Page 19 of Erotic Temptations 2
Kane cleared his throat. “O-sixty-nine.”
The room erupted in giggles.
Mabel slapped the table. “Well, that’s a good omen.” She glanced at me, arching her eyebrows. “You ever had a sixty-nine, Elijah?”
My mouth opened. Shut. Opened again. “I’m not answering that in public. There are children present.”
Sophia’s laugh echoed across the table, earning dirty looks from three blue-haired grannies desperate for silence. “He’s got decent hands. Look at him manhandle those balls.”
I almost choked on my water. Then prayed for a merciful heart attack to get me out of this.
Numbers kept coming. Kane’s voice was warm, the sort of voice you wanted narrating your existential crisis or at least reading you the grocery list when you were hungover. My phone buzzed once against my thigh, but I ignored it. The only thing more humiliating than being the youngest person at bingo was getting a spam text from a dating app during the letter O’s.
Each time he called, Kane scanned the crowd, eyes pausing at our table. Correction… my face. I tried to play it cool, but every time our eyes met across the battlefield of senior citizen carnage, my heart thudded so loud I was afraid someone would ask me to turn it down.
Sophia must have noticed. She leaned in conspiratorially, breath tinged with cinnamon Tic Tacs and vodka. “Someone’s got the hots for you.”
I rolled my eyes, but the tips of my ears blazed. “Not a chance. Guys that pretty don’t look twice at me unless they need their shirt steamed.”
“Maybe you should offer,” she whispered, waggling her eyebrows.
Mabel snorted. “Don’t let this one fool you,” she said, waving a liver-spotted hand in my direction. “He’s got all the makings of a heartbreaker. If only he didn’t get nervous around people with working organs.”
Estell cackled. “Maybe this time he’ll get lucky. Or at least get a phone number. You still have that phone, right? Or did you drop it in the toilet again?”
“Once,” I said. “And it still worked.” Kind of.
The balls clacked and spun, numbers called in neat, even tones. Between rounds, Kane sometimes glanced over, lips moving in a private smile, like we shared some secret language. I considered sending up a smoke signal or blinking in Morse code, but given my luck, I’d probably just summon the fire department.
Bingo was an exercise in stubborn hopefulness. The first three rounds were always the hardest. You tricked yourself into believing your luck had finally shifted, only to lose to Dolores from 4B, who didn’t even bother to use her lucky cat figurine.
Cards filled slowly. My dauber routine was more therapy than strategy. My dots lined up with the precision of a toddler,and every time I tried to go for a blackout, I ended up with a neat border and nothing in the center. Story of my life.
Midway through round two, Mabel yelped and slapped her card. “Bingo! Hot damn, I knew that rabbit’s foot was worth something.”
Estell rolled her eyes. “She cheats.”
“Just better at the game than you,” Mabel shot back, all teeth. She didn’t get up to claim her prize. Instead, she brandished her card in a victory wave, daring anyone to challenge her claim.
Sophia barely looked up. “Wake me when the cute one comes over.”
Cute one wasn’t wasting time. Kane came striding down the aisle, bending over Mabel’s shoulder with a smile that should’ve been weaponized. He checked her card, signature flicker in his gaze as he glanced at me, then leaned in closer to Mabel. “Looks legit. Congratulations.”
Mabel fluttered her lashes. “Thank you, dear. You ever need a date to a family reunion, you just let me know.”
He grinned, teeth white and perfect, then shot me a look that melted the inside of my kneecaps. “I’ll remember that,” he said.
I needed a drink.
Kane glanced at me again. This time, he winked at me then walked back to the front.
My heart did something that would have required medical attention if I were anyone else.
“Don’t faint,” Estell teased.
“Didn’t bring my smelling salts,” I shot back.
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