Playing For Keeps (11 page)

"You'll pay for this," she
promised.

"Haley,-"

"Rot in hell, you betraying bastard,"
she hissed.

He couldn't help but chuckle. "It's
just a family dinner. I really don't understand why that has my
little grasshopper all riled up."

"I. Hate. You," she bit
out.

"You love me," he said, turning on the
radio.

"
Hate
. I hate you."

"Uh huh," he said absently, searching
for her favorite radio station, hoping it would calm the little
demon down.

Since this morning when her
grandmother had called asking him to join her family for dinner
tonight Haley had been on edge. He wasn't sure if she was pissed
because her grandmother had called him before her or what. All he
knew was that when she overheard her grandmother ask him to join
them at dinner she went a little insane.

It hadn't mattered that they were
standing in line at the bakery. Haley jumped up and tried to snatch
the phone out of his hand. He'd been too surprised and admittedly
laughing his ass off when she tried to take him to the ground to
give it much thought. Of course it did surprise him that her
grandmother wasn't shocked to hear her granddaughter scream all
sorts of threats of violence to him.

Jason really didn't know what the hell
was going on, but he liked Haley's grandmother and didn't want to
disappoint her by saying no, so of course he accepted the
invitation and tried not to wince when Haley kicked his
shin.

From that moment on she'd been royally
pissed at him. She'd ordered the last four apple fritters knowing
he looked forward to his apple fritters every Friday and didn't
offer him one. Even worse, she gave away his delicious treats
during the morning meeting. He spent the entire meeting glaring at
the bastards who ate his fritters.

It only got worse after
that.

During their lunch break not only did
she refuse to eat with him, but she somehow managed to steal his
lunch and toss it in the trash and made sure there were no
delectable treats in the staff refrigerator for him to steal. When
he went to buy lunch in the student cafeteria he discovered another
lovely surprise.

She'd somehow lifted his
wallet.

By the end of the day he'd been so
pissed and hungry that he decided she was damn well going tonight
whether she wanted to or not. When he arrived home he wasn't too
surprised to discover that Haley had barricaded herself in her
room. That was more than fine with him. It gave him plenty of time
to recoup his strength. After devouring everything in her fridge he
broke into her room.

She'd put up a good fight, but
eventually he managed to drag her into the living room where she
pretended to hurt her ankle. When he released her to check she
shoved him, knocking him flat on his ass, and took off for the
backdoor. She made it as far as the kitchen sink before he was on
top of her.

"Are you still mad at me?" he asked as
he turned into the parking lot of Harrington's, the five star
restaurant her family was dining at tonight. He was glad he finally
found his wallet during their little wrestling match since this
meal was most likely going to give his credit card a
workout.

Haley sighed heavily, shifting to look
at him. "No, I just don't want to do this."

"Really? I couldn't tell," he said
drily.

"I'm really sorry," she said, as he
pulled up behind a short line of luxury cars.

He shrugged, thinking she was
apologizing for starving him. That reminded him that they'd need to
stop by the grocery store after this to refill her fridge otherwise
she might be pissed to discover that he left her with only three
eggs, a jar of olives and some expired girly yogurt that he
wouldn't touch with a ten foot spoon.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you," she said,
sounding serious.

He had to bite back a smile at the
thought of his little grasshopper kicking his ass. "I'll, ah," he
just barely stopped himself from laughing, "I'll
survive."

She nodded regally. "I know. I held
back."

"And I really appreciate
that."

*************

"You know you're going to starve here,
right? Even I have to hit the drive thru at Burger King after
coming here," Haley pointed out desperately as Jason dragged her
from the safety of the car.

Jason simply sighed, wondering if she
really knew him at all. As if the prospect of eating two dinners
would upset him. Puhlease.

"Fine," Haley said, giving him a sly
little smile as she stood up, straightening her lavender shirt and
dark skirt. "If you take me home right now I promise," she said in
a sultry tone, reaching up to run her fingertips down his tie,
"that I will fulfill every single sexual fantasy you've ever had
and some you didn't know were possible."

With a bored sigh he simply grabbed
her arm and gently tugged her towards the front entrance, ignoring
the valets as they choked on their tongues. If he thought for one
second that she was serious he would have hauled her ass back into
the car and been going ninety to the nearest pharmacy all while he
had his hand shoved up her skirt.

Not that he really wanted to do
that.

Much.

"B-but I'm offering you sex! Lot's and
lot's of sex!" Haley hissed urgently as they stepped into a lush
foyer.

"You would have had more luck offering
me meatloaf, my little grasshopper," he informed her, catching her
arm as she tried to make another escape.

Haley exhaled heavily as she pushed
her glasses back up her nose. "I was going to offer that, too." She
gave him a hopeful smile. "What if we go home and I cook-"
"Too little too late, my little grasshopper. Besides, there's
nothing in your fridge to cook anyway."

She frowned up at him. "But I just
went shopping the other day."

"I got hungry," he simply said,
ignoring her adorable little glare.

"You better not have touched the last
piece of pumpkin pie," she warned.

He had to laugh at that. "It was the
first thing to go," he informed her as they stepped up to the
maître d's podium. She sent him a glare that promised all kinds of
retribution. Where Jason could eat just about anything, and often
did, his little grasshopper was a pumpkin pie junkie.

