Free Sophie's Playboy by Natalie J. Damschroder Page B

She was still jazzed from the show and smart enough to know winding down would help her sleep later.
    "Where?" she asked.
    "Victory."
    "What?" Her head jerked up and her eyes blazed in the late day sun. "Were we battling?"
    "No, I mean Victory is where we're going." He took her arm and started to cross the empty street. "It's a little place about six blocks over that a business acquaintance told me about. It's just what we need to celebrate."

    * * * *
    He'd been right, of course. Sophie hated that about him.
    But she didn't let it fester, because she was having too much fun.
    "Left! Right! Left!" She couldn't help yelling as she spun the wheel controlling her paddle in the tabletop video game 80
    Sophie's Playboy
    by Natalie Damschroder
    between herself and Parker. The game was a throwback to their childhood and Sophie couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun.
    Parker slid his paddle just a bit too far to the left and the digital ball sailed past it.
    "Yes!" Sophie jumped up and punched both fists over her head. "I finally won!"
    Parker sat back in his cushioned chair and lifted his whiskey to his lips. A small smile curved above the rim of his glass. "I'm still ahead four games to two."
    "So what?" Sophie gulped some of her rum and Coke and scanned the room. The bar looked like a typical television version of an Irish pub, with a few differences. The jukebox played disco, and the entire place was smoke free. That didn't harm business any, Sophie noticed. Most of the vintage video games scattered around the room—Pac Man, Asteroid, Caterpillar—were surrounded five deep by yuppie types reliving their childhoods.
    "Come on." She tugged Parker out of his chair, which was immediately taken over by a guy wearing layered oxford-cloth shirts and matching layered socks. His girlfriend was dressed the same way.
    "Come on, where?"
    He resisted her tugging so she pulled harder.
    "Come on let's play volleyball. We'll be on the same team and kick some beachcake booty."
    They did, but Sophie learned quickly the value of thinking ahead. Playing the game on the same team meant they both occupied a teeny weenie space. It meant bare skin grazing 81
    Sophie's Playboy
    by Natalie Damschroder
    bare skin and sending electric shocks to her fingers. She gained power for her spikes, but her equilibrium suffered.
    She could hear Parker breathing, grunting a little as he slammed a serve. She could smell the whiskey on his breath, underlaid by expensive aftershave and leather.
    "Yes!" The computer team missed Parker's slam and they paused as the machine moved them up a level. Sophie flexed her stiff fingers.
    "Great set, Soph."
    Parker turned his head and she looked up into eyes that seemed fathomless in the darkness of the bar. His high cheekbones were flushed with adrenaline. Her gaze dropped to his soft, full lips. They parted.
    "Sophie." Her name was a whisper, almost unheard. The music and laughter in the room faded into the background and all Sophie could see was his mouth. Her own felt parched, desperate for a kiss.
    "Ready!" the machine called to them and they swung back to the game. Sophie played, but her mind raced ahead, past the kiss that hadn't happened, through short foreplay in her living room and hall and into furious, passionate lovemaking in her bedroom.
    She missed the ball and the game ended.
    "Enter us for the high score," she told Parker and ran off to find the ladies' room. She shoved through the heavy wooden door like Hannibal was on her heels and crossed thankfully to the open window. Fresh air. She gulped it and tugged at the clingy cotton top she wore. Man, she was overheated.
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    Sophie's Playboy
    by Natalie Damschroder
    This would not do. Being here could be construed as breaking the rule she'd defended so vehemently only hours ago. Envisioning Parker in her bed was a definite leap past acceptability.
    She stepped to the sink and turned on the water to wet a paper towel. As she rung out the damp cloth, she