Page 16 of Off Her Game
Hoarsely she asked, “Does it matter?”
“The one on your thigh makes me want to tear off your thong and press my tongue against the dragon’s flame. Then I can show you what real fire feels like.”
Holy badboy in disguise!The heavy pants of her breaths echoed in her ears. Her attention was riveted on the heat of his lower body, now pressed tight to her. “How do you know I’m wearing a thong?”
“I might’ve gotten an eyeful when you got on the bike. I’m not apologizing.” The exhales of his chuckle tickled her skin as he kissed down her neck.
“Not asking for an apology. I might’ve intended for you to look.” She smiled.
“Jesus, you’re sexy.” He nibbled and kissed down to her collarbone, fingering the strap of her dress. “Another tattoo? How many do you have?”
“I’ll tell you about my ink if you tell me about yours.”
With a groan, his mouth crashed onto her lips. His tongue tangled with hers in a way meant to dominate. Her leg wrapped around the back of his, linking them together.
Each tangle and taste… She was falling fast with the kiss so deep, so intense with each thrust of their tongues.
Tentatively, her hands explored the divots of his broad chest. But she was fearful of the unknown, of what this was. Yet the craving for him was so freaking electrifying that everything else slipped away.
Until he stopped.
“We shouldn’t have done that.”
His rejection hurt. But he was right. That shouldnothave happened. She scooted out and away from him, grabbing her discarded beer for a fortifying gulp.
He added, “I don’t regret kissing the hottest gamer chick on the circuit.”
She froze, the beer half way to her mouth for a second swallow. Did the kiss only happen because she was one of the few girls who competed? Was he a pig like too many of the other guys on the eGaming circuit?
Calm down. You started the kissing out of pity.She set down her beer. “You don’t kiss like a fellow game designer.”
Aw crap. Hadn’t meant to let that slip out. Anger always unlocked the filter between her brain and mouth.
Noah’s eyebrows almost reached his hairline. “You design games?”
Now he’d judged her to be another programmer angling for him to see her work. She wasnota desperate designer, not anymore. “Yes, but I make ends meet by freelance coding and ads on our Twitch streams. I might’ve gone to MIT, but after a two-year break for personal reasons everyone assumes your skills suck.”
Stop blathering.
This woman kept shocking the hell out of him. The fear of motorcycle helmets. Kissing him. And now she designed games, with MIT as her alma mater, too? Hard to believe this was Emma’s sister. Where his assistant was polished, Tori had hot as hell rough edges.
And that kiss… It’d rocked his goddamn world.
He wanted to know more about her. He didn’t want a fake dating scenario. This want wasn’t just about jumping into a physical relationship, although the wish to do so dominated everything south of his navel at the moment.
He asked, “You went to MIT?”
She nodded. “Didn’t graduate, though.”
“Neither did I.” His gaze drifted to the plunging neckline of the black dress. To peel off the silky creation and see the concealed ink tempted him.
Fake date, remember? It’d been a pity kiss for Naked Chicken Boy.Not a real kiss. He needed to tell himself that about a hundred more times.
Felt pretty fucking real.
“Let’s go out there and get our table. He’s probably gone,” she said. “I know that look.” Her gaze darted to the door. She lowered her voice. “You and I can’t be taking this tothatlevel. It’s not a part of the deal, remember? I don’t regret the kiss, but I shouldn’t have started it. It was impulsive and I’m sorry. Our date is for show. Me in the guest bedroom when necessary. Everything about this freaks me out. You’re trying to help me to help yourself to help the FBI, which is totally screwed up.” She reached out for his arm. “We should call this all off. The whole thing is ridiculous.”
“No. This is important to try to get you free. It’s bigger than that. This is for the future of eGaming.” His gaze locked on her delicate hand where it touched him. His whole body exploded at the one small touch. The tattoo on her wrist caught his eye.
