Page 50 of Don't Game Me
“I care about you.” He leaned forward and wrapped her hands in his large grip. “There’s only one option in all this.”
“All right.” No clue to what he referred.
“Great. You agree, then.” He relaxed. “Because we both needed this to work off what had been building between us. Once the sun comes up, things can go back to normal with us arguing and evading each other. This thing between us will be over, and no one else will ever suspect we, you know, had this night.”
She almost nodded agreement because she was so entrenched in her fantasy of them naked in the kitchen. Then his words sank in. Dread cooled her skin. “What?”
“We can have a bit more of a great time. Then, go back to normal.”
“Normal?”
“Yeah.” He smiled as if relieved.
A numb feeling seeped into her skull. Normal should be good. Once he found out what had been done to his system, put two and two together, he’d hate her. But the woman in her who, apparently, had read far more into their evening than she should’ve was offended. The part of her struggling to stay alive and not have a mental breakdown urged her to avoid the fight and leave.
He leaned toward her to place a soft kiss on her lips with a smile, a gesture so seemingly gentle and caring. His mouth moved down her neck, placing small kisses.
He was trying to put her into the same box he did every other woman in his life. Short-term, no emotional investment, and fleeting. Now he probably planned some smoking hot good-bye sex, and then he’d magically move on to the next girl.
Her brain seesawed. Hot sex might distract her from reality. Dignity demanded she fight, even though they didn’t have a future.
Whatever they’d shared last night had been unique. Special. She’d never connected with a man like she did with Jake, and not just sexually. Perhaps he hadn’t connected. Maybe he was just talented in bed, like everyone said. She was the next dippy one-nighter overwhelmed by his skills. Her chest stung like someone ripped it open and a poured alcohol in there.
Damn it, she had far more feelings for this man than she realized. Or wanted. That was a lie. She’d known. She hadn’t wanted to recognize it might lead to this moment with her all in emotionally, and him not so much.
She deserved this pain for hacking his system.
“Back to normal? Fine.” She stood straight and took a step away from him, balling her fist to avoid slapping him. “If you want to live up to your reputation as a one-night man, then so be it. Last night was okay. But we’re not doing it again.”
He stood and stepped close to her. “It was way more than okay. I’m not saying you have to go right now. Only that we can’t have more than this night, because Noah would kill me if he knew.”
“How do you know what Noah would or would not approve of?” His blank look communicated a chasm of fear he wasn’t willing to cross for her. Okay, that hurt more than anything else. “I don’t care what Noah thinks. I don’t need his stamp of approval on who I sleep with. But have it your way. The easy way. It happened. Now it’s over.”
She stalked into the television area and grabbed her discarded dress and purse. Then she headed to the bedroom and ripped off the borrowed shirt, slightly mollified by the sound of buttons hitting the hardwood floor. She yanked on her clothes but couldn’t find her thong. After a brief search, she gave up.
A glimpse in his bathroom mirror proved there was no fixing her morning-after shame. Stubble burn highlighted both cheeks. Her face was just a little too red. She’d have a devil of a time with makeup to mask this.
Jake stepped into her path before she made it to the front door. “Becca, I thought you understood.”
Her head dropped onto her chest. Shoving her personal freak fest to the periphery, she tried to focus on what was going on. “You’re right. This is best.” She placed her palm against his cheek gently. “I’m sorry. For everything. More sorry than you’ll ever know.”
He reached out for her arm as she stepped away, catching her as before she touched the doorknob. “What’re you talking about? You didn’t do anything wrong.”
She forced a smile. “I’m not one of your random one-night girls you need to soothe before you shove out the door. I’m walking out. We can never have thenormalyou want.We never hadnormalbefore. We’ll just move on. You do what you do best, which is run.” Softly, she added, “It’s better for you, anyways.”
That hadn’t gone as planned. It might’ve if he’d stuck to his plan, which had beennotto jump into bed with her. Jake wanted to run after her and make this right. Or at least figure out what the hell she’d been talking about.It’s better for you, anyways.It almost sounded like she was warning him off.
For the first time in his life, he didn’t have a premeditated next step. He didn’t know what to do to make it right. He didn’t know what he wanted from her other than her back here, smiling and in his bed. Did that mean he really wanted a tomorrow? And a next day? What was he supposed to do?
Come on, you always know.
The next step with a woman in the past always came to him as an obvious move, almost second nature for him. He knew exactly how everything would play out. Except with Becca.
It could be why was she the only woman who messed up his game. Actually, he had no game when it came to Becca. Years of experience and all of that knowledge amounted to exactly jack shit when it really mattered.
She mattered. To him. He didn’t want to be enemies with her, at least that was one small fact he recognized. Beyond that, he remained confused as hell.
How could he have messed up so badly?
