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A Game Of Temptation 22
LAURA “Not that one.”I looked away from the gown I was holding in front of me, to Balery who was sitting on my bed with her legs folded underneath her. She was referring to the gown and after taking another look at it, I nodded, agreeing with her. I dropped that gown back on the bed and picked another one, lifting it up high. I turned it and stared at the back—or rather, the fact that there was none to speak of.I’d already decided that I wasn’t going to wear it long before Balery shook her head. “Definitely not that one,” she said with a small smile. “You can wear it when we go to the club.”I tossed it on the bed, watching it join the scattered pile of clothes that had taken up most of the bed. We’d all decided to go to a bar in town today and over the past hour, I’d been with Balery in my room, the both of us trying to decide on something for me to wear. Well, I’d tried to make a decision myself, and failed—terribly—then I’d gone downstairs and dragged her up here with me. It w
A Game Of Temptation 23
LAURAThe bar was packed full when we arrived. Jack and Jake had wanted to go to one of the posh bars, but Balery, Drew and I had insisted on getting the full Miami experience and we’d wanted to go to a regular bar downtown. Alex had agreed with us and naturally, majority had won the vote. We had to fight our way through the throng of bodies to get in, which was why I thought we were incredibly lucky to find an empty booth. We quickly filled it up before anyone else could take it. Alex, Jake and Jack on one side and me, Balery and Drew on the other side. The booths weren’t that wide, so it was a tight fit—on the opposite side anyway, but they made it work. Jake sat at the end of the booth, Jack in the middle, and Alex at the edge, directly in front of me. I briefly wondered whether he did that on purpose, but then wrote the thought off. I didn’t have to link everything he did back to me. Drew volunteered to go get our drinks and we all gave him our orders. As he sauntered away,
A Game Of Temptation 24
LAURAThe look on the bartender's face was priceless. His eyes were amused as they darted between me and Alex, his amusement growing even more when he took in the tense lines of my shoulder and the tight scowl on Alex's face. He wasn't even bothered that this man was about to kill him. Probably because he already knew that he wasn't the one going to get killed. Alex was. I didn't know what the expression on my face was since I couldn't see myself, but I was very sure that I was wearing a look equally as murderous as the one the man beside me wore. And it wasn't because I wanted to kill the bartender, no, how could it be?It was because I wanted to kill the man who had decided to casually throw his hand over my shoulder as though we were long time friends. Or more. "What the hell are you doing?" I hissed under my breath quietly, but loud enough for him to hear him. Alex turned to me, levelling me with a confused look. The death glare on his face lessened into something far more b
A Game Of Temptation 25
LAURAI was going to go crazy. I was very positive that I was going to go crazy. Alex had made it his life’s mission to push me over the edge and right into the ever welcome hands of insanity by seducing me mercilessly.Because that was what this was. Seduction. There was no other word for it. I wasn’t even sure if I was just making it up in my head or if it was real, but everything he did recently was with an extra level of sensuality. The way he walked, talked and even ate. He didn’t just turn me on and then do nothing about it; he flat out ignored me, doing a damn good job of pretending like he didn’t see me.It. Pissed. Me. The. Fuck. Off. After the little incident at the bar and specifically after our talk, I’d expected him to be all over me. I mean, he’d tried to stake his claim when he’d caught the bartender flirting with me. That had to mean that he had been getting attached, right? Naturally, I’d expected him to be a little pissed off. I’d expected him to make it obvious
A Game Of Temptation 26
LAURA "Pass me the pepper."I picked the can of pepper sitting on the counter and handed it over to Balery. She was cooking and I was just...helping her reach the things she couldn't. Nevertheless, it was honest work—a very important one—and deserved to be treated as such. "Thanks," she poured an amount into the pot on the stove, covered it, then leaned against the counter, bracing her hands on it. "So what did you say happened?"I glared at her. "I already told you what happened."She blinked, pulled her lips into her mouth, then let them out with a pop. "Wait, yes, that's true. What I meant to ask was, what are you going to do now?""Nothing." I shrugged, hopping onto the island before tearing the pack of gummy bears I was holding open, and shoving some into my mouth. We were talking about—you guessed it—Alex. Actually, to be precise, we were talking about the fact that we had both stopped talking to each other completely, apart from the forced 'good mornings' and 'excuse mes' o
A Game Of Temptation 27
LAURAI really didn’t understand how it was possible that I had seen this man countless times and yet every single time I saw him, my heart slammed against my ribcage. At first, it stopped beating, then started all over again with a vengeance, racing so fast in my chest, that I wouldn’t be surprised if it just ran itself into a heart attack. It was like I was seeing him for the first time all over again. Was that even normal? I would ask Balery if it was, but she would only see that as an opportunity to blow things out of proportions and, God forbid, tell me that I had feelings for him. He was lying on his bed with his back to the headboard, a laptop on his thighs, and eyes narrowed in concentration as he typed away. When I closed the door, his head lifted and his eyes landed on me. My breath caught when they lingered for all but three seconds, then I exhaled when he looked away, going back to what he was doing. That little action hurt more than it should have and I hated it. Squ
