Love and Other Games

by Ana Blaze, Melinda Dozier, Aria Kane, Kara Leigh Miller

  No. She hadn’t misunderstood. He was a liar and a player and the archimalakas.

  When the heavy stairwell door closed behind her, she let out a long, slow breath. As always when she was panicked, she reverted to her pre-competition breathing exercises. A minute later, she walked calmly downstairs to hail a taxi. Her heart rate had returned to near normal – but she wasn’t sure if her heart itself ever would.

  Chapter Ten

  How fucked up was it that, as he was picking his wet dry-clean-only clothes out of the icy snow, shivering his ass off, wearing nothing but a towel, Brandon couldn’t help but laugh appreciatively at Lia’s act of revenge? He’d gone and screwed up like he’d never screwed up anything before – personally and professionally. He deserved what she did. Worse, even.

  Fifteen seconds after picking up the ringing phone, he’d deduced why neither Lia nor his clothes were in his hotel room. As he stood, not really listening to Joe’s tirade, he’d spotted the tie in the windowsill. That was a nice touch. He admired her spirit. Evangelia Milonas wouldn’t go down without a fight.

  And neither would Brandon James.

  He had to fix this, had to make it right. For her. How some Greek farm girl had captivated him so completely in a single night was beyond him. Over four million women in New York City and he’d never given them half as much thought in ten years as he did Lia in one day. Of course he’d screwed it up.

  Forget the article, his new mission was to make sure Lia got the sponsorships her family needed. How he’d do it without her cooperation – well, he’d never backed down from a challenge before.

  Brandon shoved everything back in his suit case and scooped it up into his arms. He entered the hotel through a side door, grateful he didn’t have to walk through the lobby as he was. When he came out of the gray stairwell into the well-lit hallway of his floor, he blinked at a maid starting her morning rounds. Seeing him, she squeaked and stared at his bare chest before remembering her manners and looking away. She busied herself with refolding the perfectly-folded towels on her cart.

  He smiled non-threateningly at her. “I’ll need some dry-cleaning today.”

  She nodded, giggling to herself.

  He slid his keycard in his hotel room door and shouldered it open. On his way to place the suitcase back below the window, he stepped on something hard hidden underneath a pile of blankets that had been kicked to the floor last night.

  Last night …

  His mind flashed to Lia’s lithe body arching towards his, her eyes fluttering closed, every inch of her smooth skin. He needed to stop thinking about that and focus. Or he’d never experience it again.

  He dropped the suitcase onto the stand with a wet thunk and went back to the thing he’d stepped on. Tossing the blankets aside, he smiled as he uncovered the offending item. It would be his golden ticket back into Lia’s – well, her presence, if not her good graces.

  Brandon picked up the small silver torch and laid it gently on the bed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Lia pushed her body into a straight line the second before her skis hit the packed snow of the practice ramp. Nailing the landing like that usually flooded her with euphoria, but this morning, the feeling was soured by others.

  Brandon James was a world-class jackass. She should have known when he had the condom so readily available – as if he’d been expecting to have a girl naked in his room. Posing as an ad rep so he could sleep with female athletes? He was scum, swine, trash, and every other disgusting thing she could think of. Of course, she hadn’t slept with him because he was an ad rep, had she? She’d done it because she genuinely wanted to. Because he was sexy, charming, and had spent half the night helping her look for something he didn’t even believe in.

  Crap, the torch. She’d left it in his room in her rush to get out. Oh well. She’d have to win without it – because she was never going to see Brandon James again.

  Lia coasted to the bottom of the hill and was surprised to find Del standing there with a woman in a suit and an absolutely stunning suede coat. Del never came out to the slopes; she was always way too busy running around, making deals. Plus, Lia thought, it seemed to always make her a little sad.

  “Del,” Lia said, raising her eyebrows. “Ti kaneis?”

  “Lia, this is Chelsea Fahsay.” She gave Lia a significant, but confused look. “She’s the editor of the Women Daily blog, and she was looking for you.”

  Lia suddenly understood Del’s confusion. The editor of what was arguably the most popular blog for women in the world didn’t go around looking for anybody. Since they tended to focus more on the person than the sport, she certainly didn’t travel twenty miles out of the city to some practice slopes to find them. In fact, quite the opposite was true.

  Lia, Brandon’s instructions on dealing with a member of the media fresh in her mind, smiled warmly at the woman, using the trick he’d taught her to think about her family so that it would be sure to come across as entirely genuine. “It’s so nice to meet you. What brings you all the way out here?”

  Del blinked hard in surprise, but recovered quickly, smiling mildly.

  “I received a call from a colleague of mine about an hour ago,” Chelsea said. “Insisted I interview you. Today. Called in a pretty big favor and promised it would be worth my while – which, I have to admit, made me curious.”

  Lia knew she was talking about Brandon. As much as her brain wanted Lia to scowl and spit at the mention of him, her heart leapt into her throat as the images from last night flooded her thoughts. But then it crushed into her gut as she recalled the conversation with his boss this morning.

