Play Fling (A Stupid Cupid Book) (14 page)

Elliott’s pulse thumped his skull. Lying in
the dark, listening to her soft snore, he couldn’t figure out what
it was she did to him. He should be waking her up and seducing the
daylights out of her. Finishing. Instead he lay watching her chest
rise and fall, wondering, what if…? What was it about her that had
him wanting to stick around and see what might happen?

He tried to flex some life into his trapped
hand then scrubbed his face with his free one. Should he stay?
Should he wake her?

She’d rejected him at most every turn. What,
now he was falling for her? Wanted to spend the night? Wake up and
make her breakfast? She was uniquely beautiful. Stunning in this
light, all soft and vulnerable, hair askew, features relaxed. But
beauty was common enough. His heart didn’t chase mere looks. Hell,
he didn’t chase period.

So, why bother? Why her? He hadn’t even had
sex with her yet. So why did he feel so satisfied lying there next
to her, plotting ways to see her again?

The scent of her sex contrasted with the
clean linen under his head.

His groin tension receded. Finally. He wasn’t
getting any more of her tonight. Not unless she rolled over,
remembered who was next to her—didn’t freak out—and got hot for
more. Unlikely. He should go. He didn’t want one of those awkward,
guess I should leave now but I promise I’ll call you, kind of
moments between them. Maybe he’d slip away and let her sleep.

Or was it he didn’t want her to reject him
again? How could he hide how much he liked her? No woman he’d ever
encountered rattled him like Brooke had.

The thought sent a sheen of panic down his
belly. He needed to get out of there.

Cautiously, Elliott eased his arm from under
her shoulder. She didn’t stir. He covered her as best as possible
without disturbing her legs. Finding paper and a pen in her
nightstand, he scribbled a quick note. One forehead kiss later, an
uncomfortable weight in his chest, he snuck out the door.

He needed some perspective. The only way he
could see getting any was by creating some distance.

~

“Don’t miss this item,” the bleached blonde
on TV said. “We have three sizes left in the gold and only two in
the silver….” Millie glanced up from the file folder, set it down
and eyed the television. She turned her attention back to her
laptop. Genuine Peridot or no, the ring’s design reeked knock-off.
“No one will believe you got this ring at this price,” a caller
drawled.

“I will,” Millie said but didn’t hear much
more of the Home Shopping Network’s show. Google had snared all her
senses. Eureka. Elliott Jovovich in cyber-flesh.

Millie clicked the second link and adjusted
her back against the sofa. Now, she was getting somewhere.

AJ’s door opened behind her. “Millicent?”

She waved him over. “I think I found
something I can use on College Boy. Something beyond his sorry
excuse for a file.” The IRS had more on people than she and AJ
got.

He joined her on the sofa, uncomfortably
near, but she was too excited to scoot away. “Here, look at this.”
She angled the PC at him.

AJ’s gaze scanned downward. He shrugged.
“What’s this?”

“It’s dirt.” Millie’s triumph sagged. “His
father’s in prison. For armed robbery.”

AJ shrugged. “Okay. And?”

“And his matchmaking file doesn’t show
anything about a felon for a father. If it’s missing that, what
else could our files be missing?”

“I don’t know, Millie.” He paused. Was he
searching for a gentle way to let her down? “This doesn’t seem
particularly relevant.”

“What do you mean? Of course it’s relevant.
Ever heard the apple falling from the tree thing? We’re talking
about Brooke here. Prim and tidy, Brooke. Okay, so you don’t know
her. I do. She isn’t a felon-in-the-family kind of girl.”

“Does she have feelings for him?”

“Possibly. Brooke has kept him pretty much a
secret so far.” She watched his reaction. “I can’t imagine her not
having some kind of feelings for him if she’s ready to jump his
bones.”

“You’re going to tell her about this,
then?”

“Absolutely. I have to.”

AJ looked away, his eyebrows doing one of
those upward shots she’d grown to capital H hate.

“You don’t think I should tell her?”

“I don’t see how you can tell her. What could
you say? If she’s keeping their affair private, how would you bring
this up, let alone explain how you found out about it?”

Millie pressed her lips together. “I can show
her this.” She jabbed her hand at the screen.

“Oh, I see. She’ll not only believe it’s
true, thus his father, but also a reputable source, they’re all
over the Internet after all, and then not wonder why you’re
Googling her boyfriend in the first place?”

