Gaming for Keeps (Entangled Ever After) by Seleste deLaney Read Free Book Online Page A

because of this . He reached out and his hand slid down her arm to circle her wrist. “I didn’t mean it like that. At all.”
    “Sorry, but cute isn’t a compliment.”
    “On what planet? No. Don’t answer that. Just let me finish. I sincerely didn’t mean to upset you.”
    “Fine. Tell me how cute works on Planet Burrows.” She didn’t quite face him again, but her fingers toyed with the stem of her glass.
    “Okay.” She obviously hated the word, so he was going to have to tread lightly if he didn’t want to set her off. Once again, he wanted to beat whatever idiot had made her so angry. He still needed to be careful if he didn’t want to end up with a “stalker” label. “I saw these girls this morning. Maybe you noticed them? The Suckerpunch gang?”
    “They were gorgeous and oozed sex all over. Not exactly easy to forget.”
    He begged to differ. “Sure, they had a specific set of features that are supposed to fit some universal definition of what men find appealing. Only, they didn’t appeal to me.”
    She rolled her eyes in a way that made the stupid word they were arguing about spring to mind again. “Please.”
    “In fairness, I can appreciate their looks, sure, but women who worry about being ‘hot’ don’t usually have much else going for them. I don’t like that. I prefer the kind of girl who looks as good in a pair of sweats as she does all dolled up, the kind who has interests outside of diets and exercise and shopping. Generally speaking, those women are ‘cute.’ And ‘adorable.’ And I find that kind of woman borderline irresistible.”
    She blinked at him, slowly, like he was some sort of alien. The tension left her body and she relaxed against the bar.
    “So. That’s it. If my thinking you’re cute makes you want to go, I will wish you well and hope you have a great time this weekend.” And don’t get caught up in the Takamaki crap. Damn. For a while there, with Pen, he’d managed to not think about it. He really didn’t want her to leave. He couldn’t keep her safe if she took off. “But if you’re okay with a guy who thinks you might be the whole package, even if that package includes the descriptor ‘cute,’ then I hope you’ll stick around.”
    Cal held his breath and waited, watching as some sort of internal war raged behind Penelope’s eyes.
    She propped her feet on the rung and swung back toward him, rescuing her drink from its place by his hand. “I’m not sure I believe that isn’t just a line—and I still hate the word—but I’m willing to stick around and see what else you have in that crazy head of yours.”
    Time to aim for safer territory. “Okay then, new topic. Star Wars or Star Trek ?”
    With a snort, she shook her head, another curl breaking free from the leaves to caress her cheek and neck and shoulder. Focus on her face, damn it! “Neither. Firefly all the way.”
    Suddenly she had all his attention. “Solid choice, but why?”
    “Without getting into the new Star Wars crap-of-a-trilogy, both it and Star Trek are too…big to be real. It makes everything that happens in them feel contrived, from the fighting to the romance. Firefly was about a ragtag group of people who didn’t even necessarily believe in the same thing, but they bonded together to stay alive. There isn’t this huge noble purpose to everything they do, but they’re noble nonetheless. And the love stories? Each one’s unique, but all things that felt genuine. Plus, the women were strong from the beginning. It wasn’t some bullshit add-in after introducing them as damsels-in-distress or sex-objects.”
    “And they’re ‘big damn heroes,’ right?”
    Her eyes had their twinkle back. “Ain’t they just?” She took a swallow of her drink then leaned close, her loose curl brushing against his skin, the contact electric. Her breath feathered over his ear, brushing the hair of the wig against his skin until he shivered. “I should warn you. A man who quotes that