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A Game Of Temptation 52
“Doll!”I’d barely gotten time to process the word when strong arms wrapped around my middle and lifted me clear off the ground. Yelping in surprise, my hands automatically landed on the man’s shoulder in a bid not to fall on the ground in case he decided to drop me. But Alex was there in an instant, snapping at him. “Off.”Drew rolled his eyes, plastering a wet and loud kiss to my forehead before placing my feet carefully on the ground. “I’m not a dog, Alex.”“No, you’re not. Even dogs have better training.”Drew gasped dramatically, eyes widening in mock hurt. “Was that a dig at my mother?” “We both know Eloise did her best.” Alex muttered, shoving him out of the way, then bent his knees so that we were eye level. “Are you okay?” His eyes dropped pointedly to my stomach. I nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. He just took me by surprise, that’s all.”His eyes softened and he nodded once before turning to Drew and poiting a finger at him. “Don’t do it again.”The latt
Last Updated : 2024-06-18A Game Of Temptation 53
LAURAToday was my first OB-GYN appointment and I was excited for it. Alex, too. We were eager to see how the baby was doing. We’d just finished showering together—only because we cared about the earth and wanted to conserve water and not at all because we couldn’t keep our hands off each other, of course—and I’d scoured my underwear drawer for the most boring set I owned and found this full coverage cotton panties I couldn’t remember ever wearing before.I WAS WEARING FULL COVERAGE PANTIES. Why did I feel the need to wear boring underwear, one might ask. Well, because I was going to the doctor’s and I felt like it was warranted. I wasn’t sure why. I just felt like it. I was dragging plain black leggings up my legs when Alex walked out of the closet, eyes lingering on my bare stomach. He’d been doing that ever since last week when I’d woken up one morning and found out that my stomach had grown harder. I’d gone online and seen that it was perfectly normal, then both Alex and I had
Last Updated : 2024-06-25A 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
Last Updated : 2024-07-04A 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
Last Updated : 2024-07-28A 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
Last Updated : 2024-10-27A Game Of Temptation 57
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
Last Updated : 2024-10-28A 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
Last Updated : 2024-10-29A 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
Last Updated : 2024-10-30
Latest chapter
A Game Of Temptation Epilogue.
LAURA “She’s still doing it, isn’t she?” “Yeah.” “She’s so goddamn stubborn. She takes after her father, that one.” Voices from my mother’s kitchen drifted to me where I stood by her dining table, setting it. My lips curled in amusement because they probably thought I couldn’t hear them—or maybe they knew I could hear them but didn’t consider me a big enough threat to have them lowering their voices. After all, I was a woman who couldn’t get from point A to B without waddling. I believed I looked like a penguin, but Alex thought it was cute. The same Alex who was currently listening to my mother gossip and contributing every now and then, while he assisted her in making lunch. Like this was something he did everyday. “You shouldn’t be on your feet, Laura,” Mom called from the kitchen, speaking directly to me this time. “Go sit down.” I rolled my eyes. Had she grown tired of gossiping? “Someone has to set the table.” “I’ll do it,” Alex volunteered for what had to
A Game Of Temptation 69
ALEX Drew’s plan had worked. I could hardly believe it. The magnitude of joy and relief currently coursing through my body was sufficient enough to have me levitating off the car seat, but by some miracle, I remained sitting. Pretty sure the only thing keeping me grounded was the woman sitting beside me. She’d forgiven me. Laura forgave me. I’d gone so long without her, it seemed implausible that she was actually here. That she’d entered my car willingly and I hadn’t even had to come up with an elaborate excuse to get her in. I knew I should probably stop turning her way every quarter of a second like a fucking creep and keep my focus on the road, where it should be, but I couldn’t help it. Hell, I was half scared she was going to jump out of the car the second I stopped and never look back. Or that this was another one of the painfully vivid dreams of her that haunted me at night. The ride to her place was quiet. Several times, I found myself wanting to say something to
A Game Of Temptation 68
LAURA By chaos, I meant a thousand roses. They were everywhere. Scattered all over the inside of my store and even the store front. They hadn’t been there when Drew and I had come in, which meant whoever had done this, had to have done it when I was occupied with Drew by the hangers. “How on earth did these get here?” I whisper-shouted to Bailey, my voice filled with horror. There were customers in the shop and I didn’t know what the hell was going on but I definitely didn’t want it posing an inconvenience to them. What if they left horrible reviews on the website? Oh my God. Bailey, whom I’d expected to share the same sentiment as me, merely stood there smiling at me. Was she insane? What could she possibly find funny about any of this? Some customers had already paused their shopping to curiously stare at us. Without uttering a word, she gently gripped my shoulders and turned me around until I was facing the entrance of the store where I saw Alex standing there, carrying
