“Are you having a good time?”
Annie shrugged. “It’s a very nice party.”
“I think so. But you didn’t answer my question.”
She turned, her blue eyes penetrating him as she attempted to read what he was really after. “Yes, I am,” she said slowly, watching his face for changes.
Nate nodded and took another sip of his drink. “A poker player should be a better liar. What happened with Tessa just now?”
“Nothing.” Annie responded too quickly, breaking eye contact and gazing down into her glass.
Nate looked in the direction Annie had come from. Her sister had sat down at a table, but she wasn’t alone. Now she was in the arms of a despicable man. If Tessa were his sister, he’d be pretty damn upset, too. “Hanging out with Eddie Walker isn’t nothing.”
Annie’s head snapped up, her eyes narrowing at him. “She just told me they’re dating and have been for several months. I had no idea.”
Nate raised an eyebrow at her response. Weren’t sisters supposed to share everything? “That’s no revelation. I can see that much just by the way he touches her.”
They both turned to watch Eddie and Tessa in the corner. They were talking to one another in the dark, rounded booth. Their body language screamed sex; their legs crossed together as they leaned in and gazed into one another’s eyes. Eddie had one hand on her bare knee, the other rubbing strands of her red hair together between his fingertips.
Nate turned to watch Annie instead of the secluded lovebirds. Her nose was wrinkled, her brow furrowed again in concern. Whether or not she had prior knowledge, she obviously didn’t care for this love match. Eddie had a rotten reputation, and he wasn’t the kind of guy you’d pick for your sister.
Eddie had been his number-one candidate to watch from the beginning. Everyone knew he was cheating; they just couldn’t catch him. Whether he was involved in the big operation the tournament sponsors were after, he wasn’t certain.
That’s why he’d asked Annie to help him. She could lure him out, get evidence to charge him. It required someone on the inside who really knew the game. Annie was perfect for the job. She wouldn’t let anyone get in the way of her winning the grand prize, and he had no doubt she would do what she could to stop Eddie. And now that her sister was dating him, what better way to break them up than to send the creep to jail?
He would talk to Annie about that. But not tonight.
Tonight he had better things on his mind. Like getting Annie back in his bed. He’d fought with himself since the moment she’d arrived, but damned if he didn’t still want her. Even after everything. Their three years apart had only amplified the hum of arousal that buzzed through his veins. He wouldn’t love Annie. He wouldn’t even let himself care about her. But he could get his fill of her before she walked away.
When Nate was a child, his grandfather had once given him a huge bag of cherry jelly beans. With his father busy and his mother off shopping, he’d sat in front of the television one afternoon and eaten the whole bag. Nate had never been so sick in his life. To this day, he couldn’t abide cherry jelly beans. Or cherry anything, for that matter.
Perhaps the same would be true of Annie. Resisting was the wrong tactic. He needed to fully indulge himself in her soft body and silky skin. Overdose on her. Get her out of his system. And maybe by week’s end, when the divorce paperwork was drawn up, he would be just as disinterested by the thought of her as he was by that noxious candy.
Nate eyed a tray of appetizers being passed by a server. “Are you hungry?”
Annie turned to look at him, then shook her head, waving away the waiter. “No, watching those two paw at each other made me lose my appetite.”
The loud, upbeat music came to an end and a crowd of people returned to their tables. The next song was slow, and he watched several couples step out onto the dance floor. “Well, then, would you care to dance? This would be a good opportunity for everyone at the tournament to see us together.”
Annie eyed the people on the dance floor anxiously, then nodded with hesitation. “Okay. But you should know I’m a terrible dancer.”
Nate laughed, reaching out a hand to her. “Somehow I find it hard to believe that you could be anything but graceful, Annie.”
Her hand slipped into his, her soft velvet skin unusually cool as he clasped it. He squeezed it to warm her fingers as he led her gently into the center of the dance floor. With a turn, he wrapped an arm around her waist, his palm resting low on her bare back once again.