Tempted (A Player Brother Romance Book) (A Standalone Novel) (Player Brothers Book 1) (18 page)

"You know I really enjoy the suspicion in your
voice every time I suggest we hang out,” he said with a smile.

I couldn’t help but laugh as we stepped out into the
parking lot. We hadn’t spoken casually since the day we had gone hiking and
despite myself I had missed the interaction a little bit. I hadn’t quite
forgiven him for the exchange at the look out, nor did I think that I was ready
to. Regardless I still wanted to celebrate the day.

"I'm sorry," I said with a smile. "I
don't mean anything by it, honestly."

"Sure, sure,” he said.

"I'm not sure if it is a good idea,” I said.
"Shouldn't we wait? I mean we should spend the weekend preparing for
Monday."

"That is what the meeting is for on Sunday
afternoon,” he said. "You're allowed to relax every now and then, you
know."

"What are you implying?" I said, turning
away and walking forward with purpose.

"No, Blair. I didn't mean..." He laughed a
bit keeping the mood light. "I’m confident that we are more than prepared
to continue our case next week. You were amazing today after all. I mean
it."

The compliment lightened my mood and the smile
returned to my face.

I tried to hide it though.

"You weren't too bad yourself," I said.
"Now I'm not saying it's a good idea, but what did you have in mind?"

It was a terrible idea.

I knew I shouldn’t have asked.

"Why don't I pick you up tomorrow morning and
we'll spend the day at the beach. Just the two of us, no funny business. We'll
do some fishing like we used to back at Lake Okoboji, then go back to my place
for some home cooked seafood dinner."

I hardly remembered how to fish.

"I haven't thought about those summers in a long
time,” I said. "It sounds like fun, but..."

"Blair," he said in a more serious tone.
"I feel bad about before. I didn't mean to suggest that I wasn't attracted
to you in high school. Of course, I was. How could I not be? But I was a stupid
kid. The only type of girl I had any interest in... I mean I was just trying to
get laid all the time. I didn't want anything to ruin our friendship."

We stopped walking next to my car. He rubbed the back
of his neck and looked down at his feet. I wasn’t sure how I felt about what he
was saying, but I kept listening. He looked up at me.

"Blair, you were my best friend. I didn't want
anything to ruin that."

He had already said that.

I needed to keep my eye on the prize, the job.

Why was it so damn difficult?

Aiden was why.

Aiden
Player.

Was he
playing
me
to get this job?

I fiddled with my car keys while I thought it over.
Sensing my hesitation, he placed his hands gently on my elbows, pulling me in slightly.
The gesture seemed genuine.

Shit.

Of course he had to touch me with his magical hands.

God the things they could do.

"Let me make it up to you, Blair. I promise I
won't try anything. Okay?"

Maybe I succumbed to the adrenaline of the day, still riding
the wave of euphoria from what I considered a small victory, I felt like I did
deserve a day out. And I realized as I mulled it over in my head that I wanted
that day to be with Aiden, even if it was just as friends.

I just couldn’t fight it.

"Okay," I said at last. "I'll go. It
sounds like fun, but no funny business!" I chided as I pointed a finger at
him.

"Promise," he said holding up his fingers as
if making the scouts pledge.

As I turned towards my car door he wrapped his arm
around my neck and pulled me towards him in a playful neck hold, speaking with
a husky voice directly into my ear. "Though you have to admit that you
look super-hot in that dress. You never would have worn such a thing back in
high school."

Jesus.

He immediately let go and dodged as I had swung to
punch him in the shoulder. I laughed as he trotted across the parking lot
towards his car.

"I'll pick you up around nine!" he called
over his shoulder.

I laughed and opened the door to my car. It had been a
long time since I had felt this happy. This tempted.

Kelsey hadn’t yet arrived home when I got there. I
started the water to fill up the bathtub, tossing in a handful of lavender bath
salts. I felt remarkably giddy, only partially for the way the day had gone in
the courtroom, but also because of the conversation I had with Aiden. On top of
the salts I added a capful of bubbles.

I deserved the extra pampering.

I pulled off my clothes, and threw on my robe heading
to the kitchen for a cup of hot tea. Once the water came to a boil, I poured
some over the tea bag and returned to the bathtub. I set the tea next to the
bath tub on the counter, double checked the temperature of the bath and dropped
my robe. I stepped in, carefully lowering my body into the warm suds and
feeling the tension drain from my body. I let out a long sigh as the events of
the past weeks drifted away.

All but one, tomorrow.

A full day with Aiden.

He promised not to try anything, he had said.

Maybe we could reconnect and pick up with the
friendship that seemed so easy for us to slip back to, always hiding just under
the surface. I seemed that no matter how bad things got, the under current
remained.

I heard the apartment door in the living room and knew
that Kelsey had arrived home. I could remain silent, but I knew that she would
find me in the end. Being in the bath hadn’t been any hindrance to her in the
past.

"Blair! I got it!" she hollered. I heard her
rush down the hallway towards my bedroom. "Blair!" Her voice
escalated into a shrieking tumble of sounds that may or may not have been
words.

Got what, I wondered, sensing my relaxing bath
disappearing out of reach. I debated whether or not to dunk beneath the bubbles
to disappear. Finally I sighed and accepted my fate.

"I'm in here!" I called, slightly curious as
to what had her so excited.

A moment later, she cracked the door open, her face
peering around the edge of the door.

"Do you mind company?"

Her eyes sparkled with excitement. Without waiting for
an answer she rushed in, closed the top on the toilet and sat down crossing her
ankles. She had explained to me once that she avoided crossing her legs if she
could as to prevent varicose veins.

