Played

by Colleen Charles

  “Hey.”

  I whirled around in my seat to see the guy leaning over his desk toward me. I frowned. The professor hadn’t come into the room yet, but I didn’t want to be the last person talking when he did. The professor scared the shit out of me.

  “What?”

  “Can I borrow a pen?”

  I tried not to roll my eyes. Even though college guys were technically men, they were still just like boys to me. Borrowing a pen was as lame as borrowing a cup of sugar. Even if this one in particular did have a cute face, he was probably just as clueless as the high-school senior he’d been only a couple years ago.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  I dug through my tote bag and passed the pen over to him. Our fingers met, and I noted with disappointment that the innocuous touch had been rendered sparkless. Nothing like touching Chase where electricity had ripped through my limbs as if I’d been holding a metal stake in a lightning storm. This guy’s hand just felt like warm skin.

  “Thanks,” the guy whispered. “I’m Nathan.” He grinned at me. “Nice to meet you, officially.”

  “Chastity,” I hissed under my breath, just as the professor walked into the room.

  I turned to face the chalkboard, noticing that Nathan was still staring at me with a smile plastered on his face. A whiff of chalk probably gave Nathan a boner.

  After class, Nathan handed the pen back over my shoulder and grazed his fingers against my neck.

  “Hey, Chastity,” he said casually. “You have dinner plans?”

  I rolled my eyes, thankful he couldn’t see them. Eye rolling had become an unwelcome habit brought on by my job. Since I couldn’t let my disgust leak into my voice, I expressed it by some overly dramatic facial expressions. “Well, since I can’t get into Daniel tonight…” I trailed off. At his horrified look, I rushed to fill the uncomfortable silence. Geez, did he need a written memo to explain some basic humor? “It was a joke.”

  Nathan laughed, but it sounded more like a pathetic snort. “Wanna grab a burger?” He raised his eyebrows. “I know a great place off campus.”

  I frowned. But what harm could it possibly do? And maybe an innocent distraction would get my mind off that damned billionaire.

  “Sure,” I said. “That’d be great.”

  Chapter Five

  Chastity

  After my last class, I met Nathan by the student union. Regret niggled at my stomach and threatened to slide up the back of my throat. Then, said stomach let out a ferocious growl, and I relented. How bad could it be to grab a burger with a classmate? The worst that could happen is a lagging conversation and periods of awkward silence. But, since I spent all my work time appeasing men and their massive egos, I’d become pretty adept at injecting spice into a boring conversation. Besides, I had a hearty appetite and a big cheeseburger with bacon and a fried egg sounded like what I needed.

  “So, you like Hunter?” Nathan asked as we walked side by side toward the diner.

  “Yeah, I do. I like how small it is.” Then, I added, “Makes me feel like kind of a little community within this huge city. Homey.”

  “I hate it,” Nathan said. He rolled his eyes. “I wish I’d gone to NYU. I couldn’t get a scholarship though.”

  I frowned. I always hated when people asked for my opinion, then took a shit on whatever I had to say. It was something I’d always found rude. When I was growing up, my mother’s constant stream of boyfriends all miraculously had that pissy trait in common.

  “Well, can you transfer?” I asked, wanting to humor him.

  “No,” Nathan said. “It’s too late. This is my last year.”

  I stared at him in shock. If I’d had to guess, I would never have put him at twenty-two with his baby face and lack of beard growth. Was he some kind of Doogie Howser boy wonder, graduating early? “I’m a senior too. What do you want to do after graduating?”

  Nathan shrugged. “No clue. Probably get a job with my dad. He owns a landscaping company in New Jersey. He likes the creative side more than the business side so he could use the help.”

  “Then why the hell did you need to go to NYU?” I bit my lip as soon as the words flew out of my mouth. “I’m sorry,” I rushed to compensate. “That was really rude.”

  To my surprise, Nathan laughed. “That’s exactly what my dad said,” he admitted. “Here, this way.”