A Game Of Temptation 28
LAURAOver the past few days, I had launched an operation. OPERATION SEDUCE ALEX Aim: To get him to open his eyes, pull his head out of his ass—or whichever idiom best suited the situation—and face the truth that he still wanted me. I was right there for the taking; all he had to do was take. I’ll tell you how it’s been so far. Day 1: Short sundress with nothing underneath. Alex spent a huge part of his day in the kitchen—it wasn’t news that he ate alot—and a lot of people might find it weird that I had already showered as early as 6am—believe me, I did too—but I have never found it in me to give a quarter of a fuck about what people had to say, which was exactly why I was bold enough to walk into the kitchen in my short sundress, making it very obvious that I’d had my bath, and sat at the island to have my breakfast. I didn’t need to have eyes at the back of my head to know that Alex did a double-take when he saw me, eyes lingering on specific areas of my body. And by specific
A Game Of Temptation 29
LAURA It was a date. And he’d gone all out.I couldn’t explain my reaction when I stepped out of the house and saw a limousine waiting for us. First thing I did was was give Alex a long look. I mean, there was no mistaking it—the limo was there for us. The driver had tipped his hat in a salute when we came out, a smile on his face and, hell, who else would have a limo waiting outside for them other than this magnificent man who apparently went all out when he took his women out? A frown settled on my face at that. His women. I didn’t like the sound of it. Saying that the little clench my heart gave at the image that accompanied those words was uncalled for and so bloody stupid, would be a huge fucking understatement. I’d literally told him that there could be nothing between us, in other words, telling him that it was okay for him to do whatever he wanted with other women, and it was a given that he would take me up on that offer. He was a man. A gorgeous, out-of-this-world, ho
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A Game Of Temptation 62
LAURA One second Derrick had a blade to my face and the next, his body was flying backwards and slamming into the bathroom door. There was an audible thud and a loud pained grunt as he landed on his ass on the ground, the knife skidding on the floor until it stopped a few feet away from him. My breaths sawing in and out of my chest, I almost burst into tears when I saw the person who’d burst into the room.Hunter. Standing in the center of the room, he was big, intimidating, and he looked so royally pissed, even I shrank back against the chair I was sitting on. I’d never appreciated his size more than I did in that moment because seeing Derrick’s slumped form and then Hunter’s, I knew there was no way the former could face off against the latter. Which meant my unborn baby and I were going to get out of here alive. His eyes made one quick sweep of me. After confirming that I was unscathed—at least physically, he tu
A Game Of Temptation 61
ALEXWhen I entered the restaurant, my eyes scanned the tables for the woman I was supposed to be meeting here. I found her sitting at one of the tables to the right, going through the menu. Margaret Keaton was a beautiful woman. With dark brown hair peppered with streaks of silver, a round face bared, thanks to her hair pulled back in a ponytail, lips pulled up in a smile and green eyes bright and happy, she turned the eyes of both men and women. At fifty, she appeared far younger than her age. Had it not been for her rapidly greying hair, she would have been able to pass for mid-thirties. Making my way over to her, I ignored the curious glances thrown at me by a number of people. “Hi, Mom.”Eyes so similar to mine flew up in surprise. “Alex, I didn’t hear you come in!” Rising to her feet, she hugged me. I didn’t even have it in me to fake a smile as I hugged her back, kissing her cheek. As we sat down, mom’s too-knowing eyes coasted over me. “How have you been?”“Good. I’ve
A Game Of Temptation 60
LAURAI opened my mouth to speak but no word came out. I tried again. Nothing. My fingers started trembling and soon, my whole body was shaking. Oh my God. Derrick, the man who lived in my apartment building, who smiled and waved when he saw me, whom I’d given my phone number simply because I thought he was nice, was my stalker. Jesus Christ. Now I could see it. The soft tone of his messages one day then the next, he was being aggressive and forceful, just like how he’d gone from calm to livid right in front of me a while back. No wonder my building cameras hadn’t been able to find anyone strange coming and going. Because there was absolutely nothing strange about a tenant leaving his house and returning at the end of the day. My stalker had been living with me all along. So fucking close, and I’d been none the wiser. My shaking intensified when I remembered the things he’d said in some of his l
A Game Of Temptation 59
