Love is a Battlefield: Games of Love, Book 1 by Tamara Morgan Read Free Book Online Page A

do his hair.”
    Michael, whose longish, wavy hair almost always looked like it had been lifted straight off the pillow, grinned widely. “What can I say? I’m a vain man.”
    The women scooted their chairs to make room for them. Julian sat next to Kate—so close he could smell her slightly floral perfume. She was still wearing the tiny slip of a dress from before, but she’d allowed her brownish-blonde hair to fall down in soft waves almost to the middle of her back and changed to a pair of gold sandals with bands going halfway up her calf, winding and hugging her flesh in ways that seemed almost indecent.
    He had a hard time looking away. If it was possible to slap sex on a pair of legs, she’d done it.
    “Do you guys want something to drink?” Kate asked, dangling one of those perfect legs close to his own without even seeming to realize what she was doing.
    Her friend, Jada, on the other hand, leaned over the table, angling to give both him and Michael a clear view down the top of her bright red dress.
    “I’m going to bet you two are Scotch men. Neat?”
    He let Michael argue the finer points of ice in a drink with her. Jada was the type of woman Michael lived for—flashy, obvious. Julian had dated those types of women before, usually when he was on the job down in Arizona or on the road for the Games. For all their superficial trappings, women like that made great companions for the short term. But right now, a one-night stand was the last thing on his mind. His body was definitely warming for something a bit softer. A bit more real.
    He turned to Kate. “I hope you weren’t waiting long.”
    She shrugged, and the thin strap of her dress fell along the gentle curve of her shoulder. He watched it, mesmerized.
    “A few minutes. It’s not a big deal. There was a blues singer on before the pianos started.”
    “Oh, it’s too bad we missed it.”
    Kate wrinkled her nose. “I’m sorry about this place. It’s probably not your thing, pianos, is it?”
    Julian laughed. People always took one look at him and assumed the worst. “I’m a large man, Kate, but that doesn’t mean I’m a barbarian. A little jazz isn’t going to kill me.”
    “You never know. Jada is her own force of nature, and I thought maybe you guys got caught up in it against your will. Lord knows she’s made me do one or two things I regretted later.”
    Julian’s pulse picked up, and he leaned forward. That was a topic he could warm to. “’Like what?”
    Kate shook her head firmly. “No way. I’m going to need a few more drinks before those secrets start spilling.”
    “She’s being modest,” Jada interrupted, watching them both with a smile. “Kate here once drove an entire rugby team off the road. Their van tipped over into a ditch.”
    “They deserved it!” Kate declared, her eyes dancing. “Don’t believe a word she says. They were trying to cut in line after the rest of us had been waiting for hours to get through a single lane of traffic. I just blocked them from doing it, and they drove themselves off the road. What’s the point of driving a nice big Cadillac if you can’t use it for good?”
    “Did you stop to see if they were okay?” Julian asked, amused.
    “They didn’t really tip over. It was more of a gentle lean. You should have heard all the cars in line, honking their approval. I felt like a superhero.”
    “A vigilante in a Cadillac.” Julian laughed.
    “Like the Green Hornet,” Kate agreed.
    Julian settled back in his chair, taking in the scene with a deep breath. There was a gentle ferocity to Kate he hadn’t been expecting. He liked it. “So, you run cars off the road when you’re mad, you grew up in Seattle and you wear pretty shoes. What else should I know about you?”
    She blushed and lifted one of her feet, examining the appendage as if seeing it for the first time. “You think my shoes are pretty?”
    “Well, they’re not very functional, that’s for sure.” He fought the urge to