Page 7 of Don't Game Me

Why’d you ask that?

His gaze narrowed. “If I say yes, will you jump down my throat about one-nighters like you did at Christmas?”

Crap. She hadn’t meant to bring up that explosive conversation. “Then you’re not seeing anyone, at least not the same someone regularly?”

He folded his arms across his chest. “It’s none of your business.”

“Well, as long as you’re happy…”

He threw out his arms. “I’m happy. Okay? So fucking happy. I couldn’t ask for a better life.”

She gritted her teeth into a fake smile. “Great. Then I’m happy for you.”

“No, you’re not.” His stare didn’t waver from hers in their mirrored reflection.

“Are younothappy? Are you looking for something different in your personal life?”

“I never said that.”

“You sounded like you said that.”Stop riling him up.

“Why are we debating this?”

The elevator dinged and stopped.Thank God.“This is my floor.”

She led him into the two-room suite.

After he arranged her suitcase on a stand, he leaned against the wall near the exit. Tension radiated from him, and he looked antsy for a quick escape. “So, what’s up? I assume I’m not up here to hash out my happiness.”

Silence stretched between them until she felt her cheeks scorch. “So, there’s this thing I hoped you could help me with at the wedding.”

“I thought you had a real problem.”

“Thisisa real problem.”

“Is someone threatening you?”

Yes.“Uh, not exactly.”

“Did someone hurt you?” He crossed his arms with a fierce expression.

She chewed on her lower lip and pulled off her glasses, unable to lie to him. Finally, she spat out, “Will you be my wedding hookup?”

2

Becca did not just suggest they hook up. Or had she? Jake’s mind spun like an unreadable DVD. He cleared the roughness from his throat. “Come again on that?”

“I meant wedding date, not…you know, hookup. We should go together. To the wedding. As in a date. Your date canceled. Mine canceled…”

“What? Like some sort of secondhand date?”Wedding dateimplied possible after-the-date activity, and hell if she didn’t already put it out there.

“If you don’t want to do it, do you know anyone that could fill in as my date?” A flush spread over Becca’s delicate face, sloped nose, and down her neck. Damn if he didn’t want to see how far south her blush traveled.

Like hell, he’d set her up with someone else to be her wedding date hookup.

Starting anything with Noah’s baby sister was a bad idea. Not just because of Noah. Not just because he didn’t want to screw things up with her family. When it came to this particular woman, she stirred something deep within him, a fascination that panicked him. Nothing about women scared him other than a hint of anything lasting longer than one night. He used to do one-nighters almost weekly, but he’d given up the lifestyle months ago when work ramped up.

That was the lie he told others. Truth was, he got bored. There used to be a time when all it took was a sultry smile and a shapely body for him to be all in for the night. He wasn’t with a woman more than once because then feelings got tangled into the mix, not his. Never his.