Getting Tricky

by Scarlett Finn

  “Trick,” Sadie murmured.

  He didn’t even have to look at his friend or at the list to know whose name was next to his. “Let me guess, I’m spending some time with my lovely wife this evening.”

  Sadie touched his arm again. “If you can read maps with Kira, you can scavenge with Lyla.”

  Growling, he quickly downed his drink. Yep, he wasn’t going to make a big deal about this and damn him, but he wasn’t going to embarrass Lyla by refusing to participate with her.

  “Grab me a list,” he said and turned around to stalk through the crowd.

  This was the band-aid moment; he had to just do it. Rip it off fast and breathe through the pain.

  Swiping a couple of handfuls of miniatures from the barrel he passed, he opened one and downed it fast. He expected it would take him a while to find her because she’d be moving around looking for him too. Instead, the crowd cleared and he saw her there about twenty feet away, her head tipped all the way back and her arms folded.

  Angled away from him, she didn’t see him and he slowed. This was kind of like the day in the canteen; she was at the same angle then when he’d walked up and grabbed her ass.

  Hell. Why not?

  Striding over, Trick increased his swagger before he slapped his hand on her tight butt and squeezed her hard. Funny thing was, she didn’t even react, didn’t look at him, didn’t squawk or chastise him, she kept her eyes on the Hulk who didn’t seem to be going anywhere fast.

  “Hi, honey,” he said and ducked to kiss her cheek.

  Still nothing.

  What the hell?

  “Well can you check for me?” Lyla asked the Hulk, her focus on him was complete.

  Trick couldn’t figure her mood, she wasn’t looking at this Hulk guy like she adored him, but she wasn’t pissed off either, she was just, there.

  “Ly—”

  “One way or the other, I have to know, Ivan,” she said.

  “I can’t leave you alone,” Ivan said, and eyed him.

  Good, at least he was getting a reaction from someone. Trick grinned. “I’d tell you that there’s nothing to worry about, but I guess she does have a history of screwing around,” he said. “But my dick stays in my pants, I swear it. God knows where her pussy has been in the last nine days… No offense, I’m sure you’re clean as a whistle, man… Not so sure about the last guy, so… check yourself, you know?”

  It felt so wrong, so revolting, to even suggest that Lyla might be unclean. This Ivan guy didn’t look too impressed. He glared for a minute then bowed and whispered something into Lyla’s ear that Trick didn’t hear.

  Her slow smile made Trick itch. She put a hand to Ivan’s chest and patted him gently as he eased back. “I promise,” she said to him and the pair made eye contact before Ivan turned around and walked away.

  “Sadie’s going to bring a list over to—”

  Turning, Lyla pinned icy eyes on him. “Touch me again and I’ll have you arrested.”

  What?

  What the hell?

  She was pissed at him? How the hell had that happened? “Wow, is your boyfriend the possessive type?” Letting his attention float in the direction Ivan had gone, he gave her a casual shrug. “Funny, I’d actually be scared if a bastard that size threatened to hit me. Thank God he leaves the threatening to you.”

  “It’s not a threat, Nairn. It’s me telling you that you do not have my permission to put your hands on me.”

  Who the hell was this woman? If he told himself to stick to his character, he stuck to it. He’d never been pulled from it against his will. When he’d been himself with her on camera, it had been a choice, just as it was to play with her character.

  But he couldn’t see her character now. She wasn’t doing what was necessary. As she folded her arms and looked away with that disdain all over her face, he snapped.

  Grabbing her arm, he yanked her toward him, she was right there anyway, but he wanted her attention on him. “Do it,” he snarled, dragging her into his arms. “Go on, sweetheart.” Running his hands down her back, he ignored her wriggling and her hands pushing his chest, and grabbed her ass in both hands. “Mm, baby, your man’s missed his honey.”

  “Nairn!” she objected. Pushing with all her strength didn’t make any difference to how close he held her. “Let me go! Stop it!”

  Grabbing the fabric of her costume, he clenched his fists to pull it up over her ass as he spun around and pushed her to the wall beside them. “Not a chance,” he said.

