Bonus Book
Laugh Out Loud
Playing For Love
Evanna Stone
© 2016 All Rights Reserved
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses per law
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DESCRIPTION
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
CHAPTER THRITY
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
DESCRIPTION
Alessandra Thompson is content with her life, and her secret – hiding behind the codename of Axel, one of the most famous gamers in the world. When her brother enlists the help of a friend in marketing his videogame creation via writing, she has no choice but to give him her support – even if it means having to spend time with an arrogant playboy whose sly smile makes her skin tingle.
She is nerdy, weird and sarcastic enough that Nick Marino finds her no threat to his writing career – until he gets privy to her feisty humor and soft hugs – and hot, scorching kisses.
Can they resist the challenge – and the temptation?
CHAPTER ONE
The cave was dark and surrounded by silence.
The girl had her face hidden under a black cloak, but you could tell she was surveying the darkness, contemplating whether to go in or not. The darkness felt like a bad omen, one where something could go wrong the moment you were inside – when you were too deep in, and any chance of escape was no longer an option.
She stepped inside.
Her combat boots treaded lightly on the soiled ground, her right hand gripping a long sword and her left holding a tiny lamp. She turned on the lamp with a flick of her finger, illuminating the path she was walking on. Raising the object higher, she could see small, unmoving shadows on the ceiling.
Bats.
They remained unmoving as she walked faster, trying to get to the deepest part. Her map, hidden in her pocket, was already seared in her memory, and there was no doubt this was the place where the key was hidden – the key, which led to victory.
She turned left to a long, narrow tunnel. No obstacles, since she already encountered three earlier. Her walking turned to running.
She could already taste it. Victory. It was about time, too. Too many riddles, too many puzzles, too much time lost.
Too many enemies trying to kill her.
The end of the tunnel glowed, and there, sitting against the wall on the far right, was a glowing bronze box the size of her palm. She wondered for a moment if it was a trap.
Suspicious, she backtracked. What did the last clue say again?
Shiny, sparkly treasures we give, do not let these things deceive; look beyond the splendid shimmer, do not let the light flicker.
It sounded too easy.
Putting her sword on its sheath, she bypassed the box and touched the wall behind it. Rough, but...soft. She pushed, and her hand went right through. Rummaging, she found her fingers touching something slim. Pulling, she found herself staring at a silver key.
Bingo.
She turned back to where she came from, pocketing her find and running. There was no point lingering because her time was almost up. She had what she needed, which was enough. She beat it. She beat the game, and she was on her way home.
The cave opening was in her line of vision, sunlight pouring through. She turned off her flashlight and took out her sword once more.
Victory, sweet victory—
The cave rumbled.
Suddenly she found herself thrown sideways, her back hitting a wall and her sword flying to the other end. There was a noise that sounded horrible, like some kind of monster unleashed from hell itself—
The demon grabbed her, vicious teeth close to ripping. Her vision blurred. Those meaty, gnarled hands were choking her, and those teeth were ripping into her flesh, and there was blood – blood everywhere. She was dying.
The last thing she heard was a loud ringing in her ears before everything went black.
---
Alessandra Thompson stared at the screen for a few unbelieving seconds before a message popped up in bloody red.
Game Over.
Well.
She heaved a sigh and rested her fingers on the keyboard. Then she removed her headset and slumped in her seat, feeling the weariness settle in her body.
The ringing in her ears persisted. It took Alex a while to realize that it was her mobile phone, vibrating incessantly beside her as the volume got louder and louder. Without looking at the caller ID, she pressed answer and growled.
“What do you want, Sam?”
“Wow. Someone’s mad they died.”
The male voice was obviously gloating, tone smug. Alex rolled her eyes.
“So you’re stalking me now?”
“I don’t stalk, sis. I program my games with alerts to let me know how players fare.”
He probably just did so he could stalk how she fared. He always liked seeing her all worked up over losing.
Alex stood up from her seat and put one hand up in the air, stretching like a cat. Then she opened her bedroom door and crossed the lush gray carpet in the living room, going straight for the fridge in the kitchen. The only things that looked edible were some broccoli and two slices of cheese.
Oh, boy. How long was she inside the house, ignoring everything?
“Your game sucks, Sam.”
“Is that why you wouldn’t leave your house for nearly a month?”
Alex grimaced. “I left my house a few times.” To get the mail. And answer the pizza delivery at the front door.
“Seriously. What did you think, sis? Is it any good?”
His voice was so excited, so eagerly boyish. She smiled despite herself, already picturing him with his twinkling blue eyes and that tiny dimple. She missed him, being the only brother she could harass endlessly – being the only sibling, in fact.
