It Happened in L.A.: Ms Match / Shockingly Sensual / Playmates

Holly sighed. “I wish. But it’s not true. I’m saying this because you’re not that kind of person. Even when you’re pissed off, you’ve got more class than anyone I know. Just, I don’t know, ease up. He’s a guest, invited or not. You don’t have to talk to him ever again if you don’t want to, but while he’s at our table…”

“Yes, Mom. Do I have to wait for you, or can I go back and see the scoreboard?”

“You may go back.”

Gwen touched her friend’s arm. “I’ll try.”

The smile she received in return let her know that all was well. At least with Holly.

Was she truly being a bitch? She’d figured she was just being honest. But maybe the guilt didn’t have to do with what she said so much as her overall attitude.

Paul stood as she came back to her funky chair at the beat-up old table. He sat only after her tush touched down. Yeah. He really fit in.

“When do we find out who won?” he asked, but his voice was tight, his expression unreadable.

“Any minute now.” She turned her chair so she faced him. “What did you think of the questions?”

He took in a deep breath, then let it go. When he answered, it was Paul again. Completely confident and more than pleasant. “Easy, medium, hard. As warned. And the hard were really hard.”

“That’s a good thing?”

“Wouldn’t be fun if it was all two plus two.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Paul’s shoulders relaxed. The smile he’d pasted on just a moment ago turned into something far more natural and pleasing. Maybe Holly had been right.

“Look, about this friendship thing…”

“Hey, I was rude—”

“No.” Paul held up a hand to stop her. “I get it. Putting aside my exceptional dancing skills, I haven’t given you much to admire. Even if I win tonight, it doesn’t say anything real about me. And I know how you feel about Autumn, so…”

“Yeah. I haven’t said many nice things about her, have I?”

“She’s not all that bad, but I get your point. You two are night and day.”

“Which has a lot to do with my, uh, curiosity about you showing up here. Did Autumn—”

“Autumn has no idea where I am. Or with whom I choose to spend my time.”

“I see.”

“I realize it was out of line for me to just show up here—”

“It wasn’t. It’s nice that you came.”

He turned more toward her. “Really?”

“Confusing, but nice.”

“Confusing, huh? Yeah, I guess I see your point. Anyway, what do you say? Will you come with me to the game? You pick the day.”

Nothing about this made any sense. She couldn’t quite get over the idea that Autumn had something to do with this, but man, she wanted to see a game from one of the suites. What was the worst that could happen? “Who else will be there?”

“No one. Unless you want to invite some of your friends.”

“You want me to go with you to the game.”

He nodded. “Does that sound so strange?”

Now it was her turn to nod.

“Do it anyway. You won’t believe the view. Not to mention the food.”

“Over first or third?”

He grinned. “First.”

“Can I still get a dog?”

“All you want.”

She sighed. “Okay. We’ll give it a try.”

He put his hand on hers and gave it a squeeze. “Excellent.”

She almost backed out right then. Not because of his reaction, but because of her own. Her throat had tightened and her belly was doing stupid things, and why? Because he’d touched her. Absurd. With a smile that was as nice as she could make it, she slipped her hand from under his.

“This Sunday?” he asked.

“Sure. Sounds great.”

“Is that the final score?” He was nodding toward the big screen behind her.

She looked at the names. Newbie was number one. She had come in second, by one point.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said, with just a bit of a gloat.

The others at the table weren’t so gallant.

“Sonofabitch!” Ken actually got to his feet and held out his beer for a toast. “The queen has been knocked off her throne.”

“No wonder you didn’t want him here,” Ellen said as she tapped her glass against Ken’s.

“I knew we should have had side bets.” Steph nodded toward Paul. “I could have made a fortune.”

“Thanks, but it was only one point.”