Free Wicked Nights by Anne Marsh Page B

wholeheartedly. Clearly, he hadn’t done his
    homework on her.
    “In fact, we both lose. ”
    Sal suddenly looked like a deer in the headlights. Cal stepped in before Piper said something to
    completely torpedo her chances. After all, he wanted this to be an equal competition. Although, if he was
    truly interested in being fair, a little voice whispered, he’d pull out now. Unfortunately, the chance to needle
    Piper was too tempting.
    “I’m happy to put something together for you. I’m sure Piper here feels the same way.”
    Yep. She felt exactly the way he did. Her pretty little heel ground into his foot beneath the table. She’d
    apparently remembered he wasn’t wearing work boots today. Gently, he hooked a foot around hers.
    “Piper?” He shot her a smile and knocked her foot off his. “Are you in?”
    “You bet.” She sounded all prickly, though.
    He loved hearing it. It meant she was paying attention to him, that he’d gotten her riled up good. He
    didn’t know why he enjoyed making her mad...but he always had. From the first time they’d met—which
    had been at a particularly memorable picnic where Piper had “accidentally” upended her sweet tea in his lap
    and then jumped off a twenty-foot ledge and into the ocean with her brothers—to, well, just about every
    encounter they’d had, they’d fought. Except for last night on the swing ride. He didn’t know why he and
    Piper had reacted so strongly to each other, but the chemistry thing probably had something to do with it.
    So he stood up, collected his gear and exchanged a round of hearty handshakes with the cruise ship
    executives. Piper worked the room beside him, clearly determined not to cede him an inch.
    In step, they went out into the hallway. The hotel simply wasn’t big enough to accommodate a mass
    exodus of five people. Cal hung back while the executive crowd squashed into the elevator. Piper hesitated
    but then waved them on. Standing butt to groin with the people you wanted to do business with wouldn’t
    make doing business any easier. There were some things he simply didn’t want to know. Apparently, he and
    Piper had finally found common ground. He grinned.
    She leaned back against the wall and made a small, shooing motion with her hand. “You run along,
    too.”
    He wasn’t sure how she intended him to leave—the elevator had barely begun to make its downward
    descent and he wasn’t jumping out of any windows just to oblige her—so he settled for staring her down.
    He wasn’t going anywhere, and the sooner she accepted his presence, the better. It would have helped if he
    knew why he’d glued himself to her side, but he didn’t. He’d walked her in. He’d walk her out. It was that
    simple. Plus, it bugged her, which was an excellent fringe benefit.
    “We have to work together,” he pointed out. “Cooperating means we’re going to have to share air space
    at some point.”
    “You really think we can work together?” She met him glare for glare, hands propped on her hips. The
    move drew his attention to the drawstring waist of her dress. She’d tied the narrow cord into a perky bow.
    One tug, and he’d bet she’d come unwrapped like the best of Christmas presents.
    Whoa. Down, boy.
    He muttered something under his breath. Nothing about today had gone as planned. Apparently,
    miracles still happened, however, because she looked away and shrugged.
    “I have my doubts.” She toed off her shoes with a little groan of relief that shot straight to his groin
    because he had to imagine she’d make the same sexy sounds in bed. Sex clearly wasn’t on her mind,
    however, because she fished in her bag and produced a pair of battered neon-pink flip-flops she slipped
    onto her bare feet. “So much better. I’m taking the stairs.”
    He stared at her toes. She dropped her heels into her bag.
    “You don’t want to wait for the next car?” His voice sounded husky. This was Piper, he reminded
    himself. Letting her star