“I’m concerned.” Shit. “A concerned friend.
And he’s not her boyfriend.”

“Or a nosy friend. A very small jump to a
jealous friend and then to no friend at all, if you ask me.”

“Well, I didn’t ask you.”

“Actually, you—.”

Millie stood. “Alright. Okay. You’re right. I
did ask you. I just got excited. I’ve been looking at these
friggin’ files for three days straight and I finally found some
real, tangible dirt on this guy. More than a hunch. Something I can
point to and say, ‘Hey, look at this.’”

“But you can’t use it. And who’s to say it
will end up being dirt at all?”

She could scream. “You are no help. At all.
Do you know that?”

Her chest burned. Why couldn’t he be a little
supportive? He’d been at this gig a lot longer than her. Why
couldn’t he even entertain some possibilities here?

AJ got to his feet, too. He hesitated. “Well,
it appears you may not have to put up with me much longer.”

If he was going to throw the fact that the
angels threatened to reassign him in her face, so help her, she
would do more than scream. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I went to find more information for you,
another file.” His hands steepled to his mouth. “Word is they’ve
given me a deadline. My source is reliable.”

Her belly went weak and, again, she needed to
sit. “How long?”

“Thirty days.” He had the decency to look
sorry.

Didn’t help. Millie’s mouth dried up. “Thirty
days? What if I can’t get Jason and Brooke back together by then?
Worse, if Jason doesn’t work out, if Brooke keeps up with Elliott,
how can I ever hope to match Brooke in thirty days?” She set down
the laptop and began pacing. “Brooke will end up heartbroken.” And
so would Millie. That’s what.

Millie hadn’t even nailed down a decent
candidate for the first—what—six months? Double shit. She put her
hands to her face, pressing her fingers to her eyes. No tears. Not
now. Not in front of him. “I can’t believe this.” No match, no
AJ.

AJ moved to her side, his warm and spicy
scent cradling her senses. She wanted to lean into him and bury her
face, to never come up for air.

“Hey,” he said, his hands pulling hers away.
“It’s not so bad.”

Millie shook her head and swallowed a sob.
“What did I do to deserve this?”

“Shh. Don’t. It’s not as bad as you’re
letting yourself think.” He brought her hands to his lips. “I’m
still here.”

“For a month. A month? Honestly, what could I
possibly have done as Kiki to deserve all this? Gross indifference
may as well be murder.”

He bent his head, opened his arms. A shiver
ran from her fingers to her belly, which heated. Damn it, she
wanted him. She wanted to step into those arms and hide away. She
didn’t dare give in, though.

“I know you think I’m wrong to do this,”
Millie said. “But, AJ, if I don’t get this right, I will be stuck
here, failing over and again for the rest of this miserable life.
It’s more than just losing you. It’s losing who I used to be, too.”
The idea nauseated her. She stepped away, too tempted to fall into
his embrace. “I need to know I’ll make it back someday, AJ. Do you
understand?”

He released her hands and stood. “Believe it
or not, I do understand, Millicent.” He left her, disappeared into
his room, door closed. If he’d sounded angry, she might have
followed him, ready to beg. But it hadn’t been anger sparking in
his gaze. It was hope. And need.

Before his wake of silence sent her after
him, he came back, a file in hand. The air between them returned to
normal. One day, she’d brave a peek through that door and see what
he hid in there. Not today. Today, she had to focus.

AJ shoved a thick file into her lap. The
paper was icy cold. On second thought, maybe she’d just respect his
privacy. Some doors weren’t meant to be opened.

She scanned the contents a moment. She hardly
believed it. “Who gave you this?”

He gave her a wicked grin. “It’s a
relationship file. Jason and Brooke’s relationship file.”

“It’s thick,” she said. “Why haven’t we
gotten any relationship files before?” And why was it nearly
frozen?

AJ leaned back and cocked a wider grin her
way. “Let’s just say, we never had access to them before now.”

Millie’s thighs involuntarily flexed.
“Access? How did you suddenly get—actually, I don’t want to know.”
The image of him in some angel’s arms turned her stomach. AJ had
his ways and could keep them. “I’ll take what I can get. Thank you
for this.”

“My pleasure. Your wish can be my command.
Remember?”

