Playing for Keeps Read Free

wanted to continue with his acting career he had to keep up his over-the-top image.
    “Well, now . . .” Mabel waved her hand toward the glass cases just as the bell above the door tinkled. Noah turned to see a tall, slender woman enter the bakery. “Noah, do you see anything that strikes your fancy?” Mabel asked.
    “Um . . .” Noah opened his mouth to answer but paused when the woman’s eyes widened a fraction before she pushed her rimless glasses up and sort of looked down her nose at him. Not understanding what he had done to deserve such a reaction, he tried to coax a smile from her but failed. When she abruptly turned away, Noah studied her profile, thinking that she looked a bit familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He was used to getting smiles instead of snubs, and he racked his brain but came up empty.
    “Well, hey there, Olivia,” Mabel said to the woman and got a warm smile in return. Her brown hair was pulled back into a tight, controlled bun, and from her creased slacks to her ironed oxford shirt everything about her screamed prim and proper. Oh . . . but she had a full, sensual mouth that was shiny with pale peach gloss, making Noah fantasize that she was wearing black lace lingerie beneath her neatly pressed pants. He could just imagine her loosening her bun and shaking her hair free . . .
    “Noah?” Mabel persisted. “Have you decided what you want?”
    “Yeah . . .” he answered, but cookies were no longer on his mind. “I have.”
    When he failed to elaborate, Mabel shook her head and turned to Olivia. “What brings you in today?”
    “Do you have any butter cookies left?” Olivia asked hopefully. Like her appearance, her voice seemed all business but possessed an unexpected throaty edge along with a hint of the South.
    “I believe we do,” Mabel answered and then glanced at Chrissie.
    “Um, Miss Lawson, I’m afraid that Dr. Jesse Drake, I mean, Noah, um, Mr. Falcon already spoke for them.”
    “Oh,” she said in a disappointed tone and glanced down into the glass case.
    When she licked her bottom lip Noah heard himself say, “I’ll share them with you.”
    “Thanks . . . but no,” Olivia replied in a gracious but not overly friendly tone. She smiled, but it was a tight little smile that matched her tight little bun. By rights Noah should have been totally put off.
    But he wasn’t. Not even a little.
    Women young and old usually fawned all over him. He never quite understood it, but he had come to expect it, and Olivia Lawson’s snooty attitude intrigued him.
    “Put her cookies on my bill,” Noah said firmly to Chrissie.
    “I appreciate your kind offer.” Olivia inclined her head at him and bestowed another tight smile upon him. “Truly. But that won’t be necessary.”
    Noah glanced at Chrissie and then back at Olivia. “I insist.” He gave her a megawatt smile that had never failed him.
    Until now.
    Olivia’s chin came up a notch and a delicate eyebrow arched above her glasses. “No . . . but thank you ,” she said smoothly but firmly, like Southern Comfort sliding over cracked ice.
    Noah realized that Mabel and Chrissie were looking back and forth at them like a tennis match, which caused his competitive nature to rise to the occasion. But he had to wonder why Olivia Lawson had such a bur up her butt anyway. Again, her name sounded familiar and yet he still couldn’t place her. Okay, the ball was in his court, so he smacked it. “In fact, you may have them all. I suddenly have a craving for cinnamon cake instead.”
    “I wouldn’t dream of denying you the cookies, Mr. Falcon. I eat them all the time. I’m sure it’s been a while since you’ve had one.”
    “Sad but true. Ah . . . and as I recall they simply melt in your mouth, don’t they?”
    Olivia’s cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink. “Yes, and I hope you enjoy your treat.”
    “But I’ll be in Cricket Creek for a while, so I can part with them. Chrissie, give Miss Lawson the