The Billionaire's Masquerade (The Friendship Series) (5 page)

“Bad stuff, isn’t it?” Emerson laughed, seeing how she was trying to hide her reaction to the cheap wine. “Dennis focuses more on the local beers. Wines just aren’t his specialty.”

Dennis brought over a bottle of Emerson’s regular preference, a dark beer called Allagash Dubbel. “Dennis, could you bring over one of the Allagash Whites?” he suggested.

Dennis didn’t respond but simply turned around and headed back to the bar.

Since Jack took a long sip of the beer the bartender had just placed in front of him, Rachel was concerned that, whatever an ‘Allagash White’ was, it was intended for her. “What’s an Allagash White?” she asked, instantly on alert and wary. “I don’t do well with most beers,” she explained, trying very hard not to sound like a prissy woman, but she really didn’t like beer.

“You’ll like this one,” he argued. “Besides, it’s made by one of the local brewing companies in Portland. You should always support the locals, right?”

When Dennis plunked a beer bottle along with a frosted glass in front of her, Emerson almost chuckled. A frosted glass? No one else in the bar rated a frosted glass. Hell, Emerson hadn’t even known that Dennis had glasses, much less cold ones. Ignoring Dennis’ grunt of greeting that sounded more like a grizzly bear, he handed the beer to Rachel. “Try this,” he coaxed.

Rachel looked around and noticed that no one else in the bar was using a frosted glass so she lifted the bottle to her lips and took a brave sip. When she realized that it wasn’t horrible, her eyes widened. “Wow!” she said softly, amazed that there was a beer that was actually palatable.

“You’re first lesson today,” Emerson said as he took a long draw from his own beer. “Always try local.”

She wasn’t sure if she should roll her eyes or laugh and agree with him. Instead, she took another sip of the beer. The second and third sips were actually quite good. “I guess beer isn’t as horrible as I’d originally thought.”

“So tell me what you did and where you went to hunt down you’re mysterious and hard-to-find Mr. Watson.”

Rachel sighed and took another sip of the beer, enjoying the taste as well as the coolness as it slipped down her throat. “Well, I went to several of the local restaurants and, when I couldn’t resist the temptation any longer, had a lobster roll over by one of the lighthouses.”

Emerson suspected that she’d grabbed a bite over at the Two Lights Lobster Shack. It had a spectacular view and all the tourists seemed to stop by for a bite, but it wasn’t his favorite place to eat. “And how was it?”

She shrugged her shoulders, trying to be polite but not wanting to lie so she went with a politically acceptable answer. “It needed something.”

He chuckled at her lukewarm reaction to one of Maine’s most famous delicacies. “A lobster roll is just a bunch of lobster meat on a roll. What more could a person want?” He actually loved the stuff, but he also knew the best places to grab one.

She took another sip of the beer and contemplated the possibilities. “Lobster is delicious, but if they had included some sort of a spicy garlic sauce or some other topping that could go on the bread, that would enhance the flavor a great deal.”

He agreed. “Hmmm…a Maine native would be horrified.”

She laughed and nodded her head. “I suppose that’s true.”

Once again he was struck by how sexy her laugh was. He liked it. A lot! “Where else did you go?”

“Someone else suggested The Dogfish Grill. I went there and had a burger.”

Emerson laughed, picturing the horror on her face when she caught sight of their burgers. “And how was that?”

She grinned, laughing herself at the enormous burger. “I’d only ordered something easy so I could wait for the man in question. But that thing was….” She wasn’t really sure how to describe that burger.

“Huge,” he supplied with another chuckle.

She nodded, laughing at herself. “I couldn’t think of any other place the man might be. No one knows anything about him so the only place someone thought to mention, his housekeeper by the way, was to come here. So I’ve been here for most of the evening. Although I did tour through the art museum. That was an impressive collection! I loved the….” She was about to say the statues but stopped herself, thinking back to the nude statues done in the white marble.

Emerson laughed, knowing exactly what she hadn’t said. And why. But he took mercy on her embarrassment and moved on. “You haven’t had dinner?”

“The lobster roll and a few bites of the burger,” she told him.

He was surprised at that statement, noticing how thin she already was. “But that was hours ago. You need to eat something else.”