A Game Of Temptation 67
LAURA Ice cream + Good TV = Therapy. At least it used to be therapy. I wasn’t very sure it was working right now. I hadn’t possessed the will to go to work today. Hadn’t been able to summon an atom of strength. So I’d decided to stay home of course, which ended up being even worse because I was left to my own very loud, very chaotic thoughts. No matter how badly I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about yesterday. About Alex specifically, not the encounter with his fiancée. I wanted to cave in so bad. Anytime I closed my eyes, I saw his pleading face and pain filled eyes. I had never wanted to pick up my phone and call someone so bad. My longing was only held in check by fear. A deep rooted fear of what it would do to me if he broke my heart again. Now, the stakes were higher. I did not only have myself to think of, I also had to think of my unborn child. What if I let him in again only for him to…I don’t know, hurt me in a away I’d never recover from or what if he just upp
A Game Of Temptation 66
ALEX “My God, he looks so unbearably pathetic.” “Of course he does. He lost the love of his life.” “You mean the same woman he’s been lying to?” “Will you shut up with that?” “What? It’s the truth.” I stared up at the ceiling as my friends let themselves into the house, listening to Drew and Jake argue. Jake, who was usually the emotionally unavailable one out of all of us, was defending me against Drew. That said a lot. One had to have hit an all time low to have Jake standing up for them. I didn’t move from my spot on the couch. Actually, I wasn’t sure I’d left this couch since I got home yesterday. After leaving Laura’s feeling all shades of dejected, I’d come straight here, collapsed on it and hadn’t left it since apart from that one time I went to the bathroom. Three faces appeared above me, two concerned and one scowling. “Hey, man.” Jack gave me a sympathetic smile. “How are you holding up?” “Not at all, apparently,” Drew answered him. And while Drew’s response
A Game Of Temptation 65
LAURAAlex pushed to his feet immediately he saw me, dusting off the back of his jeans. It was as though an invisible force glued my feet to the ground like lead because I suddenly couldn’t move. I simply stood there with my purse hanging from one hand and the bag carrying my burger and fries hanging from the other, staring at himOh, I was still holding the pepper spray, by the way. The hallway was not very lit up, but my eyes clung to as much of him as I could see. Wearing a black hoodie and blue broken in jeans, he appeared leaner than he’d been the last time I saw him. The hoodie seemed to hang on his frame and the jeans sagged a little. Still, it didn’t take away from his good looks at all because he was still the most beautiful man I had ever seen. Evidence of that being my heart which was going one thousand miles per minute. This could not be good for the baby. I was not sure how long we stood there staring at each other. Could have been seconds, minutes or even hours, but
A Game Of Temptation 64
LAURA“No fucking way.”“Yes fucking way.”“There is no fucking way that happened. Please tell me you’re making this up.”“Girl, does that sound like something I’d make up?”“You’re telling me he had a fiancée the entire time?” Disbelief had Bailey’s voice rising octaves higher.The irony wasn’t lost on me that the massage we’d booked to relax had evolved into story-time for Bailey, which was stressing the hell out of her. “Even I am still finding it hard to believe,” Balery piped in from her table. “And I’ve known for like a week now.”Our massage therapists were for sure getting earfuls and I wasn’t sure I cared if they talked about it amongst themselves later. Let the world know what a class A cheat and player Alex was. I was probably saving some innocent woman by talking about it. Who knew?“But how?” Bailey asked. The confusion was obvious in her tone. “From all what Balery has said, it sounds like this man was truly in love with you.”I shrugged as much as I could without maki
A Game Of Temptation 63
ALEXI hung back for a bit, desperately trying to get myself—and my breathing—under control before I followed Laura into the car, but it was all fucking pointless because the second I joined her, I lost my composure. When she gave me her address, I wanted to beg her to keep talking because I’d missed her. I’d missed her voice, I’d missed her scent, I’d missed how I felt when I was with her. Hell, I’d missed the pleasure of merely looking at her. But I couldn’t even tell her that now because I’d lost the right to. Every single second of every single minute of every single hour of every single day since she’d left me, I’d thought of her. I’d told myself that even if she wouldn’t forgive me right away, it would appease something in me if I could just see her. Maybe then my heart wouldn’t feel so fucking hollow. Oh, how terribly wrong I was. It fucking killed me that she was so close to me yet she might as well have been a thousand miles away because I couldn’t touch her. Looking at
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
