by J. S. Cooper
Secret Games
J. S. Cooper
Contents
Untitled
About Secret Games
Untitled
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
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Untitled
Secret Games
About Secret Games
Dante Vanderbilt. 6”4. Muscular. Sexy hazel eyes. Dark silky hair. The sort of man that no woman wants to say no to. And he knows it. He’s cocky, arrogant, and the most handsome man I’ve ever met in my life.
I’m not the sort of girl to have a one night stand. I’m not the sort of girl that hooks up in someone’s office, but when I met Dante, I no longer recognized the sort of girl that I was. I decided to let caution sail to the wind and go with the flow and submit everything to him.
But then, Dante did something unexpected. Suddenly he turned the heat to up 100 and I’m left hanging on by confused angry threads. Now it’s my turn to tables on him. Now it’s my turn to play some secret games.
NOTE: This novella is a free steamy prequel to the full-length standalone novel Dante, that will be released on December 27th. It will also be included in Dante when it is released, so you can read it first as a free download or you can read it as part of the novel on release day.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2018 by J. S. Cooper
Created with Vellum
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Prologue
I tried to keep my cool as I stared at the man in front of me. He was perfection in every way. Tall, handsome, sexy, eyes that seemed to pierce into my soul when he gazed at me, a smile that said I want to eat you up, and his touch made promises to my body that I didn’t know if he could deliver. To sum it up, when you looked at him, Dante Vanderbilt was like some sort of sex god. It almost wasn’t fair. When I looked at him, I thought of rolling around in bed, sheets and legs entwined together. I imagined him gazing at me, like he was now, like I was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen in his life. But I knew for Dante, this was all a game and I knew that I had to take him down a couple of notches.
Don’t get me wrong, I am just like you. I’m the girl that wants love. The girl that enjoys sex. The girl that wants hot sex with a man she loves. That loves her back. I don’t like games. I don’t like drama. I’ve never had a one-night stand. I’ve never done anything like this before. That might be hard to believe. I don’t even really know how I got into this situation. Well, I know, but I don’t know how I let it go this far. This was the roller-coaster ride that was never-ending and the ride was really only just beginning.
“Tonight is the night.” Dante’s voice was husky as he slowly unbuttoned his crisp white shirt. Holy damn, he was hot! “I’m going to do things to you that you’ve only dreamed of.”
“How do you know I’ve dreamed of them?” I asked as I stared at his long slim tan fingers. “And how do you know I haven’t done them all already?” I winked at him and smiled to myself as he paused with his buttons and gave me a sultry look. I couldn’t help but stare at his tongue as he licked his lips like some hungry wolf that wanted to devour me. I swallowed hard and blushed as I thought about the things his tongue had done to me just a couple of nights before. It was if he knew just where every sensitive spot in my body was. It had been torture stopping him from actual intercourse, but I’d still orgasmed. I couldn’t imagine what he could do with other parts of his body if he could take me on the roller-coaster ride of all roller-coaster rides with just his tongue.
“Well, I’ll just have to make sure I find something that is new to you.” He growled and I watched as he threw his shirt on the ground, like some sort of expensive hot male stripper in Vegas. Not some Channing Tatum look alike either (though I wasn’t sure if he had been an expensive stripper or not in the movie; I could just remember him swinging his hips). Dante was way hotter than Channing Tatum; though I would never tell him that.
“No strings attached, right?” His voice was smooth as he stood there and I watched as he took his jeans off. I couldn’t stop myself from gawking at his body. He was now naked from the waist up. He had a smattering of dark chest hair that covered his muscular pecs and ran down to his perfect abs. His skin was a golden olive tan and his hazel eyes shone like emeralds in the candlelight. I still couldn’t get over how sometimes his eyes looked so green and at other times looked so brown. He was wearing a pair of white boxer briefs that left nothing to the imagination. He had a huge grin on his face and his teeth looked unnaturally white in the darkness of his room.
I stared at him wondering if I had the guts to go ahead with my plan. It was tricky because while I wanted to bring him down, I was also attracted to him. Very, very attracted to him. And I was worried that I would be the one that would pay if everything went wrong. They always say that the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. And I had a feeling that I could definitely be the one that would get burned in this situation. Even though I had planned everything out to go as smoothly as possible. Only I wasn’t quite sure I really had the perfect plan. But right now it didn’t matter. This was a risk I was willing to take.
“Right.” I nodded as I licked my lips slowly, hoping desperately that I looked sexy as I did so. I walked towards him slowly, and seductively enjoying the feel of my flowy red dress brushing against my legs. “No strings attached.” My voice sounded strange to my own ears. I’d never said anything like that before in my life. Had never even thought that I would ever be okay with it. However, somehow I had convinced myself that this was the way to go.
