Risking the Crown (The Crown 2)

“Did you ice it some more?” I spoke out of the side of my mouth.

“I think I forget the routine.”

I almost flipped backward out of my chair when I felt his hand squeeze the top of my knee. I tried to look normal, but I was a bundle of raging hormones that had nowhere to escape.

“Why don’t I come by again?” he asked. “Remind me.”

I quickly scanned the table. No one noticed the exchange. Reyna and Scott were deciding what to order and Paulo and Sergio were flirting with the waitress from the bar.

No one even knew what was happening right in front of them.

“I already said no,” uttered.

“That was then. This is now.”

Pierce Miller wasn’t the kind of guy who accepted no for an answer. He was cocky and arrogant. He was surreal in the looks department. And he had more confidence than was in all of Copacabana beach.

I placed my hand sideways toward my mouth in case someone decided to pay attention.

“That’s a bad idea.”

“And why is that again?”

His hand moved farther up my thigh and slid to widest part, curving to the inside over the denim of my jeans. I resisted closing my eyes.

“Because we represent different countries. We’re on different sides of the court.”

He chuckled and made a slow withdrawal of his palm. “What if we say nine?”

My eyes narrowed. “Do you ever listen?”

“I promise to listen to anything you say tonight.” He winked.

And my stomach flipped. My core flinched. My eyes refused to blink, and my mouth hung open. All the steadfast things I had told myself seemed to disappear. There was no sanity when Pierce was around.

He could use his knee. I could pretend. But we both knew we wanted the same thing—one night together.

9

Pierce

I don’t think I had ever laughed so hard at dinner before in my life. The Italians were insane. Scott and Reyna laughed as much as I did. I looked over at Sierra who had tears in her eyes from the stories they told. It was going to suck tomorrow when we beat the shit out of them in the second set. But that’s what happened on the sand.

We had long since finished the meal and desserts. I didn’t want to overeat, but the food was amazing in Brazil. The candles on the table had melted down to pools of wax. The last wick was about to extinguish.

I saw Reyna tap Scott on the shoulder and he stopped to check his watch. “Looks like we better get going.” She smiled up at him.

Normally a gesture like that would make my stomach turn, but not tonight. I was in a good mood. And the sooner dinner was over, the sooner I’d be in Sierra’s room. For once Reyna was helping me out.

“Oh, I was going to look at your neck,” Sierra mentioned.

“That would be amazing.” Reyna walked over to our side of the table and the two women stood.

“I think there’s a lounge. We’ll be right back.” Sierra led her away from the rest of us and I watched her cute little ass as it disappeared around the corner.

Scott stretched his leg. “Fun night.”

“Yeah it was.” I threw some bills into the pile to cover my portion of dinner.