Hooked Up the Game Plan (4 page)

Yeah, after I dumped your ass, I lost twenty pounds and somehow managed to keep most of them off despite food binging.
She nodded. “Thanks.” It’d taken her six long months of ice cream eating and chocolate hoarding to let him go, and by that time, she had her clothing store to occupy her
mind
and the treadmill when it didn’t. The only thing she felt now was pure, unadulterated, bone-tingling, pussy-throbbing lust, except…
Oh who am I kidding?
Seeing him again left her feeling as i
f she’d jumped from an airplane
not knowing if her parachute
would
work. Her stomach free-wheeled faster than she could keep up with the rush.

I’m in big trouble.

Before she could utter anoth
er word, Hunter
in all his six-foot-five, barrel-chested glory
stepped forward
. He
still
resembled the f
ootball player he had been
in college. Compared to Hunter, Reid looked puny.
“Nice of you to join us, Nisha. I guess the ‘we start at eight’ must have seemed like a suggestion.” He gave her a round of applause. “I’ll never give up hoping you’ll be on time to these events just once.”

“Sorry.” She tossed a rolled-eye glance to Trina. “The older yo
u guys get, the stricter you are
about being on time.”

Hunter assumed a mock-fierce expression. “Stop whining. We all know the reason you’re late is because you hate getting naked.”

Or I’m
try
ing
to postpone seeing Reid, but I’ll never tell you that.
“Which is why I play carefully. I don’t want you guys seeing any more skin than you have to. I don
’t want a repeat of last year.”

Trina ran a hand through her long, blonde hair. “
We’re
playing dirty tonight. Should have left the modesty at home, girl. We know once you get a few drinks in you, you don’t mind flashing the skin.”

Good-natured laughter cycled through the group. Being in their company put her in mind of fun times
and
always made her wish she’d stayed in better touch. Their tendency for the kinky aside, she missed them during the year.

Hunter held up a hand. “You guys know the drill. Everyone grab a putter,
girls
draw a name
,
and then meet up with your partner. If you want a drink, get it yourselves. In order to qualify for the grand prize of an all-expense paid week-long trip to the Bahamas—that I’ve generously provided out of the goodness of my heart—you have to complete all nine holes. No quitters. We start in five.”

The group swarmed the attendant who oversaw the putters, balls and scorecards. Nisha waited until Reid had selected his and moved away before she picked out a hot pink ball and one of the shortest putters. Because she’d held back, she withdrew the last scrap of paper resting at the bottom of a glass fishbowl. After tucking the putter under her arm
,
she unfolded the paper, and then groaned.

Reid’s name was printed in bold
,
capital letters followed by the number four.
Thanks a lot, universe.
Out of all the people she could have been randomly paired with, he was the worst. Her peace of mind and sanity were threatened. Not to mention there was
the
potential for her to make a giant fool out of herself over the guy.
Nisha, you dumped him for a reason. Remember it.

She pocketed the slip of paper. This changed the whole mood of the game. Now she had to worry about getting naked in front of Reid, or worse, having to go through punishments with him. Last year she’d been paired with Hunter. She’d had to kiss him once, let one of the other women feel her up—thanks to his stupid ‘random guest picks the punishment’ rule—as well as give him a hand job.

That had been embarrassing. The only saving grace was they’d been in the
“
shed of shame
”
and away from prying eyes. His dick was as massive as his body
,
and she’d had trouble handling him. Reid had been the only other guy she’d given a hand job to prior to that event. While she’d known getting Reid off would lead somewhere, doing the same to Hunter had felt like a never-ending chore. No matter she’d tried to stay out of the line of fire, she’d gotten hit with his c
um
anyway. That single event prompted her to always carry wet wipes in her purse. Always be prepared.

My parents must be so proud—not.

Movement to her left caught her attention. Reid stood off to one side with the putter resting
across
the back of his shoulders and
his hands hooked over the ends
. The pose highlighted his broad chest and when the shirt hem rose, gave her a peek of his flat abs.

Yup, I’m a goner. This night will not end well. Stupid fluttery stomach. Stupid hormones that can’t ignore the piece of eye candy. Ack!

He grinned as she approached. “Pretty funny, huh?”

“What?” She steeled herself for some of the chauvinistic crap he used to spout.

“That we’re a team tonight.” He relaxed his stance, put his putter head on the ground
,
and then leaned on the shaft
as if
it was a cane.

“Oh, yeah, just like old times.” Sarcasm oozed from the comment. Nisha bounced her golf ball. The hollow, rubberbandy
twang
each time it hit the concrete set off a host of memories: Reid making jokes t
hat American sitcoms all had a token
Indian in them now; Reid wondering aloud in front of the group
why
Indian children were
n’t
taught pointers from the
Kama Sutra
in school since she’d not been very skilled in the bedroom; Reid in a lip-lock with a busty blonde behind the snack shack—a kiss that had no
thing to do with rules of strip
tease mini-golf.

God, he’d been su
ch a prick, and his attitude had
been
just one of the reasons she’d dropped him
like a bad habit, yet when she’d been
with him, it had been
thrilling and exciting, and given
her a glimmer of hope that he might finally pay attention to her
as
more than an object
.

God, what a spineless fool I was.
She snorted.
I guess love does
that to a person—destroys the
brain like a flesh-eating amoeba.
At least by dumping him, she’d
earned
her parents’ approval for the first time in years. But it was the love part that had her worried now.
Guys like Reid
don’t
deserve to be loved.

