Hector

  Hector’s eyes were instantly on the board. The pawns she’d gone after so aggressively had actually opened up a file for her rook to put his king in check. He moved his king to the only place he could, stunned that he hadn’t caught that. She had him on the run now. Examining the board, he saw how she must’ve planned this in advance, because in the next couple of moves using her bishop and then her knight, she got him.

  “Checkmate,” she said then sat back in her seat again, looking a little too pleased with herself.

  Chapter 7

  It played out more beautifully than Charlee could have anticipated. The look on his face when she said check was priceless. Everything after that point was just icing on what should have been her ever loving smug cake.

  Just like all the other fantasies about what she wanted to do with him, this had now been included in them. But like all the others, she didn’t think it would actually happen. She was going to just play her best game and impress him that way. It wasn’t until the last moment, and after remembering how he’d followed up his invitation to his party that weekend by suggesting she go with Walter, that she gave into the temptation to do this. Sure he’d been interested in those two sluts Saturday night and at the same time interested in Drew, but her? Oh no. Not Charlee. Apparently she wasn’t even a consideration. Walter could have her.

  When she’d gotten home Saturday night, knowing full well that by then someone had already uploaded the play by plays of the games it took Hector to win the tournament onto YouTube, she looked it up out of curiosity. Since Walter had been so sure Kowalewski was a sure win, she was curious to see exactly how Hector had defeated him. She’d seen some of the moves that day, but they moved much too fast for her to catch all of it.

  As it turned out, Walter had been right. It was Hector’s strength in speed play that had won the game. Charlee had been so thoroughly disgusted still about Hector and the two girls that night, she’d almost been happy about this revelation. Had the game been more drawn out and not quite as fast, Kowalewski more than likely would have defeated Hector. Not that Hector’s game hadn’t been impressive, it was. She’d give credit where credit was due, but Kowalewski did manage to make him flub a few moves that were obviously not part of Hector’s plan.

  She’d taken a look at the game play posted of his game against Bisbee also, but Bisbee was clearly the inferior player in that game. Watching Hector’s game against Kowalewski was far more interesting. It was petty, she knew, but for some reason, she took great pleasure in knowing he wasn’t so perfect after all.

  Charlee would never admit to how much time she’d scrutinized that game over the weekend, but it was long enough to figure out what moves were made in haste not only by Hector but by Kowalewski as well. Feeling a little devious but not enough to stop her, she’d even outlined a plan of what it would take to beat Hector, using his own game against him. It was easy once she’d figured out what moves he hadn’t meant to make. Add a few violent pawn moves to make him think her game was self-destructing then, just when he thought he had her, end it. He’d never even see it coming.

  The fact that he’d played into it so easily wasn’t so surprising. Like all the lines of attack she put together in chess, this one was as well thought out as her others—possibly more so because of the motivation behind it. What did surprise her was his reaction to it.

  After staring at the board in silence for what seemed much too long, his expression went from completely stunned to confused and then downright hard. She squirmed in her seat now, feeling a little anxious. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea after all. She’d meant to get his attention—impress him even. Okay, maybe she had wanted to show him up a little, annoy him as he’d annoyed her earlier, but he looked more than annoyed now.

  “Really?” He stood up, still staring at the board. “You put this much effort into this?”

  She gulped, staring at his face. Even at a moment like this, it was a struggle to not glance down at that hard body underneath the formfitting jeans and snug shirt. She’d never been this close to anyone so magnificently sculpted. But his eyes were so hard now—angry at her. There was no way she could look away now. This was not the impression she’d meant to make on him.

  Surely he knew at this level it was standard to study other worthy players and opponents’ games. Certain that she wasn’t the only one who’d done so already, she shrugged, trying to play it down. “Anyone interested in this game has probably already gone over the game play of Saturday’s tournament.”

  Glancing around, she was more than thankful to see almost everyone nod in agreement. It helped her argument, but she was sure none of them had studied his game as obsessively as she had.

