The Game (3 page)

I let Riley lead me into Sky. It was crowded. We wound through a throng of people
until we emerged at the far side. I shivered when I glanced at the table I had sat
at last time I was there—the night Amy had shared a drink with Cade.

The place had seemed so intimidating at the time. We were recent graduates pretending
to be older and wealthier. Man, how things had changed. I had my head above water
financially for one thing. And Amy was engaged.

I had only been on a few dates in the last six months. No one I met measured up to
the evening I’d spent with Riley, and I was beginning to worry about my sanity.

A waitress waved toward Riley to follow her.

I wasn’t surprised. Cade Alexander owned this bar. Riley and Parker would receive
the same level of service as Cade any time they entered.

In moments we were ushered to a high round table. Riley leaned over to say something
into the waitress’s ear, and she nodded and smiled. She turned and sashayed away as
fast as she’d led us to the table.

Riley pulled out a stool and then glanced down at my frame. “Can you manage?”

To get on a stool?
I wasn’t an idiot.

His reservations weren’t altogether unwarranted, however. Luckily my seat faced away
from the crowd because I was sure anyone walking by would have gotten an eyeful of
my crotch as I hefted myself up, using the rung as leverage.

I wiggled around on the seat, making sure my ass was covered, and set my clutch on
the table.

Riley grinned but said nothing. He slipped onto his own stool without incident. In
fact, his butt was nearly at the level of the seat to begin with. “I ordered us a
bottle of wine. I hope that’s okay.”

What if it wasn’t? I nodded. I’d never been a huge fan of wine, but since Amy had
met Cade, I’d learned a thing or two about good chardonnay. She’d developed a palate
for the expensive stuff. After sharing several bottles with her over the months, I’d
learned to enjoy the rich fruity flavors and oak undertones.

“So, tell me about your job. I knew you were in marketing, but I didn’t realize you
worked for Talent Marketing Group. Do you still love it?” Riley set his elbows on
the table and leaned toward me. His gaze never left mine, not even to glance around
the bar.

Like the night I’d met him, his attention was riveted on me. No one else existed.

My heart pounded. The sensation was both heady and disconcerting. When I was with
him, he was all mine. He focused one hundred percent on what I had to say.

As flattering as his attention was, I wasn’t here for small talk. I needed answers.
I could not allow this man to toy with my heart. I simply wasn’t built for brief trysts.
I would fall for him; and he would hurt me.

“Why are we doing this exactly?”

“Having a drink?”

I narrowed my gaze. “Having anything.”

Riley’s shoulders slumped. “I wanted to apologize. I owe you that much.”

“You
did
apologize. Monday. And I accepted. And you don’t owe me.” I didn’t falter from my
stance. My guard was up high. Insurmountably high. My traitorous body might have had
other ideas, but my brain was smart enough to know I needed to keep my distance from
this man.

Why was he torturing me?

Riley grabbed my hand to hold it against the table top. He stared down at my fingers
and rubbed them again with his infuriatingly tantalizing thumb.

I tugged against his grip, just as I had in the car, and Riley held steady again also.

“Your skin is so soft.” He lifted his face. “Hell, all of you is soft.”

“I’ve never considered myself soft.”

He smiled broader. “Yeah. I can see that.”

The waitress returned with a bottle of white wine. She removed the cork and poured
a splash into one glass.

Riley released my hand to taste the wine, and I immediately tucked both hands in my
lap. He nodded at the waitress as she settled an ice tub on the table to keep the
wine chilled.

When he nodded at her, she filled both our glasses and then walked away.

He leaned forward, elbows on the table, and held my gaze. His face was unreadable.
Serious. His eyes bore into me, slightly squinted. His lips were a straight line.

I fought the urge to squirm. The man was so unbelievably sexy, and his entire attention
was once again focused on me as if we were alone instead of sitting in a noisy, crowded
bar. My emotions were all over the place. It was impossible to ignore the magnetic
pull he had on me when I was with him. And I didn’t want to feel that tug.

I took a sip of the chardonnay and nearly moaned. It was that good. A hint of citrus
teased my taste buds. Riley knew his wine.

This man would hurt me.

If I let my guard down, I’d be sorry. And I couldn’t avoid letting my guard down.
He stripped it away with just a look. I couldn’t stop him. The only way to ensure
I wouldn’t get hurt would be to keep my distance.

I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to this night out. And really, I hadn’t agreed. He’d
strong-armed me.

If this thing between us were normal, I would relax and let it progress naturally.
He obviously liked me. That wasn’t the problem. The trouble was we weren’t in the
same circles. We didn’t have enough in common.

Just because Amy had pulled it off with Cade didn’t mean the rest of us normal, everyday,
middle-class ladies could snag us a millionaire and live happily ever after. It didn’t
work that way.

I could date him. I could even sleep with him. But I knew it couldn’t go further.
And under normal circumstances, that would be fine. I was single. Unattached.

But not with Riley.

I’d known from the moment I first laid eyes on him that my feelings for him wouldn’t
be controllable. He had a pull on me that drew me to lean his direction, and I needed
to rein it in.

I did not want him to know how I felt. Ever.

I didn’t want anyone to know.

Just sitting across from him was dangerous. And if I’d had any doubt, all I needed
to do was remind myself of the moments I’d seen him yesterday and the drive over here
in the car.

Yeah.

I was screwed.

“I can’t do this, Riley.” I drank more wine, enjoying the fruity taste immensely.
Why did the man have to be such a wine connoisseur on top of everything else?

He sighed. “I wasn’t in a good place last time we met.”

“I know. Amy told me about your fiancée and the breakup. I get that. But this isn’t
about you, Riley. This is about me.
I
can’t do this.”

