“Whatever it takes,” Hadley said. “You got it, PawPaw.”
“That’s my girl.” He turned to Will and leveled a do-not-fuck-this-up look at him. “I know you two will make that happen.”
Aunt Louise picked that moment to interrupt their pep talk armed with the next game—Taboo—and with the announcement that since Adalyn wasn’t there, one of them would have to sit out the final round.
“I’ll be an observer,” PawPaw said. “After all, you two really do make a great team.”
Hadley’s cheeks turned pink, but Will couldn’t help but think the old man might be on to something there.
…
Will was sitting too close to Hadley and it was making her brain fry. Instead of being able to listen to him as he gave her clues about the secret word, she couldn’t stop looking at his mouth and remembering exactly how he’d used it a few hours earlier.
A sudden, sweeping hot flush made her lungs tighten as she sucked in a quick breath. Holy hell, how had it gotten so hot in here? She grabbed the scorepad and started fanning herself.
“Tease,” she said, blurting out the first word that came to mind that she could say in front of her family.
Will looked up from the Taboo game card at her and raised an eyebrow. “The clue was handbag.”
Because of course it was. She closed her eyes for a second and took a bracing inhale. “Maybe I’m really into purses.”
His grin told her he knew exactly what she was into—him. “Next clue is that it costs a lot.”
Sure, she’d always known he had green eyes, but how had she missed the light amber flecks near the iris? Or the way they crinkled at the corners when he smiled? Or that his lashes were twenty-eight miles long?
“Earth to Hads,” PawPaw said, cutting through her distraction.
Fuck. She’d done it again.
“Can you give me the clue again?” The question came out in a rush, as if that would cover the fact that she’d been making moon eyes at her nemesis.
And he was still that. Right? Hate fucking didn’t change anything. But is that what it was? Because it sure didn’t feel like it. Mentally telling that voice in her head to shove it, she tried to concentrate on the clues and not the man giving them. The one who had this thing he did with his fingers that—
“Oh for the love of Tom Osborne,” PawPaw said with a tortured groan. “Stop your flirting. This is the last question. Get your heads in the game and win. After that, you two can go off and finish whatever this is because for the rest of us it’s very awkward—and that’s coming from me.”
Cheeks burning, Hadley jerked her gaze away from Will and scanned the crowded living room where easily a dozen Donavans, Martinezes, and Donavan-Martinezes were watching them. Aaaaaaand there was nothing quite like being reminded in such a public fashion that her entire family was there watching her forget how to play the one family game night game that she usually kicked ass in. Well, almost everyone. Adalyn was still a no-show. Guilt and regret did a you-suck-Hadley tango in her gut, stomping out all the distracting lusty thoughts that she’d selfishly let take over.
“Sorry, sir,” Will said, looking anything but regretful. He turned back to Hadley and gave her a conspiratorial wink. “Well, now that I’m properly motivated—”
“We’re still here, Holt,” Weston said.
He and Knox stood by the fireplace, arms crossed, brotherly glares in place, and overprotective attitudes on full display.
Will shrugged, seemingly not bothered in the least by the growly brothers. “Seems you’re always around.”
“Not quite enough, it seems.” Knox tapped the side of his neck in the exact location where Hadley had tried to cover up her hickey with makeup.
“Clue,” she all but hollered out, flustered by the weird testosterone-fueled drama, and slapped her hand down on Will’s thigh a little harder than she meant. “Give me a clue.”
“Michael Kors,” he said.
“Designer.”
He nodded, scooting forward so their knees touched as they sat across from each other. “More.”
Somehow despite being suddenly and overwhelmingly aware of the erogenous zone formerly known as her kneecaps, the synapses in her brain continued to function. “Designer-brand clothes.”
“Yes.” Will shot up out of his chair, then picked her up, bringing her in close before spinning in a circle. “We win.”