“Take your dress off,” he said, his eyes looking darker now as he took a step toward me. His gaze was intense and he suddenly seemed taller, more muscular, more dangerous than he had before. A thrilling, exhilarating feeling washed over me. This was the hottest situation that I’d ever been in. “I said now, Sadie.” His voice got deeper and he moved even closer. I stood there feeling like a statue as he leaned in close to me and whispered in my ear, “I said, take off your dress, sexy, or I’ll do it for you.” And then I felt his teeth on my earlobe nibbling and pulling it gently before his lips fell to my neck, and he kissed down my neck to my collarbone. My body was on fire and every limb was trembling in sweet anticipation. I could think of nothing but having him then. Absolutely nothing.
I stood there for a few seconds, unable to move, and then his hand reached and cradled my breast and I felt like I was about to explode.
“I know your secret,” he whispered.
“What?” I blinked at him, my heart freezing. He couldn’t possibly know, could he?
“I know your secret,” he said again with a smirk. “But what you don’t know is that I have one as well.”
Chapter 1
One Month Ago
“Sadie, I’ve got you a date for Saturday,” my grandma exclaimed dramatically as soon as I answered the phone.
“Hello, Grandma Louise, and no thank you.” I sighed into the phone in exasperation. “I have no time for a date on Saturday.”
“Sadie Johnson, I’ve gone out of my way to get you this date, so you don’t wind up . . .”
“Alone and childless, I know, I know.” I groaned into the phone. “Grandma, I’m twenty-eight, I’ve got plenty of time.”
“That’s what you young ladies think nowadays. In my day, if you weren’t betrothed by seventeen, there was a problem.�
��
“Grandma, I thought you and Grandpops met when you were twenty-two?”
“Well, you know . . .” her voice trailed off. “Anyways, my best friend Addie set it up. You’ll be going on a date with one of her grandsons.”
“Addie?” I said in a confused voice. “Who’s Addie? I’ve never even heard of her before.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten my best friend Addie?” Grandma sounded appalled and mumbled on about something else, but I was no longer paying attention because the kids from downstairs were throwing water balloons through my open kitchen window.
“I’ve never heard of her before, Grandma.”
“Well you must have forgotten. Anyway, her grandson Dante Vanderbilt is a very eligible bachelor. And quite the looker as well.”
“Grandma Louise, I’m not interested.” I sighed. “If he’s so great, why is he single?”
“You know someone could say that about you as well, Sadie.” Her voice was stern. “Now, one little date is not going to hurt you, is it?”
“Grandma, we’ll talk later. I have to go.” I hung up the phone quickly before she could protest and spend the next thirty minutes trying to guilt me into going on the date with this random guy like some loser. “Brandon, Dylan, and Brody,” I screamed as I ran to the window and looked down to the garden. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?” Brody’s muddy face gazed up at me innocently, his bright blue eyes gleaming, as he held a red balloon in his wet hand. His little five-year-old face was adorable, but I was no longer deceived by his childish wiles. He was a terror through and through, along with his brothers.
“You know what,” I growled and shook my head at him. “I’m coming down to talk to your mom.”
“No, we’ll stop,” Dylan exclaimed panicked. He was smart enough to know that getting his mom involved wouldn’t be a good thing. At six years old, he was the oldest of the brothers, but he was definitely not the boss.
“Too late,” I exclaimed as I backed away from the window with a hidden grin. I grabbed my keys and headed out the door to the downstairs apartment so I could speak to the boy’s mom, Cara, who happened to be my best friend. I had no intention of complaining about the boys though; I wanted to bitch about Grandma Louise and my new job instead. I didn’t bother locking the door because we lived in the same house and everyone in the house was welcome in my upstairs apartment. It was a unique housing situation, but one that worked well for us. Cara’s dad had bought the house for her when her childhood boyfriend had left her and their three kids. She rented out the top floor to me and I got a bit of a discount in the rent for babysitting the kids every now and again.
“Cara, where are you?” I said as I walked down the stairs and into her living room. It was full of toys and I trod carefully across the floor, making sure to pay attention to the junk in front of me because I didn’t want to trip up and twist my ankle like I’d done the last time I’d been down there.
“In the kitchen,” she called out and I hurried to the kitchen hoping that she was baking cookies. I was in the mood for chocolate chip cookies and milk or a shot of whiskey. Either one would do. “How’s it going, doll?” She grinned at me as I walked into the room. Her long frizzy red hair was a mess and she had a streak of something on her face, but she looked as happy as ever.
“I’m good,” I said and looked around to see what I could grab to snack on. “But do you know what your brats are up to?” I mumbled before I remembered that I wasn’t going to tell on them. I really was the worst aunt.
“Water balloons?” I nodded, and she groaned as she looked at me. “Oh shit, did they get you with them?”
“Well, they tried,” I said with a small smile. “They threw them through the window and missed me, so I guess I’m the winner.”
“Want a glass of wine?”
“Do you have red?”
“What sort of question is that?” She walked over to the corner of the kitchen and opened a cupboard and before I could blink she was pulling out a bottle of wine. “Merlot good?”
