Page 72 of Wildly Inappropriate

“Are you going to call me a demon just to get us kicked off the right way?” Lila asks as she slides her small frame into the seat she occupied last time.

“Hmm,” I say as I lean in and kiss her on the cheek. “Well, that little black dress is most certainly sinful.”

“All the better to tempt you with, my dear.”

I slide into my seat and take in the three-inch heels she had slipped her feet into before we left our room. “And those heels were likely invented by the Devil himself.”

“All the better to torture you with, my dear.”

I laugh. “Are you the big bad wolf now?” I ask, but she just shakes her head, giggling at her own joke.

“But, no, you’re most certainly not a demon.” I lean in and press a light kiss to her mouth, my hand running up the smooth expanse of her leg. I stop before I reach an inappropriate height for a bar, even if it is a Vegas bar. “You look like a goddamn angel and taste like you were sent down from Heaven just for me.”

“But, if I'm a goddamned angel, doesn't that still make me a demon?” she asks, as if she’s unraveling the logic of a fallen angel.

“Well, you’re mine, whatever you are.”

Calling Lila mine is quickly becoming one of my favorite hobbies. Not only does it calm the pacing beast inside of me who wants nothing more than to be with her constantly, but it also makes her face light up like I just gave her the best present imaginable. I love the way the gold flakes in her green eyes sparkle and her lips pull into a wide grin, even when she’s trying to fight it.

“Tell me about your round today,” she prompts, turning her body toward me and grabbing my hand. I appreciate that she cares enough to ask me for my thoughts rather than diving into what she thinks I should do differently.

I tell her about how nice it feels to finally be playing well again, though I don’t tell her my suspicion that it’s due to her being in my life. I wouldn’t want to put that kind of pressure on her. I know I’m responsible for my own game, even if the fates seem to be telling me otherwise. Though, to be fair, she just pulls me out of my head. When I stand at the tee box, ready to hit my first shot, I’m focused on my game, but I’m not overly focused on it because the thoughts of Lila are cocooning my mind, keeping the worry and anxiety from spreading too far.

I had a great opening round this morning, and I’m looking forward to the next few days, especially since I get to hang out with Lila each night.

“I’m really excited to get to watch you play tomorrow,” Lila says.

“I’m not in your brother’s group, so if you want to watch him instead, it’s no big deal.” I’d been looking forward to having Lila come watch me play, so I was a little disappointed when she had to stay at the hotel and work the last two days, but I also understand how important her job is to her. And, since her brother is playing too, I realized she may not choose to follow my group.

“What if I want to watch you?” she asks.

“I would love it. I just don’t want you to feel obligated to.”

Lila rubs her thumb over mine, taking a sip of her drink before she says, “I love supporting my brother, but I’m an adult. I can look at my options and make the decision that’s best for me and my emotions. You are not responsible for the emotions of others.”

“I know, but I feel like us dating has put you in an awkward place, and I’d never want you to feel like you have to choose between us.”

“And I don’t. The truth is golf is not themost excitingthing I’ve ever watched. So it’ll be nice to care about more than one golfer there.”

“You never cared how I did before?” I ask, and regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. Of course she didn’t.

She raises a black eyebrow. “Are we talking about our past now, JT?”

“Um, yes? I forgot to add it to the agenda for the evening but—” I stop, a text message from Sam coming through to remind me to head to our dinner reservations. “Oh, shoot. We need to head to dinner. Our reservations are in two minutes.”

“Dang. I need to get myself a PA. I would never be late for anything again.”

I signal for the bartender to bring me our check and chuckle at Lila. “You don’t really have a tardiness issue right now. You’re always early to work.”

“I don’t like being late. Plus, that’s when I was trying to escape the tension in the house. Now that I’ve got a reason to stick around…” She trails off.

“What?” I ask, before signing the check and grabbing her hand to walk across the casino to the restaurant.

“I just realized I don’t know where you’re going to be after this weekend. I mean, I logically knew you were only in Wild Bluffs until after this weekend, but I guess it never really clicked that you likely wouldn’t be with me in Wild Bluffs. It sounds stupid when I say it like that.”

We arrive at the hostess stand just as Lila finishes her thought, and I follow the two women, both dressed in head-to-toe black—though in very different levels of sexiness—to the table in the back of the restaurant. Lila slides into her seat gracefully and immediately opens her menu to begin scanning it. I think she’s trying to hide her face from my sight, but the thing is, I’ve also put zero thought into where I’m going after this. Back to my house in California, I guess. I’d always planned on going home after this weekend, but now that house no longer feels like home to me. The corner room in Jameo’s house feels like home.

“I don’t have plans for after this weekend. I…I just assumed I would be flying home with you, Jameo, and Bryn. But”—I search the ceiling as if the answers might be written up there—“I didn’t put any thought into it. Sam might’ve worked with Cathy to figure it out so you all are using Jameo’s plane instead of mine.” My heart is beating too quickly, and my palms are sweaty as I hold on to my menu like it has the solution I need written in it.

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