Page 37 of I Never Stopped Loving You

“Air hockey?”

“I think we should make this game interesting.”

I take her hand and lead her down the row to the back, where the air hockey table is lit up.

“Oh yeah? How so?”

“How about this, if I win, you say yes to being hired right here, right now. No second interview.”

“And what if I win?” she asks before taking a sip of her drink.

“If you win, you can either choose to do the second interview on Tuesday, or…” I let my voice trail off.

“Or?”

“Or you continue letting me try and bribe you tonight.”

“Interesting.”

She lets the word slowly fall from her lips before taking another sip.

“So, do we have a deal?” I ask, holding out my hand to shake on it.

“If you win, I accept the job. If I win, you still have until three a.m. to bribe me to say yes. Otherwise, I’ll be seeing you on Tuesday for the second interview.”

She holds out her hand and takes mine, sealing the deal and her fate.

Willow Bennett is mine.

CHAPTER 19

WILLOW

We spend the next two hours playing games and making stupid bets. I won the air hockey game by one point, so he’s been trying to think of different ways to bribe me this entire time. Each game, the bets get a bit more.

So far, he owes me Starbucks, a movie date, and if I get the job, I want to go shopping for a new plant for my office. Apparently we all get our own offices at the firm. I owe him a date to the tree lighting in downtown Detroit, another date at The World’s End for burgers, and also a massage. I’m kind of sad I lost that one. I would’ve gotten a back massage.

“Twenty minutes until the arcade closes,” a voice says over the loudspeaker.

“Time for one more game?” I ask, and he nods.

“How about ski ball?” he asks, and I can’t help but laugh.

“Fine, but no bets this time.”

“Why not?”

“Because I told you I suck at ski ball. It’s the one game I’m terrible at.”

“Oh, stop. There were a few games tonight that you were…”

“Stop,” I shush him by standing on my tiptoes and placing my hand over his lips.

I can feel him smile against my palm, and it causes my butterflies inside to flutter. I lower my hand, but he takes it and kisses my knuckles before letting me go.

“Fine. No bets. Seems a bit unfair but okay.”

“Okay. One game of ski ball.”