Page 69 of Playing Games

“Oh my God.” I laugh. Outright. “You’re so full of it, and you know it.”

He grins wider, unapologetic. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I roll my eyes at him and head back out of the bathroom and into his bedroom. I make no apologies for going straight to his dresser, where I can see a cologne bottle sitting on the top, but I only have the bottle in my possession for exactly three seconds before Blake takes it away from me with teasing hands.

“Ah, ah,” he says through a chuckle. “A man needs to keep some secrets.”

“Too late,” I say, quirking a defiant brow. “Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille.”

“Fuck, you’re like a speed-reader,” he responds, and I try to grab the bottle from his hands again, but he just holds it above his head, a spot that is far too high for me to reach, even if I try to jump.

Though, he is pretty close to the bed, so I hurriedly hop up onto the mattress and dive onto his back. Blake lets out a hearty laugh as I try to steal the bottle of cologne from his hands, but he just stretches his long arm out farther.

“Just let me see it,” I say, giggles leaving my lips.

“Why?”

“For research.”

“Oh, more research?” he asks and somehow manages to spin my body around so that my legs are wrapped around his hips and our chests are pressed against each other. “You want to kiss me again?”

“I think we’re far past the point of kissing, Blake. We had sex three times last night.”

He waggles his brows. “You want to do it again? For research, of course.”

I roll my eyes at him. “We don’t have time. I need to be at the lab. You need to be at practice. And it’s been proven in many research studies that men having sex before engaging in athletics weakens their leg muscles.”

“I’ll just lie back and let you ride me like a cowgirl, no leg muscles involved.”

Many dirty images float around inside my head, the teasing offer proving to be an actual temptation for my body. And trust me, I am tempted. But I am also Lexi Winslow, who has an important meeting with Dr. Blevin, and that is something that I refuse to be late to.

“I can’t.”

“But you want to,” he retorts, one sexy eyebrow raised in my direction.

“Sometimes we can’t always get what we want.”

He leans forward to press a cute kiss to my lips. “See, Lex, that’s not something I can go along with. When it comes to you, I want to give you everything you want.”

His words hold power, my body and mind reacting to them in ways I don’t quite understand.

“Consider it a rain check.” He presses another kiss to my lips before slowly setting me back onto my feet. He also hands me hisbottle of cologne. “For your research.” He winks and heads back into the bathroom.

I stare down at the bottle of cologne, double-checking that I got the name of it right.

Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille

The urge to dissect this cologne’s components, to compare its data against the known effects of each scent on human attraction, flares so strongly it’s hard to ignore.

I set the bottle back on the dresser and quickly change into my clothes, brushing away thoughts of analysis and data points.

But just as I’m about to leave, I hesitate. I grab the T-shirt Blake let me borrow last night and spray a light mist of the cologne onto it.

Then, without a second thought, I shove it into my purse.

For research, of course.

Saturday, July 12th

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