Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2) (17 page)

It was tough. I’d make it through
the day fine. It was when I went home alone at night where things got tough. I never slept in my bed because it reminded me of Jules and now I couldn’t sleep on the couch because it reminded of Vessa. I was running out of places to sleep.

I remembered when I was visiting with my mother, her reaction when I told her about Vessa. I thought she would be disappointed in me; maybe say it was way too soon. Instead all she said was, “Distance makes the heart grown fonder, you know?”

She was right. The longer I was away from Vessa, the more I wanted her. That one night with her had haunted me since she’d walked out of my door.

Call it sneaky, but once I was back in town and seeing a therapist, I had to attempt to get back in Vessa’s good graces. I owed my progress to her. She may not have believed it, but it was true. So, I had my deputy stop by the bar to check on her. Shelton loved that I’d finally opened up, so now that we were officially friends, he was all about doing me favors. I was surprised when he came back and said that Vessa wasn’t there at night anymore, but they had a running pool league going on.  Since pool was something that I’d always loved to do, I decided to find myself a partner and win back the girl. It all seemed easy when I conjured the idea up in my head. Of course, Vessa, being Vessa, the stubborn woman that liked to give me a hard time, wasn’t going to be easy to win back. She was going to fight me and I would love every minute of it.

Shelton set me up with his cousin Renee. She was an attractive young woman that was studying law at the university a few towns over. Since she commuted, she said she didn’t mind showing up at pool every week. At first I was reluctant about having her by my side when I was trying to get back in Vessa’s good graces. It was also a personal test for me, to see if I even still had a chance. The funniest part was that while Vessa was getting all jealous, I’d be laughing inside knowing that Renee was a lesbian and had absolutely no interest in me at all. That’s why Shelton set us up.

He knew his plan was going to work.

I will never forget the look on her face when she saw me walking in that door. I winked at her and she curled her lip in disgust. So far it wasn’t going how I imagined it. I didn’t expect her to drop what she was doing and come running into my arms, but it seemed cool when I played it out in my head. Renee knew what I was up to and she knew that she was basically posing as a decoy. It wasn’t like we were going to make out in front of Vessa, I just wanted to get a rouse out of her.

It only took a few games for her to head to the bathroom to pout. She could deny it all she wanted, but that’s what she was doing. I found her in there leaning against the sink. Just as I suspected, she denied it and had her normal attitude that drove me wild. If I could have lifted her up to that sink and fucked her right there, I would have. Every single time I looked at her body, I pictured how hot she was naked.

When we both returned to our match, there were a few people giving us looks. Not that I cared. Even Sue’s looks didn’t bother me. Nothing mattered in that bar except Vessa and she didn’t even know it.

Her refusal to speak to me lasted the whole night. Renee was great just being there. While she giggled and talked about things at her school, that I had no interest in, Vessa was fuming with jealousy. If she would have given me a damn minute everything would have been cleared up. The guy she was playing with kept watching her ass every time she bent over for a shot. She was oblivious to his intentions when she probably asked him to be her partner. Why else would someone want
to be on her team? The girl sucked at pool, but for what she lacked in billiards skills, she made up in beauty and compassion.

My team ended up winning three out of five games. Since we joined a few weeks behind everyone else, it didn’t even matter how we placed. Until I had the partner that I wanted, the league meant nothing to me.

Other teams still had to finish shooting, so I walked Renee out to her car. I didn’t want to drive her there in case Vessa did end up running into my arms. Since that plan fell flat, I stayed in my truck and just waited for her to come outside. It didn’t take her long, and when I saw her, I took a couple deep breaths and attempted round two of my plan to get her to listen to me. She climbed into her car and I started mine. By the time she turned her body around to back out of the spot, I was parked behind her, blocking her in. I didn’t wait for her to come to me. Instead, I jumped out of the truck and went to her. She rolled down the electronic window, but refused to look at me. “What do you want, Ramsey?”

I put my arms on the roof of her car and leaned in the window. “I want to talk to you. If you’d just stop being so damn stubborn and listen to me, we would
n’t be here arguing right now.”

“Look, I get it. You needed a push and I was the one to give it to you. I’m happy that things are going better for you.”

I was going to have to force her to listen, but people were outside the bar smoking and I didn’t want them watching us. “Just forget it!” I walked back to my truck, without explaining and pulled out of the parking lot in the direction of my house. Once I saw her pull out and head in the other direction, I turned around and followed her.

We reached a patch of woods with nothing around us and I saw it as my chance. I turned on my police lights and waited for her to pull over. Of course, to make sure she couldn’t pull away, I put my truck in front of her car. She put her head on the steering wheel and kept it there even after I got to the window.

I knocked on the glass. She reached over, without looking and rolled it down. “What now?”

“License and registration, please.”

Finally she turned and looked at me. “You can’t pull me over. I’m out of your jurisdiction and I wasn’t speeding.”

“I pulled you over tonight because you have a taillight out, ma’am.”

“Screw you!”

“I’m going to need you to step out of the car.” I stayed professional.

“I’m going to need you to move your truck and leave me alone.”

“Are you refusing to cooperate?” It was so hard not to laugh.

She threw her hands up. “This is ridiculous!”

“Step out of the car!”

I couldn’t see because it was so dark, but I knew she was rolling her eyes. She climbed out anyway and slammed the door shut. I got up close to her, pushing her body back against the vehicle. Our lips were almost touching. With the back of my hand, I drug it up between her legs. “Do you think about that night?”

She moved her head to the side so I couldn’t brush my lips against hers. “I try not to.”

