"I should have known you couldn't handle your drink." With the devil in him, he pushed the buttons guaranteed to reactivate his Andie.
A frown, a purse of full pink lips, and she took the bait. "I'll have a whiskey if you're buying." The determination to prove him wrong blinded her to the goggled looks she garnered and the sudden quiet at the table.
He couldn't help his smile getting wider the more irritated she became. "One whiskey coming up. Jimmy, give me a hand getting these in, will you?"
***
"I've a good mind to get you fired!" Matt hadn't noticed Andrea following him over to the bar. At the sound of her sexy, pissed-off voice, he slowly turned his head.
She stood ramrod straight, giving him a clear appreciation of her long, lean legs. They seemed to go on forever in the spiky black heels she had swapped for her trainers, even if she still had to look up at his six foot four frame. The figure-hugging jeans would bring a grown man to his knees, but he preferred to see her in something to better show off those pins.
The rose tint in her cheeks gave away her embarrassment at being so openly admired, and coming across as a letch was not how he wished to be perceived. Nevertheless, he did enjoy throwing her off guard.
"You should be thanking me, really." He wound her up and let her go.
"Thanking you?" She crossed her arms across her chest, drawing the V of her top down to give a tantalizing peek at her cleavage. "I should have you arrested for the way you behaved, never mind getting you fired."
"It got you over the edge, didn't it? You were so caught up, being ticked off at me, that you didn't have time to think about what you were doing."
"In that case, turn around."
"Why?"
"So I can slap the gold star on your backside for a job well done! Do you seriously think that's a good enough reason for your behavior? Is that the way you carry on with all your clients?"
"Only the pretty, obstinate ones. As for having me fired, well," he backed his elbows onto the bar, "I do the charity rappels voluntarily. It's difficult to replace a trained instructor willing to work for free, but if I caused you so much offense, do what you must."
Her delicious mouth opened and closed and he was assaulted with memories of tasting her. And how good it would be to do it again.
"Since it's for charity and all, I suppose I'll let the matter drop. Forget it happened." The defensive arms slackened and fell to her sides. With the thaw setting in, Matt impulsively stepped forward to invade her personal space.
"Are you sure that's what you want, Andie?" If he could forget his rules for one night, she could stop pretending she didn't want him.
Instead of seeing the look of longing staring back at him, her pupils narrowed. "Where do you get off calling me Andie, anyway? My name is Andrea." She lifted the tumbler of fine whiskey from the bar, knocked it back, and stalked back to her friends.
Matt King never was one to back away from a challenge.
