Page 37 of Playing Flirty

“Are you fine enough for some constructive criticism?” From his back pocket, he pulled out the folded notebook he’d written in while we’d played my game.

A wave of nausea swirled inside me. I wrung my hands. “No. I don’t know. How mean are the comments? I know we do this thing where we’re mean, but I—” I shook my head. “I’m really nervous.”

“We’re Playing Nice, remember?” The light in his eyes sparkled much like the stars I’d been staring at.

He flipped through the pages, the chunks of black ink clear on the white paper. “But it’s too much to discuss right now.” He tilted his chin toward the door behind him. “Sounds like Neema’s about to leave.”

“That looks like a lot of criticism,” I blurted, my gaze still fixed on the little book. “Was it bad? Be honest.”

“No.” A soft laugh escaped him, and his lips tilted up on one end. “It was good, really good. But if you let me, we could make this game even better.”

His voice dropped an octave as he spoke, shaking something inside me.

“I could come by on the weekend, if that’s okay?” I pushed myself back from the railing, creating space between us, then I did what I knew how to do best with William—I teased him. “I imagine your day starts at noon, after you’ve evicted some poor woman from your bed.”

His eyes gleamed, and a wide grin crossed his face. It held a dare. “Jealous?”

My heart rate skyrocketed.

I wasn’t sure I was ready to play this round with him.

Instead, I retreated to the safety of Round 1. I scrunched up my face and told him to go away.

And he did. He turned around and made his way to the door. “Good night, Rose.”

“Wait!”

I caught up to him and he froze, glancing down at me with an expression I couldn’t place.

“You didn’t say what time,” I said. “Should I come here or…?”

“Or?” He grinned. “Am I being invited to your place? Oh my, the Shire. How exciting.”

“What time, you miscreant?” I nearly growled and poked his hard bicep.

He flinched and rubbed the spot. “Noon. Because according to you, I have to get a strange woman out of my bed.” His lips hitched up before he stepped back into the apartment.

Such an idiot.

Round 13

Neema gulped down the last of her herbal tea, her eyes narrow. “I can’t believe your nemesis is coming here.”

“‘Nemesis’ is a bit of a strong term.” I slouched over the kitchen table and popped another bit of toast layered with avocado, tomato, cheese, and an incredible amount of ground pepper into my mouth.

“And according to Shaun, he specifically requested that he be alone with you.”

“You’re making it sound weird.”

“It is a bit weird.”

I swallowed. “I’m guessing the only reason he wants to be alone is because, if you and Shaun are here, he won’t critique it properly. This is business. Simple as that.”

Neema hopped off her stool and towered over me like a graceful swan, whereas I was more of a… headless chicken. Her eyes were still narrowed. “Okay. But be careful. I haven’t met a woman who could resist that troubled man, and now you’re single and vulnerable, and I’m just saying…”

I opened my mouth to stop her, but she raised a perfectly manicured finger, stopping me. “Don’t give in to his charms. If you hook up and it doesn’t work out, it’ll be a mess. Why doyou think I’ve never introduced him to any of my friends, and—”

“Whoa.” I raised my hands. “Who said anything about hooking up? I can handle William. And besides, I’m far from his type. Again, this is business. He made notes, plenty of them.”

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