Read Welcome to Sugartown for Free Online Page A

one thing my dad taught me to do, it’s play pool. I’ve
been hustling money off of his friends, men three times my age,
since I was ten-years-old.
    “ Yeah, I
think I’ve got it,” I mutter to Elijah as I take the cues down from
the wall and set about racking up the balls.
    “ What’s your
poison, Ana?” The huskiness in his tone forces my gaze to lock onto
his and heat to spread over my cheeks and between my thighs. And,
as he stands there, challenging me with those melty eyes, I’m quite
sure he already knows the answer to that question.
    Instead of
making a complete fool out of myself I smile sweetly and say,
“Vodka, lime and soda.”
    “ Lightweight,” he whispers and the challenge is unmistakable.
It’s true. I am a lightweight, but that’s not why I chose it. The
truth is, I already feel so out of control around Elijah that I
don’t really need the buzz of alcohol to impair my judgement
anymore. “Vodka, lime and soda it is, but next time, I’m buying you
a real drink.”
    “ You planning
on getting me drunk so you can take advantage of me,
Cade?”
    “ Ana.” He
leans in close, sending a bolt of desire through me as his warm
breath skates across my neck. “When I do finally get you naked
beneath me—and trust me, it’s not a question of if, but when—I’m
going to make sure you haven’t so much as looked at a drink. I want
you to remember everything I do with my hands and my lips and my
tongue.”
    My breath
leaves me in a rush. I clutch the edge of the pool table behind me
so tightly I can feel I’m losing circulation in my fingers. I’m
having a hard time believing he’s just whispered something so
intimate in the middle of a packed bar and an even harder time
believing I could be so turned on by it.
    Elijah pulls
away slowly, removing his hand that had somehow found its way onto
my hip. How did I not know his hand was
resting on my hip? His gaze is locked onto
mine, clearly reading my every thought, because somewhere between
him picking me up earlier this evening and him saying those words
to me just now, the filter between us has vanished.

    He smiles,
this playful lopsided grin that makes just one of his dimples pop
out, and just when I think I’m about to melt into a puddle and let
his hands fulfil all the promises he just made, he hands me a pool
cue with a taunt of, “Your break, baby girl” before sauntering off
toward the bar.
    I take aim at
the white, imagining that cocky self-assured smile he gave me, and
the table explodes with the thundering crack of scattering balls.
Three find a home in the corner pocket. Elijah turns and cants his
head to the side with a questioning look. I fold my arms in front
of my chest, pushing my boobs up a little, marvelling at how easy
it is to gain his undivided attention. I give my best attempt at a
lopsided grin, like the one he shot me seconds ago. “You’re gonna
regret playing me, Cade. I’m gonna eat you for
breakfast.”
    “ Keep looking
like that, baby girl, and I’ll let you eat me for dessert,
too.”
    My mouth
drops open into a surprised little “O” and he chuckles and wanders
off to get our drinks.
    Once Elijah
returns we begin the first of many games, all of which I win—and
I’m almost 100 per cent certain he’s not holding back on me. In
fact, he’s seems to be trying his best to unnerve me with every
shot I make, but two can play at that game and it isn’t long before
he’s losing the battle of wills and wits.
    “ So, where’s
Mummy and Daddy tonight, Ana Belle?” Elijah asks as he breaks on
our eighth game.
    “ Out at
another club meet, and please tell me you didn’t just call the
dragon lady my mother?”
    His lips tip
up into a crooked smile that forces just one of his dimples to pop
out. “I don’t know, I can see a little bit of a family resemblance
there.”
    “ I will hurt
you, Cade.” I lean over the table and take my next shot. My boobs
are spilling out of my top and I take a moment to readjust