Rachel’s eyes widened when he lifted his hand to signal to Dennis. “Two burgers with everything,” he called out. Dennis nodded his head, completely ignoring Rachel’s shaking head as he shuffled off to the kitchen to put in their order.

As the night progressed, she made it from one beer to three, downing the burger in no time since it was amazingly juicy and delicious, but the third beer was her undoing. They’d been talking about anything and everything, Rachel laughing at his insights into the various places she’d visited and offering her additional ideas. It was a fun night, good conversation and excellent food but she also started to feel a bit too relaxed. When Jack raised his hand to order another round, she pulled his hand down. “I think I’m sticking to seltzer water for the rest of the night.”

Emerson looked down at her, saw the bright smile in her eyes and acquiesced. “I suppose you’ve relaxed enough. Come on,” he told her, grabbing her hand and pulling her up out of the chair.

“Where are we going?” she asked, following despite the pain in her feet from walking all over town in these heels.

“I’m going to teach you how to play pool.”

Rachel kept a straight face as she followed behind, enjoying the strong hand pulling her behind him. She didn’t tell him about her pool-playing days in college. If he wanted to assume things about her, then he could go ahead. She thought it might be an easy way to make a few bucks. “I don’t know if pool will be as easy to teach as drinking beer,” she cautioned. She considered him forewarned with that shot.

“Here,” he said and handed her a pool stick. At one of the open pool tables in the back of the bar, he pulled all the balls together, sliding them into place. “Okay, so here’s how you play,” he said and moved behind her, pulling her close and bending her low over the table. “You have to sight the balls down the end of the cue stick,” he said softly, his voice deep and heavy in her ear with his warm breath blowing the wisps of hair along her overly sensitized skin.

She shivered when his right hand moved down her back, then along her arm to the end of the stick. “This hand will add force to the hit while,” and he leaned in even closer, sliding his left hand down her arm, his groin pressing against her bottom intimately and causing her eyes to close as the impact of his double caress hit her hard, “the other hand aims.”

He chuckled softly as he noticed her closed eyes, but he liked it, liked knowing that he could impact her like this. “You won’t hit many balls into the pockets with your eyes closed.”

She took a deep breath and stood up, moving out of his embrace. “I think I got this,” she whispered, shaking her head to get the clean scent of Jack out of her mind.

“Are you sure?” he asked softly, towering over her, enjoying the fascinating light in her green eyes. “I’m more than willing to show you how to do it for your first few tries.”

She narrowed her eyes in his direction, finally understanding what he was up to. “Stand over there,” she told him, her voice not nearly as firm as she’d intended. She pointed towards the other side of the pool table.

When he’d sauntered over to where she’d pointed, she leaned down again, starting to aim the pool stick. But her jacket was too tight. She stood up, laying the stick on the side of the pool table and slipped her arms out of the jacket, laying it on the top of one of the unused pool sticks.

“Better,” she said and leaned over once again. She didn’t see the man stare at her, didn’t know that Emerson’s mouth went dry at the sight of her body placed across the pool table in such a suggestive manner. He watched her, ignoring the solid and striped balls as he focused only on Rachel’s slender, voluptuous body stretched out so perfectly for his viewing pleasure.

He heard the balls strike but he was too busy watching her to see what had happened to the balls.

Rachel stood up and surveyed the pool table with satisfaction when three of the balls went into the pockets. Looking over at Jack, she smiled in his direction brilliantly. “Want to put some money on the game?” she asked.

He chuckled, almost more turned on by her smile than her round bottom that had been sticking up in the air a moment ago. “You sound like a pool shark. Are you telling me that you’re that good?”

She shrugged and looked at the table. “I don’t know. Are you any good?” she asked, glancing up at him with a sly smile.

Emerson wasn’t immune to those soft, green eyes. They were laughing at him and he instantly knew that he was about to be played. But if it meant he could watch her bend over the pool table like that again, he was all for it. “What’s your price?” he asked softly, watching her eyes light up even more. He knew he was in trouble then.

“How about the bar tab?” she suggested, grinning from ear to ear.

“Deal,” he laughed and moved forward. “My turn?”

“Not a chance. I just put three balls into the pocket.”