Oh, but the way he said those words.
Dangerous to a girl’s will power. Part of her longed to test the
invitation in his eyes. If she drank of his wine, she might never
sober up, though. From the beginning, he’d let her know, partners
in time crossing the sexual line wasn’t worth what it risked:
severe punishment. Of course, she liked risk. But she couldn’t
handle the punishment.

Clearing her throat, she opened the file.
Brooke’s wedding photo, the same one from her entryway table,
stared back at Millie. She let out a small gasp. This? Now, this
was love. Pure, simple eat-your-heart-out-bitches love. All the
annoying doubts Elliott’s entrance had stirred, quieted.

“I need a plan,” she said, her voice pitchy.
Time to swallow her pride and accept help, libido be damned. “I
mean,
we
need a plan.”

AJ winked at her, pretended to roll up his
sleeves and rubbed his palms. “Just give me my orders, chief. I’m
all yours.”

Visions of handcuffs and whipped cream came
to mind. Did he realize how difficult he made straight thinking?
“First, let’s list what we do know.” Millie grabbed a pen. “All of
it. All three of them. Then let’s go through this marriage file.
With everything in front of us….”

He clapped once. “Very good.” His hands were
tan, long fingered, strong. “Would it help if we had one of those
giant tablets you always see in office commercials?”

Millie laughed. He was really getting into
this, wasn’t he? “Yeah, it would, but a napkin might have to do for
now, or maybe an envelope from the junk mail.”

“Wait right here.” Again, he disappeared and
reappeared from his lair. “Will this do?”

A white tablet-adorned metal tripod stand
snapped together in front of her. AJ peered his head around and
wiggled a marker in the air. “Green. For luck.”

“Where in the world did you get this and why
do you have it? No, don’t tell me. You seduced some angel.
Right?”

“No. Office Max.” As in, duh, Millie. “And
watch this.” He reamed a page off and pressed it to the window.
“It’s sticky.”

Now Millie wanted to clap. His enthusiasm was
catching. Her growing heap of bleak dwindled into a tidy stack of
doable, thanks to AJ. He handed her the marker and sat next to her.
His spicy aroma tempted her nostrils. She suppressed a sigh. “Where
do I—we begin, then?”

He shrugged. “You’re the boss.”

“Let’s start with Brooke.”

By ten p.m. they’d marked and hung three
sheets worth of observations. Things that stuck out for Brooke,
Jason, Elliott. AJ peeled off a fourth sheet, the list of her three
questions: First: How to get Elliott out of the picture? He was a
huge distraction. Yeah, he might have his uses, as AJ so pointedly
argued, but Millie wanted him outta there. The fewer complications
thrown her way, the better.

Second: What went wrong? She’d had Brooke’s
‘why stay with someone if they don’t make you happy’ version.
Millie didn’t buy it. Well, she had up until the day she’d broken
in and found the truth. Now, she needed to find the real cause. And
fix it.

Third, and most important: How did she get
Brooke and Jason in physical proximity so she and AJ could reignite
the fire? Proximity was one third of the love equation, according
to AJ. And of the two, he was the expert with countless matches
completed. The other two factors were ruling hormones, which Jason
and Brooke must have since it worked once, and being in the midst
of change.

Millie glanced down at the remaining
relationship file. What kind of ugly secrets lay waiting there, she
couldn’t imagine. But, she was getting ahead of herself.

“Don’t get too wrapped up in the details,” AJ
said as she tapped the marker to her cheek. “Chemistry can be the
simplest thing or the hardest.”

“They’ve been in love before. How hard can it
be?”

“Depends. Chemicals can be tricky.”

Did he realize how imperious he sounded? She
almost pointed out that this was a brilliant example of why she’d
tried to figure things out on her own. Probably practiced it in the
mirror. No. Nevermind. Not worth it. She’d made more headway in the
last hours than she had in months. So, AJ could condescend away, so
long as he didn’t sit too close.

“Look for a theme,” AJ said. “Common
denominators.”

In what? The heater kicked on making Brooke’s
list shimmy. The bottom fluttered from view then fell back. The
last line read: started own business. Life in change, right?
Throughout her file, Brooke had kept to safe, dependable paths. Her
high school drop out older sister popped in and out of the major
parts. The sister’s bad decisions looked to have motivated Brooke’s
good ones. Brooke studied, graduated, went to college, didn’t
party, lacked promiscuity. She met Jason Munkle her junior year,
got her BA and a husband in the same week. Boring, yes, but by all
rights, should have been happily ever after. Even Hollywood said
so.