When Dirk went into raptures over the dessert cart, she gave him the go-ahead to order a slice of raspberry cheesecake for them to share.
“We’ll burn off the calories on the lanes,” he promised.
They polished off the cheesecake—Dirk let her have the last bite—and then he said, “Jude, there’s a reason I asked you out tonight beyond the fact you’re a captivating woman.”
“Oh?” She blinked, feeling a little blindsided.
“With that in mind, I have an interesting proposition for you.”
Without missing a beat, the emerging wild woman inside her said, “Bring it.”
No harm in letting the man ask for what he wanted, was there? She didn’t have to say yes.
“What’s with the sudden urge to bowl?” Buck Kelly, Tom’s warehouse foreman, asked that same evening as they headed to Evergreen Lanes in the Mustang. “I thought we were going to shoot pool at Ernie’s.”
“We can do that later,” Tom said.
Buck wasn’t easily put off. “I thought you didn’t like bowling because Dirk wipes the floor with you.”
Dirk might wipe the floor with him in bowling, but Tom could wipe the basketball court with Dirk. So they were even steven on that score.
“I just want to check something out, then we can leave,” Tom said, trying to explain as little as possible.
Lights from the huge Bowl-O-Rama sign made the interior of the muscle car as bright as daylight when Tom drove past it to the crowded parking area.
“Looks like the place to be.” Buck whistled. “Who knew bowling had made such a comeback?”
The parking lot was far more crowded than Tom expected. He was still edgy from the lights-out incident the night before, and he was worried about Jude. She was sweet and naïve, and Dirk was sure to take advantage of her.
Not because Dirk intended to sleep with Jude, but because he was trying to make Tom jealous enough to claim Jude for himself, leaving Dirk to win the money. His former roommate was using her to gain an upper hand in the wager.
And if Tom wasn’t careful, Dirk’s ploy could work. For the past twenty-four hours, Tom had been unable to think of anything but Jude.
Heck, if they hadn’t been at his aunt and uncle’s house last night, there was no telling where things might have led.
“I’ll put our names down for a lane,” Buck offered.
“Thanks,” Tom said. “I’ll order a pitcher of beer.”
He hadn’t been to Evergreen Lanes in a while, but he knew it was a favorite haunt of Dirk’s. The layout was typical: a raised level behind the lanes with booths where people could eat, drink, and watch the bowlers, and rows of seats on the lower level by the electronic scorekeepers.
His pulse pounded in his throat and Tom blamed it on the noisy impact of balls on pins.
He checked out lane after lane, beginning to think he was wasting his time and that Dirk hadn’t brought Jude to his favorite bowling alley and he’d taken her somewhere else instead.
And then he saw them.
The second lane on the far end.
Jude was wearing a short, flared skirt and a soft-pink sweater—didn’t she know it was freezing cold outside—and even in clunky red-and-blue bowling shoes, her legs looked spectacular.
Dirk stood directly behind her, one arm wrapped around her waist, the other showing her how to guide the ball down the lane.
Jealousy bit a big green chunk out of Tom, and he had a sudden urge to storm up to Dirk and punch him squarely in the nose. Instead, he ground his teeth.
“We have a half hour wait,” Buck said, catching up with Tom.
“Uh-huh.” Tom headed down to the area behind the bowlers and Buck followed.
“Where are we going?”
Tom scarcely heard what his friend was saying; he was too busy thinking of what he had to say to Jude. She might not be pleased to see him—especially after last night.
And Dirk? How would he react?
Who cared? Tom was here to see Jude and tell her the truth about why Dirk asked her out. Let him recover from that.
“Hey,” Buck said. “Isn’t that your friend Dirk?”
“It is.”
Buck whistled under his breath. “Who’s the hot brunette?”
Tom didn’t bother to answer. He took a seat directly behind the lane Dirk and Jude were in and pressed the call button to order a pitcher of beer. Buck settled beside him, pulled out his cell phone, and started leafing through social media.
Dirk turned and caught sight of him, and a look of sheer triumphant crossed his smug mug. Coming here had been a tactical mistake and it gave Dirk the upper hand. His buddy knew Tom was interested in Jude and he was using it to his benefit.
And as for Jude? She was bound to label him a jealous jerk, which in retrospect, he was. Chastising himself for letting his emotions get the better of him, Tom turned to tell Buck they were leaving.
But before he could get the words out of his mouth, sly Dirk winked and move to slip his arm around Jude’s waist as she stood to take her turn. Leaning in close, Dirk whispered something in her ear.
What was he saying?
Tom’s pulse quickened and his mouth went instantly dry. Do not rise to the bait; do not rise to the bait.
Grinding his teeth, Tom jumped to his feet, and feigning surprise, said, “Why, hello, Poomph,” he said. “Fancy meeting you here.”
11
“You’ve got this,” Dirk whispered as he slid his arm around her waist.
Or course she had it. Jude had bowled in a league for three years. Annoyed, she moved away from him.
She was picking up her bowling ball when she heard the sound of Tom’s voice. Jerking at the sound, she bounced the ball back on the rack where it narrowly missed falling off onto her foot.
“You okay?” asked Dirk, who was still hovering.
With a stiff nod, Jude picked up the ball again, did not look around for Tom, stepped up to the line for her turn, and rolled a perfect gutter ball.
Embarrassed, Jude spun around to see Tom sitting behind a tall older man, grinning at her like he’d come here to rattle her on purpose and ruin her date. Damn it. Dirk—and the things he’d told her about Tom on the way to the bowling alley—was right.
Tom Brunswick had a competitive streak a mile wide and he’d come here to vie for her attention while she was on a date with his friend.
Oh, dude! Not cool. He was taking competition to a whole new level, and she didn’t appreciate being used as a chess piece in Tom and Dirk’s silly games.
“Don’t feel bad about the gutter ball,” Dirk reassured her. “Happens to the best of us.”
It didn’t happen to Jude. She was a good bowler, but now Tom had caused her to look foolish in front of her date and she was irritated.
“He followed us,” Jude muttered, glowering at Tom. “I can’t believe it.”
“Told you so.” Dirk smirked.
Tom caught her eye and waved wildly.
“You told him where we were going?” Dirk asked.
“He was with me when you phoned me yesterday and overheard our conversation.”
“But you see what I mean, right? He can’t let anything go.”
“Just ignore him.” She turned her back on Tom, steamed that he’d shown up to meddle in her date, and she finished her turn. The second ball was a split that left two pins standing.