Author: Jaci Burton

“He likes big boobs.”

She gaped at her less-than-generous chest, then at Liz. “Why the hell did you set him up with me?”

Liz shrugged. “To see if you’d go through with it.”

“You are crazy.”

“See? I told you.” Liz slid off the bar stool and headed over to Dylan, pulled him away from his adoration of the Ice players, and led him to one of the tables. Ever a gentleman, he went where Liz directed him.

Not that Jenna expected him to do otherwise. Liz had a dominating presence and guys tended to do what they were asked to do when she was the one doing the commanding.

In fact, it took less than ten minutes for Liz to return to the bar with Dylan and grab her purse.

“There’s a few papers in my office I need to go over with Dylan, so we’re heading out.”

Dylan shook her hand. “Really nice to meet you, Jenna. You have a great bar here.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Dylan. Come back anytime.”

She went around to kiss and hug Liz. “Thanks.”

Liz’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “You’re welcome. Now make good use of your time.”

It wasn’t exactly in her realm of experience to make up with a guy she’d recently dumped. But in order to exorcise Ty from her life, she was going to have to get her fill of him, and that meant eating crow was in order.

Since Dylan had left and Renee was off waiting on her customers, the guys had moved back to the pool tables. Jenna didn’t relish the idea of wading into a sea of Ice players to talk to Ty, and getting him alone might be problematic.

She pondered the situation, even considered giving Renee a note to give to him, then thought better of it. What if he shared it with his friends? They’d all laugh.

And this isn’t high school, you idiot. Where are your balls?

Sucking up her courage, she called one of the waitresses over to cover the bar and headed over to the group.

“How’s it going tonight?”

“We are great. Steaks were good,” Victor said with a smile.

“Hey, Jenna.”

Ty smiled at her, seemed friendly.

“Hi.”

“Sorry about monopolizing your date tonight.”

“He wasn’t my date. He was with Liz.”

“Yeah, but she brought him here for you. I guess things didn’t work out?”

She bit her cheek to keep from saying something she’d regret later. “I guess not.”

“Too bad.” He leaned against the pool table. “Maybe next time.”

“Maybe.”

This wasn’t going at all like she’d planned. She pivoted to head back to the bar.

“Jenna.”

“Yeah.”

“Was there some reason you came over here?”

Balls, Jenna, remember? You dumped him. It’s up to you to get him back.

She sucked in a breath and turned around, plastering on a smile. “Oh. Yeah. I was just wondering when you had a day off next.”

“Wednesday. Why?”

“Would you like to come over? Maybe have pizza or something?”

She saw his brow arch, waited for him to make some remark.

“I thought you didn’t want to have anything to do with me after that night.”

And there it was. She deserved it.

“I changed my mind.”

He didn’t say anything for the longest time.

That was it. He was going to say no and she was going to be humiliated.

Dumbass. You should have known better.

“I like pizza.”

She exhaled. Thank you, Ty. “Great. How about seven?”

“Sure. See you then.”

She swallowed, those butterflies stomping around in her stomach. Damn them.

Soon enough she’d send those butterflies off to fly around in someone else’s belly. She just had to get Ty out of her system. And when she did, the butterflies would go away.

TWELVE

TY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT JENNA WAS DOING.

He’d seen the parade of guys she’d been trying to date—hell, he’d sent a few of them her way. He’d also noticed none of them had stuck around. He wasn’t too unhappy about that. He’d gambled on setting her up with some of those guys. None of them had been losers. But he also knew her type—him. It had just taken her a while to figure that out.

Maybe he wasn’t exactly the man of her dreams, yet here he was, driving up to her place again. At her invitation. She hadn’t exactly forfeited the game, but she was obviously trying to exorcise some demons—with him in the starring role of Beelzebub.

He grinned as he grabbed a bottle of wine from the passenger seat and headed to the front door.

This should be interesting.

She opened the door and he drank in the sight of her dressed in skin-tight jeans and a loose fitting top that fell over one shoulder, revealing skin he wanted to sink his teeth into. She was barefoot, her toenails painted black and white.

Cute.

“Hey,” she said, smiling as she let him in.

“Hey yourself. You look nice.”

“Thanks. I’m starving, so what kind of pizza do you like?”

“Anything with meat on it.”

“Good. That’s the kind I like, too. I’ll go order it.” She looked at the bottle of Cabernet in his hand. “Wine?”

“I like wine. It goes good with pizza.”

“It does, actually. Corkscrew is in the right-hand top drawer next to the sink. Go ahead and open it while I call for the pizza. Glasses are in the cabinet above the dishwasher.”

He went into the kitchen, opened the wine, and found two glasses. He leaned against the counter, letting the wine breathe for a few minutes. Jenna came in.

“You know wine.”

He crossed his arms. “I’m not just some dumb hockey jerk. I have a few skills. Like knowing the right wine to go with—”

“Pepperoni and sausage pizza.”