“It was…good,” she admitted, biting her lip. “The riddle was a nice touch, though kind of cheesy. We might need to change the wording.”
He seemed to be waiting for more, so she continued. “And the monster’s pretty awesome. I’m glad you went with my demon idea. Nice touch.”
Silence.
“But..?”
She had to be honest. “I’m…not too sure this would sell, Sam. It’s just too much like the other games. Plus some of the locations are drab.”
“Drab?”
“You know. Lacking excitement. Drab meaning—”
“I know what drab is,” he cut off impatiently. “But you’re talking about minor tweaks. We can do that. You are my idea girl.”
> “Well, what about marketing? How are we going to sell this?”
“Don’t worry about that. I have just the thing. In fact, I’m leaving New York right now and on my way there.”
Alex blinked. “Here?”
“Yep. In a few hours. And I’ve got a lucky charm with me.”
“Lucky charm?”
“Trust me, sis. This lucky charm’s gonna make us rich.”
“But—“
“See ya, sis. Love ya.”
Then he hung up on her, leaving her staring at her phone and wondering if her brother meant a new girlfriend, or a rabbit’s foot.
Probably a rabbit’s foot.
CHAPTER TWO
The girl on the phone was talking his ear off, but Nick Marino barely heard her as he did a quick scan on the article he had written before hitting the send button on his laptop. He was saying all the appropriate responses, teasing her back and using his flirting skills like a pro. Then he cut to the chase.
“Rena sweetie, is our boss Ed there? I need to talk to him.”
Rena’s stilettos clicking could be heard on the line. Her sultry voice came again, this time in a whisper. “I’ll give him the phone if you promise to be my date at our annual media party.”
He smiled faintly. He remembered first hooking up with Rena at their party last year, when they were both drunk and feeling hot. That one night stand had led to a series of hookups here and there, when either she broke up with her boyfriend (or series of boyfriends) or he was in between dates.
It was all casual sex and fun – until she stopped getting boyfriends and seemed to only want to chase after him. That was the last thing he needed, and their last escapade was five months ago. He hadn’t been with a girl since, though not for lack of trying. He was just very busy.
But that was another story altogether.
Nick tried to think of how to let her down gently. He wasn’t exactly known for being gentle.
“We’ll talk about that later, sweetie.”
She sounded like she was about to protest – then Nick heard the big, booming voice of their boss in the background, telling her to stop hogging the phone and put that bastard Marino on line two, now.
Good ol’ Ed.
Unlike Nick, Ed had no interest in idle chit-chats. He got down to business.
“You got my article there, Nick?”
“Got it, sent it, all done.”
“And the other assignment?”
“See, that’s the reason I called –”
This wasn’t the answer Ed wanted, and he made it pretty clear by interrupting right off the bat. “You do know we need that, right? It’s the hottest selling thing right now.”
“I don’t do gaming, Ed.”
“It’s not an article about gaming. It’s a goddamn feature piece about famous gamers and their personalities. Their passion. Their lives.”
The argument went on. Nick said it wasn’t easy, as he hadn’t seen the targeted famous gamer in weeks. Ed countered that he had to try harder. Nick argued that this wasn’t even his job, as he was a sports writer. Ed agreed that it wasn’t, but he was such a good writer, and the feature writer was sick – he needed to get to this pronto. Nick declined again. Finally, Ed threatened that he would give the promotion to someone else. Ah, the much-coveted promotion.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Nick said darkly.
Ed chuckled. “I knew you wouldn’t fail me, boy. Get on it, and we’ll talk about that promotion.” Then he hung up before Nick could protest further.
He turned off his laptop and sighed. He didn’t understand what the big deal was with this pair, Sam and Axel – the famous duo who were known on the internet for being the highest-ranking StarCross players of all time. Apparently, these two guys took the gaming world by storm last year, and were already practicing to do so again this year.
He knew Sam from college, hence his boss’ persistence. But Axel? Couldn’t get a sight, even after renting the unit across the guy’s so-called sanctuary (according to Sam, anyway).
And Ed especially wanted the piece to be about that guy, who was mysterious and never showed his face anywhere.
Nick had tried knocking – enough times to be considered stalker-ish, so he had backed off. It was three weeks now.
He wanted that promotion.
Perhaps it was time to seek desperate measures.
---
Nick heard the slam of the door across the hall while he was opening his, and it was such a surprise that he froze for a few seconds. Then his brain kicked in and he continued turning the knob, eager to catch the target before he went back to his hiding place. Or disappeared into thin air.
