“So…about that competition,” she murmured. “In all the guild initiation stuff last night, I forgot to mention. I don’t want to do it.”
“I was kidding about the initiation.”
“I know.” She wrapped her leg over his, her thigh brushing against his early-morning erection and making it stiffen to something that would need attention soon.
“As for the other…you aren’t interested in E3?”
“Nah.” Pen rubbed her leg against his. “I figure if I’m going to let you try to get me killed again, it better be somewhere a little more exotic than a gamer convention. Besides, this gives us more time alone before the weekend is over and we head back to real life.”
Frowning, Cal laid a hand on her leg, forcing her movements to stop. As much as he wanted her, he needed at least a marginally clear head for this conversation. He searched her gaze for a sign that would give him a clue one way or the other. “What does that mean now? For us?”
She grinned and planted a kiss on the hollow of his neck. “It means I won’t be spending the night with you all the time. I have a dog to think about. And it means dates. We might actually have to go out into the non-geek world together.” As soon as she said it, all pretense of teasing dropped away and worry lit her eyes as if she was afraid he wouldn’t want to be with her outside these walls.
Clearly, she was insane. And he was pretty sure he loved her that way.
Of course, she had that blasted fingernail between her teeth a second later. He gripped her wrist, dragging her hand away from her mouth. “How does tomorrow sound? I still have a day off work before the next crisis needs averting.”
Her lips twitched into a smile. “And no more throwing yourself in the line of fire, right? I mean, I’m all for the whole my-boyfriend-the-spy thing, but I don’t want to worry about you all the time.”
The world grayed around them, only Pen glowing with color, with life. He wrapped one arm around her, crushing her to his chest, and tipped her chin up with the other. “I promise to remain at my computer, analyzing codes, like the geek you’ve always known, and I will only dive headfirst into danger if I need to save the world, or your life, again. Fair?”
Penelope heaved a sigh before kissing him fiercely. “Deal. And I promise to lead a nice, quiet existence working on the computers in the library while scoping out the student body so I can report back to TRAIT if I notice anyone who looks like a promising recruit. Unless, of course, your ass gets itself in trouble. Then I’m all about the guns and bad decisions. Actually, no. I’m rather fond of the bad decisions in general.”
He knew Josh had talked to her about watching the college kids, but he wanted her away from the craziness of a life with TRAIT. And between her words and the fire dancing in the depths of her eyes, he couldn’t help but worry. “Pen…”
“Oh come on. Blaze of glory…there’s worse ways to go.” She put a lilt in her voice that told him he’d given her a taste of adventure and she wanted more. Probably more than he ever thought he could handle.
“I’m bucking for old age with you by my side but, for the moment, I’ll take a nice quiet date tomorrow.”
“Quiet? Who said anything about quiet?” She pushed herself up, straddling his hips, and looked at him in a way that said in no uncertain terms the discussion wasn’t over. Fortunately she had something a lot more fun in mind.
A good thing too because, at the moment, he didn’t want to hear any crazy schemes that involved the potential for death. He pulled her down, crushed his mouth against hers, tongue tracing the seam of her lips until she opened to him, surrendered to him. As his tongue slid against hers and his body lit on fire, he couldn’t help but smile against her mouth.
No, he had all sorts of other plans. He’d go along with hers right now, but tonight’s happened to involve a pair of handcuffs and a very sturdy headboard. And the next one involved a less slippery shower.
Then again, that meant she was right and it wouldn’t be a quiet night after all. It was a win-win—always the preferable outcome in a game that he was playing for keeps.
Acknowledgments
A lot more work goes into the creation of a book than just the writing. To that end, I have a bunch of people to thank for their assistance in getting Gaming for Keeps ready for primetime.
First off, a huge thank-you to the real Fourth Wall. Not only did they all enthusiastically agree to let me use the guild in the story, they are the whole reason the Geek Collection appealed to me in the first place. Without them, I’d have no love of MMORPGs or gaming in general. The friendships I built playing with that amazing group of people taught me so much. Thank you all for welcoming a crazy Druid who cared more about chatting than leveling. You will always embody the gaming family to me. Much love.
No manuscript I write would be publishable without the woohoos and the WTFs from Katee Robert and Janelle Alexander. They always let me know precisely where I’ve gotten something right and where I need to pull my head out of my ass. Everyone should have friends like them.
To Shane, my kids, my dogs, and anyone else who has had to put up with me disappearing while I worked on this story. Your patience and love keep me going through the two a.m. writing sessions and the pounding headaches of revisions. I am truly blessed by the people who share my home and my life. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Love forever and always to The Boy, Mini-Me, and the Furballs.
Last but not least, I can’t ignore Libby Murphy, who didn’t think I was insane when I sat down in front of her at RT wearing a corset, bustle, and mini top hat to pitch a story. She took this story and streamlined it into something so much better and more full of heart than I could have ever managed on my own. To Heather Howland and Liz Pelletier for creating an amazing company, taking a chance on me as an author, and being absolutely fantastic to work with. And to everyone at Entangled, I feel truly blessed to be part of such an incredible group of talent. You all humble me every stinking day. <3
About the Author
At a young age, Seleste discovered the trick to not being afraid of the monsters under the bed was to turn them into heroes. Since that time, she’s seen enough of human monsters that she prefers to escape to fictional worlds where even the worst demons have to play by the rules and the good guys might end up battered and bruised (or dead), but they always win.
She currently resides in southeast Michigan with her two kids and a pair of fierce, attention-hungry slobber-monsters of her own and is hard at work on her next book. In those rare moments when she isn’t battling terrorists, vampires, or rogue clockworks, she can be found all over the Internet, where she loves to interact with readers. To that end, you can find her at:
Website: www.selestedelaney.com
Blog: www.selestedelaney.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorSelestedeLaney
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SelestedeLaney
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/SelestedeLaneyAuthor
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/selestedelaney/
Email: [email protected]
Gaming for Keeps (Entangled Ever After) Page 10
