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“Seriously. Guys in your position could take advantage of so many people. And yeah, Dazzlers does. But it seems like you wanna do the opposite of that, right?”
I nodded vigorously. “Absolutely.”
“I respect that.”
That was the first time Kiki showed that she might see me as something more than a bug to be squashed under her heel.
In my astonishment, I forgot the game entirely.
“Roll the dice!” she said, her laugh undercutting the loud intensity of the words.
We played on, and as we did, we discussed all manner of things. Everything from the latest celebrity gossip — Cardi B did what?! — to books we loved as children. It turns out we were both Harry Potter fans.
“You’re kind of special, you know that?” I asked as I put a house on one of my properties.
She crossed her arms and harrumphed. “I know you’re just distracting me from your little real estate development over there.”
“No, honest. You were obviously cool when we first met — I mean, it takes balls to stand up to your boss like that — but… never mind.”
“What?” she pressed.
“I think you’re great. That’s all.”
Kiki gave me a playful shove on the shoulder. “You’re not half bad either. Okay, can we be done complimenting each other and get back to the game?”
We ended up playing through an entire game of Monopoly, a feat I’d never completed before — has anyone else? It’s nearly impossible. Needless to say, Kiki walloped me.
She counted her fake money with glee. “Look, I’m as rich as you are!”
Through a snort, I said, “Welcome to the billionaire’s club.”
“Wait, wait, I’m gonna make it rain on you, tilt your head back.”
I exposed my throat to Kiki, and as promised, she rose to her feet, fanned out the cash in her hands and began to flick it onto my head.
“Woo, woo! Money rain!” she cried, jumping around like a kid at a slumber party.
I obliged her excitement, waving my arms around and catching some of the fake money in my teeth. It was silly — and the most fun I’d had in my life.
At last, money strewn around me like a summoning circle, Kiki flopped back down into her bean bag.
“Okay, that was awesome,” she admitted. “Man, we must have played for hours, what time is it?”
I glanced down at my watch, trying not to feel hurt that she wanted to know the time, and by extension, how soon she could leave. No, that couldn’t be right, I thought, looking at the watch face.
“It — it’s somehow five-twenty.”
“Wow, no shit?”
Her eyes went wide. I assumed this was a physical manifestation of the anxiety she felt to get out of there. How had I thought any of this was real? Of course she just wanted the money, which was fair.
“Shit you not.” The disappointment in my voice was palpable, but I manfully tried to wrangle it down. “Obviously you’re free to leave whenever you like. You’ll get the money shortly.”
“Actually…”
I yanked my head up from the floor. She was chewing her lip and looking askance, a red glow creeping around her cheeks.
“Actually,” she continued, “if you’re into it… I’d rather… stay.”
Her words hung between us like bunting, stringing us closer together in giddy celebration.
Unable to comprehend this, I had to double check that I’d heard her correctly.
“Stay as in… ?”
“Stay,” she replied meaningfully, arching an eyebrow. “This has been maybe one of the best nights of my life. And I don’t want it to end.”
“Neither do I,” I whispered.
I crawled forward, shoving the game table aside, and bringing my knees up to the bean bag. Beneath my shins were tiny red hotels, digging into my flesh, but I ignored the pain.
In one swift move, I grabbed Kiki’s face in my hands and we were kissing.
CHAPTER 20
Kiki
THE KISS was both astonishing and exactly what I’d expected. How else could we end this wonderful night? It was like destiny had finally coalesced around us.
Tate’s lips were firm yet inviting on mine. I responded eagerly, wrapping my arms around his neck and flicking my tongue atop his.
“We’re going for a ride,” he murmured.
Just then, he got his hands underneath my ass and lifted me up out of the bean bag, his arm muscles rippling as he somehow managed to navigate the soft folds of the chair. I entwined my legs around his waist, pressing myself closer and closer to his pelvis.
I’d known from the beginning that if I were ever to touch Tate, we wouldn’t stop until we devoured each other alive. Sure enough, after only moments of kissing, I was ready to take the next step, and the step after that — all the steps.
“Take me to your bedroom.”
His lips quirked at my eagerness. “Gladly.”
Before I could get my bearings, Tate was carrying me across the room, and miraculously up the stairs, never once ceasing to kiss my lips or my neck. I clung to him for dear life, afraid that at any moment, he might tilt backwards and we’d topple to our deaths.
