Page 213 of Well Played

Whether she was lying for my sake or whether she genuinely felt this way, I didn’t care.

When I didn’t have a single drop left to give, she grazed my flaccid cock with a kiss, then slowly rose.

With her hair slicked back and her eyes prominent, her eastern European heritage was readily apparent. Her father had been in a circus from that region. He’d met her mother while touring Canada, and they’d married. He’d stayed. And found a job in a factory. When their daughter was old enough to stand, she was enrolled in gymnastics.

The rest was history. As much as she loved the trampoline, she loved being thirty feet in the air even more.

My backstory was boring in comparison.

She kissed me with wild abandon.

I grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled.

Hard.

She moaned and rubbed up against me.

“I want you.” The words came out of me as hoarse. Gruff. Passion-laced.

“And I want you to.” She flashed her cat-like green eyes. “But I’m seeing a hamburger in my future. Then, later, we fuck.”

My stomach growled. A burger sounded amazing. Maybe even a steak.

And we did get to the fucking later.

3

Nick

Kaden wasoff fucking some other woman, and he’d left Yasmine alone.

Or at least, that was what Cary said. And although she was the queen of gossip—according to everyone I’d met—she was also about one hundred percent accurate. In other words, she only spread news about verifiable facts.

We were three days from opening night.

I’d settled nicely into my role as head rigger. The circus was scheduled for performances for six weeks, starting in late November and ending just after the New Year. Six solid weeks of workandI’d be home for Christmas. Sweet. My work generally kept me close to home—because I worked in the film, television, and theater industries—but I was always up for travel when asked.

Yasmine exited the dressing room with a bag slung over her shoulder.

Without thinking hard about what a dumb idea this was, I cut her off from the exit.

She gazed up at me.

I’d never been this close, and her green cat eyes blinked up at me. Her flaming red hair hung loosely around her shoulders. In her solo trap act, she wore it pulled away from her face, but otherwise flying free. Her carefree attitude, all smiles and clear relaxation, made me glad she wore a safety line for that routine.

Kaden wore one as well, but he didn’t have the same joie de vivre. The same spark. He was precision and ice. She was wild abandon and fire.

“Can I help you?” She didn’t appear annoyed. But she wasn’t happy either. Instead, she wore a neutral expression.

“I was wondering if I could take you to dinner.”

“And pay?”

“Of course.”

“I pay my own way.” She snapped the words.

Which isn’t ano.“Do you have a favorite restaurant?”

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