Page 47 of Colt

She tossed her hair back, her lips pursed. “So where’d he find you?” she asked in that snarky way meant to demean me, like a piece of trash Colt just happen to pick up along the way.

I relaxed my body and crossed my legs. “Oh, I’ve known Colt for a long time—since I was a teenager. My dad was the president of the Reno chapter of the Desert Sinners. Caught my eye right away, and I eventually caught his.” I drew my gaze away and looked at Colt, watching him play with his kids, the smile on his face, the joy and love he didn’t hide from them and probably only showed to them. For a second, I let that moment filter through me, as though he really were mine. “You could say he was my first everything. When I decided to come back to Vegas... we just... picked up where we left off.” I slid my gaze back to her with an innocent look. “And you? Where’d he find you?”

She looked down at her manicured nails, but her cheeks were pink and her jaw was tight.

“Hmm, similar story, I take it?” I said, offering another smile.

She looked up, her eyes daggering me. And I knew from that look, this was only the beginning of a long day and she had more venom to spew at me. As long as I kept my game cleaner than hers, she’d have nothing to throw back on me or Colt or his children.

I waited, half expecting her to ask me questions about my experience with kids or at least how I felt about dating someone with children. But, she didn’t seem concerned about that, and I couldn’t help but wonder why I was really here.

Mostly, I felt like a pawn in her game against Colt, and I didn’t like that one bit. But one thing I’d learned in playing games in this world is that the person with the most restraint and patience usually had the upper hand—and Jenna, I assessed, would easily crack when cornered. Colt and I just had to figure out her breaking point, and if we could manage to work together harmoniously, he’d get what he wanted. And as I glanced at Colt again, and the way he was with his kids, to be honest, it’d feel like a win for me too.