Diamonds Are Not Forever

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER SEVEN
Juliette

The way he looked at me, it was hard to concentrate.
Propping himself up on his pool cue, Elliot brushed past me to take his shot, his mouth set in a firm line as he cast his steely gaze over the pool table. I'd already made up my mind I was taking him home with me that night, well – I was hoping he was going to take me back to his place. I knew my mum and brother wouldn't be too happy if I woke them up bringing a guy back to the house.
I noticed he'd taken off his suit jacket, his brilliant biceps flexing under his crisp white shirt as he brought the piece of chalk to the tip of the cue and ran lazy circles around it.
Watching his hands at work, it brought me back to the bathroom, the feeling of his fingers tracing my spine as he unzipped my dress. The thought made me shudder. I eventually turned my back to him and walked towards the other side of the table, where Ashley and Frankie were watching on and giggling together about something I couldn't hear. I could feel my feet betraying me, the last tequila shot being the final nail in the coffin of my ability to act sober.
When I turned back, Elliot was in his own world. Leaning over the pool table, he had angled himself across the felt and stretched out his long arms to attempt one of the more difficult shots on the table. His face looked determined, driven. That ball was going into the pocket whether it liked it or not.
Seeing him like that, it pooled something deep in the pit of my stomach. I imagined what it would feel like to be laid out on that pool table, underneath his body, him looking at me with that same determination.
After a beat, he brought the cue stick behind him and let rip, sending just enough power to the white ball so it bounced against the edge of the table and found its way to its desired ball. It obeyed him willingly and rolled into the side pocket.
"Want another shot, Jewel?" Frankie pulled me from my daydream, offering me a sweet smile.
"No thanks." I managed to choke out. "A water would be brilliant, though." I'd reached my limit, and I knew I had to keep my wits about me if I was going to follow through on the bet I'd made with Ashley.
"A water, coming right up." Frankie slinked off to the bar, leaving me alone with Ashley to watch Elliot gracefully master the table.
"He's very good." Ashley stated the obvious. "He could give you a run for your money."
"I don't have any money." I replied before I could stop myself.
Ashley laughed and linked her arm through mine. "Well, you best not lose our bet then, if you can't spare the cash."
I offered her a smile and a wink. "I don't plan on loosing."
When Frankie returned with a large pint of icey water for me, I mumbled my thanks and snatched the glass from him, chugging the liquid till I was breathless.
"Thirsty?" He cocked his head at me.
"Something like that." I managed between gulps.
The sound of another ball hitting a pocket caused us all to look up simultaneously, Elliot had cleared most of the table of their balls. Frankie punched the air in triumph.
"My brother, the king of billiards."
Elliot looked up distractedly mid-shot, missing the ball completely as he gave Frankie a confused and annoyed look. When he saw he had missed the shot completely, he let out a grumble and his eyes flared with frustration. Elliot seemed like the type that didn't like to miss.
"Two shots to us!" Ashley declared sweetly, flicking her hair and pouting at Frankie with her perfect baby pink lips. I waited for her to step up and take her shot, instead she leaned into me and whispered in my ear, "Go clean up, you got this girl."
"Hey, no fair! You can't just send in Jewel because she's your best player and you know you won't win."
Ashley batted her hand at Frankie's protest. "Hush you. I'm a good manager, I know in order for me to succeed, I have to assign my staff to the tasks they're best at. That way they get the victory, but I always come out the winner."

Taking another gulp of water, I placed the glass down and went to assess the damage. Elliot had done immensely well in handing us our asses. I knew it was going to be hard to catch up, but my grandad's words rang in my ears.
'Never let your opponent see you sweat.'
The memory came to me fondly, aged ten in Dublin on a family visit to my mum's parents, my grandad teaching me how to play pool and darts and dominos in his local pub. My opponent was my dad, and I was pretty sure he was letting me win in all of them, it didn't make the victory any less sweet though. I missed them both mammothly.
Elliot cleared his throat, snapping me back into the room. "Some time today would be nice."
