Page 67 of Playing Pretend

“You know what I mean.”

“Fine.” I palm the vanity counter, my cock hard as ideas run rampant. “What if I promise there’s no kissing or scandalous touching?”

“So you’d be relying on dirty talk?” she asks through the door.

“I’m not giving away state secrets. You’ll have to wait and see.”

She growls, the sound increasing blood flow to my dick.

“Well?” I taunt. “What’s it going to be?”

CHAPTER13

Piper

It was a mistake.

An hour without him was all it took to regret what I thought were exceptional negotiation skills. A ridiculously boring hour spent constantly thinking about him. About yesterday. About last night. And what could’ve happened if I’d said yes to everything he offered.

I leave the resort, walking miles down the beach until I find a cafe to thoroughly drown my hangover in coffee. But the overindulgence in caffeine doesn’t help. Two lattes and a piccolo ramp my heart rate until I feel like I’m back in bed, enjoying the alone time Rome mortifyingly caught me in the middle of.

Whatever you’re doing on the other side of this fortress is most definitelynotsleep.

How the hell am I going to go back to normal after this?

I’ve grown accustomed to the way he looks at me. To his hand gently skimming my hip when we’re close. How he talks to me with a constant edge of hunger.

I spend a few hours on the beach, my toes in the fluctuating waves, my face soaking up the sun. I listen to an audiobook with my EarPods, not connecting with a single character in the entire nine chapters. There are only Rome’s words. His voice. His memory.

I’m happy to offer assistance.

I plant my ass on the sand a few feet from the water. My cell rings several minutes later.

My pulse falters at the possibility of it being my roomie. The possibility of a mere conversation with him sparks excitement. But when I drag the device from my skirt pocket to connect the call, I’m disappointed that it’s my brother’s name on the screen. “Morning, Rett.”

“Good morning, sis. I thought you were going to give me updates.”

I wince. “There’s nothing to update.”

“That’s not what I’ve been told.”

“What did Rome say?” I play it cool, knowing my brother likes to fish for information and isn’t averse to misleading me at times.

“That you’ve got a stalker. I spent forty-five minutes going over the ins and outs of my goddamn security system because he’s convinced you’re going to be abducted.”

“I’m not going to be abducted.”

“Tell that to your new boyfriend—”

“Fakeboyfriend.”

“—I ended up giving him the password to our surveillance account because I got sick of his questions. Is it true about Julian?”

“I guess that depends on what you’ve heard,” I hedge.

“That he’s been following you. That he watched you go out on your most recent date.”

“It’s in the past. There’s nothing to worry about.”

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