Page 19 of A Game of Ruck
“I’m just recalibrating.”
“Recalibrating,” I echo.“Sounds serious.Are we launching a satellite or are you prepping for a destination wedding with people who low-key don’t like you?”
“Setting expectations,” she mutters under her breath like a spell.
“Expectations for what?”
She finally looks up.Her deadpan expression nearly slays me.
“For faking an entire relationship with a man who looks like he just stepped out of a sex catalog while I just look likeme.”
I blink.Then I grin.
“A sex catalog?”
She doesn’t even flinch.
“Don’t act like you don’t know you’re hot.You do.Everyone with eyes knows.”
“Well,” I say, smoothing my jacket with mock arrogance, “I haven’tseenthis catalog, but I appreciate the compliment.Do they ship internationally?”
Her cheeks flush, and she mutters something under her breath that sounds dangerously close tostupid charming man.
I reach out and run my finger down her bare arm.It’s a risk, but her skin erupts in goosebumps, and yeah—she feels it.
“Don’t get so flustered, Angel,” I murmur.“I’ll behave.Unless,” I murmur.
Then I take a step closer, lowering my voice to a sinful promise.
“Unless you want me to misbehave.”
She inhales sharply.
“This is pretend,” she whispers.“This is easy.I’ve got this.”
“You keep saying that like you’re trying to convince yourself, Angel.”
But she doesn’t get a chance to respond.Because just then—a high-pitched shriek cuts through the cool, classy quiet of the Playa de Sol lobby.
“OMG!Annabeth?!Is that YOU?”
Annabeth freezes beside me like someone just pulled a fire alarm.
Slowly, she turns.
And here comes the chaos.
A tall brunette in a pastel dress that might’ve been sprayed on—teetering like a baby giraffe on heels high enough to qualify as a weapon—barrels across the marble floor with all the subtlety of a flash mob.
And she’s not alone.She’s with a trio of equally waifish, shallow women.
All of whom are giggling and whispering, and I suspect it’s about Annabeth.
So naturally, I hate them on sight.
“Oh my God, what are you doing here?”the lead woman screeches.“I thought for sure you were skipping the festivities since they call for apartner?—”
“Hello, Lisa,” Annabeth says, voice tight.“Of course, I came?—”
