Page 51 of Tempting the Player
She snorts like she knows my response is bullshit. It is. I mean, she does look good, but that’s like saying a Lamborghini looks good. Good doesn’t scratch the surface.
“How’s that iced blond vanilla latte treating you?” she asks, setting the hat back on the shelf.
“Sweet,” I say as I take another sip of the awful drink. “Really sweet.”
Her light laughter has a smile pulling at my lips.
“What made you think I was a vanilla latte kind of guy?”
“Just testing a theory,” she quips.
“And what kind of theory is that?”
“That if you drink something sweet, you’ll be less grumpy.”
I shake my head but take another drink.
“Oooh, they got new hoodies. That pink one is cute!” She holds it up in front of her. I take the chance to look around. I don’t expect someone to follow her into the bookstore and jump her, but I’m constantly on the watch for paparazzi. That bastard Roger Brayson is lucky I haven’t seen him lurking around. I’d still like to kick his ass for scaring Jane the way he did.
“Oh, hi,” Jane says, snapping my attention back to where she’s looking at hoodies.
Cameron Payton approaches her wearing a cocky smile. His gaze roams over her body in a way that makes me want to move in and make my presence known.
“Hey, beautiful.” He goes right in for a hug. “Must be my lucky day running into you.”
I must make some noise that shows my displeasure because she quickly moves a hand to her ear. Except she hits it one too many times and it only goes quiet for a second. I miss whatever she said back to him, but catch his next words.
“I was just thinking about you.”
“You were?” she asks, surprise in her tone.
“Yeah, I haven’t seen you out lately and you didn’t reply to my text. What’s up with that?”
“Oh, uh, I’ve just been busy. I’m sorry.”
I fight a smile that she’s been ignoring his text, but it’s gone at his next words.
“You’re forgiven. What are you doing tonight?”
“I’m not sure yet.” She sets the pink sweatshirt down and shifts uncomfortably in front of him. I catch her glancing around, looking for me, but she doesn’t see me.
I’m probably an asshole for being glad that she doesn’t sound excited to hang out with this idiot, but then again, he did have her up on a bar like she was some sort of show pony the last time she went out with him.
He leans in closer to her. “We’re having a party at the house. You should stop by.”
“Yeah, maybe.” She smiles at him a little too much, even if she still isn’t exactly falling all over him. She’s way too fucking good for this dude.
“Cool, cool. I’ll see you tonight then.” He backs away from her and then turns to walk out of the store with his buddies.
She hits the earpiece a couple times. “You there?”
“Yep.” I tap my thumb against the side of my drink. “Only about fifteen minutes until your next class. We should get going.”
“Thanks,Dad. I can keep track of the time.” She sighs and folds the pink sweatshirt she’d been looking at before Cameron showed up. “Okay. I’m ready.”
I wait for her outside, then step in next to her. She smiles hesitantly until she’s sure I’m going to stay at her side.
“Any plans for tonight?” she asks me.
