Page 66 of Game Plan

“Some say I’m irresistible.” His grin grew larger. “Later, I’ll let you try on my jumpsuit, but for now, keep wearing the cop outfit because you look very hot in it.”

“That’s what I heard.”

“Lola’s?”

“And the guy who greeted me when I walked in here. Some people tonight were very verbal about my outfit. It’s not even a sexy costume.”

“Sexy Halloween costumes are overrated. This,”—he indicated the length of me with a hand—“is much more appealing in my opinion. You really do look hot, Shepard. And I’m not saying this because I wanna get into your pants. It’s the truth.”

I slapped his chest. “Don’t say things like that.”

“What? That I wanna get into your pants?”

We stared at each other for a long beat.

“For what it’s worth, getting into your pants is not my main mission here. Getting you to fall in love with me is.”

I felt like I was burning under his heady gaze, and yet my heart was cartwheeling.

“How much did you have to drink?” I asked, my tone challenging, trying to regain some control over myself and the situation.

“Zero. None. I’m cold sober.”

My eyes rounded. “You are?”

“Yes, which means everything I just told you is the whole truth. It’s not my drunken brain making me say stuff I don’t really mean.”

That piece of information lingered between us.

“Remember the night you climbed up my bedroom wall when you were plastered?”

“How could I forget? This night is etched into my memory forever. You let me… I touched…” He swallowed. “What about it?”

“You were drunk and telling me stuff. It felt less scary to be with you then. There was just something sweet about drunken Mase that appealed to me.”

“You want me to get wasted, Shepard?”

I chewed on my bottom lip and shook my head many times, unable to hide my amusement.

“Then what?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I felt like saying it. We never really talked about that night ever again.”

“I thought you wanted to forget all about it.”

“No. I was just too embarrassed. I’d never done any of that before. It was all new to me.”

He grabbed my hand in his, pressing his palm against mine. We both exhaled at the same time. “Why would you be embarrassed? Because I touched you?”

“Because…”

“Mel.”

“Mase.”

“Talk to me. I’m right here.”

I glanced at my feet. “Because you had so much experience, and I was loving everything you were doing to me, and then you stopped me…and I felt…huh…I felt like I shouldn’t have tried to make you feel good too. I was convinced I’d read all the signals wrong. I don’t know. When I say it out loud, it sounds silly. Forget it.”