“Do you ever wonder what would happen if you’d stayed that night?”

“Why are you doing this to me?” It was a plea. She was frustrated, but still not giving in to me. It was risky, but it had to be done. I pulled out the cuffs from my back pocket and got them around one of her wrists, before she even noticed that I had them. “What the hell?”

“Vessa, I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, but you’ve given me no other options.” I secure the other hand and threw her over my shoulder.

She was pounding her attached hands against my back. “Put me down! Get off of me! I’m going to have you fired, you cock sucker!”

I ignored most of what she was screaming, while getting her fastened into the backseat of my truck. Once I knew she couldn’t get out, I grabbed my cell phone and called Sue’s bar.

Hey, it’s Ramsey. I just want you to know that Vessa is with me and she’s safe.

How come she isn’t calling me?

She’s cuffed in
the backseat.

Come again?

She wouldn’t listen to me, so I pulled her over and cuffed her. She’s too pissed to call you at the moment. I just didn’t want you driving by her car and getting worried.

How long are you planning on keeping her?

She’ll be in my custody until she hears me out.

Ramsey, don’t make me regret pushing the two of you together.

I hung up the phone, while she was still threatening me. If my plan backfired, that woman was going to skin me alive.

After grabbing Vessa’s purse and pool stick, I locked her doors and headed back to the truck. I should have known she would still be cussing at me.

“Ramsey Towers, you get me out of these cuffs, right now!”

“You have given me no other choice. I’m taking you to my cabin and you’re going to listen, whether you want to or not.” I adjusted the mirror, to be able to see her while I drove.

She spat out a few other profanities on the way back to my place. I was amused by the way she was acting. In fact, it was turning me on. The more angry she was, the more I wanted to pull the truck over and show her what I wanted.

Once I was parked in front of my place, I proceeded to get her out of the backseat. “If you think you are going to take me in there and have sex with me, you are dead wrong.”

She was handcuffed from the front, so it was easy to lift her arms above her head and shove her against my truck. I pressed my body into hers and used my free hand to rub against her jeans, right between the legs. I rubbed her hard, right where her little clit was. She closed her eyes tight, trying to fight what I was making her feel. I put my mouth against her neck. “I bet you taste amazing.”

“Please…don’t.”

I kissed the base of her neck, letting my tongue lead the way to her ear. “Don’t what? Don’t stop?”

She said nothing.

My hand slid up under her shirt. I could feel the edge of her bra. Instead of going underneath, I stayed on top of the fabric. Her little nipples were hard and I pinched at them one at a time. “You’re so damn, sexy. Let me taste you, Vessa.”

I stood up and pressed my lips against hers, slowly letting her hands come down over my head. With her arms securely wrapped around my neck, I picked her up. As soon as I felt her legs wrapping around me, I knew we were on the same page. I pressed her body against the truck and teased her with my lips. My dick was
already trying to bust out of my pants and we weren’t even in the house yet.

I kept a good hold of her while I carried her into my cabin. With my foot, I slammed the door shut. I leaned against it, with her still in my arms, and my hands on her ass. She pulled away from my kiss and looked right at me. “Free my hands.”

I kissed her again. “Are you going to smack me?”

“Is that what you want? Are you into that kind of thing? I wouldn’t know, since you wouldn’t tell me anything.” I took the key out of my pocket and uncuffed her. She rubbed her wrist for a second, while keeping her eyes on mine. “Why am I here? You said we couldn’t be together.”

She back
ed away from my reach and stood behind the couch. With the furniture between us, I stood up straight and just looked at her. “You’re right. I did say that.”

She waved her arms around the room. “What is this then? Why did you bring me here? What the hell was the kissing about?”

I pointed to the back room, where a pool table had been covered in storage boxes before. Not only had I cleared it off, but I’d been playing on it every night when I couldn’t sleep. I’d even had Shelton over for beers and basketball game. “You wanna go in there?”

“What the…I don’t remember this.”

“When I originally got this place, it was the only thing I brought from my old house. The place was already fully furnished. Since I never unpacked everything, it was covered up with all my shit.” I walked back there and realized she was following me. “The only problem with uncovering it, was that I didn’t have someone to play. So, I say we play a couple games. The wager will be what it was before with an addition.”

“What if I don’t want to know any
thing else about you?”

“Oh, you do, Vessa. We can keep playing this game if you want, except, I’m tired of wasting time
. If you’re not naked in my bed before the night ends, then I promise to leave you alone from now on.” This was going to be good. I was going to kick her ass on this table. Sure, it needed new rails and the felt was horrible, but she sucked at pool. It was a win win for me.

“She leaned on the table and looked up at me. “What’s the other addition?”

“Every time the person wins, they not only get a question, but the loser has to remove one article of clothing.”

She cocked an eyebrow and shook her head. When she held out her hand, I didn’t quite understand. Then she explained. “Give me your keys.”

My plan had backfired. I felt defeated. Why had she kissed me back if she didn’t want to be with me. “You’re just going to leave me here and go home?”

She didn’t answer as she walked right out my door. I should have ran after her, but with everything I had done to get her there, it was too much. While thinking that my chance with Vessa was over, she came walking back in the house and lifted up her pool case into the air. “I shoot better with this.”

I didn’t want her to see my excitement, so I focused on something else. “I noticed the stick when you were shooting. Where’d you get it?”

“Only the winner gets to ask questions. I think it’s time you racked the balls.” She pulled out her stick and assemble it together, while I grabbed the pool balls and got them positioned within the triangular shaped rack. I watched her chalk up the stick and something was different about her.