Page 9 of Don't Game Me

Her eyelids popped open. Her gaze bore into his with a silent,I want you.

He growled. Opened his mouth. Closed his eyes. And really kissed her. It wasn’t a gentle kiss or a sweet exploration. It was years of repressed desire wrapped into a drive to taste the one woman he couldn’t have. He wanted her hard and fast on the sofa, or against the wall with both of them naked and sweating until they ended up in the tub.

Her tongue parried with his, hesitant, but then insistent. He took complete control, brushing his tongue across her teeth and over the roof of her mouth. His hand splayed against her cheek and glided down the arch of her neck.

She moaned, melting into him. His legs spread. She pressed between them and leaned against his erection. Holy hell, this woman was dangerous.

His cell’s ringtone identified the office calling. He jerked free of the kiss.

Oh, shit.

He’d kissed Becca. He’d crossed the forbidden line.

Shit, shit, shit. That’d been way more than a kiss. That had been a full-throttle foreplay assault.

“I have to answer this.” His voice came out ragged.

She nodded, uncertainty and residual arousal in her gaze.

“This is Jake,” he answered. He listened to his marketing manager’s crisis, barely registering his words. He rolled his watch. “I’ll be back in a little bit. Busy right now. It can wait.” His marketing manager started in again. “It can wait an hour. Traffic is a bitch right now.” He hung up.

He gazed at her for a few silent seconds after he ended the call while he slid his cell into his pocket. “No.”

“No to what? Finishing what we started right now, or no to being my date.”

“No to both. We can’t…”

“I need a wedding date. I’d be on board if you’re volunteering. Nothing has to happen after.”

Another minute in this room and he’d make good use of every horizontal surface. A night involving alcohol, dancing, and the stress of her brother’s wedding lent itself to way more than a friends-only drive home.

I just kissed Noah’s sister.

She pressed on when he didn’t reply. “Come on. It’d be fun.”

“Becca, be reasonable.”

Her eyes narrowed, signaling an impending fight. Her fierceness usually both irritated and entertained him, but right now he wanted to fight. It’d put back the wall he kept between them. He needed the wall to make his escape.

He cleared his throat. “I’ve got to get back to work.”

“It’s almost six thirty. Isn’t your workday over?”

“It’s never over.” He pivoted to leave, but she jumped in front of him, blocking the door.

She crossed her hands over her chest. “I want an answer.”

“You’re Noah’s sister.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“You couldn’t handle what I want.” Hadn’t meant to say that.

Her eyes grew wide and dropped to his lips. “How would you know I couldn’t handle it? Don’t you want to find out?”

He wasn’t about to answer that. He wanted to. Oh, Christ, he wanted to with a resounding yes. But if she agreed, as her gaze suggested she would, then her naked in this room right now might happen. He’d live up to his bad boy press persona and not refuse her. He’d known Becca for years. She didn’t do one-nighters or flings, which is what this would have to be. Then he’d break her heart and lose the only family he’d ever known. The Harrisons meant everything to him.

Say no to all of this and get the hell out of here.