“So, what’s your secret?” she asked Lauren after the second trouncing. “Do you have a secret pool hall below the theater that you sneak away to and practice through the night?”
Lauren met her gaze with a smug smile. “If I told you my secret, then you wouldn’t sit up and think all night about what it could be.” She took a delicate sip from her martini that did something wonderfully uncomfortable to Carly’s midsection. The skin of Lauren’s shoulder called out to her, and she noticed how ridiculously smooth it was. She wanted to run her forefinger across the curve and follow up with her tongue. Yeah, it was that kind of night.
“Then the least you can do is teach me how to break like you do.”
Lauren straightened. “I can help if you want.”
Carly reached behind Lauren and grabbed a cue, inhaling the vanilla lavender scent once again. That perfume flirted with her all on its own. Who’d invented this stuff? She met Lauren’s gaze. “Oh, I want.”
Lauren followed her to an empty table and racked the balls. “Secret number one. Make sure the rack is tight.” Carly blinked and held her tongue, but the insinuation was not lost on Lauren, who blushed. She made a rewind gesture. “Taking that back. Just heard how that sounds.”
“You don’t have to on my account,” Carly said with a playful wink and joined Lauren on her side of the table. She made it a point to lose the shenanigans for the rest of her lesson. “What’s step one?”
“You want to make sure the cue ball remains in the center of the table.” She placed it on the felt and pointed to the corner pocket. “If it breaks off and bounces back over here? You’re in bad shape.”
“And I won’t be able to clean the table like you just did, which is now all I want to do in life. Well, almost.”
Lauren inhaled and blinked. She seemed to decide to plow forward. “Exactly. It’s all about that initial positioning after the break.”
Carly studied Lauren in the midst of their lesson. “And how do I make sure it remains centrally located?”
“Easy. You have to connect with the ball in front by tapping the cue ball right here.” Lauren pointed at a spot on the cue ball just above the center point. “If your aim is off, you’re going to have a rogue cue ball and probably miss an easy side pocket sink. Why don’t you give it a try?” Lauren cleared the area.
“All right.” With cue in hand, Carly lowered her body and surveyed the table, focusing on what Lauren told her was key: the sweet spot on the cue ball. “Like this? Am I doing it right, Ms. Shark?”
“I prefer Madame. But, oh…” Lauren laughed quietly. “Your stance is off.”
Carly straightened. “What do you mean? I’ve always been told I have a great stance.”
“Because they’re probably looking at your ass.”
“Were you?” Carly asked playfully. Okay, she was also half serious because the combination of alcohol, the perfume, and the way Lauren had cut loose tonight had her in the friendly land of lust. She loved it in Lust Land, where she could frolic with anticipation, hope, and longing. God, if only Lauren would join her there, they could have a little fun while she was in town. Ride a few of the rides.
“Checking out your ass?” Lauren paused before answering, meeting Carly’s gaze. A ball of tension coiled tight and wonderful in Carly’s stomach, and she felt the slightest tingle between her legs. “Unfortunately, no. My mind was on the break shot.” She fluttered her eyelashes, which told Carly she left room for fibbing. “Now, about that stance.” Carly, always one to help, took up the position once again. “See your back arm?” Lauren asked. “It’s angled wrong, and it’s screwing up your shot line. Here.”
And before Carly could scream Hot damn! Lauren’s body was at her back and Lauren’s arms came around hers. “Well, hello,” she said to Lauren quietly.
“Hi,” Lauren said back. “Pay attention.”
“Trust me. I’m riveted.”
Lauren let that one go, too. “Level this back arm out so you can draw a perfect line between the cue ball and the front ball. That red one there, see?”
Carly nodded but was in no rush to take the shot, not with Lauren this close, turning Carly the hell on with the warmth from her body. She hadn’t been wrong about Lauren having a killer body. She could see it in her mind’s eye, the way it pressed against hers. The tingle from earlier was now a full-on throb, and she relished it.
“Ready?” Lauren asked quietly in her ear. Her breath tickled wonderfully.
“Ready,” Carly said. Lauren stepped back and allowed Carly to take the shot, which in the end came off perfectly. She nailed the front ball, sank another in the side pocket, and watched as the cue ball hung in the center of the table, just like Lauren had promised it would.
“Well, now who’s a shark?” Lauren asked, as Carly tossed her hands in the air and held them there. The room broke into applause, and that’s when Carly realized that the crowd had nearly tripled in size, and all eyes were on her…in addition to five or six cell phones. That meant someone had likely tweeted or Instagrammed her location. It happened often, actually. She smiled and nodded to their onlookers as she passed by to retrieve her drink. She remained hyperaware of Lauren’s location in the room, however. She sipped slowly, posed for a few photos, signed the back of a guy’s jean jacket, and watched as Lauren seemed to grow more and more unsteady. Carly got the feeling that she didn’t go out much, and maybe the night had gotten away from her. She was using the backs of chairs to maneuver the space, and that was Carly’s signal to check in and make sure she was okay.
She touched Lauren’s shoulder. “Hey, you. Are you a little drunk right now? Because you’re looking a little unsteady.”
“No,” Lauren shouted over the music and grinned. Totally was.
“Okay,” Carly said with what was probably a disbelieving smile.
“I’m a lot drunk right now.” She followed that up with the most adorable laugh. “I need to get an Uber so I can…” She trailed off the way drunk people sometimes do and instead stared glassy-eyed at the grooves on the tall wooden table next to them.
“Tell you what. Why don’t I take you home?”
Lauren blinked and raised a drunk eyebrow. “I’m not going home with you. You’re not going home with me, I mean. Not that kind of thing. You’re an actress, ma’am, and I haven’t forgotten.”
“And you’re a stage manager. Ma’am,” she added for good measure. “We have our jobs all sorted out, so let’s get you home safe. I’m in good shape.”
“Okay,” Lauren said, her eyes now looking heavy. “Listen, I’m in no condition to argue, even though we probably would argue real, real good.”
“Real, real?” Carly couldn’t help but wonder if argue was a euphemism. She decided it was. “I have a feeling you’re right.”
Six minutes later, they were in an Uber on the way to Lauren’s, where Carly would get her situated, then do the gentlewomanly thing and head back to the apartment the theater had rented for her.
“We have arrived,” Lauren said. She stumbled out of the car. “I wonder if Rocky can make me another martini.”