  Hector glanced around at the others, his hard expression becoming even more severe. “You all did? So was this the plan then? To prove Kowalewski should be the one here and not me?”

  “No!” Charlee stood up and answered for everyone. “No one knew I was going to do this. I didn’t even think of it until the last minute. And you won that tournament fair and square. No one’s disputing that.”

  “Bruno and Dempsey are about to start,” one of the bystanders alerted everyone in an obvious attempt to take the focus off Charlee and Hector—cut the tension in the room.

  Hector didn’t even flinch, his hard eyes still on her. Charlee wasn’t sure she should be glad that most of them walked away to gather around Bruno and Dempsey, leaving her alone with him now, or be terrified about that.

  Taking the few steps around the table to come face to face with Charlee, Hector stood but inches away from her. Her heart rate spiked instantly like she’d only ever felt it do the day she watched Ross and his friends attack Walter.

  “No one’s disputing it, huh?”

  With his lips this close to her face and having them pretty much at her eye level, it felt impossible to string even a few words together while concentrating on not staring at those lips. But she had to. “Yes. I, uh . . .” She swallowed hard, struggling to not look away from his still brutal stare. “I just thought it’d be interesting to see if my spin on your game would work.”

  The stare softened just a bit, but he lifted an eyebrow then licked his lips, making her eyes immediately glance down at his mouth. “Well, bravo,” he said, glancing back at the board. “I guess you showed me, right? You found every hole in my game and used it to take me down.” He turned to face her again this time with an evil smirk, and he lowered his voice to a whisper. “Did you like that?”

  Her lips literally trembled as she began to shake her head, fluttering her lashes in an effort to come up with a proper response. Taking a few steps back because being that close to him was just too overwhelming, she glanced around at the couple guys still studying the board. Though she was certain Hector’s question hadn’t been heard by anyone else, she still attempted to make light of it with a chuckle that fell flat. “What?”

  Hector closed in again, his words a near murmur. “Did it feel good to take me down, Charlotte?” The fact that he remembered her full name would’ve been enough to excite her, but hearing him say it, in that tone, made her nearly gasp. Then he added a final blow by licking his lips again and leaned in even closer. “It’s what you wanted, right?”

  Her entire face was ablaze, including her ears, even though no one was paying attention to them anymore, not even Walter. He was now engaged in what sounded like a debate about the game she and Hector had just played.

  Charlee cleared her throat—twice. He was still talking about the game, right? She couldn’t even tell anymore if he was still angry. “I didn’t mean anything personal by it if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

  Hector seemed hell bent on speaking unnervingly close up to her, because he took another step, closing off the space between them again. This time Charlee stood her ground and didn’t back up, but having him that close put every single one of her senses on alert. Her nose took in the mixture of his masculine scent with what was probably aftershave—a soft b
ut very alluring aftershave.

  “You always take that much time studying someone else’s game?” It was low and subtle, but her ears didn’t miss the low chuckle that reverberated from deep within him. “Or am I just that special?”

  Unable to take how deeply he gazed into her eyes anymore, Charlee glanced away, noticing how the muscle on his big lower arm flexed. Looking further down, she saw why. His hand was fisted, and he was squeezing it off and on. How something so trivial could actually arouse her to the point she felt flushed was beyond infuriating. Did he know he could do this to her? Was this whole line of questioning—this closely—his way of embarrassing her he obviously thought she’d set out to do to him?

  Unbelievably needing to clear her throat once again, she did then glanced back at those eyes that seemed to get darker each time he addressed her. “Actually, I didn’t study it for as long as you seem to think.” She was only grateful that he didn’t know her well enough or he would see right through her.

  She was feeling a little perturbed about how the mixture of playfulness and intensity in his eyes practically burned a hole through her now. He’d made it categorically clear earlier that he had no interest in her, so she crossed her arms in front of her. Embarrassing her was obviously the goal here. “Haven’t you ever studied other player’s games? Maybe you’re not aware, but it’s pretty much a requirement at this level—”

  “As opposed to my level?” He snapped back. The playfulness in his eyes was gone, the intensity now prevailing.

