Page 18 of Off Her Game
4
Why couldn’t this be a real date?
Because Noah Harrison would never go out with someone like me.
Noah hot, bothered, and naughty one moment, to stumbling all over his words, to saying the wrong thing, to caring and sweet the next rattled Tori.
The man could kiss. Fake date or not, the spark she’d felt in the police station wasn’t a fluke.
Oh boy. She was in trouble.
Half a glass of wine and a string of meaningless chitchat later, she reminded herself to slow down on the alcohol.You’re on the road to getting wasted.Didn’t sound bad, though. Then maybe she’d forget this whole night. The smooth white wine Noah chose floated down her throat without the normal aftertaste she associated with wine. The bottle cost more than she made in a week. Of course, given her current negative income situation anything on the menu cost more than her weekly income.
She nodded in the direction of the storage closet. “I don’t know what happened in there. I’m sorry. It’s been well over a year since my boyfriend decided monogamy wasn’t his thing…” She clapped her hand over her mouth. Damn alcohol. She had no tolerance.
“You’ve kept that fire pent up for a year?” His eyes sparkled.
Her cheeks burned. “You’re really good at this pretending to be into each other thing.”
His eyebrows rose.
Was he pretending? Oh God. Maybe he wasn’t? The desire etched into his face did crazy things to her insides. Her eyes locked on to his, unable to break free from his mesmerizing intensity. “We need a topic change because this is messing with my head. We’ve got to stay on game here. Pretend, remember? Tell me something about yourself.”
He swirled his wine and stared at the rivulets of liquid as they slid down the inside of the glass. “I’m blind without glasses or contacts. My glasses in grade school used to be a half-inch thick. How about you?”
“Twenty-twenty.” She laughed when he fake glowered. “Oh, you wanted to hear something personal. All right. I’m addicted to eighties horror movies. No one can beatJasonorThe Crypt Keeper.”
“They are pretty cheesy. I’m partial to early Stephen King films.”
She got a sixth sense of someone staring at her. Behind Noah, a group of men leaned in around a phone, casting furtive glances Noah’s way. Laughter broke out.
She stiffened. Had to be the John guy Noah worried about running into.
“Did you hear me?” Noah asked.
“What? Sorry.” She double blinked at him.
“He’s behind me, isn’t he? John Wilton.”
“I haven’t met him so couldn’t be sure, but I think the guys at that table know you from somewhere.”
Noah cranked around. “Shit. It’s him.”
Tori’s forehead furrowed. “You okay?”
No.This was high school all over again. Feeling humiliated to the point he wished the floor would swallow him whole. He hated it.
Years of therapy meant he should be over this. All those awful sessions hadn’t done one iota of good, not when faced with the person who’d exploded his life by shooting a video of a prank gone wrong.
She fiddled with the hoops on her ear, something he noticed she did when agitated. “Why don’t you go over there and tell them all to go to hell? You’re a god in the gaming world. You’re a self-made millionaire, maybe billionaire, wildly successful, and hot as hell. Why should a video of something that wasn’t your fault continue to bother you?”
“Naked Chicken Boy had six million hits within three months.” When it popped up in his Twitter feed a few months ago he’d spilled coffee all over his keyboard.
“So you were an internet sensation years ago.” She chewed on her lower lip.
“You think I’m hot?”
Her cheeks flushed. “You know you’re hot. You’re also pretty good at kissing, which must come from years of practice because women probably throw themselves at you all the time. Hell, I was one of those women, wasn’t I?”
