Fated Hearts (Southern Bride 8)

Motioning for her to head up the steps, I said, “It’s upstairs. Second door on the left.” Annalise started up the stairs and I tried like hell not to stare at her perfect ass.

The moment she walked into the game room, she nearly dropped the bags she was carrying. “You have a pool table?”

“I do. You play?”

With a slight shrug, she replied, “Not that often, but I have a time or two.”

She suddenly turned and looked at me. I knew that expression—and my entire body trembled with anticipation.

“Want to make a wager?” she asked.

I raised a brow in question. “What kind of wager?”

“Best out of three pool games. Winner gets to pick where we have sex next.”

I swallowed hard. Where would Annalise want to have sex in my house? My bedroom? Fuck. No way was I doing that. I couldn’t make love to her in a bed where I had been with other women.

She picked up one of the cue balls and examined it. “I mean, how hard is it to hit this little ball with a stick?”

A slow smile spread over my face. I was totally going to win this one.

Annalise

I WATCHED AS Roger took our food out of the bags and set it all up on the small coffee table in the game room. I’d nearly died when I saw the pool table. And when he took the bait, I fist-pumped internally. He didn’t need to know that my father had started teaching us all the game from the moment we were tall enough to make a shot.

I glanced around the space, taking it all in. There was a fully stocked bar on one wall, with a large sectional and coffee table in front of it. On the other side of the room were old video game machines, such as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, with a closed door next to them.

“What’s behind that door?” I asked.

“The theater room.”

I let out a whistle. “Man, oh man, you’ve got everything here.”

Roger grinned. “It was all here when I bought the house. The games, the pool table, the bar. The guy who lived here before me had a number of things done to the house. He wanted it to be perfect for his bachelor ways, yet good enough to sell to a family when the time came.”

“He just happened to sell it to another bachelor.”

Roger glanced over at me. “He was a client of mine, and I helped him with a…problem he had.”

I tilted my head as I studied him. “Tell me you’re not one of those types of lawyers.”

“And what type would that be?”

“The bad kind. The kind who work for the type of people who don’t believe in the law.”

Roger laughed, letting his head fall back. “God, no. I mostly work for large corporations around San Antonio and Austin. I’m also on the payroll at my father’s company, which is one of the largest cattle companies in Texas. He owns pretty much everything southwest of Boerne.”

“Goodness. Are you a cowboy underneath the suit?”

Roger tipped a pretend cowboy hat. “Why, yes, ma’am, I am. Does that turn you on?”

Lord, just looking at him turned me on. “No,” I replied, and he gave me a fake pout. “Your intelligence turns me on. And your smile—oh, and your dimples.”

“My dimples, huh?” Roger asked as he handed me my food. “Do you mind if we just sit on the floor and eat?”

“Not at all.”

One bite into the brisket sandwich, and I let out a moan that made the corner of Roger’s mouth twitch.

“Keep that up and I’m going to take you right here on top of all the food,” he said.

I feigned innocence. “Now that would be a waste of all this yummy food.”

He rolled his eyes. “I haven’t really asked you how you’re liking Boerne so far. And the job. You’ve been at The Montclair three weeks now. I’d think you’d have a good feel for things by now.”

I set my sandwich down and took a drink of water. “I love it. It’s so completely different from New York. I’ll be honest with you, though. I think you’ve made the transition easier for me.”

He pointed to himself. “Me?”

“Yes,” I said and reached for his hand. “Just having someone here that I know. Of course, the sex helps as well.”

He gave me a fake shocked expression. “Why, Ms. Michaels, are you using me for sex?”

My conversation with Elizabeth popped into my mind, and quickly I swept it away. “Of course not.”

We finished dinner and then talked for a little bit while our food settled.

“I’m actually going to be selling this house soon,” Roger announced.

That made me sit up and take notice. “Sell it? Why?”

“I’m going to buy a ranch close to my father’s. It’s about twenty miles outside of Boerne.”

“Wow, are you getting into ranching, too, like your father?”