The Ex Games 2 Read online

  “I’m a klutz, trust me, I’ll fall.”

  “I’ll be your knight in shining armor. I’ll be there to catch you if you fall.” He kissed the top of my head and I could hear his heart beating as I lay my head against his chest. I looked up at him and the sincerity and love was pouring out of his eyes. I leaned into him and pressed my lips on his. Our kiss was sweet and special and filled with promises. In that moment, I knew that Brandon would always be in my heart and I would always be in his. We were connected as one.

  “Then come on.” I’d laughed and pulled off my shoes. “Let’s go rollerblade before I change my mind.” And we’d spent the rest of the day holding hands and rollerblading through Central Park, and I hadn’t fallen once.

  “Shall we go?” Brandon smiled at me gently and I nodded. We made our way out of the hotel and I nearly tripped as he stopped suddenly. “I want to apologize.”

  “Oh?” My heart stopped as I held onto his arm.

  “What I did today, it was wrong. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you.”

  “You didn’t take advantage of me.” I made a face. “I was willing and able to say no.”

  “I couldn’t help myself.” He sighed. “When I saw you in the elevator, I couldn’t believe it. I’d been waiting for, anticipating even, that moment forever. And I just got caught up in myself.”

  “I guess no one can say we don’t have sexual chemistry.”

  “I want you to know something.” He held my hands and caressed them. “I want you to know that what Maria and I have, it’s not what it seems.”

  “She’s not your fiancée?” I asked him hopefully and my heart fell as he shook his head.

  “She is, but it’s complicated.” He made a face. “So tell me about this guy you’re dating. Did you say his name was Matt?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “He’s a nice guy, very dependable. Seems to like me a lot.”

  “Really?” He frowned. “Close to engagement?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Does he make your body tremble when he fucks you?”

  “No.” I sighed as I continued. “We haven’t slept together yet.”

  “Oh.” He smiled. “I see.”

  “We’re waiting, so that we can make it special. Relationships and sex are about more than some quick fucks.” I said spitefully, wanting to hurt him.

  “But sometimes the quick fucks are the best ones.” His hands crept up my back. “Sometimes, you want your man to just push you up against the wall.” He grabbed ahold of me and pushed me back. “Sometimes, you want him to take charge and slide his hand around your waist and push himself into you, so that you can feel his hard erection against your stomach.” He pushed into me then and I felt his hardness against me. I stared up into his eyes wanting to stop him, but also wanting to see how far he was going to take this. He adjusted himself so that his leg was in between mine, and his cock was positioned by my inner thigh. “Sometimes, you dream of your man bending his head.” His lips moved to my neck and his tongue trailed to my collar bone. “And lowering his lips.” He kissed down the valley in-between my breasts and I stood there frozen, not caring if anyone was walking past us and wondering what was going on. “Sometimes you want your man to show you who’s the boss.” His hand reached up my stomach and stopped right below my breast, before slipping into the top of my dress and caressing my breast. “Because, Katie,” he looked up at me with a light in his eyes as he squeezed my nipple. “Women like to be possessed. They like to be taken. They like to feel sexy and sensual and they want to feel loved.” He leaned forward and kissed me hard as his hand pushed the top of my dress to the side. He bent his head quickly and took my nipple in his mouth, sucking it eagerly and nibbling on it as he would candy. I closed my eyes as ripples of pleasure swept through me. My hands fell to his head and ran through his hair as he sucked. I let out a whimper as he released me from his warm embrace, and then sighed again in relief as he transferred his lips to the other nipple. I felt my knees buckling and his arm wrapped around my waist and held me against him and the wall firmly. His erection pushed into me even more urgently and I reached my fingers down to squeeze it gently. I tried to unzip his pants, but he pushed my hand away and pulled away from me. He looked at me and smiled. “You see, Katie? Sometimes the quick fucks are the most exciting and exhilarating. Sometimes they turn you on more than you seem to want to admit. Unfortunately, this is not your lucky night.” His eyes mocked me as he moved away from me completely. “Tonight, you will have to hope that your boyfriend, Michael or Tad, or whatever his name is, gets some gumption and makes a move soon. Because, little girl, tonight will not be the night that you get any from me, no matter how sexy your dress is.”

