She took a tentative swing at the start pole and missed.
“Hold on a second,” she said, turning her head to look at him again. “I don’t think I’m doing this correctly. It doesn’t feel right.”
Dawson stifled a groan as she pushed her ass more firmly into his crotch. “Feels like you’re doing it right to me.”
“I don’t think so,” she insisted. “I mean, what kind of grip should I use on the shaft of my mallet? Should it be firm or loose?”
Inside his jeans, his cock was hardening to new and painful proportions. He couldn’t help but wonder if she knew the effect her words were having on him. “I’ve always preferred a rather firm grip myself.”
She gazed down at the mallet she was holding as if considering that. “But if I hold it too firmly how will I slide my hand up and down the shaft? I am supposed to move my hand up and down the shaft as I move it between my legs, right?”
Damn, she was good at this. She acted like she didn’t have a clue what she was talking about with her innuendos, but she was driving him crazy.
“Oh, you definitely need to slide your hand up and down the shaft,” he said. “But it’s all in the technique. Your grip shouldn’t be too firm or too loose.”
She sighed and turned her head to look at him. “This is much more complicated than I thought. Maybe you better demonstrate how you handle your own. I wouldn’t want to do it wrong.”
He lifted a brow. “So you like to watch, huh?”
Her lips curved into a seductive smile. “Uh-huh.”
“Well, if you’re a good girl, maybe I’ll give you a private demonstration later. Right now, we need to concentrate on croquet.”
She gave him little pout. “But I thought we were concentrating on croquet.”
“Right.” His mouth quirked. “You know, if we don’t catch up to everyone else soon, they’re going to come see what’s taking us so long. Though I think they’ll figure it out pretty quick when they see the bulge in my jeans.”
“It is sort of a giveaway, isn’t it?” Kate laughed. “Who knew croquet could be such a turn-on?”
Not him, that was for damn sure. The last time he played the game was at his grandfather’s birthday party and it definitely wasn’t this much fun. Then again, he didn’t have a sex kitten like Kate flirting with him the whole time, either.
She tightened her hold on the mallet and gave the pole a stout whack. Her ball rolled halfway toward the first wire hoop, then stopped.
“Not bad,” he said as she stepped to the side so he could take his turn.
Dawson didn’t often put aside his competitive nature, but for some reason he found himself striking the pole with his mallet more gently than he normally would. As a result, his croquet ball gently rolled to a stop behind hers.
Kate’s next swing sent her ball rolling across the grass and into the side of the hoop hard enough to nearly knock the metal wicket down. She caught her lower lip between her teeth and gave him an embarrassed look.
“Ooops,” she said.
Hurrying over to the metal hoop, she bent over to straighten it, giving him a sexy shot of leg as she did. She took her time getting the wicket perfectly set and as he watched her gorgeous ass wiggle from side to side, he began to think she knocked over the hoop on purpose just to torture him. When she stood up a few moments later to give him a sultry smile over her shoulder, he decided he was right. Minx.
From that point on, any thought he and Kate might actually come from behind and win the game disappeared. Every time she smiled or laughed, his cock got hard all over again and his concentration went out the window, something that allowed Heather and her husband Eric to win easily. That was okay with Dawson. Flirting with a sexy woman like Kate was better than winning at croquet any day.
She smiled up at him as she put her mallet away. “You’re a very good teacher. I can now play croquet with confidence.”
He chuckled. “There are a lot of things I could teach you.”
She lifted a brow. “Oh really? Like what?”
Dawson was just about to lean close to whisper in her ear when Rachel appeared beside them. She gave him an apologetic look.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I need to borrow Kate for a minute,” she said. “Wedding stuff.”
The girl didn’t wait for a reply, but instead grabbed Kate’s arm and whisked her away and over to where the other women were standing.
“You can put your tongue back in now.”
At the sound of Bob’s voice, Dawson turned to see his friend standing beside him. He was so focused on Kate, he hadn’t heard the other man come over.
“What are you talking about?” he asked.
The other man laughed. “Come on. You’re practically drooling.”
Dawson opened his mouth to deny it, but then decided he’d only be wasting his time. He and Kate had probably been putting on quite a show during the croquet game. Anyone watching could tell there was something going on between them.
“You didn’t tell me Rachel’s maid of honor was so beautiful,” Dawson said.
Bob shrugged. “She was going out with someone up until a couple weeks ago. I didn’t think she’d be available.”
Dawson considered that. “Were she and this guy serious?”
“Kate doesn’t go out with a guy unless she plans to get serious about him.”
Dawson frowned. That didn’t sound like the Kate he knew. “Really? We agreed to hook up for the weekend, no strings attached.”
The other man looked surprised at that, then his brow furrowed. “No kidding? Well, I guess that means she doesn’t think you have any long-term potential or something.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“No offense, dude. Besides, nothing wrong with a getting a little somethin’ somethin’ from a beautiful woman, no strings attached. You should consider yourself lucky.”
Dawson did, but in the back of his mind couldn’t help but wonder what it was about him that made Kate think he wasn’t worth more than just a weekend lay.
“So,” Rachel asked excitedly, “what did you think?”
Kate almost laughed at the eager looks on her friends’ faces. “About croquet? It’s a lot more fun than I thought.”
Rachel’s brows drew together. “Very funny. I’m not talking about croquet and you know it. I’m talking about your night with Dawson.”
Kate lifted her chin. “How do you know I spent the night with him?”
“Because it’s written all over your face,” the other girl said. “You look like the cat that licked the cream.”
“Not to mention other, more delectable parts of a certain best man’s anatomy,” Kristen added.
Kate blushed.
“And if that didn’t clue us in, the way you two were all over each other when we were playing croquet would have,” Heather grinned. “I was thinking of telling you and Dawson to get a room, but then I remembered you already have one. Whose room did you spend the night in anyway?”
Kate shook her head. “You girls are awful. Okay, if you must know, we spent the night in his room.”
Her friends squealed in unison.
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Briana said. “How was it? Is Dawson as good in bed as he looks?”
Kate’s lips curved into a slow smile. “Better.”
“How much better?”
Her smile widened. “Let’s just say we were still going when the sun came up.”
More squeals.
