Page 57 of Unexpected Shot
Her lips turn up into a smile that I don’t know if I’ve everseen on Shelby before. Well, not adult Shelby. But younger Shelby? When every once in a while I could convince her to let loose? That’s when I saw it. And it’s even more beautiful now.
“What’s that?”
“What do you like to do for fun?”
One of these days I’m going to stop assuming things about Shelby LeBlanc.
Because never in my drunken wildest dreams did I think she played pool for fun.
And not only does she play pool—Shelby is a fucking hustler.
And it’s sexy as hell.
“Pay up!” she yells out, twirling around on the pool cue like it’s a pole at a different kind of Vegas establishment. “I appreciate your business, Moe, but we both knew how this was going to end. Who wants next?”
I laugh as I watch every guy in Frank’s bar take a step back, holding their hands up in surrender. Even the ones who didn’t dare go against Shelby.
“You haven’t played me yet, Belle,” I say.
She laughs as if I don’t stand a chance. Which, I probably don’t. But I’m not going to let her know that.
“This is going to be fun,” she says, walking behind me. And I know I’m drunk so I’m not feeling much today, but I’m pretty sure her hand just traced across my back. And I liked it. “Now, rack ‘em, big boy.”
I don’t know what shocks me more. Shelby calling me “big boy” or the slap on the ass that accompanies it.
“Did you just call me ‘big boy?’”
She has to think about it for a second. It’s amazing that she’s playing pool this well for being absolutely shitfaced. “I did.”
“Can I ask why?”
She just shrugs as she throws back another shot. And no, Ihave no clue how many each of us have had tonight. I do know Shelby has moved along to spiced whiskey.
“You have a nickname for me. Only felt right to have one for you.”
“And big boy is the best you could come up with?”
She dramatically throws her hands on her hips. It’s cute as hell. “Do you have a better suggestion?”
I do, but I shouldn’t say it out loud…
That’s what my internal monologue is saying. The one who wishes I wasn’t drunk right now so I wouldn’t make bad decisions.
Joke’s on him. I’ve been making bad decisions all night.
“I do.” I put away the rack, keeping my eyes on Shelby with every slow, deliberate step I take toward her. I reach behind her to grab a cue, making sure to brush against her, getting so close, only she’ll be able to hear the words coming out of my mouth. “How about…if I win, you have to call me Master.”
Her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. “Really? Master? Because I follow your commands so well? Because you want to order me around your sex dungeon?”
“Belle! I would never!”
I would. I absolutely would.
“Wait! Why do you think I have a sex dungeon?”
“Feels right,” she says with a shrug before polishing off her drink. “I don’t know what you do behind closed doors.”
I step up closer to her, the liquid courage and delusion completely fueling me at this point. “If you want to find out, all you have to do is ask. Or…if I win, you can see for yourself.”