"I’m so excited!" she said, wrapping her
fingers around her knees and scrunching up her shoulders.

"I can see that," I said. "What's going
on?"

"I got the call back,” she said. "You
remember the audition that I went to last week?"

"I think so," I said. "The one for the
German play?"

"Yes," she said. "I made first call
backs! With this company that pretty much means that I got something. They just
need to figure out which character to give me."

"That's great," I said.
"Congratulations!"

I felt genuinely happy for her. She had been to so
many auditions since we had arrived, I had lost count. She had explained to me
once that an actor couldn’t count on just one audition. They had to play the
numbers game and go to every one they could, regardless of the character. It
made sense to me for the most part. She had tried to get an agent, but
discovered that many of them wanted an actor who was already working. The draw
back to that was that many parts were only available to those with agents. An
unending and unfair cycle. I told her she needed a good lawyer.

"And to think," she gushed. "I almost
skipped this one because of my hair. I thought there is no way they would cast
a red head."

"What part is it for, do you think?” I asked.

"The American I think," she said and laughed.
"Plus it makes sense, because apparently red heads were looked at as odd
during Nazi era Germany. They need me in this play to really drive home the
point."

"Of course they do,” I agreed. "That's
really great."

"I don't have the part yet," she said.
"But this is closer than I have been before. Plus..." She waved her
hands excitedly. "Blake changed his status to 'in a relationship' on his
page."

"What?" I said. "Is that still a
thing?"

"Of course," she said while rolling her
eyes. "It's the present day equivalent of wearing someone’s letter
jacket."

"I suppose you’re right,” I said reaching for my
tea cup. As busy as I was I had little time or energy for social media.
"Wait, Blake from the restaurant?"

"Yes, Blake from the restaurant,” she said.

Her eyes glazed over with a dreamy haze as she sighed
at the mere memory of him. I laughed at her theatrics.

"I guess I didn't realize you guys were still
going out,” I said.

"You don't mind. Do you?" she asked
suddenly.

"Oh, of course not!" I answered.

"That's right," she said tapping her chin.
"You have a thing with Aiden, don't you? How is all of that going, by the
way?"

"I do
not
have a thing with Aiden!" I
said with vehemence.

"Right," she said nodding. "You totally
do, but whatever." Her eyebrows drew together in mock seriousness.
"So how is all that going, by the way?"

"Ugh!" I said.

I acted on my earlier notion and plunged my head
underneath the water. The sound of her laughter still reached me under the few
inches of insulation below the surface.

Maybe I could hide under here forever, I thought.

I didn’t need to breath.

Not today.

When my lungs started to burn, I broke the surface,
gasped and wiped my hair out of my face finding her sitting with an expectant
glare.

"Okay, fine. Court went great today by the way.
Thanks for asking."

"Well good,” she said. "But I knew it would.
What I want to know is how things are with Aiden?"

"I have no idea,” I said. "A few weeks ago,
he kissed me."

"Well that's good,” she said.

"Yeah, but... He had pretty much said that the
reason he never made a move on me in high school was that I wasn't pretty
enough."

"Oh, that's bad,” she said shaking her head.

"But then today he apologized, and invited me to
go fishing with him tomorrow."

"That's good, I think,” she said as if keeping
tally in her mind. "How did the apology go?"

"He said that the reason he never made a move
when we were younger is that he hadn’t wanted to ruin our friendship."

"Makes sense." Kelsey nodded. "Are you
going with him tomorrow?"

"Well, yeah,” I said. She suddenly burst into
laughter that didn’t seem to have any relation to anything that had been said.
"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You are!" she said. "You’re so hung up
on this guy and you don't even know it! I'm sorry, I know it's not funny, but
it's hilarious to watch."

"I'm glad I can be of service,” I said.

"What about that night you spent over at his
place?" she said suddenly. "The morning I had to pick up your mom at
the airport. Whatever happened then?"

"I don't want to talk about it, but..." I couldn’t
contain the grin that broke over my face.

"No way!" she shrieked. "Did you
guys...?"

"What do you think?" I said.

"I kind of thought so, but I didn't want to
assume,” she said. "Are you going to do it again?"

"What?" I said. "I don't know! It
shouldn’t have happened the first time."

"Totally hung up,” she said, staring at her
fingernails.

I rolled my eyes.

"Can you hand me that towel? I think I'm done,” I
said.

"Sure." She set the towel on the counter
next to me and stepped out of the bathroom. "I'll give you some privacy.
I'm going to order some take out. You want some?"

"Yeah," I called after her. "That
sounds great."

We spent the rest of the evening watching old movies
and eating Thai food at the coffee table. It was a much needed break.

The sun sparkled off the surface of the water as Aiden
drove up to the beach making me feel glad that I had remembered my sun glasses.
I gazed out the passenger window taking in the spectacular view, the jade
colored ocean stretched out before us. He had brought me to a small cove where
we would have lunch, and then walk down the beach to rent our fishing gear for
the day.

I had gone back and forth on whether or not to wear my
swimsuit or just to bring it along as I didn’t know exactly what the day
entailed. In the end Kelsey had insisted that I wear the swimsuit, a flattering
burgundy two piece that showed off my figure. I felt as if I had lost a bit of
my trimness having worked in a sedentary job for several weeks, but between the
occasional trip to the gym and Kelsey's insistence, I felt pretty confident
that I could pull it off. She had also let me borrow her black cotton cover up,
which doubled as a cute empire sun dress.