  Why was he still helping her? She’d thrown all of his clothes into the snow, for christ’s sake. He’d obviously gotten what he wanted and she’d made her feelings pretty clear. Lia looked at Chelsea more closely. Her red hair fell in perfect waves around her shoulders and she was the most stylishly dressed person Lia had seen all day. She couldn’t help but wonder if Brandon had charmed this woman the same way he’d charmed her. If they’d … —no. She wouldn’t let her mind go there. It wasn’t like she cared either way, right? She was done with Brandon James.

  She wouldn’t give Chelsea any hints as to her true thoughts, but offered a small, humble chuckle. “I don’t know if I’m worth all the fuss, but I’d be happy to sit down with you for as long as you need, especially since you came all this way. There’s a bakery at the base of the mountain that makes incredible hot chocolate.”

  “Sounds great.” Chelsea’s eyes scanned Lia. “I’ll let you get changed and meet you there?”

  Changed? Lia didn’t see anything wrong with wearing a ski suit to a bakery that served ski resorts, but she simply nodded, fighting to keep her smile in place. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking a reporter’s suggestion is optional,” Brandon had told her. “Unless it’s something that goes against your ethics or morals, do what they want to do, talk about what they want to talk about.”

  He was right, this was not going to be easy. But she could do anything for a day if she had to. She thought about the email Alex had sent for their mother that morning. She definitely had to.

  After Chelsea strode out of hearing distance, her designer heeled boots making the walk through the snow incredibly difficult, Del spun Lia around to face her. Del’s face was alive, excited.

  “Who are you and what have you done with Evangelia Milonas?” she said in Greek, her eyes dancing.

  Lia let herself relax and return to normal now that it was just the two of them. “You saw me land that jump?” Del nodded. “You know it’s me.”

  “You know what I mean,” Del insisted. “What has got into you, and who is this mysterious benefactor of yours?”

  “I’m trying something new. You’ve wanted me to be nicer to the press for years, you should be happy.”

  “And the person who can make Chelsea Fahsay jump at a moment’s notice? Her ‘colleague’?”

  “He’s nobody.”

  Del�
��s smile was smug, satisfied. “He?” She waggled her eyebrows at Lia.

  “It’s not like that, Del,” Lia admonished. “Well, it was, but it’s not.”

  “Right,” Del said, but her cell phone rang before she could say more. She flipped it open. “Delia … Oh, hello. How are you today?” she said in English.

  Lia went back to the locker room to pack her gear and change while Del took the call. When she came out, Del was standing on the hallway, on the phone, speaking in French, which Lia maybe only knew ten words of.

  “You switched from English to French in one phone call?” Lia asked after she hung up.

  Del stared at her phone, open mouthed. “No,” she said slowly. “That was another call. The third one in the last ten minutes. From big people with major news outlets. Who are clamoring for an interview with you.”

  Lia’s heart pounded painfully in her chest. What was Brandon doing? Or, rather, why? Determined not to let Del know what had happened last night, Lia slipped on her bravado like a mask and feigned injury. “Del, if I didn’t know you loved me, I’d be hurt.”

  “Seriously, who is this guy?” Del’s eyes searched hers.

  “Nobody,” Lia insisted, breaking eye contact with Del, unable to face the genuine concern in her gaze. She wished she could convince herself that Brandon was nobody. But every time she thought of him, her heart pounded painfully in her chest and she pictured his blue eyes dancing with laughter. How had he gotten under her skin in just one night? One night where he had been lying to her, she reminded herself.

  Del pressed her lips into a disbelieving grimace. “Fine. But you have a full schedule now. Go meet with Chelsea and then we have to head back to the Village and get you ready for your interviews. I’ll meet you outside the shop.”

  As Lia walked away, Del’s phone rang again.

  Chapter Twelve

  Brandon watched Lia finish up her fourth television interview in front of the official ski slopes of the Winter Olympics. He had to hand it to her, she’d done everything right. She’d taken his advice and sprinted away with it. Twitter and Facebook and discussion boards were already bursting at the seams with talk about the Greek farm girl who’d learn to ski on two scrap pieces of wood made from a broken fence. She was a meme.

  Suddenly, the media was taking her shyness as humbleness rather than standoffish-ness as they had been for years. But none of them knew the whole story, the one he’d been working on all day in between phone calls and emails.

  It had taken a toll on her, too, he could tell. She smiled to the press surrounding her as Del did her job as the Bad Guy, telling them Lia had an appointment they had to run off to. They walked toward the lodge, and her shoulders slumped as soon as the cameras turned off. She whispered something to Del, and the woman patted her arm.

  He wished he could be the one to comfort her, to encourage her. And he could do a hell of a lot better than a weak pat on the arm. He’d lost that right, though – at least for the time being. He’d earn it back. All morning, his mind kept insisting on drifting back to thoughts of Lia and the incredible night they’d spent together yesterday. A world where he never got to make her laugh or kiss her again was a world he couldn’t let exist. Once he surrendered to them, he’d used those thoughts to fuel the prose of his article. It was the best thing he’d ever written, he was sure. Even Joe had confirmed it.

  “There won’t be a dry eye in America!” he’d boasted. “Put that pretty little thing on the cover with this article behind it, and we won’t be able to keep the magazine on the shelves.”

