Playing Games (16 page)

"Is Liam a good diver?" Brodie asked, looking
a bit too interested. "Tesla says she is. If we can pass you guys,
we get first place."

I had no idea if Liam was a good diver, but I
wanted first place. "Don't know. How were the others doing at the
mummy challenge?"

He made a face. "Dean's a machine. He was
ripping through it. Polly was kind of grossed out. The other two
didn't show up while we were there."

"Wow, their flights must have really been
backed up. Poor guys." Two all-male teams, both delayed. They’d be
neck and neck until the end - I didn't want to be in
that
race to the finish line.

He nodded. "It's gonna be one of them
eliminated. I just know it."

It sure seemed that way.

A cameraman zoomed past, filming something.
Both Brodie and I leapt to our feet to see who was coming.

Liam's tall body trotted down the dock, still
in the wetsuit, dripping water. I gave a happy little jump and
grabbed our bags, heading toward him.

"Congrats, Katy," my brother called out to
me. "We'll get you next time."

"In your dreams," I called back, grinning. I
gave Liam a quick one-armed hug as I met him and then pointed at
Chip. "Finish line's right up there."

Liam looked exhausted, his wet hair pushed
off his brow in a messy tangle. "That challenge," he breathed, "was
awful. Do you know how many chests there are at the bottom of the
harbor? My god. I thought I'd never find ten with coins. And then
not all of the coins are lighthouse coins. You have to dig through
them looking for the right ones."

My eyes widened. "Glad you did it and not
me."

We raced up to top of the hill and met Chip.
The finish line tape was intact, and I had to admit that it felt
amazing to bust through it, hand in hand, and bound onto the mat in
front of the host.

"Liam and Katy! You're the first team to
arrive!"

I gave a happy squeal - even though we'd
known it - and flung myself into Liam's arms. He kissed me full on
the mouth in response.

Chip laughed. "Seems like your partnership is
working out all right."

"Seems to be," I said, pulling my now-wet
t-shirt away from my chest and wiping at Liam's dripping
wet-suit.

"Well, as the winners of this leg of the
race, I have an additional prize for you two." Chip gave us both a
teasing look, and then produced an envelope from behind his back.
"The second Ace of the game."

I stared at it, then groaned.

Damn it. Another Ace? That was the last thing
I wanted. "Can't we, like, trade that in for a trip to Fiji or
something?"

Chip frowned and held the Ace out. "You don't
want it?"

I looked over at Liam, who took it in hand.
"No, we'll take it. Better us than another team."

Chip nodded. “It’s all yours, then.
Congratulations!”

I tried to look thrilled, and failed.

The host glanced down at his watch. "You have
twelve hours until the next leg of the race. Enjoy your stay."

~~ * * * ~~

We headed into Alexandria for the day. Both
Liam and I were too tired to argue with the cab driver when he
suggested a particular hotel that was very nice and tourist
friendly. Usually that meant 'expensive,' especially if the cab
driver was suggesting it. Still, the hotel he dropped us off at was
decent looking on the outside, and the rooms reasonable.

As we headed up the stairs to our room, my
mind focused on the conversation we'd had at the bottom of the
Great Pyramid. Of Liam's sultry promise to me. Of spending the day
in bed and kissing for hours. Of making love.

Of course, all of that came to a crashing
halt as soon as we opened the door to the hotel room.

It was a small room, which wasn't a problem.
It was also clean, and neat, and had an old TV perched atop a
dresser. It also had twin beds. Two rather tiny twin beds.

I giggled. I couldn't help myself. I looked
at the sight of those two small beds, and it just bubbled up inside
of me. Romantic evening cuddling together? Not in those bunks.

Liam chuckled, too, and dropped his bags on
the threshold. "I…guess we could ask for a different room? I didn't
think to ask about the beds."

I shook my head. "It's okay. Maybe things
just weren't meant to be." I grinned over at him. "You're probably
pretty tired after that last leg of the race."

"Not that tired," he said in a disgusted
voice, and I broke out into giggles again.