  Nathan steered me into a divey-looking diner with red leatherette stools and a greasy wooden counter topped with clear Plexiglas. Without waiting for me, he hopped up on a stool and rapped the counter. I cringed – I hated when people were rude to service personnel. That action threw up a red flag so scarlet it could have enticed a bull to charge.

  “Two cheeseburgers, medium rare,” Nathan said to the server. “And a diet Coke.” He turned to me. “You want anything to drink?”

  I scrunched my nose into a tiny ball to avoid throat punching him. “I’d like bacon on my burger, please. And well-done. With ice water.”

  The pretty blonde server pursed her lips and wandered off. At first, I’d been grateful that the diner had been mostly empty but now awkwardness had rolled into intrude upon this date. I could already tell Nathan wasn’t someone I’d want to see again. Chase’s face floated through my brain. His masculine energy and take charge attitude. Even with that alpha-male mystique, he would never have ordered for me. Even though I didn’t know him, I knew that just by being with him such a short time. I’d never felt disrespected by him, even during our raunchy phone call. And he’d called me out on my shit, demanding to know my real name. Keeping it real when he could throw so much money at anything he wanted he could buy bullshit twenty times over.

  Nathan took the silence between us as an excuse to start telling me about his favorite hobby. Call of Duty. I managed to avoid falling asleep by nodding my head and making the occasional grunt, which I guess he took to mean that I found the topic exciting.

  Our food came, and I dug in, eager for the chance to fill my mouth with something other than a hundred possible insults to hurl at Nathan.

  “And just like I was saying,” Nathan continued, his mouth full of half-masticated pink beef. “It’s all about the aim. Not everyone can be as great at Call of Duty as I am, it really takes some practice.” I cringed as I felt a damp crumb land on my cheek. “That’s all it is,” Nathan repeated, taking another huge bite of his burger. I didn’t even like the way he chewed. “Practice, and a natural gift.”

  “And I bet you have that gift,” I said in my best droll voice, the sarcasm lost on him, setting my burger down on the plate. It sank into a pool of congealing grease and red juice. “I bet you’re the master of Call of Duty. I’m sure no one in the city can even think about topping you.”

  My stomach churned with disgust as Nathan’s head bobbed up and down. “That’s it,” he cried. Of course, with a mouth full of food, his words weren’t really discernable.

  I blinked. “Right,” I said, drawing the syllable out into a long drawl. He still didn’t get it.

  Nathan didn’t make any more misguided attempts at conversation. He ate the rest of his burger in near silence, punctuating the air with slurping noises and gulps. I bet if I bummed a ride in Dr. Emmett Brown’s Delorean and beamed myself back to the ice age, I’d find a whole tribe of Nathans.

  When the check came, Nathan grabbed it and frowned, lips moving as he did the math in his head like some kind of pocket protector wearing human calculator. “You owe six dollars and fifty-seven cents,” he said as he shoved the piece of paper toward me. “It’s accurate down to the penny. Do you have cash?”

  I slumped down on my stool and inhaled a cleansing breath before I went bat-shit cray-cray all over his ass.

  “Yeah,” I muttered after a deliberate second. “I have cash.”

  On the walk home, Nathan tried charming me with a dissertation on Enchantress from Suicide Squad. If only I was in possession of a brown paper bag, I could vomit into it. I was beyond irked at that point, though – whatever happen
ed to treating a girl to a cheap burger at a dive bar when you asked her out. Manners. He had zero. Like he’d been born in a barn and raised on cowpies. Especially after he’d forced me to sit through that grotesque display at the table. An unpleasant little thought flashed through my head.

  I bet Chase wouldn’t be that clueless with a woman. He’d know how to wine and dine me.

  “Negative, Ghostrider,” I muttered under my breath, letting that thought float away on the breeze.

  “Alright?” Nathan asked as we approached my building, and I stop in front of the door. “Is this you? Why are you so lost in thought?”

  I grimaced. “I think I have indigestion.” The lie tumbled out of my mouth without any effort. I’d give anything to have the guts to tell him the truth and let him know what I really thought of him. But unlike Nathan, I hadn’t stooped to his level. The gutter. I settled for a veiled insult coming from my passive aggressive best. “That place was pretty gross.”

