Page 34 of Devious Gambit

He said he’d arrive at my place between 9pm and 10pm. I didn’t ask why so late, but I’m likely to be half asleep, by the time he got here. I slipped my purple octopus pajamas on and crawled into bed to watch a re-run of my favorite show Sanditon. I sighed at every scene involving Theo James who plays the deliciously rugged and brusque Sidney Parker. No matter how many times I watched the show, it still stirred all my emotions. Anger, sadness, happiness…

Heavy footsteps on the wooden stairs ran up to my door. I glanced at my phone and it was just after 9.30pm. He tapped a tune on my door and my natural reaction was to flinch in fear.

I climbed out of bed and press my ear to the door. “Who is it?

“Me. Jace. Are you expecting someone else?”

I opened the door on the chain, just to make sure it was Jace and was struck by the scent of citrus cologne and…Greek Godliness. No. Wait. It’s too daunting placing him on a pedestal. I pushed the door shut to unhook the chain, and opened it again, so he could step inside.

“I see you’ve dressed up for the occasion,” he joked, eyeing my pajamas and chuckled when he noticed the octopuses. “I have a tattoo of an octopus on my arm.”

“Really? Strange choice.”

“Not when you like the ocean.”

“Oh.” I shut the door behind him and felt the flood of burning heat and prickling nerves drown my body. This was it. The time had come. He was dressed in a tidy v-neck blue sweater and black dress jeans and held a beer can in his large hand. I was used to seeing him in sweats and sometimes a red baseball cap turned backwards. He looked so handsome, and I was a little confused. “Why are you dressed up?”

“I’ve got a party to go to,” he told me, inspecting my little space. “This is nice. Here,” handing me the beer can, “drink this.”

“Why?”

“To numb the nerves.”

“Can we start after I watched my show?” I asked, trying to delay the sex thing, because I was so terrified.

He frowned and glanced at the time on his phone. “How much longer is it on for?”

“Um, twenty minutes.”

He groaned. “Yeah, I guess, I’ve got to be somewhere.”

“We can make it another time.”

He snatched the beer can from my grasps and snapped it open. “Drink. We’re not postponing it,” holding it to my mouth. I took it from him and poured some down my throat as his eyes ran all over my body. “I’m looking forward to this.”

I burped from the bubbles, immediately feeling embarrassed and he pushed the can up to my mouth again. “I want the entire contents of this can gone by the time this show is over. And what is it anyway?”

“Sanditon.”

“What?” A scene came on with ever so lovely Sidney Parker and I found myself comparing him to Mr. Ed. They shared similar features and if I closed one eye, Mr. Ed could easily be Sidney’s younger modern, yet crass brother. “Regency,” Mr. Ed groaned, making himself at home on my bed and hogging half the space. Without a doubt, Mr. Ed was a space hog, making my apartment seem even tinier than it already was.

I remained standing holding the beer, wondering what I should do, until Jace patted the bed next to him. “I can’t seduce you when you’re that far away.”

I climbed onto the bed next to him and seized my pillow to hug, as he encouraged me to drink more beer.

“Where’s the party?” I asked him.

“At a cheerleader’s house.”

“Oh.”

“We’re celebrating another win,” he told me, tilting his head to the side watching a boat scene on the TV.

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks. Looks like we’ve totally broken the losing streak, even without Sweeney. Did you hear police found his car?”

I remained quiet while shielding my face with the beer can, so he couldn’t see the guilt.

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