Page 61 of Maneater
“What are you doing here, Josie?”
“What do you mean?”
“This is a staff party. You’re not staff.”
She shrugs as if that doesn’t matter at all. “I was invited.”
“So what you’re saying is you flirted your way into an invite?”
She smiles sweetly. “What does it matter to you?”
I tighten my jaw because it shouldn’t matter to me. Not at all, but every fucking time I even think about her moving her attentions to some other man, I feel absolutely violent. It’s been like that for years, but now that she’s at my resort and I have no way of ignoring it, it’s only gotten worse.
“You know, you keep getting all flustered and jealous when you see me getting any sort of attention. Seems like fan behavior,” she says before I can answer, her eyelashes fluttering as she takes a step closer to me. It wouldn’t take much to close the gap between us, to press her body against mine, to press my lips to hers, to tell everyone in this fucking room that she’s mine.
But there’s something about this game we’re playing that I like too much to end now. The flirting, the teasing, the tempting and taunting, the push and pull. I like it far too much.
“Trust me, Troublemaker, I am not jealous,” I say with a small shake of my head, and her own smile spreads, her voice going low and sultry.
“Oh, but you are. We both know it. You’ve been jealous for months that it’s never been you, haven’t you? That’s why you’re in such utter denial of how badly you want me.”
One more tiny step to me, not touching but close enough to feel her body heat.
“Whatever you want to believe, Josie.”
“Hmm. I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” she says. Just then, the music starts, and a noise of approval goes through the room, a dozen or so people moving to the center to start dancing. That’s when Rory comes over, grabbing Josie and tugging her to the center. But when she looks over her shoulder, her smile has gone wicked, and I know I just started a war.
Ten minutes later, I’m still at the employee get-together even though I should probably be in my office getting something done. But I can’t seem to find the will, so instead I’m leaning against a wall, watching her. The makeshift dance floor is full, bodies pressed against each other, and Josie and Rory have spent the entire time with their bodies pressed to each other, laughing and having a good time. I can handle that.
I can handle watching Josie have a good time with her friend, her eyes occasionally shifting around the room to find me and smiling when she does.
Something tells me that even if someone were lucky enough to lock down Josie, they’d have to be okay with that flirty side of her, and in that moment, I realize I could handle this. I could handle the wild version of her—the flirt, the chaos—so long as at the end of the day, it’s my eyes she searches for in a room.
That is, until a pair of hands moves to her hips, tugging her back away from Rory and into a man’s chest. I recognize him as Dax from food service, and I also note the quick flash of panic in Josie’s eyes. I almost move to interrupt, but the nerves melt when she looks throughthe room again, finding me. That jealousy she accused me of having flares, and she smiles before looking over her shoulder to the man behind her. She keeps moving against him, and he returns the look.
Then her eyes return to me as they start to move together, her hips swaying to the beat of the music, their bodies moving in time. That smile on her lips goes knowing, like she understands what she’s doing, and I fight the urge to tighten my jaw, to give anything away to her. Instead, I settle in against the wall, watching her with a challenging raise of my eyebrow. She shakes her head, and that smile grows before one hand moves to cover his on her hip, and the other moves up and back, cupping the back of his neck. Her hips move against his seductively, and I’d think she was being genuine, actually enjoying this dance with that ass, but her eyes tell me the truth.
It’s a tease. A taunt. A test.
A challenge.
Come get me. Win me over. Prove you want me. Take what you want.
My mind is screaming at me to do just that, despite my better judgment, despite knowing that I’ve got enough on my plate to add the whirlwind that is Josie. I’m here for work, not fun, after all.
But you can do both at the same time, can’t you?My mind reminds me. It goes over the conversation with Annette yesterday, where she told me she worries about me, about my not having a life, not having balance.
And most importantly, how in the last week I’ve had more fun arguing with Josie, despite the train wreck that is this resort, than I can remember.
I’m lost in thought, battling over my decision when I watch Dax press his lips to her neck. It’s not excessive, just a gentle brush of lips on skin, but it sets off something in me, snapping that final tether on my restraint.
Fuck it.
Fuck this game we’re playing.
Fuck keeping my distance.
Fuck whatever secret she’s hiding away.
