Page 87 of In The Game

Those warm eyes search mine, and I stare back without blinking. She looks away when the pizza arrives, and I’m half wishing they’d left it in the oven and burned it, to give me the extra time to gaze at her. She’s everything I want. I plate a slice and hand it to her before serving myself.

She checks the bottom of the crust and sticks out her bottom lip in a pout. “Ugh, golden brown. This is inedible. Is Banksy still making servers cry? Think we could get him to stop by?” She’s trying, but I’m still not ready to jest.

“Thank you for showing me all this, I needed it. I’d like to sit down and look through every photo with you and Arthur.”

Her chewing slows as she considers my request. “Sure. We could do that. Arthur likes watching his baby videos.”

Good.

“Tasty pizza,” she says, making small talk. She keeps her eyes down while chewing.

“What do you really want to say?” I ask.

She swallows. “Honestly?”

“Of course.”

“I’m thinking I’m out with a really attractive man I’m starting to like and I don’t want to spend it talking about our history and the mistakes we made. The guilt is coming off you in waves—our situation was fucked because of a force outside our control. I don’t blame you anymore, so let that shit go.” She takes another bite. “And—” More chewing. “This is our date night. You wanted to take me out and I’m here. So show me a good fucking time, Barrett Conway.”

It takes everything in me not to kiss her. My hand drops back to her thigh, and I squeeze her soft flesh, enjoying the way she squirms under my palm. I move to her inner thigh but don’t ease up.

She spreads her thighs a little wider. “What do you want to do after dinner?” she asks.

My lips curl into a sideways smile, and I take another bite of pizza while sliding my hand higher up her thigh.

“Tell me about your job.”

My fingers slither under the hem of her skirt. Her exhale is sexy as hell.

“My job,” she repeats. “Um…”

I work her flesh with my palm. God, it feels so good to touch her.

She parts her legs more, her thigh flush against mine. I’m so close. “Where do you work, Raleigh?” I tease.

“Method Marketing.”

“Tell me about your boss.”I hate that guy.

I brush the edge of her underwear, and her eyes close. Pulling my hand out from under her dress, she blinks open again. I look away and continue eating.

“Such a jerk,” she scolds with a grin. I do a poor job of concealing my amused smile. It’s nice to know she wanted it. “You know my boss. His name is Rob, I’ve been his executive assistant since, well, since I was pregnant.”

“He likes you.”

“I know.” She rolls her eyes.

“Has he ever made you feel unsafe or uncomfortable?” My voice is hard.

“Unsafe? No. Uncomfortable, meh.” She shrugs. That pisses me off. She says it so casually and raises the pizza to her mouth for another bite.

“You don’t have to work there.”

She practically cackles and has to cover her mouth because she’s struggling to chew and laugh at the same time.

“What’s so funny?”

“He pays me double what any other executive assistant at Method makes. Yeah, he’s a little flirty sometimes, but that job is what got Arthur and me out of a shitty apartment, and pays for an incredible daycare center, and puts food on the table. Besides, it gives me a chance to network with new companies and be involved with the creative departments, advertising is a passion of mine.”

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