The Games We Play Vol. 2 (Riley Grayson) (10 page)

Ali sighed, her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know, Hil. All these games seem so childish. I mean, why can’t I just call him and tell him I’m excited for our date tomorrow night?”

“Because that makes you look too eager, like you’ve got nothing better to do than sit around and wait for him. And trust me, sweetie, you never want to give a guy that kind of power over your life. You have to make men work for it.”

She supposed Hilary was right, but there was one very important fact that they were overlooking: Ali
had
been waiting around for him all week. She
was
eager. And like it or not, Riley already had that power over her. And technically, since he was only supposed to be a quick forget Pat one night fuck, she hadn’t made him work for very much.

“Okay fine. I’ll do it. But if this backfires and I don’t have a date tomorrow night, I’ll never forgive you.” Ali’s eyes grew big and round as she looked intently at Hilary. “Never,” she repeated.

Hilary laughed and held up her hands in surrender. “Fine. But I’m telling you, it’s going to work.”

Ali couldn’t believe she was actually doing this. Everything about it felt so wrong. Other than to her parents, she didn’t like to lie to people. And even with them, she was a terrible liar. It was just easier to tell the truth.

But where Riley was concerned, she was lost and desperate. She had been with Pat for way too long. She didn’t know how to date and get a boyfriend it seemed. With a deep breath, Ali texted him:
Thanks for last night. Had a great time.
Then she hit send.
Oh my God. This is such a stupid idea. It’s totally going to backfire.

“Now what?”

“Now send him another one apologizing for sending him the wrong text.”

“This is so stupid,” Ali mumbled. She nodded and quickly typed:
OMG. So sorry. Wrong person. That wasn’t for u
.

The moment she hit send, her stomach turned in on itself. She couldn’t stop the sinking feeling she’d just totally destroyed any chance she had with Riley. Then it would be back to the drawing board.

“And now?” Ali asked with a raised eyebrow.

“And now you wait. One way or another, he’ll respond to that text.”

“Ugh.” Ali propped her elbows on the table and dropped her head into her hands, her fingers clutching her hair. It was the wait that was going to kill her. Maybe she’d get lucky and the text wouldn’t go through. Maybe Riley had his phone off. Maybe he’d lost it. Or he was too busy at work like he’d said and wouldn’t see her text. There were so many explanations and possibilities as to why she hadn’t heard from him. God, why hadn’t she just listened to her instincts? Hilary’s games were killing her.

A second later, her phone buzzed. Her heart stopped when she realized it was an incoming text from Riley.

“Told you,” Hilary said smugly.

Ali’s hand shook as she reached for the phone and pulled up his message. She read it aloud. “Who was it for then?” Ali looked up at Hilary with fear. “Great. Now what am I supposed to tell him? That I lied? That I was trying to make him jealous and trick him into texting me?”

“Calm down. Just make up some guy’s name.” Hilary shrugged as if it were no big deal, then stood and went to the kitchen.

“This was such a mistake.” Ali groaned.
Okay. Think. I can figure this out
. She blew out a breath and texted back:
An old friend from high school
.

There. It was still a lie but she wasn’t telling him she was seeing another guy. It made her feel a little better. But not much. She wished she could take back that text. This was what she got for listening to Hilary’s crazy advice. Although Ali couldn’t deny that so far Hilary had been right about almost everything.

A guy friend?

Ali gasped, and then laughed. “Oh my God! Hilary! I think he’s jealous.” Ali squealed and jumped out of her chair. She couldn’t believe it. There was no way this stupid little trick could’ve worked.

“Really? What did he say?” Hilary asked.

“I texted him it was for an old friend from high school. He asked if it was a guy friend.” Ali laughed. “I can’t believe it. What should I say now?”

Hilary shrugged. “Say whatever you want. You’ve got him wondering now.” She smiled, then skipped off toward the bathroom. “You’re getting the hang of it. I’m sure you’ll come up with something to drive him crazy.”

Ali went to the couch and sat. She was so worried about messing this up and never seeing him again. But maybe Hilary was right. Clearly Riley was wondering or else he would’ve just ignored her text. Nervously chewing on her lip, she texted one word:
Yes
. Then she held her breath and waited.

Riley clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth. That one word grated at him, gnawed at his mind. Ali had a good time last night. With some old friend from high school. A
guy
friend. He let out a frustrated sigh and resisted the urge to throw his phone across the room. “Motherfucker!”

He had no right to be angry. None. He’d been with that chick from the bar—the one who’d snuck out of his room—and then his boss.

Veronica was a vixen and he knew that she was going to want him again. It would be difficult to avoid her. He was afraid to tell her no for fear of it affecting his job. He now hated himself for getting into this position. He planned to deal with it by teasing her, flirting and giving her hope. He just wasn’t sure how long this would go on without it leading into something more.

His date with Ali was fast approaching and he wanted to be ready for her. Veronica, for the time being, could be his plan B. He didn’t want to be exhausted for their date. He wanted to have all of his resources intact and at his disposal so he could truly be on top of his game and show Ali what she was getting herself into.

So how the hell was he supposed to respond to this? He couldn’t say anything that would make him sound like he was royally pissed off, even though he was. Just the thought of another man touching Ali . . .

Riley curled his hand into a fist and then flexed it out.
Calm down, Grayson.
Think about this for a minute
. He set his cell phone on his drawing table and paced his office. This office was a new “perk” of his job. It was more of a drawing studio, really. A place he could call his own and work out of to make new designs for Amped. He wondered if he’d have gotten this office if he hadn’t fucked Veronica.