I shot him a cool stare and went to work. I even surprised myself, how easily I took shot after shot. I must have been good, cause even Carol and Kevin broke from their fondling of each other in the corner to look up and watch it unfold. When I reached the final ball, the black, I took a calming breath and splayed my body across the table so I could make sure I hit it perfectly. My hight had always been a disadvantage when playing the game, but I didn't care if my dress had ridden up to my neck at that point.I just wanted to win. I peeked through my lashes at Elliot, who was watching me with some new expression painted across his face.
You've got this St. James, I willed myself.
I let the white ball fly. It connected with the black ball, rolled it to the far-right pocket and teetered on the edge for what felt like an eternity, then tipped and clacked into the bottom of the pocket. Carol and Ashley erupted into a cheer and Frankie started to clap. Not in a patronising way, like he was genuinely happy I'd won.
"Juliette St. James, you are brilliant." Ashley cooed, jumping up and down in victory.
Elliot said nothing, just silently walked away towards the cue cabinet with a firm line pressed on his lips. Frankie ran up to me and picked me up in a spin,"We have a winner!" He laughed and placed me back down firmly on my feet, the spin made my head feel funny. I needed more water. "Don't take my brothers reaction too personally, he hates to lose."
When Frankie moved his attention onto a gloating Ashley and Carol, I followed in Elliot's wake and joined him at the cabinet.
"Good game." I said in a sportsmen like manner, hanging up my cue next to his.
"You played well." He said flatly, I figured that was as good as a congratulations coming from him.
"My Grandad Jimmy taught me how to play." I smiled to myself; I could swear I heard him cheering me on in my head. When I looked back up at Elliot, he was watching me closely. His eyes really were the most brilliant colour of blue, like an ocean.
Reaching out, he tucked a wayward strand of my hair behind my ear, his thumb trailing across my cheek before resting on my chin. The contact made me gasp.Tipping my face up to him, he gave me a small smile.
"I'm not used to losing." He informed me.
"Maybe we could have a rematch some time." Was all I could manage out, my voice breathy and pathetic sounding.
"I fancy playing you at another game, Miss St. James. One I know I will win."
His words floored me, and for a brief flash I thought he was going to kiss me. But he didn't, he dropped his hand back down to his side leaving me gawking up at him in awe.
A burst of laughter broke our eye contact, we both looked to see Frankie and Ashley giggling together closely. Elliot raised his eyebrows at the sight.
"That looks like trouble."
I was thinking the same. "She's engaged." I told him, partly because I wanted him to know, and partly because I was hoping she would hear me say it, reminding her of the fact too. Ashley didn't seem like the type to be unfaithful to her fiancé Paul, they had been together for years. But she hadn't been acting herself lately – and the way she was making eyes at Frankie, Elliot was right, it did look like trouble.
Elliot frowned, I figured because of the news that Ashley wasn't available, that's how most men reacted when they found out. After a couple beats of silence, I felt like I needed to fill the void with more words. "She's also older than him, she'd eat Frankie alive."
"That's never stopped my brother before, he likes an older woman."
"Really!" I giggled at the thought, Frankie the toy boy.
"What do you like?" I added before I could stop myself from asking, my intrusive thoughts winning.
He smirked down at me, a lock of his perfectly groomed brown hair falling on to his forehead Superman style. 
He didn't answer my question and held out his hand for me to take. "Let's go outside and get some fresh air. I'm guessing you want a victory smoke."

The cigarette was a welcome relief, the heat of the bar and from Elliot's touch made the alcohol in my system flush my whole body. We stood silently on the side of the road near the doors to the bar, he watched as I took a long drag from my cigarette and tapped the ash on the ground beside me.
The streets on that part of town were quieter than outside On The Rox, most people wanted to be where the action was happening on a Saturday night like that one. I let out a breath, the sound of the still night echoed back to me.