  “That’s not what I—”

  “Let me tell you something, Charlee.” She didn’t think it was possible, but he moved even closer, forcing her to uncross her arms or feel his body heat against them. “I may be a casual player for the most part, but I am familiar with classical chess study.” His eyes were darker now than they’d been that entire time.

  “I didn’t say you weren’t. It’s just that . . .” She stopped when he very noticeably moved his eyes down from hers and stopped at her lips then he licked his own again, slowly.

  He moved in so close she could feel the warmth of his breath against her own mouth. Feeling his mouth so close to hers she could almost taste it, was so intoxicating she froze in place, staring at his lips. He got so close her heart nearly gave out on her, because there was no doubt what he was about to do next. God! Even knowing with every fiber of her being that she shouldn’t, that this could only end in heartache if she went there with him, she knew she wouldn’t stop him. She wanted him to—so bad. Then he stopped suddenly and smirked. “Don’t worry about it. I know exactly what you meant.”

  With that, he pulled back and walked away, leaving her standing there, feeling flushed, breathless and completely mortified. She watched as he joined the others standing around watching the game between Bruno and Dempsey. He glanced back at her where she still stood frozen in place, trying desperately to compose herself, but he didn’t smile anymore. He didn’t even give her that stupid smug smirk she expected that said he knew just how willing and eager she was to have his lips on hers.

  The tears stung her eyes now that she realized exactly what he’d done and why. She managed to finally move. Grabbing her bag and light jacket from where she’d been sitting, she glanced at the board on the table where Hector’s king still stood in checkmate. With the tears beginning to blur her vision, she rushed past Walter toward the door. “Where you going?” he asked.

  She didn’t bother responding but couldn’t fight the urge to glance in Hector’s direction one last time. He was still staring at her but not hard like he had earlier. It was an almost remorseful stare, sort of how she’d felt when she realized how personally he’d taken her setting him up.

  Walking even faster now because she felt like a complete idiot, Charlee hurried to the door. He may’ve walked right into her plan, but her victory had been short-lived. He’d managed to do to her in a matter of seconds what had taken her hours and hours—days of studying his game. And as far as she was concerned, he’d won hands down. Because while he probably thought her a pretentious bitch now, she’d never felt so captivated with anyone in her life.

  ***

  “All I’m saying is if you’re this upset about it,” Drew paused, tilting her head and pouted at Charlee, “and clearly you are, there has to be more to this.”

  Charlee shook her head, blowing her nose then dabbing the corner of her eyes with another tissue.

  “Charlotte?”

  Charlee glanced at her friend. She knew Drew only called her that when she was being very serious, even though right now all it made her think of was how it felt to hear Hector call her that.

  She glanced down, staring at her hands knowing exactly what Drew was thinking. “No, Drew, it’s not about that. It’s been over a year and I’m over it. Besides that was totally different. I really don’t think Hector is like that.”

  “I don’t either,” Drew said softly. “Most people aren’t, sweetie, but I get the feeling you don’t truly believe that yet.” Drew reached out and squeezed Charlee’s hand softly. “What Hector did was probably just out of pride. You got one up on him, and he reacted, but I’m telling you, Charlee, I have a sixth sense about these things. There’s something more going on here not just on your side but his as well. I haven’t seen you this upset about anything since . . .”

  Glad that Drew didn’t go on, Charlee took a deep breath. Admittedly, it had been the first thing that had come to mind yesterday when Hector left her standing there to drown in her own humiliation. But Drew was right. This was different. Charlee had brought this on herself. He just reacted. She shook her head. It wasn’t about that at all. “I just hate that the one place where I feel most comfortable being,” she squeezed her best friend’s hand, “except here with you, of course, has now been contaminated by this guy. I could never walk in there again without feeling uneasy. Even today, I was certain, because of his fight tonight, he wouldn’t be there, and I still skipped out on the lab just in case.”

