Page 56 of Playing a Player (Sweet Cravings 1)

be one more time. Twice was just as bad as once. No. It was better. I needed him again. I wanted him to fuck me right there on the kitchen counter. I crossed my legs. It was impossible to think straight when I was this turned on.

Judy wanted me to somehow make it into friends with benefits. If he didn't want to be my boyfriend, maybe that could work. At this point none of it mattered. I needed him again. My mind was completely fixated. And I knew he wanted me too. He had tried to come onto me twice since our one night stand. Both times I had been incredibly forward, but that didn't matter. Friends with benefits. That sometimes turns into love and marriage, right?

I lifted my head out of my hands and stood up. Maybe Judy would be able to help me. I rolled my eyes at myself. Judy didn't care about me at all. She just wanted a good story. I walked into the office building that The Post was in and pressed the elevator button. The doors opened and I stepped on.

I got off on the seventh floor and walked toward Judy's office. "Hey, Liz, is Judy in?" I asked the receptionist outside Judy's office.

"Yeah, one sec, Keira." She lifted up the phone and pressed a few buttons. "Keira's here." She paused for a second. "Okay," Liz said and hung up the phone. "You can go ahead in."

I couldn't help but think that Judy didn't actually need a receptionist. Whenever I came to the office Judy never seemed to be busy. I knocked on the door and walked in. Judy was sitting behind her desk. She motioned for me to sit down across from her.

"Judy, why didn't you tell me that my article was going to have a picture of me next to it? I asked to be as anonymous as possible with all my articles."

She smiled at me. "Great news, Keira. The editor-in-chief loved your article even more than the original pitch. And it's getting great buzz online. We'll need another one for tomorrow's paper."

She had completely ignored my comment. But the editor-in-chief had never said anything to me about my work before. That was really good news. The pit in the bottom of my stomach didn't allow me to enjoy it, though. "Can my picture please not be part of tomorrow's article?"

"Sorry, Keira. It's over my head. The editor-in-chief wanted our readers to be invested in the story. Seeing your face next to the article is important."

"Please, Judy. I..." I took a deep breath. "I know that all the readers have read about is my crush at this point, but it's more than that now. I'm falling for him."

"You should really keep your work and your love life separate. It's journalism 101."

"Judy, I'm begging you."

"There isn't anything I can do. It's over my head."

"But if he sees the article, there won't be any story left to tell."

"Then get everything you need for the story before he sees the article."

I sat there and stared at her. That's what I had tried to do earlier. But Rory wouldn't agree to more. He just wanted another casual hookup. I needed more time. Friends with benefits couldn't be the only conclusion to my article. I needed it to be more compelling than that, despite what Judy said. I wanted Rory to change. Not just for the sake of the story, but for the sake of my sanity. I swallowed but my mouth felt dry.

"What are you doing sitting there? Go get me my story."

I stood up. Every inch of me wanted to quit. I wanted to tell her to go screw herself. And I wanted to run home into Rory's arms and confess how much I liked him. But his arms weren't waiting for me. He didn't care how much I liked him. All he wanted was sex.

And this was my career. I needed to suck it up. "I'll send you the next article in a few hours." I walked out of her office.

Chapter 24

I sat down on my bed and pulled my computer onto my lap. My first article, Give Him a Taste, had been sexy and full of details about our one night stand. The second article wasn't nearly as fun to write. Step two was "Remain Unattached." Which was actually inaccurate because it was definitely all about pretending for me. I wrote about the importance of not sleeping in the same bed as him. Spending the night was basically a confession that you were in love. I remembered how strong the desire to kiss him in his sleep was. This was the painful article. This was the article that made it seem like I was going to fail at playing with a player. Hopefully the readers would like that. Because at this rate I was definitely going to fail.

Step three, "Flip the Switch," would be a little more fun. It was about flipping the switch on Rory and trying to be sexy. I started writing that one as soon as the one titled step two was done and emailed over to Judy. This article was about being fun and flirty, while still acting like all I wanted was friendship. I wrote about befriending his next one night stand and being his wingman in a bar. And I went into great detail about our shower together. I bit my lip as I remembered how sexy he looked with beads of water dripping down his six pack. Maybe Connor was right. It did seem like I had a wild side.

The front door closing made me jump. I heard some pots and pans clinking in the kitchen. Rory must have been making himself dinner. I didn't have any ideas left. I had played all my cards. After giving him head in the kitchen, I expected him to at least lie in order to have sex again. All I could do was look as sexy as possible for another fake date.

I hooked on my best pushup bra and pulled on the new dress I had bought on the way home from the office. It was black lace with a tan slip underneath. But the color of the slip matched my skin, so it basically looked like the lace was see-through. There was a deep V neckline and virtually no back. The lacy fabric ended right below my ass. The dress was way too tight to wear underwear. I thought about the girl that had played strip poker with us. Rory had apparently thought that going commando was very sexy. I looked in the mirror.

I pulled on the new black, platform stilettos I had bought with the dress. I could barely walk, but if Rory asked me to stay, then I wouldn't be wearing them for long. Well, maybe I'd be wearing them, but I'd be flat on my back so it wouldn't really matter how tall they were. This was definitely the sexiest outfit I had ever worn.

I turned on the YouTube tutorial I had found earlier. I had stumbled upon Phoenix's Fashions and knew that if I could pull off the look she had in the video, I wouldn't have any problem getting Rory to commit. I'd have to give her vlog a shout out in my article if this went well. I put on the inappropriate amount of eyeliner, mascara, and black eye shadow that she recommended and looked in the mirror again. Everything about the way I looked screamed slut. Hopefully it would make Rory realize what I was going to do tonight on my fake date if he didn't stop me.

I pushed my breasts together once more before opening the door. The kitchen smelled amazing. It was definitely something Italian. The aromas of garlic and parmesan made my stomach rumble. Rory had his back to me, and was stirring something at the stove. He was wearing a pair of jeans with a blazer. Why was he so dressed up? I looked over at the kitchen counter. There were two place settings and several candles lit. It looked so romantic.

That's why he didn't want more. He already had more with someone else. I blinked hard. My tears were imminent, but I couldn't cry. I was wearing too much eye makeup. I turned around to run back into my room.

"Keira."

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