Page 43 of Don't Game Me
The door to his private office sat ajar with the light on.Oh, shit.
He usually locked it whenever he had company, especially women. With a toss, the water bottles landed on the sofa. He dropped the popcorn on the marble coffee table so hard that it spilled everywhere. He didn’t care as he strode to his office.
Shit, shit, shit.
Becca found his shelves. His collection.
She touched one of his models. Her wide gaze met his. “Is this really an original vintage Boba Fett? And, that’s a 1970s original in-the-box Vader?”
“Yes.” His face couldn’t get hotter. To most, collecting toy paraphernalia at his age was juvenile.
She moved to his pride and glory. On bad days, one pretend fly around the room made him smile.
His breath hitched as her hands caressed the Millennium Falcon, both in reaction to fear the model might fall and shock she appreciated it.
“I always wanted one of these when I was little. An original, not one of the newer, cheaply made ones.” She faced him. “This collection is incredible. This ship is amazing. It’s not anything like the plastic models in stores these days. It almost feels metal.”
“It’s an original movie model. They used it to film scenes.”
“No way. Is this the ship you purchased after you and Noah won the programming competition back in college? Your first big win freshman year?”
He nodded. Okay, any girl who even recognized the authenticity of these items was too cool for words. Embarrassment fled. “It took me a long time to find all of these.”
“I’ll bet. eBay?”
“One of them. Hard to authenticate the items when buying online prior to purchase. The majority of these items are from private collectors and a few conventions.”
“Noah wanted an initial payment on a car after you guys won your first competition. He couldn’t believe you blew your money on a vintage toy.”
“It’s not a toy.”
She held up her hands. “Oh, I agree with you. I remember him saying something about not being able to drive a toy.”
She walked to the box labeled as Captain Phasma but had the figurine of Kylo Ren; an apparent packaging error placed the wrong villain in the box. “I heard about this marketing snafu. I can’t believe you got one.”
“Let’s watch the movie,” he said gruffly.
“Sure. Sorry to invade your space.” She touched the Millennium Falcon one more time. Chills coasted down his spine. “It’s an incredible collection.”
“Few have seen it other than Noah.”
“I bet he’s jealous.” As they exited the office, her cell phone beeped. She scrolled the screen and texted. “It’s Tori. She’s making sure I’m okay.”
“Did you tell her you’re here?”
“You don’t want her to tell Noah. He will be at your front door in a millisecond. If he got wind we were doingThe Hobbitwithout him, he’d be pissed, especially since Mom put down a no-Tori dictate until tomorrow night. If he were here, we wouldn’t know if he was chaperoning or taking advantage of your sound system.”
“Noah has a great sound system at his place. I know because I helped him install it last year. He might need the distraction tonight though.” If Noah were here, they’d stay in the no-touching zone. He clicked the remote to start the movie. The opening theme boomed around them.
She patted the seat next to her for him to sit. “Right now, I’m ready for some Bilbo and Thorin action. Noah can find his own entertainment.”
He stared at the spot she indicated on the sofa. Images of her naked flickered through his mind. Her tearing off his clothes. Her straddling him on this sofa.
No. Think of her as a sister.
That didn’t work. He didn’t have any siblings, and there was nothing sisterly in the way she’d just checked him out. Still, he sat, wedging the popcorn bowl between them on the suede sofa.
The movie riveted them for a half hour. She constantly chimed in with jokes or comments, which made him laugh to the point he added his own joking commentary. The popcorn bowl kept them safe. Separated. A whole person could fit between them. Yet, he wanted to wrap his arm around her and pull her tight to his side. He dug into the popcorn for a handful.
