Page 75 of Off Her Game
A male reporter said, “So, Noah, Tori’s sister is your assistant and we have reports that you and Tori went on a date? Are you two dating? She does look a little like the avatar Giselle fromZoneworld One.”
Noah shook his head. “No. No, no, no. Nothing to do with Giselle.”
Tori read between the lines. “Would you ask what that question implies if I owned the company and Noah was my newest game designer?”
The reporter shrugged. “It is awfully coincidental. And with your gamer background…”
Tori saw red. “I’m a woman. I’m attractive. Is that a problem for you? Do you assume because of that I must’ve slept my way into this? For your information, I’m an internationally top-rated gamer. I attended MIT. I can develop games better than most men in this building. It’s this kind of pervasive gender bias that’s got to stop in the gaming industry.”
She chanced a glance at Noah, who looked impressed, but the horror on Jake’s face didn’t bode well.
Jake leaned into his microphone. “We discovered her game in the backlist of Conjur’s acquisitions. Conjur hadn’t gotten around to producing it yet. We recognized its brilliance and had to develop it.”
Noah’s gaze narrowed on the reporter that asked the question. “Why would it matter who I dated? What does that have to do with her ability to have designed an incredible game that I predict will go viral? Any one of us would be a lucky son of a bitch if she decided to go on a date with us.”
Noah totally saved her. Was that her heart squeezing? No, it was her heart reminding her she was punch drunk in love with this man.
He thought her talented to the world. Wow. She smiled gratitude his way, perhaps mixed with a tad bit of a lot more.
Noah leaned against the wall and gazed at the hotel’s high paneled ceiling in the dark, quiet hallway.Get your head tight.
The press conference had been nonstop torture. Sitting so close to Tori, teased by small touches here and there, but forbidden to acknowledge what scorched between them…pure hell. Thank God for the tablecloth or the press corps would’ve discovered exactly how much he wanted the beautiful brunette game designer—so much that he’d had trouble walking out of the conference at its conclusion.
He’d promised Jake he’d keep his shit together when all he wanted to do was ask her about the fucking phone call during which she claimed he’d said something derogatory about her. Not so sure he made high points on the goal of keeping it together, given how he’d gone off on the reporter about dating Tori.
Now he had to survive a launch luncheon with an intimate group of reporters.You cannot stare at her tight T-shirt.Since the moment he first saw her today he had a hard time keeping his eyes off her spectacular breasts encased in a pushup bra miracle.
He’d wasted enough time hiding from the press junket. Time to get the next ninety minutes of hell over with. As he rounded the corner into the hallway he smacked into a small woman moving at high speed. When she stepped back…damn. The object of his inability to think straight gazed up in wet shock.
A full plastic cup of what he assumed had been water had exploded down the front of Tori’s white T-shirt. Based on the new wetness on his abdomen, the water was all over his front, too. What had been a sexy T-shirt on her, hinting at the secrets hidden beneath, turned into a no-imagination-required peep show. He made out the intricate lace connecting the smooth cups of her bra and her now pebbled nipples. And, the dragon tattoos above her bellybutton and her left breast.
“Crap,” she said, wiping at the shirt, which did little more than plaster the drenched fabric tight to her wet skin. He almost groaned at the effect.
“I’m sorry,” he managed lamely. Two of the notoriously snarkier online tech reporters headed their way up the hallway. Before the guys noticed them he grabbed her hand and pulled her around the corner into the restroom.
“This is the men’s room.” Her outraged tone faded as she walked toward the mirror. “Oh my God!” She set the empty cup on the counter and fanned the front of her soaked shirt. “I look like I stopped off for a wet T-shirt contest. Why did I choose to wear white today?”
“You’d have my vote to win.”
She rolled her eyes. The edges of her lips crept upward into a weak smile. “Serves me right for being in a hurry with water. I shouldn’t have eaten those pretzels this morning. They make me too thirsty all day.”
“You wouldn’t happen to have a change of clothes in your purse?” He glanced at her small handbag.
“Not unless I’m carrying around a bikini top for a just-in-case swim. Nothing fits in this thing.” She waved the green hand-sized designer bag. “Emma said I needed something more hip than my usual and lent it to me, but I can’t even get my wallet in here. It’s a useless piece of fashion.” She fanned her shirt in front of the mirror again. “I can’t go to the luncheon looking like this.”
“You have to be there. I’d give you my shirt, but—”
“Let’s do that,” she said sarcastically. “Then you can distract them with your naked chest. Everyone already thinks you’re eccentric. This’ll confirm you’re slightly insane. The ladies would sigh and drool. I could spend the entire time trying to explain how I ended up in your shirt, yet we’re still definitelynotdating, while Jake has a stroke. Yeah, great plan.”
“Too bad Emma isn’t here today. You could change clothes with her. No paper towels in here.” He clicked on the hand dryer and waved her over.
“You’ve got to be kidding.” She crossed her arms.
He shrugged.
“Fine.” She knelt below the pointed-downward air dryer and held out her shirt while it blew. “This is so freaking cold. Don’t you dare look.”
He bit his lower lip, but a laugh escaped. The show from his perspective was pretty damned good.
