to a greater knowledge, Cassie took the lipstick as instructed and departed.
Tuck pulled up at the table he’d been allocated a minute later. His knee ached but he ignored it in deference to the sultry sex goddess with raven hair. She was dressed in something red and clingy, sitting there looking up at him with a smile on her full mouth. A connoisseur of women from way back, he liked what he saw.
He shot her one of his killer smiles. He knew they were killer because an article about him in Cosmo had spent an entire paragraph talking about the sheer wickedness of his smile.
‘Well this here may just be my lucky night,’ he drawled, deliberately dragging out his vowels, plying her with all his Southern charm. His accent had been blunted over the years, with travel and living far from his Texan roots, but he could still pull it out when required.
According to the magazines, women just loved all that Southern country-boy charisma.
Gina quirked an elegantly arched eyebrow. ‘Oh, yes? Do tell,’ she murmured.
‘Ah, you’re the Brit.’ He grinned. ‘Gina, right?’
She nodded. ‘And you’re the quarterback.’
Tuck checked the closest handwritten place card on the table, disappointed to see that he was sitting directly opposite this sexy Englishwoman. He held it up and looked at her. ‘What say we switch this one for whoever’s supposed to be sitting next to you?’
‘Hmm…’ Gina placed her elbows on the table, propping her chin on one palm, pretending to think. ‘I think Reese meant to keep you and I apart.’
Tuck shot her his best wounded look. ‘And why would she want to do that?’
‘I think she was afraid you and I might come to blows.’
He continued his faux outrage. ‘Over what?’
‘Over her recent…shall we say…split from the groom. Your best friend?’
‘Ah. Well, now, if Dylan’s unconcerned then there’s no good in me holding a grudge, is there? Besides,’ Tuck said, pulling out his chair and sitting, his knee protesting at the movement, ‘I can flirt just as well from this side.’
Gina laughed. She couldn’t help herself. The big blond quarterback had an ego the size of North America. ‘You’re that good, huh?’
‘Darlin’, I am the best.’
Gina spied Cassie in the distance, making her way back to the table. She flicked her gaze to Tuck. It would be good to see him brought down a notch or two. ‘Works every time, huh?’
Tuck grinned at the sudden sparkle of light he could see in her eyes. ‘Every time.’
‘No one’s immune to your charm?’
Tuck shook his head. ‘Women love me. If they’re female and breathing…’ He shrugged, then dazzled her with another wide smile. ‘What can I say? I have a gift.’
Gina smiled back. He really was an exceedingly good-looking man, and his cast-iron confidence only added to his allure. It was a shame she wasn’t in the right frame of mind for a dalliance because she had an idea a night in bed with Tuck would be a great way to forget how badly she’d stuffed up all those years ago.
But her heart wasn’t in it.
Just then the DJ played his first number for the night and Tuck pressed home the advantage. ‘Ah, they’re playing our song,’ he teased. ‘How about we knock off the pretence and you just dance with me, Gina?’
Gina considered him a moment, aware of Cassie drawing closer all the time behind Tuck’s head. ‘Nah, getting me to dance would be too easy. Care to take a little wager?’
Tuck smiled at her. A woman who liked to gamble—better and better. He leaned forward. ‘I’m all ears.’
‘I bet you can’t get her—’ Gina nodded her head to indicate Cassie ‘—to dance.’
Tuck turned in his chair to see who Gina had in mind for him. A woman about the same age as Gina in some kind of purple dress was walking towards them. She had long dark brown hair arranged in loose ringlets that fell forward over nice bare shoulders. She had a cute nose, pretty eyes and an interesting mouth, and she was walking along seemingly oblivious to her surroundings, a slight frown marring her forehead as if her thoughts were somewhere else.
She was no English sex kitten, that was for sure.
She didn’t look like the average gridiron groupie either. Still, she was female, and Tuck had always liked a challenge. He turned back and smiled at Gina. ‘Piece of cake.’
Gina laughed. ‘Oh, this is going to be good.’
Tuck raised an eyebrow. ‘What do I get? When I win?’
Gina smiled. ‘The pleasure of Cassie’s company, of course.’
Tuck inclined his head. ‘Of course.’
Despite her earlier concerns about leaving Gina and Tuck together, Cassie had given it little thought in the fifteen minutes she’d been away. Her brain had been mulling over the findings of an astronomy research paper she’d read last night. She’d even applied the lipstick as ordered by Gina without conscious thought as she recalled the fascinating data.
She was surprised for a moment when she arrived back at the table to find Tuck Whats-his-name sitting there with Gina, apparently getting along just fine. She slotted the research into a file in her head and shut it down with a mental mouse click.
‘Everything okay here?’ she asked.
Tuck took a deep breath, then stood and used one of his very best hey-baby smiles on Cassie. ‘Hi,’ he said. ‘I’m Reese’s cousin, Tuck.’ He stuck out his hand. ‘It’s mighty fine to meet you, ma’am.’
Cassie blinked up at him as he towered over her. Two things struck her at once. The man smelled incredible. Her nostrils flared as her senses filled up with him. And it wasn’t his cologne, because she was pretty sure she couldn’t smell anything artificial at all. Maybe a hint of soap or deodorant.
This was much rawer. More primal. Powerful. Overpowering, even. It made her want to press her nose to his shirt and inhale him. It demanded that she do so and she had to actually put her hands on the chair-back to stop herself.
So this was pheromones.
Scientists had known of their existence for decades, and perfume companies around the world had been trying to perfect them for just as long, but this man exuded it in hot, sticky waves.
Her salivary glands went into hyper-drive and she swallowed as she grappled with the urge to sniff him.
The second thing was his eyes. They were an intense, startling blue. The exact shade of an exploding star she’d once seen through the lens of a deep space telescope. They were out of this world. They were cosmic. Captivating.
Tuck looked into Cassie’s upturned face. She was staring at him, her lips slightly parted, the sound of her breath husky in his ears.
