The Devil's Game (7 page)

Game On

The sun shone brightly into Karina’s room when she woke the next morning, but it did nothing to improve her mood. She couldn’t shake the feeling of irritation…of frustration. Damien had made one mistake, though. He had shown his hand too soon. And he had no idea who he was messing with.

She headed downstairs only to find that Damien wasn’t even home.

“He had to go into the main office,” Romi told her.

“Do you know when he’ll be back?” Karina asked.

Romi shook her head. “He didn’t say, and with Mr. Bishop you never know.”

After breakfast, she went upstairs to call her parents (Miami is great, haven’t had a chance to see much since she had been working so hard) and Ginny, who she lied to as well.

“Still nothing?” Ginny asked.

“Nope.”

“Maybe he’s gay and wants you around to make the press think that he’s straight.”

“Maybe,” said Karina.

“Well at least you get to enjoy a free vacation out of it.”

“That is a plus.”

“Enjoy it,” said Ginny. “The weather here is awful.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“I miss you! It’s so lonely here without you.”

“Miss you too. Talk to you soon.”

Karina went downstairs to make herself a sandwich for lunch and then decided she needed to listen to Ginny’s advice and enjoy the Miami sun.

After a couple laps in the pool, she let herself dry in the sun before applying some sunscreen and starting another book on her e-reader. It wasn’t as good as she had hoped (or perhaps she had too many other things on her mind), so after the second chapter she shut it off and popped in some ear buds instead.

She closed her eyes and let the sun’s warmth blanket her. It was so relaxing, she just might fall asleep. Lazily, she wondered if she should apply more sunscreen, just in case….

A shadow blocked the light and she opened her eyes to see Damien standing over her. She pulled the buds from her ears.

“You’re home,” she said.

“Enjoying yourself?” he asked, hands in his trouser pockets.

“Is there something else you’d rather I be doing?” she asked slyly.

Instead of answering, he just looked at her with the familiar hunger.

Yesterday she would’ve cringed under that gaze, maybe even covered herself with the towel. But not today. Today it was time to even the playing field.

Karina let out a contented sigh as she raised her arms above her head and stretched. She could almost see the fire in his eyes.

“Get dressed,” he said as he turned around—much to her disappointment—and walked away. “I’m taking you to dinner.”

“What should I wear?” she called out.

“Whatever you want,” he said over his shoulder.

Game on.

After a shower, Karina perused the closet, looking for just the right outfit. Her first instinct was to go for the shortest, skimpiest thing that she could find, but then decided that was too obvious. She needed something more subtle. And she found it in a strapless maxi dress. The tag said cotton, but something about the weave or wash made it feel like butter against her skin. Tom sure knew how to shop.

When she came down the stairs, Damien was waiting for her by the door, impatiently tapping a long blue box against his hand. But he stopped as soon as he saw her, and Karina knew she had chosen the right dress. Not that he was any less impressive in his fitted light gray slacks and yet another button-down shirt, this time in black. And now she knew exactly what the shirt was covering. This was not going to be easy.

“Are you ready?” he asked and she nodded. “I have something for you.”

He held out the box and opened it for her. Inside was a necklace—a thin silver chain with three small, sparkling diamonds spaced out on the front of it.

She didn’t know what to say. No man had ever given her jewelry before, let alone something from Tiffany’s.

“It’s too much,” she said. “I can’t accept this.”

“Consider it a loan,” he told her. “You can leave it behind when you leave, if you want.”

“For the next girl.”

“That’s a thought,” he said with a smirk.

Even though she was sure he was joking, Karina felt an odd twinge of jealousy.

“Let me,” he said, pulling the necklace from the box.

She turned around and held her hair up so the he could clasp it around her neck. It seemed to take longer than she thought necessary, and when he finally finished, he ran a hand down the length of her bared back, sending a shiver through her that he must have noticed.

“Thank you,” she whispered, turning to face him again.

He offered his arm, giving her a warm smile. “Shall we?” he asked.

She looped her hand through it, and together they walked out and down the steps to where a Porsche convertible was waiting instead of the town car Karina had been expecting.

“No driver tonight?” she asked as he held the passenger door open for her.

“I thought tonight could be just the two of us.” He closed her door and got into the driver’s seat.

“I was beginning to think you didn’t have a driver’s license.”

He started the engine.

“You might not believe that I do after tonight,” he said and tore off down the driveway, making her laugh.

They managed to arrive at the restaurant in one piece, if only because traffic slowed considerably as they got near the heart of Miami. Once again, Karina was amazed at all the colors and nightlife attire.

“Is this typical for a Friday night?” she asked.

“This is typical every night.
Esto es Miami
. We like to party.”

“Do
you
like to party?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Because nothing she had seen so far suggested he was into clubbing.

He shrugged. “When the occasion arises. It’s not really my scene.”

Damien pulled up to a Cuban restaurant across the street from the beach and let the valet handle the parking.

There was a line waiting at the hostess booth, but Damien walked right up and shook the hostess’ hand.

“I called earlier today about a table on the balcony.”

As he released her hand, Karina noticed the hostess had something wadded in it.

“Of course, right this way.”