His brow furrowed. “What? Go out for a drink?”

“Go out for an
anything
. With you. This is a bad idea.”

He pursed his lips for a moment and then spoke again. “I was a coward that night we
met. My actions were stupid. We had a great time together. I was an asshole.”

“And I said I forgive you. Now you need to let me go.”

“What if I don’t want to let you go?”

“You don’t have a choice. I’m telling you. I. Can’t. Do. This.” I enunciated each
word.

He ignored me, shaking off my words as if they were inconsequential. “I haven’t been
able to get you out of my head since that night.” He reached forward with one hand
to stroke the tips of his fingers across my cheek.

I drew back out of his reach, but not fast enough.

He let his hand fall to the table. It lay too close to me. I could still feel his
touch on my face, the way he’d stroked my knuckles, the way he’d held my hands together
firmly in the car.

With every second, I was falling. Too hard. It both strengthened my resolve and made
me melt. His gaze bore into my soul, digging a hole I would never be able to escape.
“Riley, we’re from two different worlds. I would never be able to run in your circles.”

“Cade and Amy are no different. They’re making it work.”

“Cade and Amy have been through the roughest times of anyone I’ve ever met. Hell,
she left town and changed her name to get away from him. Not exactly what I’m looking
for in a relationship.”

“But they’re fine now. Better than fine. They’re the strongest couple I know. Who’s
to say we can’t do the same thing?” He held up a hand. “Not that I mean to get ahead
of myself. I’m just suggesting you date me. Let me take you out. Movies. Dinner. We
have a connection. I want to explore it. I’m not asking for forever. I’m just asking
for now.”

“And that’s the problem, Riley.” I lowered my voice. I was deadly serious. I needed
to make myself clear, and the only way I knew to do it was to be honest.

Not that he had been honest about why he left me at the engagement party, but this
wasn’t about him.

“I’m not following,” he said.

I downed the rest of my glass and reached for the bottle.

Riley beat me to it, grabbing the chardonnay and filling my glass. “Talk to me.”

I blinked, taking another fortifying sip. “Since you’re so persistent, let me spell
it out for you.” I was putting myself out there. I didn’t care. I needed him to understand
and respect my boundaries. “I can’t do casual with you. I’m irrationally attracted
to you. You’ll hurt me. And you’ll ruin me for other men.”

There. I said it. The most awkward conversation of my life. Now I just needed him
to let me go.

“Riley. Darling…” The syrupy sweet voice coming from behind me made me cringe. And
if that wasn’t enough, the woman who accompanied the voice glided right up to the
table between us, grabbed Riley’s arm with her tiny hand, and leaned in to kiss his
cheek as if they were the closest two people on the planet.

The same woman from Monday afternoon. Was she stalking him?

And this was why I couldn’t date this man. I needed no other proof.

My stomach pitched forward while the woman stroked down Riley’s arm and settled her
perfectly manicured fingers on his forearm. I tucked my own dull nails into my palms
to hide them.

I glanced up and down the woman’s body to confirm my previous suspicions. She was
filthy rich. She wore a tight off-white dress that made my best little black dress
look shamefully inadequate. Her nearly black hair was pulled back from her face in
a perfect coif once again, every single strand accounted for. She couldn’t possibly
have done that to herself. Did she have a hairstylist living in her house? She was
tall, slender, and perfect. Like a model.

I would never be able to compete with that. I never wanted to. Something about her
made me cringe.

And she was touching Riley.

No. This would never work. Jealously ate a hole in me so fast I couldn’t breathe.
I didn’t like the feeling.

This woman knew him. Way better than I did. He was ten years older than me. He’d been
wealthy beyond measure for that long also, so obviously he would know lots of women.
I didn’t want that money or the hoity behaviors that went with it.

I needed to get out of Sky and never come back.

The woman tossed her head and smiled at Riley. Too strained. She made my skin crawl.

I gripped my glass so hard it was a wonder it didn’t shatter. I wanted to peel her
fingers off his forearm. Could she not see he was with me?

And this was why Riley and I would never work.

Riley’s gaze slid from mine to hers, his face hard, his teeth gritted. “What the hell
are you doing here, Christine?”

Christine? Seriously? His ex-fiancée?

“I just moved here from Virginia. I told you that. In fact, I got a new job. I start
next week.” She beamed.

“Are you following me?”

I took a long drink of my wine, set it on the table, and clenched my hands in my lap.
If I drank much more, I wouldn’t be able to make sound decisions.

Riley looked uncomfortable, which wasn’t surprising. I didn’t know all the details
about their relationship, but I did know she truly was a bitch. She’d been partially
responsible for coming between Cade and Amy and almost destroying them. That was why
Riley broke things off with her in the first place.

Why the fuck did she move to Atlanta? Just to torment him? Did she want him back?

She giggled. “Don’t be silly.”

Riley’s face turned a deep red. “I’m with someone, Christine. Glad to hear you’re
doing so well. Now, if you’ll excuse us.”

Christine was undaunted. She started petting him.
Petting
him. And she turned her face to glance at me as though she hadn’t noticed me sitting
there before. She pasted a fake smile on her face and tipped her head to one side.
“Oh. Hi. You look familiar.” She tapped her lips with her free hand. “Do you work
at my dry cleaners maybe? Or wait, maybe it’s my spa. Are you a receptionist at Beatrice’s?”

My eyes widened. Riley had been engaged to this woman? I mean, I knew she was a vicious
bitch. I knew she’d said horrific things to Amy, but hearing about her and witnessing
her firsthand was entirely different. I wanted to slap her, and I’d never hit anyone
in my life.