Page 47 of Tempting the Player
“Is anything you do your fault?” she demanded.
“Whatever. You didn’t have to agree to do this.”
“I had no choice. Your publicist from hell blackmailed me.” Surprise flickered over Chad’s face, and Bridget nearly fell out of her chair. “What? Did you think I’d just agree to this?”
“Well, I mean, come on, I am Chad Gamble.” Then he smirked.
She was seconds away from throwing her plate of scallops in his face. “God, there are no words sometimes. I know I’m not like the women you normally go out with, but I’m not desperate enough to have to pretend I have a boyfriend.”
A strange look replaced the surprise and he leaned back, folding muscular—she was so not looking at them—arms across his chest. “Yeah, you’re not like them.”
Out of nowhere, a sharp pain sliced across her chest. She jerked back and tried to swallow the sudden lump in her throat. “Can we call it a night now? I’m sure your adoring public has had their fill.”
The expected cocky response was absent as he signaled the waiter and picked up the check. He did the boyfriend thing. Stood and took her hand in his warm one, and that damn lump ended up between her breasts now.
Outside, she could see people waiting. Someone must’ve updated some social site or made a phone call. Chad went into full acting mode the moment they stepped into the late November air. A camera lightbulb flashed, and he dropped her hand, slipping an arm over her shoulders.
He bent his head, grazing her cheek with his jaw. A fine shiver danced across her shoulders, and she hated how her body wanted to lean into his, just as everyone expected that she would.
His chin continued to her temple, and she sucked in a sharp breath. “You could try to relax,” he murmured. “Because right now, you look like you want to run.”
“That’s because I want to run.” But she forced a smile.
Another bulb flashed, and Chad pressed a kiss to her cheek. Someone had better give that boy an Oscar. “That’s kind of mean.”
As they waited for the valet to bring his car around, several more flashes blinded Bridget. “It’s the truth.”
“Uh huh,” he murmured as he slid his hand off her shoulder and down to the small of her back, causing her to jerk. “What is Miss Gore blackmailing you with?”
The truth formed on the tip of her tongue, but she closed her mouth. The last thing she wanted to share with Chad was how pitifully broke she was, that she could lose her job because of it. “It’s none of your business.”
“Hmm, must be juicy if you don’t want to share.” He stepped in closer and placed his other hand on her hip.
Bridget stiffened. “What are you doing?”
“Giving them something to put in the newspaper.”
“You don’t—”
Chad kissed her again.
It was nothing like the one on the side of the street or those in his bedroom. This one started off as a slow, tantalizing sweep of his lips. She forced her lips closed and to remain still in his arms. They could pretend to be dating, but this—the kissing—was so not a part of the plan.
In the wave of flashing lights, Chad growled low in his throat, and Bridget shuddered. “Don’t fight what you know you want,” he said in a low, seductive tone.
“You have no idea what I want,” she replied, but damn it, what she wanted was him between her thighs. But not like this—not when they were pretending.
His lips made another sweep, but this time he caught her lower lip with his teeth, and she gasped. Heat exploded through her every last nerve ending and like before, her body won out over her head. He took full advantage, slipping his tongue in, taking complete control within seconds. His hand traveled up to the nape of her neck and held her there as his mouth was hot and demanding, slanted across her lips. At that moment, she wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Oh Lordie Lord no. Her knees were weak and the muscles in her belly did tight, funny things.
The kiss went on, and it was how it should be. Not rushed in the heat of the moment. Not an act to prove that there was attraction. It was an unhurried, playful, and measured seductive assault that left her senses reeling.
Chad lifted his mouth a hairsbreadth from hers. “Tell me how Miss Gore got you to do this.”
“It wasn’t blackmail,” she said, toying with her bracelet. Then she remembered what Miss Gore had said to her and wasn’t sure what provoked her to say what she did next. Maybe it was how he said she wasn’t like the girls he normally went for. Or maybe it was how breathless and dazed the kiss had left her and how she knew that kind of response was going to get her into nothing but trouble. “Going out with you is really going to increase the dating pool for me in the future, right? Guys are going to want to know what I have that caught your interest.”
Chad stared at her a long moment and then said, “Right.”
The valet appeared with Chad’s keys in his hand before she could take the words back. God, that came out sounding as horrible as it had when Miss Gore had said it.