"Welcome to Harrington's. My name is
Elizabeth, how can I help you?" the woman asked them both as she
sent Jason an inviting look that let him know he'd be getting
offered more than just appetizers tonight.

He looked down at Haley, wondering if
she caught the look and what she thought, not that he wanted her to
be jealous or anything. He had to smile when he caught Haley gazing
longingly at the exit sign.

"It won't be that bad," he said,
taking her hand into his, mostly to keep her from bolting
again.

"Yes, it will," she sighed
pathetically.

Jason turned his attention back to the
woman who was now frowning unhappily at their entwined
hands.

"We're joining the Blaine party for
reservations at six," he said, tightening his grip on Haley's hand
when he felt her trying to pull away.

"Right this way," the woman said with
a tight smile.

As they followed the woman through a
richly furnished sitting room Jason couldn't help but wonder why
Haley settled on the losers that she did when she was clearly used
to so much better. He'd seen some of the losers she'd dated over
the years and doubted they'd pulled out their wallet for much more
than Denny's and even then only if they had a coupon.

She should be dating someone who was
willing to bust his ass to show her how much she meant to him. He'd
have to work on it with her, but that was for later. Right now he
had to focus on dragging her alongside him.

**************

"What are you doing?" Jason asked,
smirking as he glanced down at her.

"Nothing," she said quickly as she
tried to discretely shift so that Jason was blocking her from the
left side.

"Doesn't look like nothing," Jason
noted, quickening his pace, probably to annoy the hell out of
her.

"It is
nothing
," she bit out between
clenched teeth even as she hurried to keep up with Jason again,
angling a little to the right so that her entire body was blocked
by Jason's massive body.

She dared a peek behind Jason's back
and nearly cried in frustration when a pair of smoky gray eyes that
she was all too familiar with met hers. She sent him a polite smile
and did her best to ignore the determined glare he sent her
way.

"Who's that?" Jason asked as they
continued to follow the hostess through the spacious aisles and
around larger tables that surrounded the small dance
floor.

"No one," she lied. Tonight was going
to be difficult enough. She didn't want to get into the drama of
ex-boyfriends who still took her refusal to sleep with them as a
challenge, one that Robert seemed hell bent on winning no matter
how many years passed.

The man was a self-professed playboy
and truly believed he could have any woman he wanted. He hadn't
always been like that. When they started dating at fifteen he'd
been shy, sweet, and down to earth. It wasn't until their senior
year when his skin cleared up, he put on some muscle and of course
he inherited about thirty million dollars from his grandmother that
he started to change.

He went from the sweet guy she could
watch Indiana Jones movies with to the guy screwing around on her
with every bimbo he could find. When she confronted him about it he
denied it left and right until finally he broke down and placed all
the blame at her feet. They parted as friends, well sort of, and
since then every time he saw her he did his best to get her in his
bed. Last time they ran into each other he'd ditched his fiancé two
days before the wedding to pursue her.

His desperation to get her in his bed
had nothing to do with love. It had to do with the fact that she
was, according to him, the only woman who had ever said no to him.
He'd do just about anything to get her into his bed. She really did
not need this tonight. She had enough to deal with.

She was not looking forward to being
embarrassed and belittled in front of Jason. Although it wouldn't
be on her top ten favorite things to do on a Friday night, Haley
would have gladly come tonight to keep her grandmother company and
done her best to ignore all their subtle putdowns, but she couldn't
stomach the idea of Jason witnessing how little she really meant to
her family.

"Mr. Blaine, the rest of your party
has arrived," Elizabeth said, smiling politely as she stopped in
front of the large round table where her parents, sisters and their
husbands sat. Haley frowned when she didn't see her
grandmother.

"Thank you," Jason said, ignoring the
inviting look the woman was sending him, surprising Haley. His
disinterest in all the women who practically threw themselves at
him when they were out always surprised her. He wasn't much of a
playboy, she thought as she forced a smile for her
family.

"Haley, sweetheart," her father said
as he stood up. His eyes shifted to Jason before he pulled her into
a hug and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "It's been too long,
sweetheart. I've missed you."

She just barely stopped herself from
suggesting that he could pick up the telephone if he missed her so
much, but she bit it back. She would not let him know that he'd
hurt her when he hadn't called like he promised. It was her fault
anyway. She should have known better.

"This is my friend, Jason Bradford,"
she said, gesturing to Jason who extended his hand to her
father.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir,"
Jason said, politely.

Her father shook his hand, giving her
a curious look. "It's a pleasure to meet one of Haley's
friends."

Haley just barely stopped herself from
wincing when she realized Jason was the first friend she'd ever
invited to meet her family since she was in school. The fact that
Jason was a man was going to be a problem, especially if they
thought they were dating.

"Dad?" Haley said, drawing his
attention before he sat down.

"Yes, dear?" he asked, throwing Jason
another curious look.

"Where's Grandma?"

He frowned down at her. "Didn't she
call you?"

"No, why?" she asked, already having a
bad feeling where this was going.

"She called earlier to say that you
and your friend," he said, giving Jason another one of those
curious looks that Haley knew all too well, "were going to join us
tonight, but that she remembered she already had plans for this
evening."

Haley just bet she did.

Chapter
11

"Jason, this is my sister Rose," Haley
said, gesturing to the woman with her hair pulled back into a
severely tight bun that looked like it hurt. She daintily offered
her hand to him.