Page 50 of Tempting the Player
As she stared at the little card, there was no fighting the slow smile that crept over her face. Yeah. He was still relevant.
…
After getting an earful from Chase about “dating” his woman’s good friend and then putting up with Chandler’s snide-ass comments about going the way of every guy around them and settling down, Chad was ready to bang his head through the wall when his cell went off.
Expecting the hourly check-in from Miss Gore, because who knew what kind of trouble he could get into in his own apartment, he swiped the cell off his kitchen counter. The text wasn’t from his babysitter. Oh, no, it was Bridget. His publicist all but forced them to exchange numbers before they went out to dinner.
Thank you for the roses. They’re beautiful.
About two seconds later another text came through. Still not relevant, though.
A smile hit his lips, and it was a good thing his brothers had left by then because he was sure he looked like a dumbass. He liked her response—a lot—and he also liked that she didn’t text like a sixteen-year-old girl.
Like most of the women he hung out with.
Chad put the phone back on the counter and went to the fridge, grabbing the chicken he’d marinated earlier. Dumping it on the Foreman grill, he poked the breasts around with a fork until they were placed perfectly in the middle.
He closed the lid. Juices sizzled.
And then he glanced over the counter at his phone.
He turned back to the counter and tossed the fork onto the countertop. Rocking back on his heels, he stared at the grill. That lasted about thirty seconds.
“Hell,” he muttered, spinning toward his phone.
Picking it up, he tapped the screen and stared at the message. There were no plans tonight, but tomorrow was supposed to be a movie. He hadn’t gone to a theatre since he was in high school. Movie premieres not included.
Technically, he had no reason to be in contact with Bridget, since this was kind of like a day off. And he really hadn’t had a reason for sending her flowers other than…he’d wanted to.
Okay, there was more to it.
Turning around, he leaned against the counter and stretched out the kink in his neck.
It wasn’t because of the kiss they’d shared. Although just thinking about that kiss got him hard as a rock, but it was what she’d said. That she’d agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend because it would help out her dating after him.
What. The. Fuck.
First off, he doubted she needed the help. Secondly, he wasn’t too keen on being a stepping-stone. So he sent her roses. Strange response to something like that, sure, but he doubted she was thinking about her future boyfriends now.
He sent her a text back. Glad you liked the flowers.
Before he could put the phone back down, his fingers just kept on typing. And glad you liked the kiss.
He dropped the cell and checked his chicken. About a minute later, his phone went off and he piddled around the kitchen for another three minutes before he went to check it.
I never said I liked the kiss.
A grin pulled at his lips as he sent a message back. You didn’t have to. I know.
The response was immediate. Do I need to remind you that YOU kissed ME both times?
Chad tipped his head back and laughed, but he checked his chicken before responding. Otherwise it looked like he was just standing in the kitchen, holding his phone, which he was.
After slopping the grilled bird on a plate and cutting it up into tiny pieces like he was preparing it for a child, he sent another text. Do I need to remind you that YOU enjoyed it both times?
The response was pretty quick. Le sigh.
Chuckling to himself, he carried his food to the couch and ate his dinner while watching the evening news. Exciting stuff there. He let his food settle before he hit the treadmill in his library for the obligatory evening run. Afterward, he stripped off his sweat-soaked shirt and unbelievably did a load of laundry.
