“So, what’s your secret?” she asked Lauren after the second trouncing. “Do you have a secret pool hall below the theater that you sneak away to and practice through the night?”

Lauren met her gaze with a smug smile. “If I told you my secret, then you wouldn’t sit up and think all night about what it could be.” She took a delicate sip from her martini that did something wonderfully uncomfortable to Carly’s midsection. The skin of Lauren’s shoulder called out to her, and she noticed how ridiculously smooth it was. She wanted to run her forefinger across the curve and follow up with her tongue. Yeah, it was that kind of night.

“Then the least you can do is teach me how to break like you do.”

Lauren straightened. “I can help if you want.”

Carly reached behind Lauren and grabbed a cue, inhaling the vanilla lavender scent once again. That perfume flirted with her all on its own. Who’d invented this stuff? She met Lauren’s gaze. “Oh, I want.”

Lauren followed her to an empty table and racked the balls. “Secret number one. Make sure the rack is tight.” Carly blinked and held her tongue, but the insinuation was not lost on Lauren, who blushed. She made a rewind gesture. “Taking that back. Just heard how that sounds.”

“You don’t have to on my account,” Carly said with a playful wink and joined Lauren on her side of the table. She made it a point to lose the shenanigans for the rest of her lesson. “What’s step one?”

“You want to make sure the cue ball remains in the center of the table.” She placed it on the felt and pointed to the corner pocket. “If it breaks off and bounces back over here? You’re in bad shape.”

“And I won’t be able to clean the table like you just did, which is now all I want to do in life. Well, almost.”

Lauren inhaled and blinked. She seemed to decide to plow forward. “Exactly. It’s all about that initial positioning after the break.”

Carly studied Lauren in the midst of their lesson. “And how do I make sure it remains centrally located?”

“Easy. You have to connect with the ball in front by tapping the cue ball right here.” Lauren pointed at a spot on the cue ball just above the center point. “If your aim is off, you’re going to have a rogue cue ball and probably miss an easy side pocket sink. Why don’t you give it a try?” Lauren cleared the area.

“All right.” With cue in hand, Carly lowered her body and surveyed the table, focusing on what Lauren told her was key: the sweet spot on the cue ball. “Like this? Am I doing it right, Ms. Shark?”

“I prefer Madame. But, oh…” Lauren laughed quietly. “Your stance is off.”