Page 147 of Wanna Play A Game?
“Ugh, I thought of all of you guys that you would be the least chatty.” She looks at me but doesn’t move.
I glare at her. “Oh, chatty will get you to leave? Fine then. Let’s talk.” I think about ripping her out of that bed and physically throwing her down the hall. But the way her eyes look sunken into her head makes me pause.
I go back to my folding. “I’ll tell you about the five rules of trading.”
Cali groans, and it makes me smirk. She must have quite the headache. I launch into an in-depth discussion about the stock trade, bidding, and selling as I fold my laundry. I take deep care in my folding, making sure that everything is just right. If it isn’t, I start over again.
Cali listens for a while, annoyed at first, and then I think she falls asleep again. When I’ve finished my laundry, she’s sleeping with her mouth open, little snores coming out. She looks so vulnerable and soft. Nothing like the hate-spewing, angry woman she normally portrays herself as.
Fuck. She damn near looks innocent. I clench my jaw. For a second, I see how she would get Miles to fall for being her knight in shining armor. She bleeds vulnerability when she turns off the fucking tough guy act.
It’s mid-afternoon. I move back out to the office and find Sawyer lurking in the hallway.
He scares me a little, and I jump. “What the fuck, Sawyer?”
He pushes off the wall. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine.” I prowl past him, headed to the office. He and I fucked after our fight, and it made things feel a little less tense between us.
Sawyer follows me. “She needs to drink more water.”
I scoff a little. “Is your conscience getting the best of you, Sawyer?” But I thought the same thing. Not that I care.
Sawyer doesn’t answer. I sit down to work at my computer, and Sawyer lingers. He hovers in the background, going from window to window. He moves incessantly, seemingly unable to stay still.
“Would you stop?” I snap. I’m trying to figure out a few more details should we need to leave the country, and his nerves are making me unsettled.
Sawyer looks at me with hurt in his eyes.
I run my hand through my hair. Fuck, I didn’t mean to be so harsh. “Sorry,” I pause. “You’re making me nervous. Don’t you have something to do?”
“Well, yeah.” He doesn’t do anything.
I shake my head, going back to my work. Eventually, Sawyer starts to leave the room. I know exactly where he’s headed.
“Don’t go in there, Sawyer,” I say, possessive energy running through me. It scares me a little.
“Why not?”
I glance back at my work. “Because she doesn’t want you to. Just give her some space.”
“That’s bullshit!”
I sigh. How did I get put in the peacekeeping spot between my men and their prisoner? The prisoner who is currently lying in my bed, getting her coconut smell all over my sheets.
Sawyer’s voice lowers, “I just need to make sure she’s okay.”
“She’s okay.” I meet his blue gaze. God, he looks tortured.
I lower my voice, “I think the better question is, are you?”
Sawyer fights with himself for a second, then looks stricken. His voice comes out a whisper, “She kicked me out.”
I don’t say anything. His vulnerability surprises me. He hasn’t let me in on anything meaningful in his life in months.
“She always…I guess I assumed she…” Sawyer looks at the ground.
I clench my jaw. I see where this is going. He’s fallen for her. Completely. He doesn’t even know what to do with himself now.