  The compassionate expression on Drew’s face was suddenly replaced with a mischievous smirk. “About that fight.”

  “No.” Charlee sat up. “Absolutely not. He didn’t say it, but after what happened yesterday, I’m sure the invitation has been revoked. He hates me now.”

  “Charlee, you said you were certain he was going to kiss you.”

  “But he didn’t. He just meant to humiliate me, which he certainly succeeded in doing.”

  Drew sat up too, taking in another spoonful of the quart of ice cream they were sharing then waved the spoon at Charlee. “No, no, no, Charlee Brennan. Not so fast. You said he flirted with you even before any of this happened.”

  “He flirts with everyone!” Charlee countered quickly. “And he asked about you, remember?” She took the quart of ice cream from Drew and sunk her own spoon in. “He lumped me in with Walter.”

  Gawd, could this be anymore mortifying? But she blamed herself. To even think for a minute that he would actually want to kiss her, especially after what she’d done to him. The worst part about this whole thing was that he now knew that, just like all the other girls he’d ever encountered, she too wasn’t immune to his charm as she so snootily thought she was. Okay, maybe she didn’t think so before, but after seeing him with those girls Saturday night, she certainly thought she could be. And boy did he prove her wrong. Now every time she’d see him she’d know what he’d be thinking.

  “Hear me out, okay?” Drew said as Charlee licked another spoonful of ice cream clean. She was well aware that, even if she didn’t want to hear Drew out, there was nothing she could do or say to stop her friend from saying what was on her mind anyway. So her shoulders slumped and she waited grudgingly. “You said you caught him looking at you more than a few times even before you began to play him, right?” Charlee nodded. “And knowing you, just like the night of the tournament, you made absolutely sure you showed no interest in him whatsoever. Which, by the way, good girl. After what we saw Saturday night, you don’t
want him thinking you’re like those girls.”

  “That’s just the thing,” Charlee said, letting her head fall back against the headboard of Drew’s bed. “Now, he knows I am!”

  “No, he doesn’t,” Drew insisted. “It didn’t actually happen, and who’s to say you would have done it.”

  “He—”

  “No!” Drew was even firmer this time. “Okay, so you went a little goo-goo eyed on him and froze. You were nervous. A guy like him has got to know a girl like you is not used to that.”

  “A girl like me?” Charlee sat up straight again. She knew exactly what Drew meant, but she felt the need to at the very least protest. “What does that mean?”

  Drew rolled her eyes then scooted over closer to Charlee and leaned her head on her shoulder. “You know what I mean, Charlee. You’re shy and quiet but very sweet. I think anybody can see that about you from a mile away. You’re nothing like those stupid girls on Saturday, and there is no way he would think you are. He knew you’d freeze up. But he doesn’t know for sure that you wouldn’t have snapped out of it and pushed him away if he actually did kiss you. Heck, you don’t even know.”

  Oh, Charlee knew all right. As mortified as she’d been, she’d gotten back to her bed last night, and even as she cried, she kept imagining what it would’ve been like. How amazing it would’ve been to feel those sexy lips on hers. She’d been thankful that Drew had been on a date yesterday and gotten home late enough that Charlee could feign the sleep of death. Charlee had been in no mood to talk about it last night. She wasn’t this morning either, but when she got home early after skipping out on her chess lab today, Drew knew something was up immediately. It didn’t take much before Charlee was in tears again and Drew came to the rescue with tissue, two spoons, and a quart of chocolate chip mint—her favorite.

  Charlee shrugged, feeling too drained to argue.

  “I have a theory,” Drew continued. “Now even though you don’t believe it, I’m telling you, believe in my sixth sense, Charlee. He acted very strange Saturday night. He couldn’t keep his eyes off you, and you’re saying he was doing it again yesterday, right? How many times would you say you caught him staring?”