Dancing With Danger: Book 8: Dancing Moon Ranch Series (5 page)

"
Then you're all absolutely certain that they're normal everyday sewing needles?" Genie glanced from one to the next. They nodded and mumbled their yes's. She held her hand up in front of Josh, with her thumb sticking out, and said, "Okay, I want you to take a close look at my thumb and make sure there aren't any needle marks in it."

Josh curved his
palm around Genie's hand, and the moment she felt the heat from his palm penetrating her hand, her heart accelerated, her breath quickened, and her face felt as if it were on fire. She also realized Josh was taking an inordinate amount of time to study her thumb. Still, she didn't rush him because… she couldn't explain why, only that she felt something passing between them, and when she looked up and Josh held her gaze, she wondered if he felt it too.

The magic was broken when Annie cleared her throat to get their attention, and said, "So Josh, do you see
needle marks in her thumb?"

Josh released Genie's hand, and replied, "
No needle marks."

Genie
drew in a breath and waited a moment for her quickened heart rate to settle down, then removed several needles from the packet and placed them on the table. Lifting the handkerchief, she slipped it over her thumb. "Okay, watch carefully and we'll see how tough you guys are." Picking up one of the needles, she pressed the tip to the outer edge of her thumb, and ever so slowly, pushed it until it came out the other side.

Josh sat up and looked on in alarm. "What are you trying to do?" he asked.

"Show you that women are as tough as men," Genie replied. Taking another needle, she put it close to the other needle and gave it a little jab, letting out a grunt as she did, and pushed it slowly through. With the third needle, she gave another little grunt and bit her bottom lip. But when she picked up the next needle and placed the tip against her thumb, Josh grabbed her wrist and said, "Stop. You got your point across."

Genie looked
at Josh's hand wrapped around her wrist, then at Josh, and said, "A few little needles in a thumb is a whole lot less painful than a bull's horn in a butt."

"Just stop here," Josh said. There was no humor in his voice.

"Okay then," Genie replied. "Unwrap your hand from around my wrist and I'll pull the needles out." She wondered if he'd refuse, and mess up her trick, but he didn't. Instead, he released her wrist. Then just as slowly as she'd stuck the needles in, she pulled each one out, but when she looked at Josh's face, she not only saw a look of intense concern, she also saw a glossy sheen in his eyes. After she'd pulled out the last needle, she removed the handkerchief and set it aside then offered her thumb for Josh to inspect. He took her hand in his, stroked her palm with his thumb like he was trying to sooth her, which touched her in a way she hadn't expected…

H
e has a sweet and deeply caring side that makes me know he'd be a good husband…

Genie saw that side
, which made her feel a little guilty.

S
eeming to catch himself, Josh took a close look at her thumb and studied it with an intensity that had Genie almost breaking the magician's code to tell him it was nothing more than a basic magic trick.

O
nce he was satisfied that her thumb was okay, he released her hand, and said, with a hint of what she construed as embarrassment, "Okay, you pulled a fast one. How did you do it?"

Genie shrugged. "It's magic and when you perform magic it heals fast. Haven't you heard about psychics who open people up with their hands and perform bloodless, painless surgery
? It's done in the Philippines and there's no sign of an opening. I'm sure you've also heard of firewalkers who walk over red hot coals and don't burn their feet. There's documentation of it all over the world. It's all about mind over matter."

"I know about firewalking
," Josh said. "My brother's an archaeologist. He says the embers aren't good conductors of heat and since the firewalkers keep moving, it isn't long enough to cause burns and the ash on the coals also act as an insulator."

"Then how
do you explain that I don't have any needle marks in my thumb?" Genie asked.

"You had a handkerchief over
it so I couldn't see what was really happening," Josh replied. "That was part of the trick."

"
No," Genie countered. "I do that because the one time I did it without the handkerchief a woman started hyperventilating and passed out. It scared the daylights out of me."

While Josh puzzled over that,
Genie sat back and said nothing. Maybe another time she'd tell him how she did it, but for now, having grown up under the guidance of Sebastian Matthias, there was enough of the amateur magician in her to want to let Josh wonder.

While they ate,
Annie and Ryan and Genie chattered about inconsequential things, while Josh seemed distant and detached, not just from Genie, but from Ryan and Annie as well, and Genie again wondered what was behind Ryan's comment that Josh,
hadn't exactly struck pay dirt in those areas
, meaning in the areas of life and love, which she narrowed down to love. It hadn't occurred to her before that Josh was a guy who'd have any kind of serious love life. She also felt a little twinge of jealousy for the woman who might have captured his heart, and wondered how much sacrifice he might have been willing to make for her, if the woman ever existed.

After they'd had dessert, and d
eciding it was time to get back to the house and check on Abby, Genie said to Ryan, "That was a wonderful meal—the salmon, the beans, the grilled onions, the corn on the cob—and Annie, your fresh strawberry pie was wonderful."

