She tilted her head and studied him frankly, not playing shy or coy in the slightest. She’d been right—she didn’t play games—and he realized he was smiling again. Clearly she was down but not out, and he liked her attitude. He liked it a lot.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll go first, you big baby. But there’s no way you’ll be able to pick out my lie.” She said this smugly. “No one can ever tell when I’m lying.”
He knew that was probably true. For all her fiery temperament, she was all talk, no go. She hid behind the tough-girl facade, and clearly the people in her life had let her.
But he knew a little something about hiding, too, and it hadn’t ever worked out well for him. He was changing that. And if he had to, well, they said misery loved company. He smiled. “Try me,” he said. “And no ‘my favorite color is red and I like long walks on the beach and I’m a natural blonde and I hate ice cream’ bullshit either. It’s gotta be something good. In fact, I think the other person gets to set the topic. And the topic I set for you is…reasons you’re on this boat you hate. Go.”
She rolled her lips together, eyes on his as she thought so hard he could practically hear the wheels spinning. “Okay,” she finally said. “One, I love this boat very much. Two, I happen to think it’s very freeing to live out here on the water, very freeing. Three, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. And four, I’m just waiting for my overnight boat pass to be approved and then I can better settle in and won’t bother you again.” She turned her face skyward and closed her eyes, like all was right in her world and she hadn’t just fed him four fat lies.
He took another drink, and when she finally opened her eyes and looked at him, he handed her the bottle to do the same.
“Well?” she demanded.
He nudged the bottle to her lips and watched as she took a sip. “You cheated,” he said.
She choked on a laugh and coughed.
And coughed.
Thinking she was going to lose a lung, he leaned in and rubbed her back firmly, absolutely not noticing how soft her skin was or how she felt beneath his hand.
Much.
Finally, she swiped her eyes and gave him a look from beneath lowered lashes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You cheated,” he said again, “because all of your answers were lies.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. When she opened her mouth, he shook his head, cutting off whatever she might have said next. “Don’t make it worse for yourself by adding yet another lie,” he teased.
She let out a low laugh. “No one’s ever been able to tell—”
“Oh, you’re good,” he assured her. “I’m just better.”
She looked intrigued at this, like maybe she was realizing they both had their ghosts. “Hmm,” she said.
“Cheaters pay a penance. You know that, right?”
She gave him a sideways look. “Do they, now?” she asked, voice softer. Playing a little, he thought, which made his night.
“Yes.” His voice was husky now too. Jesus. This had gone from a playful game to something hot and seductive in a blink. “Maybe you’d like to reconsider some of your answers rather than pay the price.”
She thought about that and…didn’t change any of her answers.
Chapter 6
Sophie’s mind was scrambling like a cat trying to get purchase on slick linoleum. Her heart pounded hard against her ribs and her breath caught in her lungs.
How had he known that she was just one big, fancy liar?
And more importantly…what now? Still as stone, she eyeballed him, considering her options. Run like hell? No. This was her boat and she no longer ran from anything. Let this play out? That seemed…terrifying, especially given their unexpected nuclear sexual chemistry.
And then there was the smart thing to do. Hold back.
But she’d never been all that good at self-restraint.
In direct opposition to her inner panic, Jacob was relaxed as he gazed at her, waiting patiently for her to…what exactly?
Lucas had been in perpetual motion, always moving with high-strung nervous energy that had made her own nerves leap.
Jacob was the opposite. He sat there, long legs sprawled out in front of him, one arm out along the back of the seat, the opposite hand—large and capable-looking—easily holding the bottle steady on a thigh. He was relaxed and utterly still.
There was no hiding from him, and that was new for her. The people in her life had always let her retreat, mostly because it’d been an easy way to not have to deal with her.
Jacob smiled at her prolonged—and let’s face it, unusual—silence. “Scared?” he asked.
“Hell no,” she said. Lie number five…
His smile turned into a grin. A Cheshire-cat grin. Had she been cold only a few minutes ago? Because suddenly she was sweating and fumbled to drop her heavy bathrobe.
“A striptease isn’t going to save you, but I’m game for you to try.”
She froze in the act of shrugging out of the robe and choked out a laugh. “Do lines like that ever work for you?”
He grinned that lethal grin, and instead of answering, crooked a finger at her, the universal sign for Get your ass over here.