Page 50 of Reckless Rival

“You will lose your mind tonight, and let’s hope you look as pretty as you do even after we are done here.” He scoffed.

“You’ve lost it.” She stood up to leave, even as she wondered how she would get back.

She had barely taken one step when she felt the tug, and before she knew it, she was right back where she was, this time, almost sitting in his lap. “You know very well what’s at stake. You’ll be a good partner tonight and do what it takes to make me happy.”

She pushed her body away from him. “I… I did not sign up for this, and I—”

He laughed like he couldn’t stop himself, and he stood up looking down at her, his eyes dancing at her. “The look on your face… just precious.” He shook his head. “You are so easy.”

“Stop it!” She was beyond angry and yet again she started to walk away from him only to be pulled back into his arms.

Rana held her immobile in his embrace, and her body went into a trance. Her mind wanted to fight, but every inch of her being wanted to be where she was. Overwhelmed by the new and powerful emotions, she stilled in his hold.

As if sensing the shift in her manner, he let her go, and she turned to look at him, her chest heaving, unable to even speak, let alone retaliate.

“Sorry, sweetness. I really need you tonight.” There was a sudden shift in his voice, and she knew it had to be another one of his never-ending taunts.

She remained silent, trying to put a hole in his face with her glare. “Then stop this nonsense.” She took a step toward him. “If you think you can blackmail me into sleeping with you, you’re mistaken.” She grit her teeth.

He held her angry gaze. “The party is about to get really interesting.”

“What?” She threw her hands up as he gestured for her to follow him to the group who had assembled.

She saw the other couples were now gathered around the firepit and were looking in their direction like they had been waiting for them to join them for hours when, in fact, it was probably a few minutes.

As if they were the cutest couple, he led her to the group by her hand. “Trust me when I say tonight will be awesome. As long as you are the cooperative girlfriend, so realistic, that you don’t need to put on a show after tonight.” His eyes sparkled. “Think about it.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “You are messing with me again.”

“After tonight, none of this act will be required. Trust me.” His tone was sincerely assuring.

She wanted to scream with joy and disbelief but contained it, not wanting to show him every one of her emotions. “What do I need to do?”

He looked toward the group. “The event organizer will tell everyone about the rules.”

Rules? For what?

“Listen up, folks, I know you’ve had a lot of fun competing in these prior couple games, but tonight is a different, yet special one,” the woman who seemed to be planning the event announced, and Nami’s ears perked up to catch every detail so she could get out of the deal with her rival.

The event organizer looked around the group and said, “This game is a combination of many different tasks you have to complete as a couple. After you finish the task and send us proof of completion from your phone with the location, you will get the next task. The couple to finish the tasks first has a surprise gift plus bragging rights!”

Rana leaned over and whispered, “And you don’t need to act anymore.”

“Piece of cake, we got this.” She laughed, and the group cheered in excitement.

The woman went on to finish her instructions for the game. “Before I give you your first task, one twist to spice up the game.”

The group cheered, and Nami picked up a wicked tone in the organizer’s voice. “To make this more interesting, you have to be very close to your partner throughout, and to make sure that happens…” she paused and looked at the couples, “… you will be handcuffed to your partner.”

“What the heck?” Her words were lost in the cheering that broke out, and she turned to look at her rival.

“Piece of cake, huh?” he taunted, and her stomach rolled in anticipation.

What in the world did she get pulled into?

Chapter 17

“Handcuffed?” It was a gasp lost in the crazy celebration around her. What were they all so excited about? It was only going to make it that much harder for her to win—them to win and get out of being anywhere close to him.

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