"Except that we couldn't bite through the crust," Annie
groused.

"Well, perfection in crusts will come
with experience," Genie said, "but I think I need to get back and relieve your mom and dad of Abby." She went over and gave Annie and Ryan each a hug, then looked at Josh, who mentioned nothing more about going riding the next day, and said, "See you around." He shrugged, and she turned and left.

The walk
from Annie and Ryan's house to where the ranch road met the road that looped through the compound was about a ten-minute walk. Around five minutes into it, however, Genie sensed that she was being followed, and when she glanced around, she saw Josh walking behind her. She couldn't decide if he'd left so he could catch up with her, or because he was done for the night, but since he'd given no indication during the evening that he wanted to spend any time with her, she ignored him and walked on.

B
y the time she reached the intersection where the ranch roads joined, Josh caught up with her, took her arm to keep her from turning toward Matt and Ruth's house, and said, "Okay, you've got my curiosity."

"Where are you taking me?" Genie asked, as
Josh steered her away from her destination.

"To the lodge," Josh replied.

"Why there?" Genie asked.

"Because I want to see you run
four balls in a row."

"It's easy," Genie said. "You let your subconscious mind take over and shoot without aiming. It works every time." She tried not to be distracted by the feel of Josh's
hand wrapped around her arm, but it was firmly connected, and she was making no attempt to pull it away.

"I also want to know how you did the thumb trick," Josh said.

"I told you, it was mind over matter, but if it wasn't, I still wouldn't tell you because it would break one of the seven principles of the magician's code, which is secrecy. A magician only reveals secrets to other magicians. "

"You're not a magician. You're a nurse."

"A nurse on leave. I might not be going back."

"Why?"

"I already told you, it's too complicated to explain."

"No, you told me it was complicated. Nothing's too complicated to explain, unless you don't know
yourself why you're quitting, which I'm sure is not the case."

"You can't be sure of anything because you don't even know me
," Genie said.

"I know enough
," Josh replied. "I did some research."

"What kind of research?"

"The Annie kind."

Genie looked at Josh
in curiosity. "You asked Annie questions about me?"

Josh nodded.

"Why?"

"Because
I want to know what makes Nurse Ratched tick, kind of like standing back and studying a two-thousand pound, pissed off, insanely angry bull to know how he reacts in different circumstances."

Uncertain how
to interpret his analogy, Genie set it aside for the moment, and said, "You were only in the hospital three days, after which we parted company, presumably for good, except that you've continued playing with bulls which will ultimately get you back into Nurse Ratched's ward, but since you still believe you're invincible, you don't think that way, so why did you want to know what makes me tick if you never expected to see me again?"

"I believe in fate
," Josh replied.

"
Fate that you'd end up back in my ward, or that I'd end up here?" Genie asked.

"Neither. I just turn it over to fate."

When they reached the lodge, Josh, who was still holding onto Genie's arm, which she was
still
making no attempt to pull free, guided her to the front entrance. Through the window she saw ranch guests inside—three sitting in a grouping, and a couple standing and talking—but no one was playing pool. She was relieved that guests were present though. She wasn't prepared to spend time alone with Josh. It wasn't conducive with keeping her distance from him. And right now, she was going against everything she'd programmed herself
not
to do by trailing along with him to the lodge instead of going back to the house because, if the guests decided to leave, she could find herself alone with Josh, and he wasn't the one she feared. His nearness affected her in ways she couldn't explain. Yet ignoring her instincts, she continued with him into the lodge.

CHAPTER 5

On e
ntering the lodge, Josh dropped Genie's arm and walked to the rack of cue sticks mounted on the wall behind the pool table. Taking a stick down, he handed it to Genie. She took it and stepped aside while Josh proceeded to rack the balls.

"What are you setting up for?" she asked.

"Eight-ball," Josh replied. "You have any preference as to how the balls are racked?"

"Is this to be a game, or did you just want to see me run four balls in a row?"
Genie asked.

"Whatever you want."

"Okay then, just do a standard rack."

After Josh set up the balls
, he removed the rack from around them and stepped back, then motioned for Genie to make the break. After a brief calculation, Genie positioned the white cue ball and quickly shot. An equal number of solid and striped balls scattered in all directions while sending two balls into pockets. After glancing into each pocket, she announced, "I'll take solids." Leaning over the table again, she positioned her cue stick, made a brief mental adjustment and shot, sending another solid ball into a pocket. Moving around the table, she made another quick decision and sent the cue ball bouncing off a striped ball, which sent a solid ball dropping into a corner pocket. "That's four balls," she announced, then stood and waited for Josh to comment.

He looked completely perplexed. And
ticked. The macho male routed by a female.

