struggles for a moment, but when my tongue slips between her lips, she stops. Not quite giving in—her hands are gripping my biceps as I play with her mouth—but she doesn’t pull away. I push her backwards until she bumps up against the wall, pressing my wet clothes into her open coat. And I slide one hand behind her neck to draw her closer while the other one fists her hair.
Her tongue responds, twisting together with mine. Her chest begins to rise and fall more rapidly, and then she is panting in my mouth. Fuck.
I pull back and release her hair so I can palm her cheek. I slip my thumb up to her lips and she actually moans. And when I try to slip my thumb into her mouth, she opens for me.
Good God.
I stare down at her as she looks up at me. My hair is dripping water down her face, but she stays absolutely still. “I want to take you out tonight, Miss Cherlin.” She swallows when I call her by her real name. “I’m not taking no for an answer. So I’ll pick you up at eight.”
And then I kiss her again—this time no tongue—and turn away to jump down the stairs.
When I get to the bottom I turn around. “Hey,” I call up to her. She’s still backed up against the wall, her mouth open from the kiss. It makes me grin to see her so caught off guard.
“What?” she whispers, her hand reaching towards her heart.
I hold up both hands, palms out, and laugh. “I’ve still got all ten fingers, killer. Looks like you’ve lost your game.” And then I drop the smile and give her a stern look that makes her face scrunch up. “If we hire you to help us, you’re gonna wanna get that game back, understand?”
I don’t wait for an answer, just turn and walk away. Out of her line of sight from the stairs, and then out of the building. It’s still raining outside, but the only wet thing on my mind right now is that girl’s mouth.
“Who the…”
That asshole. He walks away before I can finish my sentence.
Pick me up at eight. Work for them. Asshole.
“Hey, Sasha,” Mike, my office-mate, says as he walks up the stairs. He stops on the landing in front of me. “What are you doing?”
I let out a breath and mutter, “Nothing.”
“You OK? You sound stressed. And your face is all wet. Didn’t you use your umbrella?” He looks down at it on the floor. “You never get stressed. So the world must be upside down right now.”
I paint on my trademark smile. “I’m fine, just thinking about my orals today. How about you? Are you ready for them?”
“I took mine yesterday.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I’m skipping town for winter break, going to see some family in Europe, so they let me take them early.”
I pick up my umbrella and we start walking up the stairs towards our office on the top floor. “How’d you do?”
“Passed.” He grins. Mike is average-looking in all ways but one—that smile. He’s got a nice smile and I’ve been lucky to be sharing an office with someone so upbeat for two years. “So I get to spend all next semester interning for Professor Ling in Montana.”
“That’s wonderful!” I say it enthusiastically, but I’m ready to explode with jealousy. I wanted that internship. I figured I had it in the bag.
“You’re not mad, are you? That I got it?”
“Oh, no,” I say, patting him on the shoulder like friends do. “Congrats, really. You deserve it.”
“Thanks. I know you’ll get a good one too. Probably that dig site in Utah everyone’s been scrambling for.”
We get to the office door and I throw my bag down on my desk and start pulling out my computer. I have some last-minute work to get my class grades in on time, and then the rest of the day is going over notes for the oral examination later this afternoon. “Yeah, one can hope.” I smile at him, and then his phone rings and his face lights up. Must be his girlfriend. He walks out of the office, chatting happily about his promising future.
I drop into my crappy desk chair and despair over mine.
And then I remember Agent Jax and my anger is back. Kissed me! Said we’re going on a date tonight! Said I lost my game!
I have game, dammit. I’ve got more game than anyone. I’m like a game master. I just stopped playing a