Page 44 of Play With Me

“She did call you. Check your phone.”

I glanced at the coffee table where a green light was flashing, then shuffled my feet to the side, picked up my phone scrolled through my messages.

He wasn’t bluffing.

“She’s asking me to go with you.”

“You should listen to her.”

“But why?” I felt my brows narrow. “What did you find, Brook?”

“I compared my father’s information with all the files Kate had at her office and never had a chance to pick up, as well as with Emma’s files. We have a new lead on Xavier.”

“We?”

“Yeah. As in me and you.”

“Okay, you gotta let that pill kick in and then repeat what you just said.”

“Why don’t you take a shower, Lola? You look like you need one. We can chat after you get dressed.” He lifted and empty wine bottle from near the edge of the couch. “Unless you want to tell me right now why you were following me yesterday?” he asked.

“I wasn’t,” I replied, with a gasp I couldn’t quite hide.

“I saw you. You followed me from the park and then watched me have coffee with a friend at the café from across the street.”

There was no way I was going to explain myself to him. I didn’t owe him any explanations. I pushed the cover aside, and wearing my barely there panties, I sauntered past him. “I’m going to shower.”

Before I went upstairs, I thought I heard him growl. I washed up quickly, thoroughly brushed my teeth, and drank at least two cups of tap water in the process. I’d forgotten how heavy my head felt after wine.

When I came downstairs, Brook was standing in the hallway, waiting. I reached past him toward the key rack and felt the gentle tug of his hand. “Lola, wait.”

I turned around and landed right in front of him, looking deep into his eyes. “I’ve had enough. I can’t go on like this anymore. I can’t go on without you.”

And then he kissed me, and everything I’d been so mad about the past few months vanished. It was a gentle kiss, one delving deep into my soul, lips swiping against lips, a shiver of breath in between each touch. When he pulled his mouth away, I was snuggled in his arms.

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you,” he whispered

“Brook—”

“Wait. I know we have issues, but so does the rest of the world. I know how much you’ve been hurting over what happened to Kate, and I just wanted to make it better. I want you to hurt less. Finding Kate’s father could be the answer to that.”

“You looked for that lead on Xavier to get closer to me, didn’t you?”

“Possibly. Or maybe I just care so much about you that I want you happy.”

This time, he kissed the tip of my nose, and that delectable feeling of his lips on my skin traveled from there all the way down to my toes.

“You’re getting all cheesy again, Madman.”

“I love it when you call me Madman.”

“I will remind you of that.”

“It’s not just about Kate though. She’s not the only reason I pulled away.”

“I know. You’ll tell me when you’re ready.”

That was all he said and I didn’t quite know what to reply. Where was this sudden understanding coming from?

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