"So, are you just going to stand there looking pissed, or do you want to know the secret
? This isn't magic. I
can
tell all. It's also something anyone can learn."

Josh eyed the balls with a look of curiosity and interest, like he wanted to know and understand but was too proud to ask. Then his gaze crisscrossed around the table, and he looked at her thoughtfully, and said, "How long did it take you to learn this?"

"Half my life," Genie replied.
"It's something Dad taught my brother Dimitri and me years ago. Along with being a master illusionist, Dad's also a pool shark. To give you a little snapshot about my dad… Normal fathers take their kids biking, or swimming, or to a movie, but my dad took Dimitri and me to séances and back-room magic shows, and to a private club for magicians and illusionists where the lobby had no visible doors to the interior, and to gain access, you had to say a secret phrase to a sculpture of an owl. It wasn't your average childhood."

"And your mother went along with this?' Josh asked.

"Sure," Genie replied. "With us gone for the day she had the house to herself and didn't have to worry about something disappearing in front of her nose that she needed at the moment, or something she
didn't
want appearing out of the blue and falling into her lap. But on weekends when we weren't watching some of the best illusionists in the world, Dimitri and I were at a pool hall with Dad, learning about subconscious competence and applying it to playing pool. Dad's intention wasn't for us to learn to play pool though. He wanted us to understand the power of the subconscious mind so we could use it in our everyday lives."

Josh glanced
over at the pool table and his brows gathered again, but not so much in curiosity as in skepticism, which he affirmed when he said, "I'm not buying any of this. Subconscious minds can't sink balls in pockets. You've got to be conscious and aware in order to set up a shot and pocket a ball."

"Did you see me setting up any shots?" Genie asked. She pulled a ball out of a side pocket and held it up. "I
t took me approximately three seconds to pocket this ball."

Josh wrapped his hand around her wrist and removed the ball from her hand, then with his thumb,
slowly ran it up her palm, to which she responded by straightening her hand and splaying her fingers. Eyeing her thumb closely, even running the pad of his thumb over hers, while sending a shiver coursing through her, he looked at her steadily, and said, "How did you do it?"

"Are you talking about
pocketing balls?"

"No, I'm talking about the thumb trick."

"What's it worth to you to find out?" Genie asked, while allowing her hand to remain in his.

Josh held her gaze
. "If a man asked a woman that question he'd be implying that she'd have to go to bed with him to get her answer. Somehow I don't think that's what you're asking."

"You looked pretty good when you were jump
ing rope," Genie said.

Josh's eyes sharpened. "
Then is that what you're asking?"

"Sorry to disappoint you," Genie said. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to give up playing with bulls to know."

Josh released her wrist. "I don't intend to follow in my brother's footsteps, if that's what you're suggesting. So back to pocketing balls. If an explanation comes without conditions, then I want to know how you do it." He folded his arms and waited.

"Okay, no conditions." Genie began collecting the balls
on the table and from the pockets and racking them, as she said, "The conscious mind can only handle about eight to ten things at a time, but there's no limit to what the subconscious mind can handle." She moved the racked balls to a front corner of the table, out of the way, then removed one ball and handed it to Josh, and said," Put this on the table anywhere you want."

Josh unfolded his arms and took the ball, then studying the table for a few moments, placed the ball
almost centered, and about a third of the way from the far end of the table, then reconsidered and moved the ball off-center.

"Where you put it doesn't matter," Genie said. She handed him the white cue ball. "
Put this one anywhere you want."

Josh studied her closely for a few moments, then said
in a voice that now held resolve, "You're going to pocket that ball, aren’t you?"

"That's the idea, but it's not 100%." Genie picked up the cue stick, and while circling the table slowly, she said,
"Subconscious-competence allows you to do things without having to logically plan in advance every muscle that needs to be activated to do it, like when you're jumping rope. You've practiced it over and over so your subconscious mind has the routine down. You only have to make the conscious decision to do it and your body, guided by your subconscious mind, takes over. It's like you're on automatic pilot, except that before the body can go on automatic pilot it has to be trained. A beginning pool player can't just aim and shoot. The moves have to be programed into the subconscious mind, and that takes time and practice, like jumping rope." She bent over the table and shot, and the cue ball sent the object ball bouncing off a side rail and rolling toward a side pocket, where it dropped in."

"I don't get it
," Josh said. "You didn't even plan the shot."

"I didn't have to," Genie replied. "I turned it over to my subconscious and let it take over.
The subconscious mind only requires four factors. First, a desire from the conscious mind that creates a goal; second, trusting signals from the conscious mind such as following instincts; third, allowing the subconscious mind to learn and train itself for achieving the goal by making mistakes that aren't judged; and forth, getting out of the way and letting the subconscious mind take over." She took another ball from the rack and handed it to him. "Go ahead, put it anywhere you want, but I have the option of placing the cue ball anywhere I want behind the head spot."

