Game of Temptation

Waterfront Pavilion were bright enough

. Team owners, corporate titans, lifestyle influencers, and national sports media converge on the harbor ballroom e

ylist had chosen the color with surgical care: sophisticated enough to read as professional authority, vivid enough to stand out aga

e me in suffo

uttoned just enough at the collar to drive the fashion tabloids wild. He looked less like a troubled pr

e barricades, where dozens of photographers jo

muttered, his deep voic

and measured, in through my nose, out through my mouth. "Remember the protocol. We step out together. We pause at the central Apex ba

of my neckline, the structured elegance of the emeral

l," he repeated

f the crowd and the staccato pop of camera shut

cades and shouting his name. He didn't smile. He stood tall, buttoned his jacket, and t

tatic snapped between us. I stepped into the blinding white lig

the small of my back. The heat of it burned straight through the silk. This wasn't the cautious distance

oving as he smiled for the cameras. "You lo

hispered through te

our eyes, not

rutal. Shouted questions

this of

ng has this b

e looking int

ere! Look at

dismissive nod, and never loosened his hold. At the main photo station he leaned down and whispered something completely mundane about a defensive scheme agains

glass doors of the ballroom, my fa

white orchids, and towering ice sculptures. The roar of the press gave way to t

As we walked in, his sharp eyes tracked us across the room. He gave me a tiny, calculating nod of approval. The fi

e presidents, and smiled politely through endless teasing about our sudden romantic debut. Kai played his part with surprising grace. He kept his touch ligh

exhausting, and terri

prominent footwear distributor. I took the opening and slipped through

my palms against the damp granite, and closed my eyes. Foghorns sounded out in the bay, vast and

hind me, followed by the heavy

ound. I knew tha

ooked out over the dark water, where the lights of cargo ships flickered on the horizon. His col

" he said, quiet, with non

pointing a camera at my face," I said, s

rpet well. Better t

exact walk," I said, looking down at my hands.

said soft

the first time since the photo leaked at dawn, there was no crisis to solve, no managing director thr

ile. "For the record... that night at

expected and dangero

rrace light. "I stayed because your film notes were actually right. That weak-s

e from the red carpet. I looked at him and saw past the arrogant su

," I mu

out thinking, he lifted his hand and brushed it back behind my ear. His long, warm fin

shed, thick with something that had nothing

ips, then back to my eye

whispered, though

e," he said, dropping into a rough

ctly why we

iberate breath, let his hand fall to his side, and stepped back to t

rd the glowing ballroom doors. "Hale's l