Page 50 of Games We Play
“Youreallydidn’t know I was coming by?” Christie scratched behind her ear. A canary diamond glistened on her right index finger.I also used to have a piece like that…None of the jewels and settings Christie modeled on her svelte, ladylike body were identical to the pieces Sloan used to wear every day, but they were similar enough to fire off warning shots in her head. “That’s… unexpected. I was led to believe this was your idea.”
“Do you think I’d ask a girlfriend of mine to wear something tacky like that?” She pointed to the dress beneath Christie’s trench coat.
“I wasn’t led to believe that you picked this out. I did.” How coy of her. “Anyway, sorry for interrupting your morning. I did as I was bade.” She turned and slipped one of her shoes back onto her foot. “Pity, though. I’ve been wondering for weeks how good you are in bed. I’m told you’re one of the best.”
“Liar. Nobody told you that.”
“Oh, they did.” Christie opened her mouth to speak again, but something behind Sloan caught her attention.
“What’s going on?” Leah, dressed in a robe much too big for her, almost made Sloan jump out of her skin. “Who’s this?”
“Isee.You had a guest all along. Well, I told him I was into the sex with girls and threesome thing, but not both at the same time.” Christie had both shoes back on again. “Maybe next time. By the way,” she addressed Leah, much to Sloan’s chagrin, “I love your hair. Is it naturally curly like that?”
Leah nodded. “Nice to meet you, by the way. I’m…”
Sloan cut her off. “You were on you way out?”
“No need to be so rude, Maggie.” Christie showed herself out. The door closed, leaving Sloan and Leah in an apartment touched by silence.
“Who was that?” Leah asked.
Sloan barely heard her. She was too busy calculating the disturbing facts adding up in the back of her head.Her, flirting with me. Asking about the relationship between Aaron and me. Showing up in my apartment with a key, when the only other person who has one is…
She called SloanMaggie.
“Um…” Leah said again. “I feel like I’m really out of the loop here. What happened?”
“Nothing.” Sloan slipped into a more familiar guise. The one that made Leah feel at home in an apartment she now associated with the wildest sex of her life. “I’ve got breakfast on the way. After that, we’ll get dressed and do whatever you want until it’s time for you to head back to O’Hare.”
Leah grinned. She was so enamored with that prospect that she barely flinched when Sean appeared in the doorway, face flushed white.Right. I called for my security.
“False alarm, Sean.” Sloan urged Leah to go back into the bedroom. “I need you to look into something for me.”
“Of course. What happened?”
She gave him a brief description of what he missed before requesting, “Keep an eye on him today, would you? I trust you to do it more than someone else under my employ. Leah and I will take along one of the backups for our fun later. I want a full report by dinner, even if you have nothing salacious to share.”
Sean left a few minutes later. Before she and Leah were out the door, Sloan greeted her bodyguard’s replacement, who was sworn to watch over them while they hit downtown Chicago for whatever Leah wanted.
Sloan wished she could say that she gave her lover undivided attention that day, but her thoughts were locked upon the louse making her scalp itch.
A louse who shared the name of the only person to make her experience what Leah went through the night before. The one who invaded her subconscious every time she took things a little too far. Which was always, now that Leah was involved.
Fuck me.Sloan smoked double her usual number of cigarettes that day.
***
“It was amazing,” Leah hissed between the stacks of cookbooks. Melissa was on the other side, intent on finding a beginner’s guide to cooking Thai cuisine at home. “The best sex I’ve ever had.”
“Again?” Melissa hissed back. “Weren’t you having the best sex last weekend?”
“It happened again, okay? The more we’re together, the better it gets!” Leah looked up and down the wide aisle to make sure nobody was nearby. The bookstore was crammed with people, but nobody was looking for Asian cookbooks. Yet. “What if she’s like… the one?”
“Please! You’ve known her for like two weeks.”
“Three, I think.”
“Whatever! Way too soon for you to know if she’s the one, mmkay? I know you lesbians love to move in together after a month, but you need to chill.”
