Page 88 of Role Play
“I remember you explaining the song to me,” I say, following his lead as we begin to sway. “About surrender and going down with the ship.”
“About choosing love even when it’s messy,” he adds, his voice low near my ear. “About refusing to give up.”
I close my eyes, letting the music wash over me. This is dangerous territory. This whole evening has been strategically designed to make me feel things—to give me authentic emotional material for my writing. But the problem is, it’s working too well.
The yacht rocks gently beneath us, a subtle reminder that we’re floating, untethered to the real world. It would be so easy to get lost in this scene—to believe this is my life, that I’m thekind of woman who has five-course dinners on private yachts, who dances under the stars with a man who looks at me like I’m the center of his universe.
“Did I do all right?” Forrest asks after a moment, his mouth plush against my temple. “The whole point of these dates is to spark your creativity. I did a lot of billionaire romance tropes research, trying to get it right. How’d it land?”
I pull back just enough to look at him and smirk. “Google steered you right.”
He spins me in a slow circle before drawing me back to his chest. “My roommate, Taio, was surprisingly helpful—turns out he’s secretly addicted to romance novels. Who knew?”
The image of Forrest’s roommate—all muscle and swagger—devouring romance books is so incongruous that I can’t help but laugh. “Seriously?”
“Even I was surprised. Taio is all macho and bro-ish, I had no idea he was obsessed.”
“A guy who reads romance books…that’s hot.”
Forrest abruptly halts. “Watch it,” he growls against my ear.
Seizing an opportunity to unnerve him, I continue, “Is Taio an Asian name?”
He blinks at me, very unimpressed. He barely musters a response. “His mother is Japanese.”
“Asian Americanandloves romance books? We have so much in common already. So, when do I get to meet this…Taio?”
“Never,” Forrest grunts, moving his feet again. “He’s an escort too, so don’t get your hopes up.”
Ha, nice try. Apparently that vocation doesn’t deter me. “Clearly you’ve never heard of why choose,” I mumble.
“I haven’t, but I can guess. Andno. I won’t be sharing you with anyone. You’re mine.”
“We said this was strictly business. No strings attached.”
“You’re at least mine for this dance, so let’s drop the dirty thoughts about my dumbass best friend, okay?”
I can’t help but poke the bear one more time. Mostly because it’s fun. But partly because jealous Forrest is doing things to my insides again. “I bet he’s tall,” I daydream. “What’shisgoing rate?”
He yanks me tighter against his body, winding me. “Really, pipsqueak? Six foot two isn’t enough for you? You know I nearly break my back every time I have to lean down to kiss you.”
“Mhm, your outrage is only telling me one thing. Taio is taller than you, isn’t he?”
“Six foot four,” he begrudgingly provides. “You done?” He swats my backside rather firmly as I giggle against his chest.
“That’s what you get for telling me I kiss like a fish.”
“Have you ever kissed a fish?” he asks. “Maybe that was a compliment.”
“Gross,” I grumble.
He kisses the top of my head. “You are by far the best I’ve ever had, my little conch shell. A kiss I’ll remember until my dying day.”
“Aaand back in character.”
His chest lifts as he sighs heavily, but he doesn’t say anything. We just continue to dance until the song fades.
“This billionaire date was executed perfectly, but I think I’ve had a revelation.”