He held up the bottle. “A smooth Jacob’s Creek Cabernet.”

“Oh. Australian. I’m impressed.”

He poured the red into their glasses and handed her one. She inhaled the wine, then took a sip.

“Good choice. And you’re right. Perfect for pizza. But you still don’t strike me as a wine guy.”

“Now what fun would I be if I was predictable?”

She walked out into the living room and he followed.

“I might have to rethink my labeling of you.”

“Does that mean you have me all figured out now?”

She laughed. “Not a chance.”

She took a seat on the sofa, and he sat next to her. “Good. Hopefully I’ll keep you guessing.”

“You’d be the first.”

“How about the guy the other night? The whiskey guy? Did you have him figured out?”

“I thought I did, but then he saw you guys and became a fan boy, and that was the end of him.”

“All because he likes hockey?”

“No. There was no spark between us.”

He leaned over and played with a lock of her hair. “That spark’s important to you, isn’t it?”

“Chemistry is important. There’s no point in spending time with someone if you don’t have it.”

“True. So that’s why I’m here? The undeniable chemistry you have with me?”

She lifted her gaze to his. “Something like that.”

He leaned in and brushed his lips to hers. She moved forward, balanced her wineglass in one hand, and laid her other hand against his chest.

His heartbeat sped up when she kissed him back.

Yeah, that chemistry between them was a hell of a thing. He’d never been in a drought where women were concerned, but lately he hadn’t been interested enough in anyone else to even take a second look. Not since Jenna. There was something about her that was his primary focus. Maybe he had a few of his own demons to demolish.

He cupped the back of her neck and deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue in to taste her.

Wine and peppermint, a heady combination that made his cock tighten. His body heated. He wanted to pull her on top of him and take off her clothes.

He pulled away only long enough to take the wineglass out of her hand and put it on the table. She swept her tongue across her bottom lip and pulled her legs up on the sofa.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the pizza guy?”

He arched a brow. “Why? Do you have some three-way porn fantasy involving the pizza guy? Is that why I’m really here tonight?”

She tilted her head back and laughed hard. “Isn’t that a man’s fantasy? The whole ménage thing?”

He gave her a hard stare. “I don’t share.”

“Good to know. I’m not much into sharing, either.”

“Good. Now that we got that settled…”

He reached for her, but the doorbell rang.

Too bad.

Jenna slipped off the sofa, but he beat her to the door and paid the pizza delivery girl, who obviously recognized him.

“You’re Tyler Anderson. I love hockey. I’m a big fan.”

“Thanks a lot.” He winked at her, tipped her ten bucks, which made her eyes widen, then carried the pizza into the kitchen.

“Oh, that smells good.” Jenna set out plates and they piled on the pizza.

“I have a couple movies we could watch.”

“Oh, yeah? What kind of movies?”

“Fantasy, action, romance, horror.”

“I like any of them.”

She cocked her head to the side. “You’d watch a romantic comedy.”

“I like to be entertained. Whichever one you pick will be fine, as long as it doesn’t suck.”

She grabbed her plate and the bottle of wine and they headed into the living room. “The pressure’s on now.”

“What pressure?”

“To pick a movie that doesn’t suck.”

He grabbed a slice of pizza, then put his feet up on the table. “I’m pretty easy to please, Jenna. Just put a movie in and I’ll like it.”

“Okay.” She got up, slid a DVD in, and pressed play.

It was a horror movie.

He loved horror movies. A lot of women didn’t. A point in Jenna’s favor.

They finished eating, and Jenna turned off the lights.

“Now this is how horror movies should be watched.”

“I always thought so.” She finished off her glass of wine, then moved next to him.

He lifted his arm and she snuggled against him.

Ty dated plenty of women, which usually meant they went out to a club, a bar, or a restaurant, and then had sex.

This was different. Staying home, having pizza, and watching a movie? He hadn’t done this in a long time. At the height of his season, he was on the go all the time. What free time he had, he usually spent at the bar playing pool with his teammates. That relaxed him and let him wind down after a grueling game.

But this? It was nice. Being with a woman and doing nothing but feeling her body next to his and sinking into the plot of a grisly horror movie? Yeah, this was a whole different kind of relaxation.

Jenna tensed during the kill scenes, when the murderer leaped out of the shadows with his knife. She didn’t hide her eyes, though. But by the tail end of the movie her legs were draped over his and she was practically sitting on his lap.

“Are you sure you like horror movies?” he asked when the movie was over.

She reached for her glass of wine and held it while he poured her a refill. “Oh, they scare the hell out of me. I love them. I’ll probably have nightmares tonight.”

He laughed and shook his head. “So you like being scared.”

“With movies, yes. Anything else, no. So don’t get any ideas about lurking in corners or jumping out at me. You’ll give me a heart attack and I’ll throw you out of my house.”