Page 8 of Don't Game Me
He’d endured enough shrink sessions to know his problem stemmed from his abusive shit of an alcoholic father and his mom who wouldn’t leave the bastard because she loved him. This wasn’t an epiphany. What sucked was that thousands of dollars later, he still resented his father.
Becca didn’t bore him. That was a problem.
Jake was the numbers guy and the closer in the computer gaming company he ran with Noah. He was the one who reminded Noah of the costs, of the budget, and how much risk they could take on with each new project. He was also a pro at calculating odds, a holdover from childhood when he’d ponder things like if his mother would take back his cheating father again. That prospect usually held fifty-fifty odds. Right now, he calculated the odds of screwing up when it came to Becca Harrison at about ninety-seven to one. Because she wasn’t programmed to do sex without strings.
Get your eyes off her lips.
“You got stood up. I got stood up…it works,” she said.
“You and me at Noah’s wedding? As in going together and leaving together?”
His gaze slid over her curves. This woman was the full package. Smart to the point of intimidating, even to him, who dealt with computer geniuses daily. Becca understood stuff faster and took it to the next level. He’d been awed several times by her over the years. Aside from brains, she was devastatingly feminine…beautiful, but not in the fake, made-up way. Cosmetics lightly highlighted her face just enough to bring out the gray-blue of her eyes. And curves in all the right places.
No, no, no. Strictly off limits. He couldn’t…not with his best friend’s sister. That was Guy Code 101. Even if it weren’t, it wouldn’t be fair to her, given his relationship longevity potential registered in the negatives. “Do you need a ride to the wedding?”
“I need a date. I’d like to go with you.”
“Is this about some sort of blow to your ego after being stood up?”
“No. I already knew that guy and I weren’t going to work.” She pushed her long auburn-highlighted hair over a shoulder in a flirty move that drew attention to her delicate neck.
“You don’t need a date this weekend, and a weekend hookup isn’t your style.”
“How would you know what’s my style?” She arched a shapely eyebrow. “You don’t think I cut it in the sexy department enough to be your date?”
Didn’t cut it? Her dancing around a discussion of them doing an after-wedding night turned him on. Everything from her curvy body to her pink mouth with the deep indent on the lower lip tempted him. Drove him nuts. He’d imagined kissing up her long, smooth neck far too many times over the past few years. But he’d kept her at a distance. She hadLong-Term Relationshipstamped across her forehead, something he couldn’t offer her. The guy who stood her up was bona fide stupid.
“What’s your plan? Are we talking you need a date for both the rehearsal and wedding? Or just wedding?” He wasn’t considering this ridiculous venture, was he?
Jake moved a step closer, drawn by the faint hint of floral perfume unique to her. Something shifted in his chest. Something beyond attraction. He found himself riveted by everything that was Becca.
She chewed on her lip, which had him shifting to accommodate his erection. “Two dates. With you?” She smiled. “Sounds like fun.”
Who was this temptress?
The body scan she subjected him to, and his body’s answeringhell yes, made being in this room with her dangerous. He’d wanted her from the moment Noah introduced them during his junior year at MIT when Becca was in her senior year in high school. But he didn’t hook up with underage girls. That totally wasn’t his thing. And Becca had always been irritable toward him. Of course, he usually threw up a wall of defense the second she entered the room. Anything to throw her off suspecting how damned much he wanted her in bed.
Lust pulsed through his body. A small part of his brain fired off a warning. But as her gaze moved from his lips to his eyes, his heart rate tripled. If they kissed, there was a 90 percent probability they’d end up on that small sofa or the bed. “We can’t. This is a bad idea.”
“Maybe it is.” She moved closer. His body charged straight into an out-of-control spiral of need.
Her lips parted. Her tongue darted out to wet them.
Out of reflex, his arm went around her waist, pulling her close. She relaxed against him.
He couldn’t breathe as her perfect breasts pressed against the thin fabric of his shirt.
Her lashes fluttered shut.
She expected him to kiss her.Nope. Can’t do it.
Willpower to ignore the one thing he wanted most but had been denied for years failed. He leaned in but kept his mouth closed, chaste. His eyes stayed open.
Doing good. Brain alert. No screwing up and taking this to the next level.
One chaste kiss and then he was calling this a mistake. They weren’t going on a date. And he sure as hell wasn’t setting her up with someone else.
She tugged on his neck, pulling their mouths flush. Her tongue flicked across his bottom lip. Oh, he liked that. His hands fisted the waistband of her jeans as he fought a titanic moral battle in his brain.