  “Trick!”

  Didn’t matter to him what name she used, he ducked to pick her up from the floor. He didn’t even see her hand coming, but he felt the harsh slap she planted on his cheek and the shock of it made him stop.

  What the hell was he doing?

  She was panting and red-faced. This was Lyla, why was he treating her like this?

  “Trick?”

  Sadie’s voice beside him sounded just as shocked as Lyla looked. Dropping her to her feet, he backed away and rubbed a hand over his jaw. “What the hell,” he breathed.

  “Yeah,” Sadie said, smacking his chest. He looked down to see a stupid basket with a piece of paper in it. He only just caught it before it fell and Sadie moved between him and Lyla. “Are you ok, Lyla?”

  “He should be in a zoo, not on television!” Lyla said.

  Damn.

  “He’s had a couple of drinks, and—”

  “I don’t give a damn,” Lyla argued with Sadie. “The studio will never show that, but I can subpoena the footage. I could get him into a lot of trouble! He needs to be thinking! And what the hell would Kira say?”

  Kira?

  That cleared some of his confusion and he frowned at her. But she was straightening her clothes, doing her best not to look at him or Sadie.

  “You’ve got some nerve,” Sadie snapped. “You mess around on him then come here threatening to get him into trouble? What the hell gives you the right—”

  “Wait,” he said, reaching past Sadie to touch Lyla’s arm. As soon as he did, they all looked at the point of contact, so he opened his hand and eased it away. “Sorry… But… Why did you mention Kira?”

  “You’re together,” Lyla said, shrugging a few times, probably trying to shake off his assault and that’s what it was. There was no other word for it. Man, he was an idiot. “I bet she was thrilled when my name popped up on that screen next to yours. It’s some weird kind of karma, I guess. Though she wanted sex when we were together, I don’t. Kira has nothing to worry about. I’d just as soon never be in the same room with you ever again.”

  What? Lyla. Was this really Lyla? She wouldn’t look at him. She seemed far more interested in watching the crowd. Maybe she knew the camera was out there, or didn’t want it to look like they were talking. But she wouldn’t look at Sadie either. It was like she was waiting for something, but what?

  “I heard you left the network,” Sadie said.

  Lyla nodded and folded her arms. “Twelve days and then I leave for good.”

  “The network?” Sadie asked.

  Lyla shook her head. “The city.”

  Where the hell was she going? Why was she leaving? She loved her job, she’d been in it for five years, it gave her everything she wanted… or it had, until him. And why the hell hadn’t Sadie told him that she wasn’t at the network anymore?

  “When did you leave the station?” he asked her.

  “About thirty seconds after you walked out of Bunyan’s office,” Lyla said and perked up. A hopeful smile spread on her face and he glanced around to see Ivan approaching. “Well?”

  Ivan reached them. “Answer’s no.”

  “Oh,” Lyla said, losing the smile though it twisted to one side of her face first. Plucking the sheet of paper from the basket, she scanned the list. “There are twenty things on here, I’d say eight of them will be in this room for sure… the other twelve… well…” She dropped the list back into the basket. “They’re your responsibility, Trick, sorry.�
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  Lyla began to move away, and he lunged forward to catch her arm. Again, everyone looked at his grip and he slid his hand away. “Sorry,” he said again, feeling like a prize prick.

  “Want me to get you one of those minis now, Lyla?” Ivan asked.

  Lyla smiled at him. Why did he get a smile? Anger made Trick surge forward. It didn’t even matter that the Hulk was bigger than him meaning he’d get his ass kicked for sure, Trick couldn’t ignore his rage. “You know she’s married,” Trick heard himself saying as he put himself between Lyla and this Ivan guy.

  “You’re not serious,” Ivan said, looking him up and down like he was a gnat. “You want to take me on?”

  “Yeah, I do,” Trick said.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Sadie asked, swatting his shoulder. “First you attack Lyla, now you’re going after this guy. Are you having a nervous breakdown, Trick?”