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” I said and I walked over to grab two wine glasses while she opened the bottle. Merlot wasn’t my favorite, but at the end of the day, wine was wine. “So guess what?” I said dramatically as I turned to her.
“Uhm,” she groaned as she shook her head, ever the exasperated mom. “If it has anything to do with Brandon, Dylan, or Brody, I don’t want to know right now.”
“It has nothing to do with them,” I said, already having conveniently forgotten the water balloon incident. “Grandma Louise called me.”
“Oh Lord, what has she done now?” She handed me a glass and grinned widely. She knew Grandma Louise well. “Has she started another sex line or is she selling bingo tickets to her local ladies club?”
“Don’t.” I shook my head as I gulped down a huge sip of wine. Grandma Louise always had some scheme going on and I wasn’t sure if she actually knew what she was doing or not. Last year, she’d gotten the idea to start a party-line with her friends. She claimed she didn’t understand what it meant and thought she was just offering phone calls to military men who were lonely and stationed overseas and just wanted someone to talk to. I asked her why she had a late-night ad on the local TV station if she thought the guys were overseas and then she started talking about how dementia ran in the family. “I still can’t believe she was rigging the weekly bingo sessions by creating winning cards and selling them at a discount to members of the club.”
“I can’t believe people were paying twenty dollars to win a bingo pot of ten dollars.” Cara and I made eye contact and started giggling. “Who knew people wanted to be winners that badly?”
“Apparently Grandma Louise knew.” I shook my head and my voice softened. “Ever since Grandad Fred died five years ago, she’s been doing all sorts of craziness, but I can’t help but love her.”
“So what’s her newest idea?” Cara leaned forward on her white marble island excitedly.
“She’s set me up on a date.” I took another huge gulp of wine and groaned. “Kill me now.”
“Wow, a date?” Cara looked intrigued. “With who.”
“With her new best friend, Addie’s, grandson.”
“At least it’s not her new best friends grandfather. Though maybe you’d have a connection with someone a bit older.”
“Cara.” I glared at her but couldn’t stop myself from agreeing with her. Grandma Louise was a loose cannon. You never knew what craziness she would think up. And men could have kids until they died, so age wouldn’t be a factor if she just wanted me to give her great grandkids. “I’m not dating a grandfather, and I sure as hell don’t want to go on a date with some rando’s grandson. God, I bet he’s a huge loser. Who goes on a date their grandma set up?”
“Uhm . . .” Cara pointed at me and I just made a face at her. “At least you’re getting to go out on dates.” She sighed. “Between the boys, my job, and my dad, I don’t even have time to think.”
“I’m sorry, Cara.” I leaned forward and grabbed her fingers. “You know I’m here to help whenever I can.”
“I know, you’re the best.” Cara nodded. “So do you know what this guy looks like?”
“Nope, but what do most guys that live in their grandma’s basement look like?”
“Does he really live in his grandma’s basement?” Cara’s jaw dropped. “Like some sort of Criminal Minds psycho?”
“Exactly like a Criminal Minds psycho.” I nodded and then laughed slightly. “Well, I don’t know that officially, but you know what I mean.”
“Oh, Sadie.” Cara put her glass down and got back to seasoning her chicken drumsticks. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”
“Yeah, that would be nice.” I smiled at her. “Want me to make a salad?”
“Please.” She nodded. “Not that those terrors will eat any of it though.” She poured half a bottle of ketchup on the drumsticks. “I’ll be lucky if they eat these. All they ever want is chicke
n nuggets.”
“Boys!” I exclaimed as I went to the fridge and took out a head of lettuce, some tomatoes, a cucumber, and some carrots.
“So tell me about the new job. How’s it going?”
“Ugh.” I groaned as I placed the produce on the countertop and grabbed a bowl, a cutting board, and a sharp knife. “I swear my boss is Cruella de Vil?”
“Oh?” Cara gave me a curious look. “Do explain.”
“This lady is the most over-the-top, meanest person I’ve ever met.” I pouted. “She also hates all dogs. Like, tell me how you can hate dogs?”
“How do you know she hates dogs?”
“She told me she hates dogs when we saw one walking past the coffee shop the other day.” I rolled my eyes. “She literally pointed out the window, screwed up her nose and said I can’t stand those stinky creatures, can you?”
“What did you say?”
“I just sipped my latte,” I said as I took another gulp of wine. “I can’t afford to tell her the truth. I need this job.”
“So what exactly are you doing for her?” Cara covered the chicken with aluminum foil and started peeling potatoes. “She’s like a millionaire, right?”
“Billionaire.” I sighed. “Well her late husband was a billionaire and now she has all his money. And she wants to invest in art. So she’s hired me to go around to all the museums in New York City and pick out my favorite pieces so that she can bid on them and buy them.”
“What? Are they for sale?”
“Girl, who knows?” I rolled my eyes. “She’s totally oblivious. I mean really?”
