Page 36 of Agency

“Defeats the purpose of going best of, if I’m changing teams mid-stream.”

I couldn’t help but smile, especially because Candice was actually pretty good. Better than me, that was for sure.

But what really made me want to grin from one ear to the other? The way Candice kept touching my forearm as she laughed at my jokes, and stood a little too close for just a new bar acquaintance while we watched Jericho fuck up his next shot. God, the smell of her. The deep, rich, spicy scent of her made my eyes want to roll back in my head as I imagined what her skin might taste like. Then, there was the memory of those “fuck me” eyes she’d given me when I’d first gone to stand–the way she’d eyed me the same way I’d eyed her.

If I wasn’t mistaken, I was pretty sure she was hitting on me.

And, trust me, I was flirting right back. How could a guy not with a woman this gorgeous? How could you not with a woman who smelled this sexy, and whose smile seemed to light up this darkest-of-dark dive bars?

Of course, I was pretty sure she was hitting on Jericho, too.

Maybe she was just covering the spread, though? Hedging her bets, by trying to see which one of us would make the first move.

“He really isn’t very good, is he?” Candice asked, her flank nearly pressed against mine as we watched Jericho try and line up his next shot.

“There’s a reason he’s on your team, remember?”

“Really think I’m that much better than you?”

“Oh yeah,” I said with a laugh. “I’m good enough to know how awful I am.” Glancing over, I leaned down a little closer, saying, “You’d have cleared the table by now if it wasn’t for Jericho.”

Chuckling, she shrugged and glanced up at me, her small, even front teeth biting at the corner of her lower lip. “But then I’d be back to playing by myself. Now, wouldn’t I?”

“True.”

“Next game,” she said, “you two should try teaming up on me, though.”

“Pretty sure we’d lose.”

As if to make my point for me, Jericho swore loudly from the table. I glanced his way for a second, just in time to catch him red-faced and looking ready to crack the cue in two over his knee.

“Maybe,” Candice said, leaning in close enough that I could hear her lowered voice as she eyed Jericho’s meltdown. “But, I’m still pretty sure you’d have way more fun both trying to take me on at the same time.”

Blood rushing from my head, arms, chest and heading down south of my belt, I glanced over at her in surprise.

Had she just—?

Was that a—?

She didn’t look over at me, but that sexy, mischievous smile of hers didn’t fade for even one heartbeat.

“Hey,” Jericho barked. “Andrew.”

“What?” I asked after clearing my throat a couple times, my eyes still on Candice’s profile.

She turned, then, looking right at me… And she winked.

Oh shit. My blood had made full migration by now.

“Your. Fucking. Shot.”

I tore my eyes from hers and looked to my boss.

There was a vein standing out on his near-scarlet forehead, and his knuckles were still white as they viced on his cue. He sometimes got worked up like this over certain things. Like, one time when he had to get up early for his duty shift, and Morgan and I’d stumbled in shit-canned drunk to the barracks at the end of a two-day pass and started to play drinking games.

He might havelookedlike he was going to break that cue over the pool table’s rail, but he wouldn’t.

“Oh. Right.” I took a deep breath, trying to slow my pulse. “Pool.”