The Game

by Kira Blakely

  “No?” She dabbed at her lips with the now empty napkin and found herself wishing she had about two dozen more of the shrimp puffs. They were delicious but about as filling as air.

  “No. It was always about just doing something because I could. I love making stuff and making it work, too.”

  She twisted her napkin around, trying to spot a place to toss it. “Oh. Is that why you made that app?”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “No, I made that app because I was trying to get laid,” he said with a grin. “Hey, don’t look at me like that, I was a lot younger.”

  She frowned. “I thought that came out last year.”

  “Two years ago, now. But seriously we – Ashton and I – never considered that it might make money. We had no idea that it would make money. We were pretty broke back then, and so at first all that money was pretty scary.”

  “I didn’t know that,” she said. “But I can see where having that much money, suddenly, could be terrifying.”

  “Oh, it was terrifying,” he said softly. “I had a decent job by then, but it was entry level and it did not pay a whole hell of a lot. It paid a whole lot more than being a lawn jockey though, so that was something.”

  Jackson tucked the last bit of something into his mouth and ate it while she blinked and asked, “A lawn guy?’

  “Yeah, I pushed a mower for the rich folks over there in Briar Hills and other places on the west side. Talk about a shit job, especially in summer.”

  “I grew up on the west side.”

  He didn’t seem phased by that. “Maybe I cut your grass.”

  She shook her head. “Negative, because I was the lawn guy in our family.”

  The satisfaction she felt at the look of surprise on his face was gratifying. “Are you serious?”

  “My step…” she stopped. She had stopped calling Robert her father years ago, at least when she talked to other people about him. When she was around her family, she still referred to him as her father just to avoid the bullshit that would follow if she was heard saying something so disloyal. “My stepdad is a big believer in earning your way.”

  His eyes searched hers. “Those are some big yards out that way.”

  “We had a riding mower.” She wished she had never said that in the first place. The last thing she wanted to think about was her fucked up family. “Did you have a riding mower, or did you guys have push mowers?”

  Jackson said, “Oh, we had it all but I was the guy that pushed the push mower around. The trimmer, you know.”

  “Wow. That’s hard work.” Now she was genuinely interested. She had only ever spoken to Jackson in passing before, and she was actually enjoying speaking to him and having a decent conversation now. “How’d you get into what you do now?’

  “The usual way. First, I took extra classes while I was in high school, and then I went to college.”

  Laura appeared just then, her dark hair swirling around her shoulders. “Hey, there you are! You sort of vanished on me.”

  Hope said, “You were busy, and I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

  “Oh, you weren’t. “Laura’s eyes went from Jackson to Hope. “I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

  “No,” they both said in unison.

  Jackson said, “I think I better get out there and mingle a bit anyway. Good talking to you. Hope.”

  “You, too.”

  He nodded and walked away. Laura said, “He’s not a bad guy you know.”

  “I guess not if you like that type.” Hope grimaced. “All he cares about his money, and you know how I feel about guys like that.”

  But still, she could not keep her eyes from going back to his body as he walked into the crowd and then out of her range of vision.

  ***

  She circulated even though she did not feel like it. Nobody else was as interesting as Jackson, and most of the people she met were all too busy talking about their investments and their portfolios and the latest trendy charity. That she was a doctor was all she had time to say before she was being asked how lucrative a position that was, and when she said she was a research physician most people just sort of turned away with boredom written all over their faces.

  She was hungry to boot, and she was also seriously considering just sneaking out without saying goodbye to Laura who kept getting sucked into the crowd and dragged in the opposite direction of the one Hope kept ending up in.

  She was bored and hungry, and she had lost sight of Jackson long before. She headed down a hallway, meaning to grab her coat. She ended up in a small bathroom by mistake and turned around just in time to see Jackson coming in the door.

  He said, “Damn, you looking for the room they stuck our jackets in, too?”

  “Yeah, the guy said down here at the end of the hall, but I must have not seen the right door or something.’

  Jackson grinned. “Ditto. Those damn disappearing doors.”

  She laughed and walked toward the door, meaning to exit with him. Instead, she walked right into his arms.

  Their bodies collided with real force. Her breath stopped. Under those clothes, he was muscular and lean, and his arms were strong as steel. She sagged against him, her mouth opening slightly as shock and desire ran through her body.

  His mouth came down on hers, and she shuddered. Her lips parted, and she gasped hard as his tongue found its way into her mouth. The kiss was slow and deliberate. It was incredible and thrilling, and her body reacted to that kiss by going limp against his.

  His hands went down her back. Her hands grabbed his shoulders and held on for dear life as the kiss lengthened and deepened. Her eyes closed.

  This was stupid. She knew it was stupid. It was the dumbest thing she had ever done, but there she was, kissing Jackson in a bathroom at a party where they were likely to get caught at any second by someone else looking for the room where the coats were stored.

  His hardness poked into her lower body. She felt the urgent press of it against her belly, and her core sent fluid spilling into her silky panties, making the crotch of them sticky and damp. Her hands moved to his chest, feeling the muscular breadth of it through his shirt and the urgent thrum of his heartbeat just below.