  Nathan looked wounded – almost as if I’d insulted him personally instead of the bar. “I like it,” he said, sniffing the air. “Besides, you said you don’t get out much. What do you like to do in New York?”

  I looked to the side, distracted by something huge and shiny. My stomach sank to somewhere on the level of the chipped and dirty concrete. Inhaling a cleansing breath wasn’t going to work on this one. A sleek town car hugged the curb. Beautiful but distinctly out of place. And I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew who that luxury car belonged to, after all, I’d given Diego my address last night before I bailed. Although the windows were tinted darker than a midnight sky, I had the sinking feeling that he sat inside, watching me.

  Nathan turned, his gaze drawn to the car by my staring. And gaping. He let out a wolf whistle. I had to chuckle – in Crown Heights, it looked about as out of place as lipstick on a pig.

  “Who do you think is in there?” Nathan craned his neck, trying to peer through the glass. “A celebrity?”

  I grabbed his hand and quickly tugged him toward the door of my apartment building. As we approached the glass door, Nathan looked up at me, a smile curving his greasy lips.

  “No.”

  “Can I come up?” Nathan raised his eyebrows, and I quashed the urge to smack him. “Man, I wasn’t expecting this on the first date.”

  I shook my head quickly, one eye still on the limousine. It hadn’t moved, and I had the funniest feeling that Chase would emerge at any second – perhaps even before I had time to send Nathan packing.

  “Sorry, I have a ton of work to do,” I said in a rush, wincing at the awkward delivery. My heart pounded against my chest wall but not because of Nathan. Because of the man who had yet to make an appearance. My words weren’t technically a lie, but I would have spit on my mother’s grave with ten kinds of blasphemy to get rid of Nathan.

  Sorry, I have to take my pet hedgehog for a walk. Sorry, the upstairs neighbor’s alligator got loose again. Sorry, I’d rather pull out one of my teeth with a pair of pliers then spend another second alone with you anywhere.

  Nathan nodded. He leaned down with his lips puckered. I swerved and looked to the side as quickly as I could. Nathan’s lips landed on my hair, and I pulled away after a loose and awkward hug, shoving the messy strands behind my ears.

  “Bye!” I said enthusiastically, desperately hoping he would take the hint and leave.

  For a moment, he stared at me, and I wondered for the millionth time that day why I’d agreed to go out with him at all. Because I was trying to chase away the inappropriate thought of someone else. After a long pause where I held my breath, he turned heel and skulked away, muttering something under his breath about how he hates women for being teases.

  Something touched my shoulder, and I jumped a few inches at the sound of my own voice shrieking a startled and strangled moan.

  “Are you always this jumpy in the afternoon?” a smooth, sexy voice drawled near my ear.

  Oh, god. That voice. The only one that had ever set my blood to racing at the same time my panties melted. Why did he have to show up today just in time to witness my only date in months end in humiliation?

  I took a deep breath and turned around to face Chase, knowing that my cheeks were flushed and damp. I could feel tendrils of hair had escaped my pony and hovered near my ears, tickling me. I tamped down the urge to raise my hands and tuck them behind my ears. No. He wasn’t going to know how discombobulated he made me.

  “Not at all,” I said, trying to keep my voice as level as I possibly could. “It’s only because you startled me. In this neighborhood, someone coming upon a woman out of nowhere usually ends in a felony.”

  Chase grinned – that million dollar smile – and pointed to the limo. “I didn’t exactly think I was being discreet,” he said. “And who was that strapping young man accompanying you home?” He raised an eyebrow and smirked. My cheeks grew even warmer, and I stamped my foot on the ground.

  “A friend,” I said between gritted teeth. How dare he ask about Nathan? “Just someone from school.”

  “Ah, just someone from school,” Chase parroted. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend?”

  “Because I don’t. Not that it’s any of your business.”