He shook his head and turned his thoughts back to Ali and the fact that she had been out with another guy. All right, so he didn’t know for certain she’d been on a date with anyone else. Maybe she’d been out with her friend and just ran into this guy. Maybe she didn’t do anything with him.

But then why would she send him that text? Girls didn’t send texts like that to a guy unless there was a reason, and in his experience that reason was always because it had ended on a good note.

Drawing a deep breath, he went back to his phone and picked it up. If he were out in a bar and had competition for a girl’s attention, he’d rely on his charm, on his ability to convince the girl he was the best choice. For now, he’d let her think he didn’t care, let her think he was dropping the subject, when in reality, he was just going to avoid it until he was face to face with her.

He texted:
We still on for tomorrow night?

Her lightning fast response made him smile. That meant she’d been waiting for him.
Can’t wait
, was her answer. That seemed to settle his racing heart a little.
Two could play his game.
At least she was still planning to go out with him. And he would be damn sure to show her what it was like to be out with Riley Grayson. When he was finished, she wouldn’t want to be with anyone else. Ever. Shit, he was even willing to splurge on a hotel room so they could avoid all possible interruptions.

I can’t wait either
, he answered, then added,
Got something special planned
.

This time her answer was a smiley face followed by,
me too
.

Me too? What the hell did that mean? He was half tempted to text back and ask to change their date to tonight instead of tomorrow, but that would severely mess up his plans. He doubted he could change his reservations on such short notice. He groaned. No. He’d just have to wait until tomorrow. That would be better. It was just a little over twenty four hours away. He could make it that long. He had to.

“Excuse me, Riley?” Julie, the office secretary, peeked her head around the corner and smiled. “Miss Stratford needs to see you in her office.”

“Yeah, thanks.” He waved her away.
How can I avoid this one?
Riley wondered.

Shit. Riley dragged a hand through his hair. Veronica had called him into her office multiple times since their date, and every single time was for no apparent reason other than to bat her flirty eyes at him, just tempting him to do exactly what she said they could never do at work. He figured that was what this was about, too. And he was in no mood to play her silly kindergarten games.

Not only was he agitated and pissed off about Ali, he was annoyed he’d let himself get whipped by Veronica’s power. She held control over how much he worked and what kinds of projects he’d be on. How could he say no?
He hated being in this position. Hated not being in control, not being the one to dictate every move. It was rare and something he hoped he’d never have to get used to.

Well, it stopped right now. One way or another, he was going to figure out a way to tell Veronica to quit this playground bullshit. He was done. If only it were that easy.

***

Riley wiped his sweaty palms on his slacks and blew out a breath. He’d waited a week and half for this moment. Why he was so nervous was beyond him. He’d been on so many dates in the past, but none of them had ever made him as nervous as this one did.

The overwhelming majority of his past dates he couldn’t really care less about. He always knew what to say and when to say it in order to seal the deal. Then once he’d given what he needed to and he got what he wanted, he was out the door and never looked back. It was a formula that had proved successful over and over again, and in the process he never got hurt, jealous or felt the need for more. It was perfect.

But tonight. Oh, tonight. He couldn’t explain this one. It was now or never. He cracked his neck, straightened his back, and knocked on Ali’s door.

The door swung open and he was greeted by Ali’s friend. Heather? Was that her name? He didn’t remember. “Hi. I’m here to pick up Ali.”

“I know. C’mon in, Riley.” She stepped aside and let him enter. “I’m Hilary, in case you forgot.” She brushed her hand down his arm. “Ali’s getting ready. I’ll let her know you’re here.”

He nodded. “Thanks.”
Hilary
. That was her name. He had the H part right. Riley looked around the apartment while Hilary disappeared into one of the back rooms, he assumed it was Ali’s bedroom, which was exactly where he wanted to be right now.
Hold off Riley. Patience.

A few minutes later, he heard the door open. He turned toward the sound and was stunned speechless when Ali appeared. She was wearing a strapless, turquoise dress that hugged her body in the most delicious way. Her gorgeous brown hair hung in loose curls around her shoulders and her eyes actually sparkled, which he assumed was a result of the color of her dress; it accentuated her green eyes.

“Hey,” she said.

“Wow.” He took several steps toward her, stopped, then closed the distance between them. Without thinking, he gently took her face into his hands and lowered his mouth to hers. He didn’t give a shit that Hilary was a few feet away, watching and gawking in disbelief.

Ali’s lips parted for him and he pulled her closer, letting his tongue slide into her mouth and explore. God, he’d forgotten how soft her lips were, how delectable her mouth tasted.

He allowed his hands to leave her face and wrap around her lower back, bringing her even tighter to his body. He couldn’t believe what he had done. Kissing was generally something he worked hard to avoid and now, he’d just reacted. He couldn’t control himself when he saw how beautiful she was. Damn!

Ali leaned into him and moaned softly into his mouth. Riley forced himself to pull away knowing if he didn’t he’d end up pushing her into her bedroom and locking them in there until next week. Her eyelids fluttered open and she smiled. “Well this is shaping up to be a good night.”

Riley grinned and rested his forehead to hers. Kissing her was surreal and comforting. It was like he was home when their lips were locked in that way. An indescribable calm came over him when he kissed her. It was like something greater than himself was telling him,
This girl, she’s the one. Riley Grayson, meet your future wife.

It terrified him, and of course it was something that he couldn’t share with anyone without sounding like a complete buffoon, but at the same time, it was like prescription painkillers. He couldn’t stop, couldn’t get enough of that feeling of peace. No pain. No worries. Just being.