LAURAThe next time I opened my eyes, I was in a…room?I was sitting on a chair, which, along with a bed, bedside table and wardrobe, were the only things in the otherwise empty room.One minute I’d been walking at the beach and the next, I was in a room I couldn’t remember ever entering. How the hell had I ended up in this unfamiliar room? Squinting, I struggled to remember. Then I did. The masculine hand that had grabbed me from behind, pressing a cloth to my face, and that foul smell. My God, it had been so bad, I’d passed out from it. Wait. I’d passed out. Heart slamming against my rib-cage, I jerked up from the chair I was sitting on, but was pulled back down by a weight on my hands. I realized that both of my hands were handcuffed to the arms of the chair at the same moment what I assumed was the bathroom door opened and a big form stepped out. The shock that gripped me at the person standing in
A Game Of Temptation 58
LAURAIt was my third day at my mother’s house and she hadn’t smoked a single thing. She’d probably decided that she didn’t want to add any more to my suffering. Maybe she was abstaining simply because I was here, and for all the world, she could go back to smoking soon as I left. I’d take it. A win is a win. Speak of the devil. She appeared in the hallway, looking rather fresh in a bright short sleeved t-shirt paired with black leggings. It might sound like an exaggeration but to be honest, the dark circles under her eyes weren’t as obvious as they used to be. “Why, you’re positively radiant this morning!” She exclaimed, sitting on the arm of the couch I occupied. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the remote, pausing the show I’d been watching. “Look who’s talking. Have you had a look in the mirror this morning?”“You’re just teasing me.”“Am not.” Just then, Jo walked into the house beaming, and I grinned a
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ALEXShe blinked. “You can’t be serious.”I said nothing. The fact that I wanted to call the engagement off shouldn’t surprise her so much because I hadn’t wanted it in the first place. I’d only agreed to this insane idea because it had seemed appealing to my mother. Claire and I had dated for a few months in college before I’d caught her cheating. The thing was, during that short time, she’d somehow managed to worm her way into my family. Imagine my surprise when my mother had sent me a photo of the two shopping in Paris. Together. What my mother saw in her, I didn’t know—and didn’t care to.I admit that part of that was my fault because I hadn’t told my mother that I’d caught her cheating. Instead, I’d lied to her that the relationship simply hadn’t worked out so my mother had made it her life’s mission to make it work. Why didn’t I just tell my mother the truth, one might ask. Thing was, after the death
A Game Of Temptation 56
ALEXDarkness. That was the icy cold, unwelcome blanket that enveloped me when Laura left. I wasn’t sure if that was correct—or even possible—but I couldn’t explain it any better than that. With her gone, it felt like the very ground I walked on had been swept from right under my fucking feet and I’d been plunged into a bottomless, pitch-black pit, one where I’d been falling for the past hour. Still kneeling in the same spot I’d been when she walked out of the room and out of my life, I’d lost track of time. I couldn’t tell how long it had been, only that it had to have been a while because the hard floor was beginning to dig into my knees through the fabric of my pants. Saying that I didn’t have the strength to stand sounded like an exaggeration, but in truth, I had to muster every single atom of strength in my body to push to my feet, staggering to sit on the foot bench, bracing my elbows on my knees and dropping my face into my palms.Fuck. When we’d gone out to the doctor’s o
A Game Of Temptation 55
LAURA “No one dies from a broken heart.”That was my best friend’s attempt at reassuring me that I was, in fact, not going to die from this pain I felt. I doubted it, but I mustered a small smile at her and went back to what I’d been doing for the past hour—staring at the blank wall. I wasn’t sure why I’d even bothered to ask her when I knew the answer was a big fat yes.I firmly believed that I could very well die from the sheer amount of pain I was feeling. Everything on the inside of my body hurt. Every. Single. Thing. Hell, even breathing hurt. And for the first time in forever, I think I finally understood my mother and why she used. There was little I wouldn’t do to stop feeling like this. Balery sighed, placing the food tray she was carrying on the bedside table before sliding onto the bed, right next to me. “You have to eat something.”“I will,” I told her. “Now,” she ordered. “You haven’t eaten anything all day.”Rolling onto my back, I exhaled at the ceiling, regretti
A Game Of Temptation 54
LAURA “Fiancée,” I murmured, monotone, almost five minutes later. It was like an out of body experience when Alex had taken my arm and gently led me inside to sit on the couch. It was a good thing, because a few more seconds standing and my legs would have probably given out from the magnitude of the shock. “Oh dear,” I heard the woman murmur. The one who claimed she was Alex’s fiancée, that is. “Why does she look like she’s seen a ghost?” Alex didn’t respond. He lowered to his haunches in front of me and took my hands in his. “Baby, this isn’t what it looks like—”“What do you mean it’s not what it looks like?” The woman cut in. “Didn’t you tell her you’re engaged?” “When she leaves, I’ll explain everything to you. Please,” Alex continued, ignoring her. My vision was blurry so I couldn’t see the expression on his face clearly but he sounded panicked. Scared even. If this wasn’t what it looked like, then why was he scared? Why did he look so fucking guilty? Why wasn’t he denyin
