Priya in Heels (Entangled Embrace) by Ayesha Patel Page B

work?” Terrie steered the conversation into safer territory.
    Ty muttered something before drawing a card. The group grumbled. He won another hand and dealt the next round.
    “I’m a resident physician, family practice.”
    “Smart and pretty.” Terrie locked eyes with Ty. “Sounds like a keeper.”
    “What do you guys do?” I shifted on Ty’s muscular thigh.
    “Steve and I are aerospace engineers at the Hawk Institute for Space Sciences.”
    Wow! The response totally floored me.
    “Jackson and Mike are program analysts.”
    “We’re in between jobs.” Jackson sulked.
    “Oh, hope you find work soon,” I said.
    “I’m sure we will. I like having a break from work, though.”
    “Paid breaks are way better,” Mike interjected. “But we’ll survive.”
    I didn’t expect Ty’s friends to be so educated, sophisticated. For a bar musician, he had an intellectual inner circle.
    Terrie and Steve won a few hands, and Jackson two. Partway through another round, Ty shifted beneath me, picked me up by the waist, and moved me onto his other thigh as if I were a small child.
    “Leg fell asleep?” I asked.
    “Yep.”
    “I should get up.” My muscles stiffened in anticipation of standing, but he kept a firm hold on me.
    “Nah, I don’t mind,” he said and kept playing.
    Then I played a hand and Ty either nodded or rejected my moves. Poker wasn’t difficult to learn, despite the fact that I didn’t win a single round. Good thing we didn’t gamble with money.
    We must’ve played for an hour before everyone shuffled toward the door and gathered their things. Terrie flung a fabulous taupe and orange Fossil bag over her shoulder and gave me a hug. “So great to finally meet you. You should hang with us again.”
    Finally? I shot Ty a look. He played it off with a shrug.
    Steve and Jackson shook my hand before leaving.
    Mike asked, “Can I get a hug, too?”
    “Back off,” Ty warned.
    “Just joking, man.”
    “You are not allowed to drink here again.”
    “Seriously, I was joking,” Mike said to me. I nodded politely.
    “You’re taking him home, Jackson?” Ty asked as I squeezed past him. He took my elbow and reeled me back.
    “Of course!” Jackson answered.
    “Where are you going?” Ty asked, glancing down at me.
    “I really have to pee. I’m practically doing the don’t-pee-in-my-pants dance.”
    “You can use my bathroom.”
    “My place is just down the hall.”
    “Uh, you’re already dancing. You better hurry.” He gave me a gentle nudge toward his bathroom.
    As I tried to pee as quietly as womanly possible, I studied a bachelor’s bathroom. This one was nice, clean, and smelled like manly soap. Mmm , I loved his smell. Wait, what? No, I didn’t love anything about him. I couldn’t.
    By the time I finished, everyone had left and Ty was cleaning the table.
    He dropped off dishes in the kitchen as I snuck past him. “I should get going, too.”
    “Why?” He plopped down on the couch with a bowl and turned on the TV.
    “Because it’s late, and—”
    “And we can watch BSG .”
    “What?” I sat at the far end of the couch. “Oh, I love Battlestar .”
    Ty stared at me.
    “What? A woman can’t like BSG ?”
    “Not one like you.”
    “Like me?”
    “Not nerdy.”
    “I’m s o nerdy.”
    “Don’t look it.”
    “I have three goals in life: work in private practice, bring plaid back, and dominate San Diego Comic-Con. Nerd city.”
    He chuckled. “My kind of girl.” He handed the bowl to me.
    I partook of rich caramel popcorn. “You didn’t bring this out during the game?”
    “Are you kidding me? Those guys would’ve eaten my entire batch in five minutes.”
    “I’m about to eat this entire batch in five minutes. You made this?” I chomped on the kernels. The caramel melted in my mouth.
    “Yep. Takes a ridiculously long time.”
    “You must not cook often.”
    “I do, just not snacks and desserts.”
    “Cyborgs slash Cylons are amazing.” I stared at the