He shut the door to the bedroom behind us,
and then he moved to my side. His hand stroked my cheek and then he
leaned in and kissed me, his mouth moving over mine in a tender,
gentle kiss. When it broke, he looked down at me. "I still want
you, Katy. You still want me?"

I nodded up at him. "More than anything."

"Then I think we should push these beds
together," he told me, his voice husky. "And enjoy our
downtime."

I kissed him again, my hand sliding along his
shirt. He'd given back the wetsuit after we'd checked in for the
race, and changed back into his own clothing. I brushed my fingers
under his shirt to feel his warm chest underneath. "Do you have
condoms?"

He stiffened, and then gave a small curse.
"No. I don't. But there's a gift shop downstairs."

"I'll wait up here, then."

He pressed another kiss to my mouth. "Be
right back." He grabbed his wallet and headed out the door, leaving
me alone in the room.

I studied the bed situation. They were
separated by a small nightstand which boasted of an alarm clock and
a lamp. I headed to it and unplugged both, then dragged the
nightstand off to the opposite end of the room. Once that was done,
I shoved the two beds together and considered them. Not nearly as
bad, though still probably a smaller bed than would be comfortable.
I didn't suppose it mattered, I thought with a smile. It wasn't
like we were planning on doing a ton of sleeping today.

And just that thought made my face grow hot.
I ran a hand along my pigtails, wondering if I should take them
down. I decided against it, since Liam seemed to enjoy them. I slid
my shoes off and opened my bag, considering my clothing. I didn't
have anything sexy or fun to wear. It was all race gear. Every few
days, someone in production would meet us at the beginning of the
race and swap out our clothing for new, fresh ones so we never had
to look wrinkled or smelly on TV. Naturally, no lingerie was
included. I thought about stripping out of my shorts and just
remaining in my race shirt. Or a bra and panties, but the bra I had
was a sports bra and looked like something designed more for a
vigorous hike than making love.

After a moment more of indecision, I stripped
out of everything and slid under the covers of the now-doubled
bed.

Just as I did, I heard Liam return to the
door. He was talking to someone, and I ducked under the covers,
terrified. Oh lord, what if one of the other racers was out there
and wanted to hang out? I'd die of mortification, considering Liam
was likely standing out there with a box of condoms and I was in
here, waiting in bed and naked. I strained my ears, trying to hear
the conversation.

"Not right now," Liam said. Then, "No. I can
do an interview later. I promise. Right now I'm just really tired."
Another pause. "No. No, you can't see what's in the bag."

A moment later, the door shut and Liam came
into view, an exasperated look on his face. "Those cameramen are
really determined. I—" His voice stopped as his gaze moved to the
sight of me, waiting in the bed. A smile curved his face. "Guess
you didn't change your mind."

I trailed a finger on the blanket. "Guess
not. You disappointed?"

"Hell, no." Liam set the small bag down on
the dresser. "But our cameraman out there thinks something's
up."

I didn't know what to do about that. "Should
we order a pizza or something? Maybe he'll go away if we do?"

He shrugged, then pulled off his shirt. "We
can order a pizza later, if you like."

The breath caught in my throat at the sight
of Liam undressing. I'd seen him in his boxers before. I'd
definitely seen him without a shirt. But somehow, seeing him strip
down in front of the bed while I waited in it, naked? Really
brought things home.

He pulled off his pants, and looked over at
me. And paused. "You look…uncomfortable."

"This is just…" I gestured at the beds,
pushed together. "Faster than I normally move."

Liam stripped down to his boxers. "If you
want to take it slow, I’m fine with that." He moved away from the
dresser and sat on the edge of the bed, still in his boxers. "Okay
if I get under the covers with you?"

I shook my head. I didn't mind. "You must
think I'm being silly. You probably have girls throwing themselves
at you all the time."

"I don't think you're being silly," he said,
pulling back one side of the blankets and sliding under them. He
slid a bit closer, but there was still a foot of space between us.
"And most of those girls just want to nail anyone in the band
because they're in a band. Has nothing to do with me or what I'm
like."

"And what are you really like?" I asked in a
quiet voice.

