Page 46 of Play for Keeps

Boy, she was quick to toss sex out as a consolation prize. Needing to buy some time, he fished a shrimp out of the mountain of food he’d dumped on the plate and popped the morsel into his mouth. Shifting the spicy tidbit around as he chewed, he nodded as if he understood. Which he didn’t. What kind of person wanted to hook up with someone for sex but nothing more?

Then it hit him.

Men.

Righteous indignation and shame weren’t the best chasers for overspiced shellfish, but he swallowed them along with the shrimp. If Millie’s militant friend Avery were privy to his inner thoughts, she’d be doing a feminazi goose step all over him. And he’d deserve every bruise. If not for the initial reaction, then for using the termfeminazi.

He hated knee-jerk labels. His whole life, he’d had to fight his own battles with people who wanted to put him in a box. Now, he was doing the same damn thing. If Millie wanted their relationship to be purely physical, she had every right to say so. Just as he had dozens of times through his twenty and thirties. And he had the right to say no. As if he would. “You’re saying you only wanna have sex?” The question was out, his tone a bit too incredulous. “No strings attached?”

Millie’s pointed stare was loaded with challenge. “If having sex is okay with you.”

Her manner was so patronizing he had to set his plate on the counter before he smashed the ceramic to bits on the tile floor he’d so painstakingly chosen. When he didn’t answer, she flashed a patently insincere smile. This was a woman who dealt with the media sharks on a daily basis. She wasn’t going to be bullied into anything, but neither was he.

As expected, she didn’t back down. “I don’t want you to feel used or anything.”

There was nothing he could do. He knew he was at her mercy. She did too. If he objected, he’d not only look like a big, fat jerk, but he’d also be denying them both what they desperately wanted. And maybe if he agreed, he might be able to win her over.

“Oh no. Feel free.” Holding his hands out like some kind of religious martyr, he tried to play the whole thing off with a shrug. “Use as much as you want.”

She smirked at him, but it softened into a smile. “Of course, there are strings. We’re friends. Colleagues. We’ll have to set some boundaries for work and stuff, but we can figure those out.” She glanced down at her own plate. “I don’t want any unrealistic expectations popping up,” she said, attacking her food with renewed vigor. “We’re having fun, enjoying each other’s company—”

“And the sex.”

Ty cringed and wished the words back with all his might. Something about being this close to this particular woman robbed him of any control over his tongue. Ironic, considering she was the one person he trusted implicitly to help him find the right words. Being near her was enough to fill him with an overwhelming urge to claim the title of biggest, neediest moron who ever threw himself at a woman’s feet. Hell, he hadn’t even made this big of an ass of himself with Mari.

Cool as a cucumber, Millie sucked up the ends of her noodles, then wiped the corner of her mouth with her pinkie. “Yes, the sex. We like the sex.”

He saw no reason to argue the statement, so he inclined his head in acknowledgment. “Yes, we do.”

“I like it a lot.” She speared some duck with her fork, then shoved it in her mouth. He couldn’t help but stare as she chewed. She swallowed the bite, and he jerked his attention away from her lips. Millie was watching him, a knowing gleam in her eyes. “Wanna have some more, or are we done for the night?”

“Oh, I wanna have more.”

She nodded. “Good. I thought so, but I wanted to be sure we were on the same page.”

“Yeah, we’re on the same page.”

Her smile blossomed into the real deal, and suddenly the thought of dropping to his knees in front of her didn’t seem like such a bad idea. Still, if they were going to play this game, he wanted to know all the rules.

“Where do we fall on sleeping together?”

She snickered but avoided his gaze. “I thought we covered that. Weren’t you paying attention?”

Her evasion told him she was torn on the topic. The realization pleased him. He had some leverage after all. He could fall back a little and let her come at him. “I wasn’t speaking euphemistically.”

“Ooh, using the vocabulary words, are we?”

All thought of dinner abandoned, he crossed his arms over his chest, hoping he struck a pose of casual nonchalance. “I can drive you home after, if you want, but I’d like to know up front so I don’t get too comfortable.”

“And here I was thinking about what remarkable powers of recovery you seem to have.”

“Stamina too,” he said without missing a beat. “If you decide to stay the night, I’ll prove how remarkable my powers are.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt them or you.”

He watched carefully as she pushed the food around on her plate. The conversation seemed to have robbed her of her appetite. But then, Millie looked up, and the heated hunger he saw in her eyes forced him to amend the thought. She’d lost any appetite for food, but she was still interested in him. Thank God.

“Why don’t we plan on you taking me home tonight? I don’t have a change of clothes with me, and I prefer to avoid doing the walk of shame.” She wrinkled her nose, then flashed a weak smile as she set her plate aside. “The dean of the English department lives next door, and that old fart gossips more than my great-aunt Maude.”

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