  He walked into the lodge a minute behind Lia and her manager, searched the room, and found them sitting on a small couch in a back corner. The moment Lia’s eyes met his, his mouth went dry. Somehow, she was even more beautiful than he remembered.

  The older Greek woman stood up, blocking his approach with her tiny body. She glared at his press credentials without reading them. “I’m sorry, but Ms. Milonas is not available for an interview at this time.”

  “Del, it’s ok.” Lia’s voice was soft and sad. “It’s him.”

  The word “him” carried more weight than any word ever had. He wasn’t sure what Lia had told her manager about him, but it obviously wasn’t the whole truth because her face transformed into the most welcoming smile.

  “Oh!” she exclaimed. “It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. … “

  Lia hadn’t even told her his name.

  “Brandon James,” he said.

  Del’s eyes went so wide he could see white all the way around them. “From Moment Magazine?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Del’s stunned silence only amplified Lia’s. Finally, she spoke. “I’m going to get us some tea. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Lia cast the woman a desperate look, but she had already turned toward the cafe in the other corner and couldn’t see it. Brandon did though, and pain stabbed at his heart to know that Lia didn’t want to be alone with him.

  He slid into the seat beside Lia as she intently watched Del walk away.

  “I want to apologize,” Brandon began.

  Lia’s jaw worked and Brandon heard her teeth clenching. She still refused to look at him. “For lying to me.”

  He was taken aback by the animosity in her words. “I didn’t actually lie to you,” he said. “But I did let you believe I was someone I wasn’t, and I’m incredibly sorry for that. I wanted to tell you the truth.”

  “When? After we had sex?” Her words bit at him. “Is that how you get athletes to sleep with you? Is that how you get women to tell you their deepest secrets?”

  His head jerked back as if she had physically slapped him, instead of just verbally. “Did you only sleep with me because you thought I could get you sponsorship?”

  “No, of course not.” The anger in her voice lessened. “I did it because I liked you. And I thought you liked me, too.” By the time she was done speaking, the anger had morphed into sadness, which was so much worse.

  “I did! I mean, I do. I still do.”

  She didn’t respond and the silence between them ballooned, pushing them apart.

  “You’ve been doing great in your interviews,” he said.

  She sighed and leaned back into the couch. “Thanks to you.”

  He smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. She laid her head back and stared at the ceiling, then shut her eyes. It reminded him so much of last night he wanted to kiss her until she forgot all about this morning.

  “Why?” she whispered, then opened her eyes and stared into his.

  He cocked his head, not understanding. “Why, what?”

  “You arranged all those interviews after I left this morning – and it was a lot of interviews. Why are you still helping me?”

  She looked so vulnerable and sad he couldn’t help but reach out and cup her face in his hand. He didn’t care who saw him do it. “Because I believe in you.”

  Lia swallowed hard and pressed her face against his hand. He stroked a thumb across the soft skin of her cheek.

  “Your family needs you,” he continued. “And I want to help you save the farm you grew up on.”

  He pulled a short stack of papers out of his satchel and placed them in her lap.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “It’s the article I wrote about you. I wanted you to read it first.”

  Her body went rigid and she pulled away from him. “You wrote an article about me?” Her voice was cold.

  Brandon was confused. “Yeah, I thought—”

  “I’m your story?” She wasn’t really waiting for an answer. “I told you all those things in private. We were naked – that doesn’t mean ‘private’ to you?”

  “Lia—”

  “Is that why you arranged all those interviews today? Were they just previews for your big article?”

  The venom was back in her voice now.

  “I care about you. I just want everyone else to care about you, too.”

  “That info
rmation wasn’t for everyone else. If you care about me, you won’t publish it.”

  His brow creased. This was not going like he’d planned. He tried to reach for her hand but she snapped it away.

  “I can’t. I already sent it in,” he said. “It’s going out to our electronic subscribers tomorrow and the print version is printing now.”

  “Magazines don’t move that fast.” She shook her head quickly in denial.

  “Everything else was already done, and the pages had been reserved for my story. They went to production as soon as I emailed it an hour ago. Lia, please, read the article. I promise—”

  “Oh, no,” she stood up. “You don’t get to make promises. Your words mean nothing to me.”

  She might as well have stabbed him in the heart. His words had been everything to him for years – his livelihood, of course, but also his integrity, his purpose, his pride. He’d ignored everything else in search of them. Until he’d met her.

  “Please go.” Her voice cracked with the threat of tears.

  “Lia, please. Let me explain.”

  “Go!” She pointed at the door.

  A few heads turned in their direction.

  “I will,” he said. “If you promise me you’ll read my article. Tonight.”

  She slumped back down into the couch. “Of course I’ll read it.”

  “Good,” he said, turning around and taking his first step outside. She’d understand when she read it. She’d know everything that was in his heart, because he’d put all of it into the article.

  “I have to know what the entire world is going to be saying about me tomorrow.”

  Though her words stung, he kept walking away, propelled on by the hope that she’d forgive him after she knew the truth – the whole truth.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Milonas skis with the weight of her entire world on her shoulders, which is why she’s able to fly so high.