She led them through the crowded dining room and out to the equally crowded balcony where their table had a perfect view of the action.

“Your server should be right with you,” the hostess said and walked away.

“You didn’t call earlier today, did you?” Karina asked.

“I did,” he said, focusing on the menu. “They told me their reservations were full for the weekend.”

“Yet here we are.”

“Here we are,” he said, and there was a glimmer in his eye as he looked up at her.

“I have to say I’m surprised that you’re venturing out sans bodyguards.”

“It draws less attention when I’m trying to be inconspicuous,” he said. “I can assure you though that they’re nearby. Just in case something goes wrong.”

“And has it?” she asked. “Has anything ever gone wrong?”

His brow furrowed and his eyes went dark. “Once,” he said without offering any further explanation. “Have you ever had Cuban food before?” he asked, changing the subject as he turned his gaze back to the menu.

“Does rum count?”

“I don’t think so,” he said with a smile.

“Then tonight will be a first.”

“We should try a rum flight while we’re here as well.”

“What’s a rum flight?” she asked.

“It’s like a wine flight. Only with rum.”

She continued to look at him.

“It’s a sampling of various rums to try.”

“Why? Rum is rum. How different can it be?” she asked.

“We will definitely be ordering a rum flight then.”

“It will probably be wasted on me.”

“We shall see,” he said. “And tomorrow I think we will be visiting a wine bar.”

“I can’t wait,” she said with a smile as the server arrived.

Karina let Damien order for the both of them, since she had no idea where to start. She wasn’t even sure how to pronounce half the items, and the words sounded so much sexier coming from his mouth.

“Let’s start with
frituras de malanga
and…” he looked Karina. “You like calamari, don’t you?”

“Isn’t that squid?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.

“So you’ve tried it then?”

“Well, no,” she admitted.

“We’ll take some calamari,” he told their waitress, who nodded. “And for dinner,” he said, turning back to the menu. “We’ll try the
ropa vieja,
and bring a side of black bean soup.”

“Of course,” she said, collecting their menus.

“Do I want to know what you just ordered?” Karina asked.

“I promise it’s nothing too exotic,” he said.

“You ordered squid.”

“Promise me you’ll keep an open mind. The calamari here is amazing. My favorite, in fact.”

She folded her arms, leaning forward on the table. “Tonight is going to be full of firsts for me, isn’t it?”

He gave a sly grin. “We can only hope.”

The rum flight arrived first, and Damien gave her a lesson on how to try them.

“You start down here with the lightest one,” he said, pointing to the first of the four glasses on the small, wooden platter between them, all slightly smaller than a shot glass. “And you sip it. You don’t want to finish it all at once.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because after you try a little of each, you can go back and compare your favorites.”

“What are you going to drink?”

“Very funny,” he said with a half-cocked smile. “I’m pretty sure we’ve established what a lightweight you are.”

Karina blushed as she picked up the first glass and took a small sip. There was the familiar burn of straight alcohol, but it actually had a nice flavor to it.

“I think I like that,” she said, handing the glass to Damien. Their fingers touched as he took it, and she tried to ignore the tingling it caused.

“Not bad,” he said after taking a sip. “A little weak.”

She moved on to the next one. “Oh, I really like that one.” This time she set the glass down and opted to push it toward him before moving on to the next one, which was much darker and far too strong for her.

“Oh god,” she said as she winced from the potency of it.

Damien broke out in laughter over her reaction, causing her to blush again. He wrapped his fingers around her hand still holding the glass and pulled it toward his mouth, taking a sip.

“Now
that
I like,” he said, releasing her. “That’s a good one.”

She pushed the last one in his direction.

“You’re not done, are you?” he asked.

“You taste it,” she said, pointing to it. “Tell me if you think I’ll like it.”

Damien took her hand again and this time dipped her finger in it before slowly sucking the rum off. Karina’s whole body trembled.

“You’re right,” he said, letting go of her hand. “I think this one is much too strong for you. You wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

She pulled the glass back and looked him in the eye before drinking half of it. She forced herself not to shudder as it burned its way down her throat.

“Bolder than I’m used to, but nothing I can’t handle.”

He lifted one of the other rums. “A toast, then?”

“Oh, now we’re shooting them?”

He shrugged. “Rules were meant to be broken.”

Karina held her half glass up to his almost full one.

“To a beautiful evening,” he said. “With beautiful company.”

“Cheers,” she said, clinking her glass against his before downing the drink.

Dinner was amazing—including the calamari, much to Karina’s surprise. She was enjoying the last sips of her equally delicious mojito when music began blaring from inside the restaurant. She craned her neck to see people moving out onto a dance floor in the back bar area.

“Looks like the salsa dancing is starting,” said Damien.

“How fun,” she muttered, watching some of the dancers.

“Have you ever tried it?” he asked and she shook her head. “Would you like to?”

“Oh no,” she said, turning back to her drink. “I think I would step on too many toes.”

To her dismay, he stood and held out his hand.

“We’ll never know for sure if you don’t try,” he said.

Karina bit her lip. She also didn’t know if she could handle being that close to his body. Wasn’t salsa dancing supposed to be…intimate?