  “We can’t do this,” he muttered.

  “I know,” she breathed back.

  Jackson muttered, “I meant we have to close the door. We can’t do this with it open.”

  “Then close it,” she groaned.

  Forget that it was stupid. Forget that it was dangerous. All she cared about was the thrust of his hips against hers.

  He kicked the door shut and walked them backward. He fumbled a hand up and locked the door. Then, he went back to kissing her while his hand went to her hair, fisting it tightly as he kissed her so deeply all her breath vanished deep down in her throat.

  Desire rode across her body in slow swells, and her nipples stiffened and tightened, pressing against the fabric of the dress as his hand found the zipper on the side and released the dress from her narrow shoulders.

  Her hand slid between them, and she found the bulge in his slacks. Her fingers wandered over the plump and chubby outline there, and his dick pulsed in her hand, growing more heated and thicker. Her low groan was cut off and muffled by his mouth, and her feet came out of her shoes as he lifted her off the floor and carried her to the long vanity.

  Her panties came off with a quick jerk. His mouth found her nipples. Hope’s head fell back, and her fingers dug into his scalp as she wriggled, trying to get a better perch on the slippery granite that topped the vanity.

  Her feet banged against the outer doors of the cabinet as he let his fingers find her slippery and soaked lips and then her swollen and pulsing clit. He rubbed her clit hard, and she whimpered, her toes digging into the sides of his legs as she tried to get him closer, tried to pull him into her body.

  His hand went to his pocket of his slacks. He found his wallet and then a condom.

  He fumbled, and she took it and began to unfu
rl it as he continued to work her clit, manipulating it until she was shivering and shaking, and very close to coming.

  He entered her just as she did begin to come. His fingers stayed on her clit. His powerful hips plunged back and forth as he fucked her hard, while her walls fluttered and opened around his thick and pounding staff.

  Trying to be quiet was hard. Hope wanted to cry out, to shout her pleasure into the room, but his mouth was back on hers, and she was left breathless and dizzy by the force of his thrust and kisses as he pounded into her again and again.

  It was so good. So damn good, and all she wanted was to feel him deep inside her all night long, but he was moving faster, his breath coming in and out of his mouth and into hers in a pattern that told her he was very close to coming, too.

  He did. His body went rigid, and he ground his teeth together so hard she heard his molars squeaking. He shuddered a few times, and she felt his cock twitching as he shot a load of hot and creamy come into the condom.

  They had to take a few minutes. Jackson braced himself on the counter, his palms flattened on either side of her hips, and his face buried in her chest. He finally backed away. He said, “I have to say that was the highlight of my night.”

  Her desire crashed to the ground. Damn it, why had she done this?

  Because he had turned her on so much, and it had been a while since she had had sex.

  Hope hopped off the counter and frantically began to gather her clothes. His words had been like a stream of cold water, and she dressed hastily, not speaking as he flushed the condom and handed over her shoes.

  She slid them on. They looked at each other. Jackson said, “I know I am supposed to say something right now, but you look either really pissed off or I am imagining you look pissed off and I don’t know how to react to that.”

  “I am pissed off, but not at you.” She peered in the mirror and sighed at the mess her hair was in. She managed to rake her fingers through it until it attained some semblance of order. As she did so, she said, “I mean who does this kind of thing? For real. It’s a party for my best friend, and I just hooked up in the bathroom. It’s a pretty shady thing to do.”

  Jackson said, “I don’t think it’s shady.”

  “You’re a guy,” she retorted. Then she softened. “I’m sorry. It’s just that, well this is not really something I would do under normal circumstances.”

  “I can see that.” His smile was kind. “Look, I won’t lie. I liked talking to you tonight, and this…well…I wish it had happened under different circumstances, but now that it has happened I can’t say that I am sorry about it.”

  “Oh, I am not sorry, I just…” She just felt a little vulnerable. That often happened after sex. She loved sex, but sex that did not have intimacy attached to it – sex like she had just had – often left her feeling insecure and remorseful. “It was just a little unexpected.”

  “I can agree with that.” He grabbed a can of freshener off the back of the toilet and gave the room a quick and discreet spray.

  He asked, “Who should leave first?’

  “Um…”

  “I will.” He smiled. “I will let you know if the coast is clear.”

  She gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  He went out, and then he stuck his head back in and hissed, “Come on.”

  She exited hastily. They found the door out, and then they found the door to the room where their jackets and Hope’s purse were. They got their things and made their escape. They ended up on the street, waiting for the valets to bring their cars.

  Jackson shoved his hands in his pockets and said, “So, how about giving me your number?”

  “Give you my number?” she parroted. She blinked a few times. Was he serious? He wanted to see her again?

  “Or not. I could give you mine, if you would rather.’

  She would rather forget the whole thing. The last thing she had time for right now was a guy. Her grant was running out, and she had to convince the board to give her more money or shut down the lab, and that would mean she would have to find a job and an apartment and everything else.