Nisha snuck a quick look at him and her heart trembled.
Fuck. Just like old times for sure. I can’t wait to get a sneak peek of his cock.
Her pulse accelerated. She couldn’t hide from her thoughts. Yes, she came to the event to see her friends, but she also wanted Reid. Apparently, where he was concerned, she hadn’t gone into remission.
Stupid Reid and his sexy, hurry-and-get-naked good looks.
Just kill me now.

Tingles played up and down her spine. What sort of punishment would he choose for her? What would she do if he made a sexual request of her? She forced down a swallow.
New rule, girl
—d
on’t give him anything unless he’ll give it back to you in spades. No exceptions.

The metallic
thud
of someone dropping their putter brought her back to the moment. Since her and Reid’s team were the last to tee off, they had to wait on the three other couples to go ahead. Her skin prickled with anticipatory heat. Finally, Nisha huffed and glanced at him. Shock shot through her to find him studying her with a thoughtful expression. Need trembled through her lower belly. “Why are you staring at me?”

“I owe you an apology. A bunch of them really.” He g
estured toward the rest of the group
with his chin, which now bore a two-inch silver-white scar. “I don’t want to go into the whole thing here, but I’m not the same guy you knew three years ago.”

How’d he get the scar? Had he finally gotten punched by someone he
’d
treated like crap? Nisha held his gaze for a few seconds and then shifted her focus to Hunter as he prepared to tee off. “Spare me, okay? I’ve heard it all before. I don’t need guys like you in my life.”
What a freaking liar I am. As long as he doesn’t know the extent of my stupidity, I’ll be fine. As long as he doesn’t give me the puppy dog eyes… Crap.

“I’m serious.” He stepped around to come into her line of vision again. Yup, there they were. Puppy dog “I’m so sorry” eyes. “I was a jerk. I admit it, but I’m not that guy anymore. I won’t ever be again.”

Nothing except sincerity shone from his expression. Even the way he held himself was different. He’d lost that cockiness he’d once had, that arrogance and entitlement. He seemed more confident with a quiet strength and maybe a dose of humility. It made him even more appealing. Nisha sighed.
I’m a sucker for a guy who’s got the “aw shucks” thing down.
“How do I know that?”

Reid shrugged. “You’ll have to trust me. If nothing else, I want you to know I’m sorry for how I treated you, your family and practically everyone else I’ve ever known. There was no excuse, and that sort of crappy behavior hasn’t happened in the three years we’ve been apart. I do my best to remind myself every damn day of what I lost because of it.”

She listened to the friendly joshing between the other couples with only half an ear. Apparently everyone was playing the first cup safe. Nothing big happened.

She narrowed her eyes and peered more closely at Reid. Laugh lines framed his mouth and wrinkles creased the corners of his eyes each time he smiled. It looked as if he did both a lot now. When she’d known him, he’d rarely done either. “Oh my God, it’s true.”

“Yeah. It’s a whole big story.”

“Do the others know?”

“Hunter knows the whole thing. The others might know bits and pieces.”

“Why didn’t they tell me?” Not even Trina had spilled the beans. It must be huge for her to keep the secret.

Reid shrugged. “I asked them not to. I wanted to tell you myself, to explain and hope it would make a difference with you—for us.”

A shiver racked her shoulder
s
from his last words. Did he want to start over? “Oh.”

He stepped onto the green rubber plate then stooped
to place his yellow golf ball o
n one of the divots. “You plan to stick around to hear it?”

Heck yeah!
This would be better than a blockbuster movie. “I guess so.” She admired his backside as he lined up his putter and smacked the ball. The yellow orb sailed down the straight, green felt fairway, circled the cup and came to rest near the far wall. The last time she’d been with him, he would have cussed
her
out for that missed shot. Now, he only chuckled and shrugged. “Wow, did someone go back in time, step on a giant mosquito and change the whole course of human development?”

“Is the transformation that noticeable?” he asked and set off after his ball.

“Uh, yeah.” After dropping her ball onto the green, she moved it into place with the sole of her sandal. “I’d like to thank that guy, whoever he was.” With only half a
mind on the game, Nisha hit
the ball. It traveled smoothly down the fairway and landed with a faint plop into the cup. “Crap. An ace.”

A shrill whistle from Hunter pierced the lull in conversation. “Hole in one! Everyone takes off one item of clothing thanks to Nisha!”

While excited chatter ebbed through the group, Nisha yanked the baseball hat from
her head. She chucked it into the
white, plastic laundry basket wait
ing
on the concrete beyond the green. “Fantastic.” Mentally she calculated how many more aces it would take to get her to the bra-and-panty stage: shirt, skirt, sandals. Three. Four if she counted the wooden bead necklace.
Well, hell. I should have worn more clothes.

After dropping a pair of sunglasses into the basket, Trina poked her with the putter. “First hole out, huh? You keep that up and we’ll all be naked by number six.” She glided off to the second fairway.

Nisha had nothing to do except stare at Reid. He’d only removed his watch. She’d have to be careful around him. If he wasn’t a jerk anymore, she’d have no excuse to keep him at bay—or a reason not to attack him like a rabid hyena on safari. Maybe he’d need help off with that shirt…
Stop it, Nisha. No man can make such a drastic change, not even one who’s looking at you like you’re the dessert he’s been denied for months.

A change in subject was needed, pronto. “So, how’s your job? You should be pretty high up the corporate ladder by now, huh? Got a nice corner office with your own secretary? Maybe made partner?” She tamped the reflex to gag.
When did I become so lame?