Page 69 of Playing Flirty

“I am terrible with the whole ‘go with the flow’ thing,” I admitted. “Shaun always tells me that. He goes with the flow quite easily. Must be genetic.”

William glanced away. “I don’t like to think of the genes that bond us.”

“Oh.”

When he turned back to me, the smirky, cocky William I was accustomed to was gone. In his place was a troubled boy. Instinctively, my hand searched for his.

“My, uh…” He cleared his throat. “My relationship with our shared parent isn’t very good.”

“How so?” I entwined our fingers.

“It’s nonexistent.” He blew out a long breath and then scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. “I’m the bastard son who showed up and inconvenienced his otherwise perfect life with his perfect wife and his perfect son.”

A shudder traveled down my spine. I couldn’t find any words. None. I simply stared at the side of his face while his gaze stayed firmly fixed on his steaming coffee.

He continued. “I don’t think of the future because, as a kid, I didn’t think I’d have a very good one.”

“Shaun never mentioned—”

“He wouldn’t.” William gave my hand a gentle squeeze before releasing it. “It makes him pretty uncomfortable.”

Opening my screen again, he took another moment to read my spreadsheet. Releasing another heavy breath, he mumbled something I didn’t hear.

“What?” I asked, trying to analyze his frown.

The disdain I’d once seen on his face returned.

William shook his head and offered me a halfhearted smile. “Nothing.”

He looked away from the spreadsheet, the lines of his frown still visible.

I closed my laptop and shoved it into my bag. “I find it impossible to be spontaneous or let life take me wherever it may because I spent a lifetime literally doing that.” I inhaled deeply. “I like checking things off. I feel good about it.”

His charming smile returned. “Yeah, because it’s like rounds in a game with little side quests in between for the smaller goals.”

No one had ever explained it to me that way.

“Except now I don’t know where to go next. I’m questioning the entire life I’ve built. So yes,” I said, my heart hammering against my chest, “I’m stressed out, and I would really like it if you’d kiss me hard enough that I could forget about it, even just for a moment.”

William gulped down the last of his coffee. “Well then, let’s get you home. If I need to kiss you like that, I’m going to have to do it with no kids around.”

Round 23

With William’s playful energy returning, my mind eased in to the safe state the same way it did when I played games. And the one I played with William was, by far, the best. Every move was calculated for the outcome resulting in the most fun.

I leaned over the center console and kissed the corner of his mouth, which immediately flinched upward. His hand flew from the steering wheel to the inside of my thigh, and my breath caught.

With William’s excellent driving skills, we were in Neema’s parking bay in no time. Rushing out of his car, I dragged him to the stairwell, barely making it up one step before he pushed me against the wall and pressed his mouth on mine, hot and urgent as if he’d been holding back the entire morning.

I had.

Between heavy breaths and roaming hands, we finally made it to the apartment, but still he didn’t slow. His lips roved over every part of exposed skin—my neck, my ears, my arms, the inside of my elbow. Each new kiss sent an electric current to my fingertips, which he also kissed when they weren’t pressed into his skin.

I stumbled backward onto the couch, pulling him along with me, wanting to feel him on top of me. His hands shot out, bracing himself to keep from crushing me.

Leaning over me, he nibbled my earlobe, and my body shuddered. I curled a leg around him and pulled him closer. His hips rocked toward mine, and I reveled in the power I held. I pushed myself against his hard body, relieving some of the tension he caused, but it only created more. My pants threatened to tear. A worthy sacrifice.

Light danced across his dark eyes as he leaned in and caught my mouth with his, parting my lips with his tongue as he hungrily searched for mine.

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