Wow.

I feel sated and alive. And damn it, I want more.

Henley James is one addictive drug.

I know he’s not at the gym. He’s visiting his father, being the wonderful man that I know he is deep down. He’ll be back soon.

Fuck, he’ll be back soon, and I look like roadkill. I need to be simply irresistible from here on out. I jump up and bounce into the shower. Time to get back to my hard-to-get plan.

Focus, bitch.

“Another coffee?” the waitress asks.

“That would be lovely. Thank you.” I smile. I glance at my watch. 7:45 a.m.

Where is he?

I’m sitting in the hotel restaurant, trying to play hard to get. I’m waiting for him to call me to see where I am when he gets back.

He better fucking call me.

What if this plan backfires and he just leaves without me?

It won’t. He won’t.

If I want more of this man, I have to make him think I’m not attached and clingy.

But right at this moment, I feel serial-killer clingy toward him.

My phone beeps a text.

Where are you?

I smile. Yes!

I text him back.

I’m in the restaurant having breakfast.

Join me?

I hunch my shoulders up like a little kid. Everything is going according to plan.

Okay, see you soon.

I open my prop newspaper, and with my heart thumping in my chest, I prepare myself for battle.

Ten minutes later. “Hello.”

I glance up to see Mr. Gorgeous sliding into the seat opposite me. I want to jump up and kiss him, hug him so tight that he pops, but I won’t.

“Hi.” I smile casually. I turn my attention back to my paper. “How was the gym?”

“It was okay.” He looks around. “Is it a buffet, or are we ordering?”

“I’ve already eaten,” I lie. “I was hungry.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll wait with you while you eat if you like.” I glance up from my paper as if he’s an inconvenience.

A frown flashes across his face before he quickly hides it. “Don’t let me keep you.”

“No, no.” I glance at my watch. “I’ve got half an hour.”

His eyes hold mine. “Before what?”

“I’m going shopping. My girlfriends are meeting me. We have a full day planned.”

“Really?” He rolls his lips as if annoyed.

“You didn’t expect me to go home with you, did you?”

His jaw tics in anger. “Not at all.”

The waitress comes over. “Can I take your order, sir?”

“Yes.” He looks over the menu. “I’ll have the big breakfast, please, with a latte and an orange juice.”

“Sure.” She scribbles down his order before leaving us alone.

I keep reading the paper, and I can feel Henley’s eyes fixed on me. “You don’t have to stay,” he says.

“Actually, I might get going. I do have a lot to do.” I fold my paper in half and drink the last of my coffee.

His eyes hold mine.

I bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from smiling. “You were a great fuck.”

He blinks, shocked.

“Until next time, Mr. James.” I blow him a kiss and, without another word, walk away; I can feel his eyes on my back, and I want to jump and punch the air.

That was so cool that I can’t even stand it.

Let the games begin.

Chapter 12

I walk into the café and smile and wave as I see Chloe waiting at the table for me. I bounce over. “Hi.” I beam.

“Hi.” She smirks up at me. “You look like you’ve been well fucked.”

“Not even close.” I giggle and fall into my seat. “I’ve been spectacularly fucked, actually.”

She giggles and holds her hand up for a high five. “Yes.”

“Your coffees.” The waitress smiles as she puts them down on the table.

“Thank you.”

“So?” Chloe widens her eyes. “Tell me everything.”

“Oh my god.” I sigh dreamily. “Picture the best night in all of history, and that’s what I had. He is . . . unbelievable.”

“What, good in bed?”

“Good at everything, and he’s sensual and sexual and hung like a horse and, gah . . . I’m addicted.”

Chloe twists her lips as she looks at me. “I thought this was an intel mission only.”

“It was . . . is,” I correct myself.

“Hang on a minute—you said you just wanted friends with benefits with him.”

“I do,” I lie. “But . . . I’m just going to see how it goes.”

She rolls her eyes. “Whatever you do, don’t fall for this guy. He’s emotionally fucked up, and the last thing you need is a man with colossal baggage.”

“I know, I’m not.”

“We’ll see.” She sips her coffee. “So did you stick to our plan this morning?”

“Yep. I was as cold as ice.”

Chloe raises her coffee cup to me as a silent salute. “And what did he do?”

“He was too shocked to speak.” I shrug. “I think”—I contemplate that for a moment—“at least I hope that’s why he wasn’t speaking.” I shrug. “Anyway, I said I had plans, and when I was leaving, I told him that he was a great fuck.”

Chloe chokes on her coffee. “You said what?”

“I was telling the truth.” I laugh. “He was a great fuck. The best, actually.”

Chloe laughs out loud. “Oh man, I am so living vicariously through you right now.”

We fall silent as we drink our coffee.

“So what’s the next move?” Chloe asks.

“Cockteasing.”

“Cockteasing?”

“I’m going to be all sexy-like but unavailable for sex.”

“Yeah, well, that could majorly backfire.”

“How?”

“If you give him an appetite and then close the restaurant, he’ll go somewhere else to eat.”

“True.” I contemplate this theory for a moment. “But I also know that years of a self-destructive pattern can’t be broken easily. If I want more time with him, I have to play the game.”

Chloe’s calculating eyes hold mine. “You’re already in love with him, aren’t you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I scoff. “I’m in lust with him.”

“I don’t know about this.” Chloe lets out a deep sigh. “This has the potential to end very badly. I can feel it in my gut.”

“Relax, I’ve got this.” I fake a smile. “I’m not getting invested.”

I don’t know much about life, about love, about anything, really.

But one thing that I do know for certain is that I don’t have this . . . not even close.

Henley James has me.

It’s Tuesday, and I walk out front to stretch by my mailbox for my morning run.

I haven’t seen Henley since I left the restaurant on Sunday morning, and I’m getting a little bit jumpy.