He thought about this for a moment, then
shrugged. "Kind of like I am on this race. I like to compete. I
don't like the limelight. I have an appreciation for smart, brave
girls." He reached out and tweaked one of my pigtails. "And blonde
pigtails."

"Brave girls?" I gave him a look of
disbelief, clutching the blanket to my breasts. "You're kidding,
right? Which one of us was wailing like a ninny inside of the
pyramids earlier?"

"You were claustrophobic," he said easily.
"Everyone has fears. You got past yours, though. Normally you're
fearless, and I like that about you. I'm willing to overlook a
moment of weakness in the scheme of things." He gave me a crooked
smile. "As long as we never mention that mukluk incident ever
again."

I laughed, unable to help myself. "You're the
one that keeps bringing it up, not me."

"That's because it makes you smile," he said,
and his hand left my hair to brush his the backs of his fingers
along my bare shoulder. "And I like seeing you smile."

Goosebumps danced along my skin and I
shivered at that small touch. I moved a little closer to him in the
bed, until we were facing each other, each of us propped up on an
elbow. Inches separated us, but the blankets still lay between us,
a barrier.

And I reached out and hesitantly brushed my
hand over his pectoral, tracing the lines of the spider-web tattoo.
"Can I ask you about these?"

"You can ask me about anything," he said in a
low, husky voice. His eyes remained on me, as if fascinated by my
touch.

"What's the spider-web for?" My fingers moved
over the lines.

He shrugged, his shaggy hair brushing against
my fingers. "Was an idea I had. Kind of symbolized being caught in
a web at the label and all that. When I got too frustrated with how
things were going, I'd go out and get another tattoo."

And he had sleeves of them and others on his
body. "You must be frustrated a lot."

Liam grinned. "Sometimes I just like the art.
But sometimes, yeah. It's the best career in the world, and the
most frustrating at times."

"I think every career is like that," I told
him, tracing the lines of a star on his shoulder.

"Even baking cupcakes?"

I gave him a wry look. "It sounds corny, but
you haven't made six dozen cupcakes for a client who then insists
that they didn't want them in that shade of yellow and can you have
new ones ready in an hour?"

"No, I guess I haven't experienced that," he
said, and ran his fingers along my bare shoulder again.

I shivered, my nipples hardening under the
blankets.

My fingers moved to the bottom of the star
and noticed there was a broken heart mixed into the lines covering
his arm. "What's this for?"

He glanced down at his arm and sighed. "No
one important."

"Tesla?" I guessed.

He raised an eyebrow at me, the piercing
glinting. "You know about that?"

"Saw it on your website." Got a little hurt
by it, if I was being honest with myself. Of course, I couldn't
hope to compete with her. She had history with Liam, and a
connection through the band that I could never duplicate. I was a
small time baker. She was Tesla Spooner, hot rock chick and star of
Finding Threnody
.

He grunted, considering. "It was a long time
ago, you know. I don't want you to feel weird about it."

I had to laugh at that. "You don't think this
whole thing is a little weird?"

"Well, yeah." His mouth quirked. "But I don't
want you to feel weird about her and me. Ancient history. I
swear."

I nodded, and decided to touch one of his
piercings, instead, brushing my thumb over the ring in his lower
lip. "What made you get this?"

He shrugged. "I liked it. I like
piercings."

I touched the stud on his eyebrow, and then
the bar across the bridge of his nose. "Did this hurt?"

"Nope."

"Which one hurt the most?"

He brushed his shaggy hair back and showed me
his ear. There was a bar in the cartilage of his ear, pierced from
the top to a hole in the side. Instead, he pointed to the tiny hoop
at the front of his ear.

"This tiny one?" I brushed my fingers along
it, smiling. "It doesn't look like it would."

"This is called a tragus. Hurt like the
fucking dickens. Even my dick piercing didn't hurt that much."

I stilled. "You have a…um, piercing?"

He grinned again. "Told you I like
piercings."

I could feel my face getting hot again. "I
don't have any."

"That's all right," he told me, and his hand
slid to my waist, resting over the blankets. "I kind of like you
just how you are."