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Mace released her hand, his grin broad. “You’d better be thinking of what kind of kiss I’m going to give you when I win, Sierra.”
“Humph! That will NEVER happen!”
Mace shrugged easily. He said, “Well, since it’s my turn to start,” and he laid out all of his seven tiles, spelling ‘LOOSENS’.
“No!” Sierra wailed, standing up, tipping her chair back. She stared at the word he’d placed on the board.
“What?” Mace teased mercilessly. “You think I cheated?” He saw the sudden panic in her eyes, her cheeks a ruddy red color. He’d just pretty much straight-up won the game. He’d been able to lay out all seven tiles and they had made an acceptable, dictionary word. He’d gotten the fifty-point bonus on top of the double multiplier for the middle square. Sierra made a mewling sound, staring at him in disbelief, and then back down at the board.
“I’ve NEVER had this happen! I’ve never seen anyone be able to put down all their first seven tiles at once!”
Chuckling, Mace gave her a smile. “Time to pay up, Sweetheart. I won fair and square. Now,” he said, slowly standing, pulling his chair aside, “you owe me that kiss you just shook hands on…”
Sierra felt suddenly naked. She wasn’t, but that’s what it felt like. Mace came around the table, heading her direction. Her mouth went dry. She shot out her hand, her palm encountering his hard, male chest, feeling the warmth of his flesh beneath her fingertips. “We can’t!” she whispered frantically. “We can’t do this!” Mace stood there, hands on his hips, grinning down at her, heat and promise in his gray eyes.
“You shook on it, Chastain. Are you telling me you’re going to back out? That your word isn’t your bond?”
Gulping, she shook her head. “N-no… I mean… Mace, we can’t do this!”
“You’ve been wanting to kiss me for a while,” he noted, arching one eyebrow.
Sierra was breathing raggedly. Her heart was skipping beats. Oh, what had she done? “I’ve always been a woman of my word,” she shot back. “It’s just that—well—we WORK together, Mace! We can’t mix business with personal. You know that.” He didn’t look convinced at all. Her hand fluttered. “You know this is WRONG.”
“Then why did you agree to it?”
“B-because I thought for sure I’d win, that’s why. I-I was just humoring you, is all.”
Giving a shrug, he said, “That was nice of you.”
She glared at him. “Damn you, Kilmer!” She squared off at him, lifting her chin, planting her hands on her hips. “You did this on purpose!”
“What? Win?” He opened his hands and chuckled. “I DID want to win, there’s no denying that.”
“You made that betafteryou saw your tiles!”
“Yes,” he admitted gravely, “I did.”
“You KNEW from the get-go that you’d win!”
“Yes, I did.”
Her nostrils flared. “That wasn’t fair, Mace! It would be one thing if you’d made the bet BEFORE seeing the tiles you drew from the pouch!”
“You didn’t set down any rules about bets, did you?”
“No,” she sputtered angrily, “I didn’t!” She could barely breath, her gaze always moving back to his mouth. A mouth she had wanted to kiss since she’d met Mace. Damn, the man was infuriating! She saw the gleam in his eyes, his real smile changing his hard face, taking her breath away. He looked so much younger when he smiled. Her heart screamed at her to step forward and let him kiss her. Her mind was howling that she was nuts. She didn’t DARE cross that line with Mace. He was enjoying this way too much. The glitter in his eyes was one she recognized only too well: operators were all so friggin’ competitive. And why would Mace be any different? Damn!
“It will be all right,” he said, trying to calm her down.
She stared at him. “No… it won’t,” Sierra said brokenly, giving him a stressed look.
“Why not?” he demanded. “We’re both adults. We can handle this appropriately.”
Rubbing her brow, Sierra shook her head. “Dammit, you don’t understand, Mace!”
“Enlighten me?”
Her fear and yearning warred with one another. How she wanted to kiss this man! Sierra knew how good it would be. How melting… how… oh, she was in such trouble. Choking, she whispered, “I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid of myself. All right?” She saw him give her a confused look. Compressing her lips, she stood there, arms crossed, body rigid, as if preparing for a blow to come her way. Certainly not a kiss.