The man was so damn sleek.
The burst of excitement turned to disappointment when he found a stranger instead.
It was a woman – and she was coming out of Axel’s unit.
Said woman was wearing a big purple sweater, shorts with duck prints (ducks?) and a nervous expression. She was looking at the hall like something suspicious was about to pop out, her eyes darting left, then right, then back to left. It was like she was afraid to get caught.
Nick stared at her suspiciously.
As if sensing his gaze, she finally turned her head in his direction and looked at him in surprise. Her eyes were the color of storm clouds, a clear and dark gray. Her brown hair was a ridiculous mess, all bunched up on top of her head. She looked familiar, though he couldn’t remember where he met her.
She also looked like a deer caught in headlights.
They stared at each other for a few seconds before he got his wits about him and decided he might as well use the opportunity. Clearing his throat, Nick attempted a charming smile. “Hi.”
She didn’t reply.
“Are you related to the owner of this unit?”
The deer-caught-in-headlights stare lessened, and those fascinating eyes narrowed slightly. “Why?”
Nick shrugged. “I have business with him.”
“Oh? And do you know his name?”
He raised a brow.
“Axel. I have business with Axel.”
The woman was now looking at him like he was a weird person. Then, like a flip switch, she imitated his casual shrug – except her shoulders were so tense, she might as well have advertised that she was faking it.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
Nick pointedly gazed at her hand on the doorknob. Then he gave her a calculating smile.
“You sure? I could have sworn you just…got out of the owner’s bed.” He said this so softly, so huskily, there was no mistaking his meaning.
Her cheeks reddened, he noted in amusement. Then those eyes frosted over. He expected her to slap him, and maybe he deserved it for being such an asshole to someone he’d met in under five minutes.
Instead, she bit off a very polite reply. “I’m sure you’re mistaken. I am the owner and I don’t know what you’re talking about. See you around.”
Then she turned and marched towards the elevator, practically flying.
Owner, his ass. Sam wouldn’t lie to him.
Reporter instincts kicking in, Nick grinned. Then he followed her.
CHAPTER THREE
The man rode the elevator with her. Alex wasn’t nervous, not really. He looked like any normal guy – if any normal guy could be accused of being a gorgeous jerk. Or of giving her body funny tingles.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see his profile. Jet black hair, a bit long but swept up and out of his face. He was tall – the kind of tall that regular girls like her had to look up to when talking, and that irritated her. He wore jeans that looked snug on those muscular legs, and a gray shirt that fit him like it was made for him. He was tanned, skin glistening golden, like some kind of Greek God. She couldn’t see his eyes right now, but she remembered them being coffee-colored, and pinning her with their intensity earlier.
He had the kind of look that was often described in countless romance novels: dar
k, tall and rugged. It was the kind that had ladies throwing themselves at his feet and made them want to do bad, bad things.
She’d bet her ass he would return the favor. Pleasurably.
Alex’s cheeks reddened at the thought. Then she scolded herself for being so shallow.
None of that really mattered, because what mattered was he was following her.
And he knew Axel.
While she was contemplating this and still checking him out, the man suddenly turned his gaze in her direction and gave her a slow, lazy smile.
She gulped and whipped her stare back to the front.
“So. You’re the owner, huh?”
“Do you always follow women around?” she muttered.
“I actually just wanted check things out. I’m your new neighbor across the hall, and I’m pretty sure we’re going to be…close.”
There it was again. That lazy, sexy drawl when he tried to imply things.
“I’m sure we’re not,” she said shortly, crossing her arms.
“Care to bet on that?”
“I know karate,” she blurted out before she could stop herself.
The man’s smile became a grin, and she was so distracted by his white teeth that it took her a moment to register that the grin had become a chuckle, dark and filled with amusement.
“Are you implying something?”
She raised a brow. “Well, Ted Bundy was charming. You know how that turned out.”
He burst out laughing, the sound vibrating warmth in the tiny space. “Yes. It implies you find me charming.”
Well, damn. He was charming, in a rude, devil-may-care sort of way.
What was wrong with her? Here was a potential killer and she was trading quips instead of trying to find means to escape. Except, well, he really didn’t look like a Ted Bundy, because that dude was overtly nice and boyish.
There was nothing boyish about this one here.
She was probably just hungry. The slices of cheese weren’t exactly enough to fill up an empty stomach, and she really just needed to get some groceries and get that over with. Perhaps she was just stressed about Sam coming over, and the game, and wanting it to be the best thing to ever happen to her big brother.
Best Friends To Lovers Romance Series: Complete Series Boxed Set Romance Page 17
