard to think. I’ve had a lot of guys tell me they want me, but very few have done it without using words. Right now, Kieran’s eyes are doing all the talking.
He continues staring for a few more moments then says, “Go out with me. Tomorrow night. I promise you’ll have a good time.”
That takes me by surprise. “Kieran –”
“Don’t say no.”
“I have to.”
“Wrong. A hundred-percent wrong.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, my sister likes you.”
“And?”
“And you should ask her out.”
“Why?”
“Because she likes you.”
His forehead creases. “In case you haven’t noticed, I like you. I thought I was being clear about that? Was I not?”
“Asha is an amazing person.”
“I’m sure she is.”
“And she’s gorgeous.”