Josh took the ball from Genie,
and after studying the table and the pockets, he placed the ball right up against the rail at the end of the table and stepped back. "Go ahead," he said. "I want to see how you'll do this shot."

Genie shrugged
and replied, while circling the table, "I'll do what I did with the last shot… start by setting a mental goal of refusing to aim before I shoot, then drawing a mental path between the ball and the pocket, and shooting. Dad had Dimitri and me practicing this at home like other kids practiced for music lessons. The first time I made a shot I thought it was luck, but when I started doing it consistently I began to have faith, which got me into the second factor that the subconscious mind needs, which is trust. Once I began to follow my instincts, my subconscious mind trained itself for my goal, which was shooting without aiming. When I began making tougher and tougher shots without effort, I was into the forth factor, which was getting out of my own way. But all the time you're programing your subconscious mind, you have to keep reminding yourself not to aim."

She bent over the table and sho
t the cue ball, sending it slowly down the table to graze the object ball, which trailed along the end rail at a snail's pace and dropped into a corner pocket.

"I want to see you do th
at again," Josh said, his voice a blend of challenge and impatience, a man who didn't like
not
having all the answers, Genie concluded.

"Fine then, place another ball."

Josh took
an inordinate amount of time to place the ball, but when Genie bent down to shoot, she felt a little ripple of doubt. She'd managed to tune Josh out on every other shot and allow her subconscious mind to take over, but now she was all too aware of the man standing not more than a few feet from her. It was almost a pulsating thing, feeling his presence. To counter it, she sighted in, taking extra time to align her cue stick with the cue ball, which went against everything she'd just told him about not aiming, and when she shot, the cue ball hit the object ball off mark, sending it rebounding off the rail at the wrong angle and rolling to a halt a few inches from the pocket. When she looked at Josh, he was smiling.

She shrugged.
"I told you it wasn't 100%. One trap you can fall into when applying subconscious competence is to suddenly start doubting it and try to control it instead of letting the mind take over. That's what just happened."

"Wh
at made you start doubting?" Josh asked.

"You
r presence," Genie replied then wondered why she'd admitted it.

The glint of
understanding had Josh asking, "Me in particular, or anyone?"

As Genie looked into a pair of dark, perceptive eyes, she found herself saying,
"You."

Realizing she'd
revealed more than she'd intended, and not wanting to explain further, she placed a ball on the table, and said, "In a nutshell, mentally draw a line between the object ball and the pocket—" with a shaky finger she indicated an imaginary line "—then extend the line past the object ball and imagine where the cue-ball needs to hit and draw a mental line from that to the center of the object ball."

She hoped she was making sense, but her mind was divided between what she was trying to
say and the fact that Josh had a slight smile on his lips, and his eyes held a gleam that told her he knew he was rattling her, which made her heart quicken.

Returning her attention to the table, she continued with, "
Then the next thing is to umm… line both feet and the… umm… cue along the line of the ball—" which she thought she did "—then go down for the shot. If you're … lined up correctly you don't have to… have to… adjust your aim any further. Just look at the cue ball and the object ball and make the shot…"

Before she could shoot, she felt the cue stick slipping from her hands, and Josh was around behind her where he took her arm and pulled her around
and kissed her.

When their lips met
, Genie was too stunned to do anything but kiss him back, all the while wondering what on earth was happening to her that made her want to kiss him the way she was, while also questioning how his lips could feel so familiar and comfortable on hers, like maybe they belonged there, and she had no will to dislodge the muscular arms from around her, and the whole untimely kiss should not be taking place in the middle of the lodge because…

Guests!
She broke the kiss immediately and looked around the room.

"They're all gone," Josh said. "They left some time ago."

Genie scanned the empty room and wondered how she'd failed to be aware of the guests leaving. Looking at Josh, whose hands were clasped together behind her waist, she said, "Why did you do that?"

Josh eyed her with amusement
. "Because you wanted me to."

"How could you possibly draw that conclusion when I was playing pool
?"

"You weren't playing pool
just before I kissed you," Josh said. "You were distracted and unfocused and trying to tell me something, and making no sense." He released her and handed her the cue stick. "Now you can go back to what you were trying to say when I interrupted you."

Genie had not yet recovered from the feel of Josh's lips on hers and
the closeness of his arms around her, and she knew her hands were too shaky to shoot, so she licked her lips to stop the tingling, drew in a long, slow breath to clear her mind, and said, "The way it works is that over time you begin to get a gut feeling that tells you whether or not you'll make the shot. You'll just look at the pocket, look at the ball, wait for the
yes
in your head, and shoot. It's an intuitive gut thing that takes time to develop. I felt it just before I missed that last shot, but I didn't take the time to realign myself and have faith in my subconscious."