Tempt Me Tonight Read Online Free Page B

waves of pure desire radiating from her. Or the fact that she was starting to sweat. She wondered if her nipples were showing through.
    That boy’s trouble.
    Pure trouble.
    Kenny was laughing uproariously. “I’ve beat you plenty, man. Probably a million times.”
    Joe pulled back as if surprised, a grin tugging at his mouth. “You’ve had one too many, buddy. You’re thinking of somebody else.”
    But Kenny shook his head, trying to hide his own smile. “Come on now—admit it. I’ve beat the hell out of you at least twenty times at this very table.”
    And Trish realized that as much as things changed, they stayed the same. Back in high school, Joe and Kenny had shared a running joke where they each claimed to be superior at whatever sport or game or skill arose. And on it went.
    “Nope. Give me that cue and I’ll prove it,” Joe said.
    “Careful, guys,” Debbie chimed in. “There are witnesses tonight—we’ll all
see
who actually wins.”
    “That’s the point,” Joe replied, snatching the stick from Kenny’s grasp and reaching for a square of chalk. “Pretty soon, these guys’ll be wanting to hang with
me
on Friday night.” He motioned to Kenny’s pool buddies, no longer holding in his grin—and dear God above, Trish had forgotten how powerful it shone at full wattage. Yow.
    As Kenny racked the balls and Joe took another drink of his beer, Trish moved toward Debbie, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her aside. She’d just made a decision. For the good of her mental health. She couldn’t stay here and keep torturing herself. It was like watching them make those enormous slabs of fudge through a window at a candy shop—but being allergic to fudge. Why watch Joe Ramsey move around that pool table in those perfect blue jeans with that snake twitching on his arm every time he made a shot when he was a total impossibility in her life?
    “What’s up?” Debbie asked, all innocence, lifting a finger to push her much-daintier-than-in-high-school glasses up her nose.
    “I’m taking off.”
    Debbie blinked. “We just got here. You haven’t even had a drink.”
    Oh yeah,
that
was what she needed right now—alcohol in her system, something to blur her judgment. “I’m exhausted. It just hit me. And I really need to start looking over the requested contract changes for the diner. I’ll call you tomorrow. We’ll plan that potato-hurling dinner you offered me. I don’t get a lot of potato-hurling in my world, so it’ll be good for me.”
    Slowly, Debbie’s mouth unfurled into a suspicious grin, and Trish realized maybe she’d been talking a little too rapidly, over-explaining her departure. “Is it that horrible?” Debbie asked.
    She played dumb. “Is
what
that horrible?”
    “The effect he still has on you.”
    Deciding denial was futile, Trish let out a short little conceding
harrumph.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
    Debbie tilted her head, still smiling. “About?”
    “You know good and well what about.” She glanced back to the pool table in time to see Joe draw back his cue and break, the balls scattering with a clatter. As predicted, the snake on his arm rippled, and for some reason, it made her flinch between her legs.
    Debbie no longer feigned ignorance. “I didn’t see the point. Didn’t figure you’d enjoy knowing he was God’s gift to women.”
    True enough. Yet Debbie had never exactly been known for keeping anything to herself. “Maybe not, but…since when did you learn to keep secrets?”
    Deb sighed. “Maybe I was just trying to look out for your feelings or something—ever think of that?”
    “Oh.”
    “And besides, the fact that Joe is God’s gift to women isn’t exactly a secret around here.”
    Trish spoke quietly, voicing the thought that had just occurred to her. “I bet there are a lot, huh?”
    “Women?”
    Trish nodded.
    And Debbie’s eyes grew predictably wide as she said, “Well,
yeah.
I mean, look at him. He practically has to beat them off with a