  Maybe. That might be the only explanation. “No way he’s smarter than me,” Trick said, returning the guy’s glare. “She was supposed to get with a smart guy. A better guy. No way this guy is better than me.”

  Ivan exhaled a laugh that made Trick’s blood simmer to a boil. “You idiot.”

  “He’s not my date,” Lyla said, in a fed-up tone. “He’s my chaperone. A Prem employee… He’s Bunyan’s monkey… Sorry, Ivan, honey.”

  “Hey, I’ve been called worse,” Ivan said.

  Ok, maybe he was an idiot. Trick’s bluster left. A chaperone. She wasn’t with the company. She quit the last day they’d seen each other. Bunyan had to be pissed at her if he was keeping eyes on her at all times. They’d told her that he was with Kira…

  Spinning around, Trick locked eyes with Lyla. “You didn’t screw him.”

  Her smile was tight. “Only took you nine days to figure it out.”

  “Wait,” Sadie said. “But, Trick, you were sure, you knew that—”

  “There was footage,” he said and exhaled disbelief as he ran his hand into his hair. “Damn, they set you up… and I fell for it like an idiot because I… believed I wasn’t good enough… They set you up.” Lyla rolled her eyes away from him and squeezed her lips together even tighter. His hand drifted toward her face, but as soon as the back of his fingers touched her jaw, she flinched away and he clenched his fist. Damn. Had he really scared her or was she that disgusted by him? “Baby, I’m so sorry.”

  “Cliff was fired too,” Lyla said, but she was talking to Sadie, not to him. “He came to me at the start of this week, told me he heard about the setup after, said he would tell you guys the truth and show you the footage they weren’t using that showed what really happened.”

  Sadie was as shocked he was… Well, almost as shocked, it would be hard for anyone’s surprise to match his. “Why didn’t you let him—”

  Lyla sneered. “I don’t give a damn what the public think. We agreed the show didn’t matter. Whatever they chose to show, it didn’t matter.”

  “As long as we knew the truth,” he murmured. “Damn, baby, I let you down.”

  “Yeah,” she said and her anger was tinged with hate. “You did… I told Bunyan you’d figure it out… I didn’t know that you’d figure it out too late.”

  “Too late?” he asked, but he didn’t let himself panic, instead, he smiled. “Babe, I’m not with Kira, I didn’t touch her.”

  “I really don’t care whether you did or not,” Lyla sighed and it twisted his guts that she sounded like she meant it. “I thought it was a stretch that you’d screw around with a pregnant woman who was carrying another man’s child. But…” She shrugged. “Then I found out she wasn’t even pregnant, so, I guess you knew that.”

  “Knew that?” he asked. “I didn’t know that… Didn’t know until right now. She’s not pregnant?” He couldn’t even blame Lyla for refusing to look at him. “Malloy, I’m sorry—”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “Ivan, you could help me look in here since I can’t leave the room. Trick, you’ll have to find the other things. I heard someone say there’s a prop room downstairs. You’ll probably find everything you need in there if you’re quick.”

  “Quick?” he asked. This time when he caught her arm, he didn’t even care that she glared at his hand, he wasn’t letting go. “I don’t give a damn about the game. Love, we have to talk.”

  “About what?” she asked and he hated how calm she became.

  “About this, about us, about…”

  “All you had to do was trust me, Trick,” she said. “Like I trusted you.”

  And that was why she was hurt.

  Even when people told her he was messing around, she didn’t believe it. She hadn’t cared that Opposites showed him and Kira in the woods like there was something going on. Hadn’t cared when the world acted like he was nothing more than a horn dog. Didn’t care when she was portrayed as frigid, when in truth she was one of the most sexual people he’d ever known… even if she didn’t know it herself.

  “I’ll fix this,” he said, seized with determination. “I’m going to fix this.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s too hard. I… I can’t.”

  “Yes, you can,” he said. His hopes rose when he brushed his fingers along her jaw and she didn’t pull away this time. “We fixed it before, remember?”

