“Yeah?” She held her arms out to the side for a moment then let them flop back against her body. “And what do you see?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “You fishing for compliments, Jones?”
“Jones?” She laughed.
My lips twisted to the side as I narrowed my eyes. She didn’t melt under my scrutinizing gaze. Lake had her insecurities, they were like small fleeting moments, flashes here and there, but they never appeared to be about her appearance, her leg, or anything on the outside. I couldn’t quite figure it out.
“You fit in here. Big, China doll eyes. Long, straight, black hair. Flawless skin. Tiny nose. Petite frame. The ears though…”
She grabbed her ears. “What’s wrong with my ears?”
I shrugged. “They stick out a bit, but don’t worry about it. I’m sure no one notices unless you wear your hair back.”
“Dumbo ears? Are you suggesting I have Dumbo ears?” Her voice elevated a few octaves.
Fuck me. Lake Jones was the sexiest woman I had ever met, and I think I knew it the moment I laid eyes on her. The space-age looking prosthetic below her knee? It only made her sexier in my eyes. She held her head high, shoulders back, confident smile. She owned herself completely.
“No. I’m not suggesting you can fly.”
She squinted. “That’s not what I asked.”
I stepped closer to her. She didn’t flinch. I needed to stop. We needed to sit on separate ends of the couch and watch something likeSchindler’s List. My dick needed to be removed from the equation, but it was hard—in every sense of theword—because if the events of the previous days were to be stripped down to the bare truth… I flew halfway around the world just to see if her lips tasted the way I remembered from three years earlier. They did, but even better.
My hands flexed; they itched to touch her. I’d stood in the pocket, waiting for a receiver to open up, patient and calm, as my linemen worked to hold off the guys gunning to plant my ass on the ground. I had control. With Lake I was the child running out into the street after a shiny rainbow beach ball. The woman robbed me of all self-preservation by simply existing in my world.
A knock at the door erased the scowl on her face and saved me from my runaway thoughts.
She pointed a stiff finger at me. “You’re not off the hook.”
Maybe I wasn’t saved from anything.
Lake checked the peephole. “I’m not required to see you until morning,” she yelled.
A muffled man’s voice answered. “Oh come on, love. I’m just stopping by to say goodnight.”
“Love” didn’t sit well with me, neither did the jealousy it evoked.
Lake opened the door, grumbling something under her breath. “Goodnight, Thad.” She started to close the door but his hand stopped it.
I moved closer.
“Do you have company?” He peeked past her to me.
She sighed, moving back as Thad took a step inside the room. He held up his hand, an Iron Man-Doc Ock hybrid. Eight fingers.
“He doesn’t look Chinese, love.” He eyed me.
“He is. It’s just poor lighting.” She shoved his chest, buther little body made the impact of a fly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Thad smirked, looking down at Lake. I didn’t like the way he looked at her. Maybe it was because he called her “love.” Maybe one had nothing to do with the other, or maybe they had everything to do with each other. Didn’t matter. It left me on edge.
“Are you paying him?”
I fisted my hands, but Lake’s left-field reply sidetracked my anger.
“Yes.” She shoved toward the door with her whole body, and he stepped back. “I’m paying him for sex, now go because you’re wasting my money.”
“So you’re trying to tell me that Minnesota’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback turns tricks in Beijing during the offseason?”