  A man was a complication she did not have the time or the energy to deal with. She said, “I am so sorry, but I have a lot on my plate right now. A whole lot. I mean, like you would not believe how much. And I don’t date right now, because…well, because I just do not have time.”

  “I see.”

  She rushed on. “I mean, I do not want to lead you on or anything.”

  “I can see that.” His tone was dry, and she could not tell if he was deflecting hurt or just speaking.

  Before she could say anything else, their cars arrived. Deciding the better part of valor – and the easiest way to avoid a prolonged walk of shame – was retreat, Hope ran to her car, jumped in and drove off quickly.

  3

  HE HAD JUST OPENED his mouth to say, “You could call me whenever you have a free moment,” when Hope made a mad dash for her car, damn near breaking her neck to get into it.

  Jackson gawked as she practically tossed the valet out of her way, tossed a bill at him, and hopped in the car before peeling out.

  The valet who had been about to hand Jackson his keys said, “Dude, that was a major strike out. I mean, I can smell the flames from over here.”

  “Yeah, I never had one run from me like that before.”

  The valet made a face and shrugged. Jackson handed him a fifty and took his keys. He got in the car and started home, thinking hard.

  Jackson knew that hooking up with Hope was a mistake. That was one woman who could run circles around him in every way.

  She came from a wealthy family, that was the first thing. She was terrifyingly intelligent – which just made her even hotter as far as he was concerned – and she was totally absorbed by her job. That was the biggest reason not to get mixed up with her.

  Hope was married to her job. That was no joke. She was dead serious about her work, and she was not willing to let it take a back seat to anything.

  He had known how much he wanted her from the moment that he had seen her, but what he had not counted on was how much he would want her after that steaming clinch in the bathroom.

  He had been stupid enough to think that he could hit it and quit it, but Hope was unlike any woman he had known in his life. Hope was the kind of woman who would walk all over the heart he had always taken such pains to protect.

  Of course he was careful with his heart. He’d grown up in a rough part of town with two parents who hated each other as much as they loved to party. The only reasons they had ever had to stay together were drugs and him. They blamed him for their being a couple, of course.

  He didn’t need a relationship to make him miserable, and that much was certain. He’d busted his ass to make his own mark on the world and now that he had, he was enjoying that newfound freedom that money brought and using that money to really support his first love and dreams.

  He was a gamer geek. Despite his masculine body and love of high-octane activities, he was never happier when he was playing or creating video games.

  And Hope had made it very clear that she thought he was wasting his time, intellect, and talent on video games.

  Never mind that it was the business to be in if you wanted to make money. She actually seemed to dislike the thought of making a lot of money.

  She had run away so fast it was like she was afraid of him, too!

  As Jackson drove home, he made himself one promise: he was not going to even think about tonight. Or Hope.

  He did not need that kind of drama in his life, and he had zero need for a woman who had just behaved like he had offered her a dose of poison instead of his phone number, either.

  He had a feeling that that was going to prove to be something easier said than done.

  4

  “ARE YOU OKAY?” CLARA ASKED.

  Hope smiled at her half-sister. The two of them had always been as different as
night and day. Clara was a hedge fund manager, one of the few women in the field her age, and she was beyond driven. Hope was also driven, but where Hope’s ambition lay in helping others, Clara’s lay in becoming rich and successful.

  They were even opposite in looks. Clara had long, curly, auburn hair that hung around a pale face and sharp, green eyes. Both Hope and Clara looked like their fathers, and nothing like their shared mother.

  “Yeah, why?” Hope said.

  Clara poked a fork into the pile of salad greens and chopped chicken breast on her plate. “Because you ordered pork carnitas and a side of fries. That’s some serious comfort food there.”

  Hope plunked a fry into ketchup and then popped it into her mouth. She chewed, swallowed, and said, “I had a bad week at work.”

  “Oh?” Clara sipped at her mineral water, her eyes searching Hope’s face over the rim of the glass. “How so?”

  Damn. She’d just said that because it was the first thing that had come to her mind. The truth was that the steamy tryst with Jackson had done something to her, something she could not explain.

  Jackson was the last guy she needed around, and yet she found herself thinking about him a lot and wishing he was not such a player. He’d made it really clear he was not willing or ready for anything serious, and she damn sure wasn’t, so why was she wishing she had gotten his number and maybe texted him or something?

  “Hello? Earth to Hope.”

  Hope blinked. “Sorry. I was just gathering my thoughts. It’s work, you know. All the usual things. I need to find a way to really impress the research grant boards, but I don’t have a lot to offer them, and I am getting worried about my funding.”

  Clara’s smooth forehead crimped. “You still aren’t willing to try for investment funding?”

  “No.” The suggestion, as always, made Hope cringe. Investment funding was not the route she wanted to go, because if she did, then her research would belong to whatever pharmaceutical company she had bartered her soul to, and there was no guarantee they would make any treatment she managed to come up with affordable to most the world.