The heel of my shoes started to pinch at the back of my feet again, I started stepping from foot to foot hoping I could distribute the discomfort, so it didn't throb in one particular place. Eventually, I gave up and dipped low by Elliot's side, bending my knees so I could adjust the buckles and take the damn things off again. I'd just got the second buckle free when finally, Elliot spoke.
"Are you doing this for my benefit?"
I looked up at him in confusion to his question. His eyes were blazing, the way he was towering over me made me feel helpless under his watchful eye. When I ran my gaze down him, so my eye line was level with my head height, I was staring straight at his crotch. The outline of him bulged in his tight navy suit trousers. My cigarette went slack in my mouth.
"Uhh..." I was lost for words as I slowly got back to my feet, a little unsteady now that I didn't have the security of the straps of my shoes to keep me in place. The last thing I wanted to do was fall in front of him again.
His square jaw was tense, like he was grinding his teeth. Without saying a word, he reached out and plucked the cigarette from my mouth – capturing it between his fingers and disposing it somewhere into the darkness. I just gaped at him.
"Fuck it."
His hand was suddenly in my hair, pulling my face to his before his lips claimed mine in a passionate kiss. He tasted like tequila and mint, a combination that sent my head spinning. Moving his other hand to my behind, he gave it a squeeze and lifted me up against his body, my feet leaving the floor and my shoes behind. The contact made me moan into his mouth, parting my lips so he had easier access to run his tongue against my bottom lip. His erection was sat perfectly at my hip, teasing me about what we could have done if we had stayed in that bathroom stall at the other club a little bit longer.
I wanted him, more than I cared to admit.
Suddenly he broke the contact, placing me down and regaining his breath. My frantic pants matched his, my body aching to be touched by him again. He leaned down and collected my heels from the floor.
"We're leaving, now." He informed me matter-of-factly.
"But-" I turned my head towards the door of the bar. I couldn't leave without Carol and Ashley, not without speaking to them first at least. I wasn't the type to disappear unannounced.
As if by magic, the four of them tumbled out of the door and out onto the pavement on cue in a fit of laughter, as if they had heard my internal call for them. Elliot took a step back from me, creating some distance, my shoes still hanging from his fingertips.
"We're leaving." Elliot called out to his brother. I wasn't sure if he meant we were leaving, or that they were. Frankie had an arm leisurely draped over Ashley's shoulder, the other looped with Carol's as he helped her keep upright.
Carol was so drunk; you could tell by the glassy expression in her eyes that she needed to chug a pint of water and get to bed.
"I'm going to make sure Ashley and Carol get home okay in a taxi." Frankie removed his arm from Ash and held it out to shake Kevin's outstretched hand. "Hope to catch you around Kev."
Kevin matched the sentiment with a firm handshake and leant over to Carol to give her a peck on the cheek. "You've got my number, give me a call some time."He smiled at her and turned on his heels, waving a brief goodbye to the rest of us before disappearing into the night.
Ashley moved her eyes between me and Elliot, then down to his hands where my shoes were swinging on his fingertips. A knowing smile played across her mouth. "Jewel, Carol's staying at mine tonight. You coming?"
"Erm." I wasn't sure how I was supposed to answer, Elliot hadn't invited me back to his place officially, and I'd never gone home from a bar with a guy before. I wasn't clued up on the proper etiquette.
A calm and collected look flashed on Elliot's face, "It's okay, I'll make sure Juliette gets home in one piece."
I took that as my answer. I left his side to go give Ashley a hug goodbye and she squeezed me tightly. "Make sure you text me, okay?"
"I will, don't worry."
I moved along the line and into Frankie's outstretched arms. "Pleasure to meet you Jewel, don't be a stranger." He gave me a boyish grin as he let me go. Carol swayed merrily next to him, I hugged her quickly before she could fall over.
Frankie shot his brother a look, one filled with unspoken words that Elliot seemed to understand. They were teasing each other still, without even having to say a single word.
The rest felt like a whirlwind of goodbyes and getting in taxies. Before I could think about what I was about to do, we were in the back of a car on our way to his place. On our way to finish what we had started, I hoped.