Part 2 (2/2)
Her toes peeked out from denim sandals. Hot pink polish covered her toenails and fingernails. She'd apparently given herself a manicure and pedicure today, or had it done in town. That color looked really good against her fair skin.
Alaina removed a gla.s.s ca.s.serole dish from the refrigerator. She saw him as she pushed the door shut with her hip. ”Hi, Griff.”
Emma's head swung toward him. He watched her gaze do its own traveling over his shoulders, chest and groin before returning to his face. He hadn't seen that type of look in a long time, but he recognized it.
Desire.
A surge of heat flowed through Griff's body, something he hadn't felt in months. He didn't want to feel heat, or desire, or any kind of emotion like that for Emma or any other woman. He couldn't dishonor Jana's memory that way. She'd been the only woman he'd loved, the only woman he could ever love. He lived, yet his heart had been buried with his wife.
”Hi,” she said, her voice low and sultry.
Griff nodded. ”Ladies.”
”The guys are in the game room.” Alaina set the ca.s.serole dish next to the microwave. ”Rye stocked the mini-fridge with beer and c.o.kes.”
”Do y'all need help with anything?”
”Nah, we're good.” She set the timer to warm the baked beans. ”Tell Rye and Dax that supper will be ready in about fifteen minutes.”
”Okay.”
His gaze clashed with and held Emma's for several moments before he managed to look away from her and leave the room.
Griff heard the clack of pool b.a.l.l.s as he walked down the hall toward Rye's game room. He remembered the three brothers discussing who would have which ”goody” in which home when they started building their houses. They decided Rye got the game room, Dax got the swimming pool, and Griff got the hot tub. Since they lived less than a mile apart on land their parents gifted to them, it was easy to go to Dax's house if they wanted to swim, or to Griff's if they wanted a dip in the hot tub. Playing pool or darts or watching sports on the huge, high-def TV happened in Rye's game room.
”s.h.i.+t!” Dax said as Griff walked up to the doorway. A quick look at the table showed the cue ball heading directly for a corner pocket. ”s.h.i.+t, s.h.i.+t, s.h.i.+t!”
Rye laughed. ”I believe that's call a scratch, Dax.”
”I know what it is.” Dax scowled when the white ball dropped neatly into the pocket. ”I need to get laid. Everything I do is off.”
”There's a hot little brunette in the kitchen with Alaina who looks like she'd be a lot of fun.”
”I agree, but Emma isn't interested in me. She only has eyes for Griff.”
Griff stopped in his tracks on his way into the room. ”What?”
Dax turned toward Griff. ”Oh c'mon, don't try to tell me you don't know that.” He collected the b.a.l.l.s from the pockets and laid them on the table so Rye could rack them. ”She watched you at the bar last night.”
”She watched you too.”
”She didn't challenge me to a rematch.”
”I lost.”
”I lost too, but she didn't challenge me to play her again. And I lost twenty bucks because you let her win. You owe me.”
”Yeah,” Rye said, his eyes s.h.i.+ning with laughter, ”you owe me twenty bucks too.”
”I'd lose on purpose to someone as hot as Emma.” Dax clasped the back of Griff's neck. ”You need some hot in your life and your bed.”
Griff stiffened. He couldn't believe Dax would suggest he be unfaithful to Jana. ”I don't want to have s.e.x with Emma.”
”Then you aren't human. She looks like sin in those tight jeans.”
Griff agreed, but he wouldn't say that aloud. He couldn't help noticing a woman as s.e.xy as Emma. That didn't mean he would act on that observation.
”Supper's on!” Alaina called.
Saved by food again. Griff hurried out of the game room, leaving Rye and Dax to follow.
The barbecue had been delicious and melt-in-your-mouth tender. Now Emma was so full, she didn't know if she'd be able to bend over the pool table to play.
Of course, if Griff wanted her to bend over and play a different game, she'd find a way.
He'd ignored her through most of the meal, looking at her only when she asked him a direct question or made a comment to something he said. She'd feel discouraged if giving up was in her nature. She didn't believe in giving up, not when she wanted something as much as she wanted Griff.
She understood attraction. She understood desire. She understood wanting to jump a guy's bones. She didn't understand this draw, this pull, to Griff. She a.s.sumed it was because she had gone two weeks without s.e.x. One of the pastry chefs at the restaurant had been a twice-weekly f.u.c.k buddy, but he moved to San Antonio two weeks ago to be closer to his family. His moving meant the end of regular s.e.x until she found someone else.
She looked across the table at Dax and Griff. Both gorgeous, both s.e.xy, both single. She should concentrate on Dax, the one who wanted a good time and nothing more. Griff had been married. He no doubt wanted that whole happily-ever-after, one-person-forever s.h.i.+t that she avoided.
Yet the draw was for Griff, not Dax. He was like the forbidden fruit-something she shouldn't touch yet couldn't seem to help herself.
She knew he still grieved over the loss of his wife. That didn't mean he couldn't have fun. It would be good for him to loosen up, feel a woman's body against his again.
Her nipples puckered at the thought of all that tan skin and tight muscles leaning over her in bed.
Rye laid his fork on his empty plate. ”Don't tell her I said this, Emma, but your potato salad is better than my mother's.”
”You'd better be glad Mom isn't here,” Dax said, ”or she'd hang you up by your ears.”
”I wouldn't have said it if Mom was here. Or at least not where she could hear me.”
Emma raised her winegla.s.s to Rye. ”Thanks. There's no better compliment than for my cooking to be compared to a mother's.”
”Anything you make is better than my mother's.” Alaina s.h.i.+vered playfully. ”The concoctions she comes up with boggle the mind.”
”I've had your mother's cooking, so I agree with that.” Emma sipped her wine, glancing at Griff as she did so. He was watching her.
He feels the pull too, just as strongly as I do.
Alaina sat back in her chair. ”It's too bad only the people staying at my B-and-B will taste Emma's cooking.”
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