  “Touchy much?” He winked at me, and I swallowed. There was a knot of arousal in my lower belly that felt like it was going to launch me into the stratosphere of unrequited lust if I didn’t watch every move I made. “Well, then. I should let you get back to it. I’m sure you have oodles of studying to do.”

  Even though his words dripped sarcasm and innuendo, I tossed my hair over my shoulder and stood up straight.

  “Actually, I do. I have so much studying it would give Albert Einstein a boner.”

  There was a pause. Chase licked his smirking lips, and I couldn’t help but stare at his luscious mouth.

  What would if feel like if he kissed me?

  Stop. It.

  “Look,” Chase said while I stomped my sneakered foot on the cement in a feeble attempt to calm my racing hormones. “I’ll level with you, all right? I think you’ve got great people skills. Even when you’re flustered, you still sound more polished than half of the unqualified, rich, bratty interns that I work with. I’d like to offer you an internship at Banks Realty. Working for me.”

  Holy mother of God. Seeing him every day? Being in the same room with him every day? No fucking way. I’d rather talk dirty to perverts for all eternity while they bleed the weed to the sound of my voice.

  Instead of articulating it, I just shook my head.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I already have a job, Mr. Bradenton. A good one. One that I need to be able to make the rent.”

  And you rich bastards would never understand that. Which is why you are currently saddled with your line-up of lazy interns because they’re the only group of college aged kids that can afford to work for experience in lieu of a salary. A small bubble of resentment rose in my throat, choking out any budding desire I’d felt for him. My blood cooled to the temperature of a freeze pop.

  I hated the way college students were expected to carry a full class load along with what basically amounted to unpaid slave labor. It was a total scam – only the rich kids could afford to work for free – and yet if you didn’t have one on your resume, no one took you seriously when you had your degree in hand and were ready to pound the pavement in search of a career. I would have loved to take an internship with Banks Realty – that was the kind of thing that would really make me stand out when I finally graduated. But there was just no way I could do it for free.

  “If you’re worried about money, it’s not unpaid,” Chase said in his voice of honey and empty promises. He pursed his lips and looked up at the sky, muttering under his breath in a sing-song voice. “I haven’t exactly worked out the details yet, but I think we could offer you somewhere along the lines of fifty.”

  My heart leaped in my chest, and I sputtered before I questioned him. I could make more than t
hat in one three-hour shift at a diner. “Fifty dollars a week? I make far more than that right now.”

  He chuckled and shook his head. His expensive Italian loafer ground an old cigarette butt into the pavement and then his piercing eyes speared mine with a knowing look. “Fifty thousand. A year.”

  My jaw dropped so fast it must have looked like a cartoon scene where the hinges dislocate and the bottom teeth hit the ground. Young adults with honors and an MBA didn’t come out of college making that. “What did you just say? If it was fifty thousand, that’s not even funny.”

  “Definitely not,” he said, voice steady. “I don’t kid, Chastity.”

  He raised one eyebrow at me, and I shivered. The feel of his eyes on me was too much. It made me feel indecent somehow, exposed, like I shouldn’t be standing before him in my jeans, t-shirt, and beat-up sneakers. Underneath I had on white cotton panties and a plain, white bra. I felt naked, completely stripped down as if he had x-ray vision and could see right through the cheap bargain store cotton clear to my soul. The one that felt nothing short of inadequate in his presence. Why was he toying with me this way? He had to have an ulterior motive. Guys like him liked to play games. Well, I wouldn’t be his latest pawn.

  “Bully for you,” I said, pursing my lips. I wanted to say no – I wanted to tell him to take that internship and shove it up his well-sculpted, perfect, toned ass. The unfortunate facts told me that his offer was more than twice what I brought home as a phone sex operator. Damn and double damn. Now I faced the moment of truth. Would I cut off my nose to spite my face or tamp down my foolish pride and go for it?

  “Chastity,” Chase said, his voice warm, amused and dripping with sugary honey. “I’m not offering you a job as a ploy to get into your pants, if that’s what you’re concerned about. I’m merely interested in what you could bring to the sales department at Banks. You have a unique way with … words.”