Page 65 of Playing for Keeps

“Everyone but Kelly!” I argued. My friend had called me in a panic this summer, telling me she had just over a month to find a new place to live. That the new owners of the building were kicking everyone out. I wanted to rage against the man with the blue glitter on his eyelids, but the unconcerned look on his face made me stop.

Everyone was given help...

The day before Kelly called me, I’d been contacted by Jermaine. A recruiter looking for talent to fill a specific position here in the city. I hadn’t wanted to respond, but after Kelly’s call, after listening to her desperation, I couldn’t help thinking I could help her out.

I could move back to the city. Share an apartment with my friend. Take a job in my field instead of working the register at the local general store.

I could return to the place where I’d left my heart.

Try to find a way to get it back.

Minutes after I agreed to the all-expenses paid flight back to the city for an interview, Kelly had called me with the most fantastic news. She’d found an apartment in our price range, and set up an appointment for us to see it while I was here.

Jermaine had drawn me back to the city.

Mr. Frost had shown us the apartment, overnighting the paperwork to me after I accepted the job so I could sign.

Then the man Vinny called Ford, the man acting as a security guard, a bartender, and God only knew what else, had been watching over me along the way.

Vinny’s hand was still clamped around mine, his fingers cold and sweaty, his eyes on the floor. I tugged at his hand and caught his gaze as he looked up at me.

“You knew about this?”

He nodded, swallowing hard. “I wasn’t willing to let you go.”

Tears welled up behind my eyelids, my whole body feeling like I might fall to the floor. I struggled to believe it. That this man could do such a thing. That he would turn my world on end, pull me out of the life I knew, and toss me into a city I’d been running from for over a year.

My heart banged out a heavy beat in my chest, so loud I was sure they could all hear me. For so many months, I’d believed he didn’t want me, that I was nothing more than a fling.

And here he was, holding on.

“Vinny.” I stepped closer, cupping both his cheeks as he dragged his eyes up from the floor. “You could have just told me to come back and I would have. I never stopped loving you.”

He didn’t move as I closed the distance between us. Didn’t blink as I pushed up on my toes and pressed my mouth to his. But he melted in an instant, giving me the one thing I wanted most.

Him.

Beside us, Vinny’s friends whooped and hollered, and my cheeks grew hot as he pulled away. He slapped a hand down on his keyboard and all the screens went dark.

“Jen,” Vinny whispered, turning back to me. “Please tell me this isn’t a dream.”

“If it is, I don’t ever want to wake up.”

The man’s smile could have lit up the moon. He pulled me to him, pressing kisses across my face before ducking down and sweeping me off my feet. I laughed as he carried me out of the office and into his bedroom, only quieting as he settled me on the soft blue comforter of his bed.

He stood back, pulling off his tie and shrugging out of his suit jacket, his intense gaze raking over me as I laid where he left me in the center of his bed. My giddy heart wouldn’t quit smiling even though my body shook with nerves.

After undoing the buttons on his sleeves, Vinny worked on the ones going down his chest. Slowly, one by one, they came undone. And just as slowly, my mind twisted and turned, flashing back to my night with Aaron and all the hateful, painful feelings I still felt.

With his dress shirt off, Vinny joined me on the bed, his pants and a white undershirt still covering him up. He took my hand. Kissed my knuckles. Then pulled my body into his.

“I missed you, Jen,” he whispered. Pressed his lips to my forehead before laying down.

My body sagged against his, tension I didn’t know was in me floating away. I missed this. Being with him, next to him. Being held in his arms.

* * *

My body jerked and my eyes flashed open, finding moonlight lighting up the room. A heavy weight settled across my waist, and it took me a moment to remember where I was.