Page 31 of Playing Pretend

Is he hurt?

I snatch at the handle and yank open the door. “Are you—”

My sentence dies. A part of my soul does, too.

It’s exactly like I predicted. He stands in front of a partly fogged mirror, his skin glistening. But there’s no towel. There’s absolutely nothing at all that stands between my eyes and the profile view of him gripping his hard cock.

“I…” I meet his gaze in the mirror.

Big mistake. Such a fucking huge error in judgement.

His dark eyes don’t mimic my horror. What stares back at me is hunger. Desire.

“I’m sorry.” I scramble backward and slam the door shut.

A scuffle of noise carries from inside the bathroom. “Piper, stop.”

I don’t. I rush for the suite entry on some sort of unhinged autopilot.

“I thought you were making calls and having lunch,” he hollers.

“It’s my fault. I’m sorry.” My entire body breaks out in a sheen of sweat as I escape into the hall. “I’m late for a game of Capture the Flag. I’ll see you later.”

“Piper!”

CHAPTER6

Piper

I getmy ass out of there. Stat.

With a heart skipping from arrhythmia and a mind fried from mortification, I make my way to the foyer. I can’t stop the mental rerun that plays on a constant loop. I can’t get it out of my head. His body. His cock. The way he called my name.

I spin in a slow circle, frantic to find a colleague to hide behind in case he follows. But there’s no one. Not a single soul to save me.

I should march to the reception desk and beg for another room. A valium. A body bag.

Any of the above would be great right now.

“Where are your shoes?” Max asks from somewhere close.

I blink through the masturbation re-run daze and look down to confirm I’m barefoot.Shit.

“Forget your sneakers?” He nudges my elbow against his. “Or do you plan on skipping the game and heading to the pool for a swim?”

“Can I ditch the swimming and skip right to drowning?”

He laughs. “It sounds like you enjoy team building as much as I do.”

Oh, God, what the hell am I going to do?

I won’t be able to look at Rome again. At least not without picturing an erection.

“Come on. Let’s get this shit over and done with.” Max links our arms. “Or are you waiting for Rome?”

“No.” The dismissal comes too quick. Too panicked. “He’s not coming.”

Is that correct though, Piper? It looked like he was pretty close to doing exactly that when you walked in on him.

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