Emerson’s surprise was written plainly on his face. He looked down at the pool table and sure enough, three of the solid balls were gone. “Okay, City Girl. You’re on.”

She laughed and almost danced to her next position.

“I think I’ve been played,” Emerson said out loud, enjoying her laughter as well as her lush body as it moved in front of him.

One after another, she shot the solid balls into the pockets, barely even touching any of the striped balls unless she needed one for a ricochet.

“Excuse me,” she said, looking over her shoulder as she tried to get the angle for her last ball to go in.

“Absolutely,” he said, but he grabbed her waist, his breath warm as he said into her ear. “I’ll just wait on the other side of the table.” His hand slid along her waist and her back, causing shivers to move all through her body.

She knew exactly what he was doing but couldn’t stop it. “That’s cheating,” she whispered, closing her eyes to fight the heavy languor that melted her insides with his touch.

He chuckled as he moved around the pool table. “You’re right.” He stood in front of her, his face unreadable since the light was over the pool table and his height caused his face to be cast in the shadows. “Second lesson for the day. Take advantage of all situations that come to you.”

She hesitated, trying to regain control of her body but her hands were now shaking and she wasn’t sure what she’d been about to do. Looking around, she blinked, then glared at the obnoxious man. “You’ll pay for that,” she groaned.

His grin widened. “I’m counting on it, actually.”

She shook her head, trying to focus on the table, the position of the balls…anything but Jack. But his touch was too much. As soon as she pulled back, she knew that she wasn’t going to make her shot. Unfortunately, the momentum was already there and she couldn’t stop the swing forward. The white ball actually popped into the air, dropping with a loud thunk without even touching another ball.

She stood up, glaring at him as he laughed softly, moving behind her once again. “I guess it’s finally my turn,” he whispered in her ear.

She shivered and thought that this would be the perfect time to melt into the floor.

Jack’s hand slid across her back as he moved into position. Within three minutes, all of the striped balls were sunk and the only ball left was the white ball, one of her solid balls and the eight ball.

Rachel swallowed painfully, seeing what he was about to do and she panicked. Never had she ever been so bold but this was a competition and she hadn’t ever been someone who was willing to lose. So instead of standing beside the table with her mouth hanging open like she’d been doing for the past several minutes, she did something she’d never done before. Leaning over the pool table, she pretended to examine the angle of his shot. She also knew that her silk blouse would billow ever so slightly. She didn’t think that she was giving him any intimate view, but she knew the moment he glanced up that her tactic had worked. She would have smirked with success, but she was caught in the heat of his gaze. She didn’t even know that he’d hit the ball, unaware of how the ball scratched, bouncing into the corner pocket. All she knew was that Jack was looking at her with a heat so hot in his eyes that her heart started racing, her face heated up and every cell in her body caught fire from his look.

“I’m sorry,” she said, not sure if she was apologizing for him missing his shot or the teasing.

Emerson tossed his pool stick down on the table, abandoning the game and walked over to her. With a swift move, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, one hand diving into her hair to hold her head where he wanted it, and the other arm wrapping around her waist, pulling her against his hard body. “No you’re not,” he came back a moment before his mouth covered hers.

Rachel was so lost, she couldn’t even tell if she was standing or sitting. Maybe even lying down, but she didn’t care. At this point, the only thing that mattered was Jack’s hands on her, his mouth teasing hers and his body that was so incredible. Had it only been a few hours since the last time he kissed her? Impossible. Her body instantly knew exactly what to expect. What to demand!

Emerson couldn’t believe how much he wanted this woman. Taking her hand, he pulled her out of the back room, slapped a hundred dollar bill on Dennis’ bar and continued out the door. When they were standing in the cooler night air, he pulled her into his arms once again, feeling her body wrap around his as much as she could. She was like some sort of fantasy that he couldn’t get enough of and he wanted to devour her.

Lifting his head once more, he noticed the mirrored heat in her eyes. “Not here,” he growled and pulled her to his truck. Lifting her up, he placed her carefully on the seat of the old truck but didn’t stop there. He couldn’t. His fingers had felt that soft bottom and she was finally at his own height, much easier to kiss and he didn’t hesitate in any way.