Page 19 of Play for Keeps

“So sure of yourself,” she chided.

“You’re the one trying to tempt me to come up to your room.” He kissed her again, a lingering kiss packed with promise but lacking the sharp licks of heat she craved.

Before she could bend him to her will, he broke away, his breath coming fast and shallow as he pressed his forehead to hers. “I won’t. And I hope to God I don’t have to tell you it’s not you, it’s totally me. I don’t want to be that guy, Millie.”

“I understand.”

“I’ve resisted this…us in my head for so long. I’m not sure I can resist the reality of us, you know…”

“In the flesh?” she offered with a helpful smile.

He groaned and flung himself back into his seat, draping his forearm over his eyes. “Youarethe devil.”

Millie gave a quiet laugh. “I’m not sure the ‘in the flesh’ thing is a good idea anyhow. You’re used to women a few boy bands younger than me.”

“Don’t.” He jerked his head sharply. “Don’t say that kind of thing.”

“Truth.”

“You’re beautiful, Millie. Desirable. I desire you,” he added for emphasis.

“Thank you.” She gave him a smile that edged toward wicked. “I desire you too.”

“Your confidence is one of the sexiest things about you.”

She inclined her head, pleased to have evolved to a point where others recognized and appreciated her independence. “Thank you again.” A flush warmed her cheeks, then burst into flame the second she told herself she was too old to blush when a man paid her a compliment.

“One of the many things about you that I find irresistible,” he murmured. To her delight and mortification, he ran a knuckle over the curve of her cheek.

“And I find your moral fiber very attractive, even if I am cussing you in my head right now,” she said in a husky tone.

“The Merryton Hotel,” Manny announced. Without another word, he darted into the drop-off lane and jerked to a stop. He popped the trunk and threw open his door. A uniformed bellman reached for the back door, and Millie jerked upright.

Fear, unwelcome and irrational, gripped her as she eyed Ty. He was leaving. Getting on a plane and heading to the other side of the country for six long weeks. Desperate to hang on to the quasi-intimacy of the past week, she searched his face, eagerly cataloging each feature as she drank in the overall effect. “I don’t want you to go yet.”

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “The last thing I want to do is leave now, but I can’t stay here. This past week has been heaven and hell.”

She gave a mirthless laugh. “I know exactly what you mean.”

Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed her knuckles as Manny tapped on the lid of the trunk to spur things along. “I’ll call you. I’ll wanna get the scoop on the Wolcott water polo team’s plans for making a splash this season.”

This time, she blushed deeply, but more with pleasure than embarrassment. Swallowing a sigh, she accepted the doorman’s gloved hand and swung her legs from the car. “You have to admit, that was a good headline.”

“Damn straight it was.”

They shared a long look. “Safe travels, Ty.”

“See you soon, Millie.”

* * *

Unwinding the towel she’d wrapped around her hair, Millie tossed the heap of wet terry cloth onto the lip of the tub. She padded into the bedroom wearing nothing but boy-cut panties and a pair of rainbow-striped, fuzzy socks Kate said were supposed to be infused with shea butter.

The socks were nice but not exactly the kind of infusion a girl thinks about when she’s been burning through the double-A batteries a lot faster than she’d like. Reaching into her bag, she extracted a washed-thin Warrior tank top three sizes too big and slipped the soft cotton over her head.

Pulling her phone off the charger, she checked to see what she’d missed in the forty minutes since she plugged the darn thing in. A dozen or more media outlet apps boasted alert notifications, but she only clicked on the icon for National Sports Network headlines. A quick glance at NSN showed nothing to send her rushing to check the other sites. The scandal of the week had pretty much petered out. Greg Chambers hadn’t managed to bait Ty into a fight, so the gist of the interview had been boiled down to a few sound bites and a still of Ty smiling broadly and looking far too fit and handsome to be anyone’s cuckold.

She found a couple of emails in her inbox, the most important one a sale notification from ShoeIn. A text from Avery confirmed the date and time for Kate’s post-honeymoon debriefing at Calhoun’s Bar and Grill the following week. And one missed call from Tyrell Ransom.

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