  “No,” she said. “They don’t want us together. It was never supposed to work out. The premise of the show was never to make us fall in love. We were supposed to aggravate and upset each other. It was never supposed to work out.”

  “I don’t care about supposed to. I don’t care about the show… I made you promises, on your parents’ porch, remember?”

  “I remember,” she said. “I also remember telling you that losing you so soon before losing my dad was more than I could handle, yet I had to do it again. I lost you twice… was it fun for you? Did you pick me up just so you could drop me again?”

  “You and Curtis were… you were a thing before we got together,” he said. “I figured your feelings—”

  “I never hid my feelings,” she said. “Curtis was the guy who asked me out last year, the date I never went on. I told you about that. If I’d wanted to be with him, I would’ve gone on that date. I never wanted to be with him. The only man I ever wanted to be with, to have forever with, was you.”

  “And you have me—”

  “No,” she said, backing away from his hand. “It’s too hard… You were supposed to trust me… you didn’t… I can’t get over that. I can’t do it.” Moving away from him, she lifted her concentration to Ivan. “We have scavenging to do.”

  As she walked away, Ivan went with her, and neither of them looked back. Sadie closed in beside him. “Damn, Trick,” Sadie murmured. “You screwed up.”

  That much was clear. “I’m gonna fix it.”

  “How?”

  He didn’t have a clue.

  But he would.

  He’d let her down.

  That wouldn’t happen again.

  THIRTY-TWO

  Trick came back with all the items on the list in record time. Lyla added her items and they presented the basket to the dais. There were already baskets up there, so they weren’t first, but it didn’t matter. Prizes weren’t awarded until the end of the night and she had no intentions of still being here when the night came to a close.

  The host dismissed them and took the basket away. Lyla heard Trick inhale as he turned to her, but she wasn’t waiting to hear him. Instead, she went to the bar.

  Ivan had been a good help during the scavenger hunt. For one thing, he was taller than her, and he was good for getting other people out of the way when she was reaching for the same thing they were.

  Lifting herself onto a stool at the bar, she waited for the bartender to come over. “Just a lemonade, please,” she said.

  “Sure thing, Mrs. Strickland,” the bartender said and she exhaled.

  That name was going to take a long time to go away. The sad thing was, she’d never actual
ly changed her name anywhere officially. It had never been brought up that she should, which she guessed worked out well on reflection.

  “So, I think you should wear a toga.”

  Rolling her eyes, the sound of Trick’s voice was enough to set her on edge. “Excuse me?”

  “At the wedding,” he said. “I figure instead of having our honeymoon in Greece, we should do the full shebang and have a wedding too.” He leaned in so close that she tensed and raised her shoulder, trying to keep him away. “And you’d rock a toga, baby… I’d just have to deal with having a hard-on all day in front of our guests.”

  “Mm hmm,” she said.

  The one thing she’d promised herself that she wouldn’t do tonight was engage him. Trick wanted her to react. But Lyla had shut down her emotions now. He wasn’t getting in. No way. She’d needed him and he’d screwed her over. That was it, his one chance.

  Done.

  “They might do weddings at that Acropolis place; I’ll look into it… I’ll get the guys to come over, make them dress as gladiators or something.”

  “Gladiators are roman,” she muttered as the bartender brought her drink. “Togas too, for that matter.”

  “Huh,” he said. “So, we move the wedding to Italy or go naked?”

  Closing her lips around her straw, Lyla drank and reminded herself not to loosen. “They wore clothes in Ancient Greece, similar to togas, they just weren’t called that.”

  “I was thinking about the Olympic thing,” he said. “You said the dudes were naked.”

  “Are you planning to take part in an event?” she asked.

  “If you want me to,” he said. “We could host our own naked Olympics… We could sell tickets… that would pay for the wedding, and a vacation for everyone… Though they’d have to entertain themselves, ‘cause you know, we’d be at a hotel far away from everyone we know… preferably far away from everyone else on the planet… Do they have a desert out there or something? Somewhere we could camp?”