  I swallowed hard as I looked at him, completely dazed. I wasn’t sure what had just happened. Minutes ago, he had been apologizing to me and I thought we were finally going to put everything behind us, but yet again he had my head spinning in anger and my body aching for his touch. I didn’t say anything to Brandon as we walked to the restaurant. Instead, I just mentally confirmed my plan for the night. Brandon was right and wrong. He was right about the fact that sometimes a woman just wanted a man to take charge and take her, but he was wrong about the fact that he wasn’t going to be fucking me tonight. If I had anything to do with it, I was going to have him shouting my name and begging me to forgive him for all the shit he had pulled on me. As far as I was concerned, he had gotten away with far too much. I wasn’t a woman he could use and abuse like some pawn in a game of chess. He was about to find out that he wasn’t the only piece of royalty on the board, and I was about to get into the game. And this time, I was playing to win.

  Chapter 3

  “Konnichiwa.”

  “Konnichiwa.”

  I stood there and smiled at the wives of the Japanese businessmen that Brandon was meeting for dinner. I felt out of place in my revealing dress, as they were all dressed very conservatively. Their wives looked at me with polite smiles, but I could see the question in their eyes. Was she a prostitute? I was embarrassed for all of two minutes before I realized that ultimately, it was Brandon that would look like the fool.

  “They like you.” He smiled at me as we walked to the table. He was back to being nice again, but I couldn’t tell if he was being genuine or putting on a show.

  “I feel like maybe I wore the wrong outfit for a business dinner.” I made a face. “Sorry.”

  “Why are you apologizing?” He squeezed my hand. “You look sexy as hell, yes, but I’m not complaining. I like dining with a beautiful woman at my side.”

  “Oh.” I blushed at his words. “Thank you.”

  “No need to thank me for telling the truth.” He pulled my chair out as we reached the table and then sat next to me. “This is nice.” He looked around the restaurant and smiled. “It’s been a while since we’ve gone out to eat together.”

  “Yes, it has.”

  “This time you can even order alcohol if you want to.”

  “Funny.” I looked away from him and he laughed.

  “Don’t tell me I can’t make jokes about your age. Not after all the laughs you had on my behalf.”

  “What are you talking about?” I glared at him. “What laughs?”

  “All the laughs you and your friends had when you told them what a fool I was for believing all your lies.”

  “I never thought you were a fool.”

  “I was a fool.” He sighed. “I don’t know how I didn’t figure out you were 18.”

  “I guess I was a good actress.”

  “That’s the problem, you weren’t.” He chuckled. “When I think back to everything now, it’s all so clear to me. How eager and happy you were all the time to see me, how open you were with your feelings. The fact that you were a virgin and the fact that you were always willing and eager to do whatever I wanted to do sexually.”

  “Not everything.” I shook my head.

  “That’s true.” He licked his lips as he stared at m
e. “I never got you to agree to anal.”

  “Would you like to see the wine menu?” A waiter appeared at our side and I looked at him with a small smile, while dying of mortification inside.

  “Thank you.” Brandon took the menu and opened it so we could both see.

  “Mr. Kai, would you like me to order the wine?” Brandon addressed the only person in the business party who appeared to speak English.

  “Thank you, Mr. Hastings. We would like that very much.” Mr. Kai nodded and then spoke to the others rapidly in Japanese.

  “I don’t think I’m going to be able to help much.” I whispered to Brandon. “I don’t speak much Japanese.”

  “Your presence alone is enough.” He squeezed my knee and smiled at me. I tried not to pull away from him, but every time he touched me I felt like I was flying and it was hard for me to come back down to earth.

  “I think we’re all going to have a less fatty steak tonight. I’m guessing everyone will have a filet mignon, don’t you think?” Brandon spoke out loud as he studied the wine menu. “So I guess I’ll choose a bottle that has a bit less tannin.”

  “How do you know?” I asked, interested.

  “I tried to be a sommelier when I was in my twenties.” He looked up at me. “And I worked at a couple of wineries in Napa and Sonoma.”

  “I never knew that before.”

  “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Katie.”

  “Have you decided on your wine?” The waiter reappeared, and I sat back while I waited for Brandon to order.

  “Let’s see, we’re definitely going to go with a cabernet sauvignon.” He studied the menu and looked up at the waiter. “Will you check and see if you have a 2002 Abreu cabernet sauvignon from the Thorevilos Vineyard Napa Valley in the cellar, please.”

  “Wines in the cellar start at $500, sir.”

  “That’s fine.” Brandon shrugged. “That’s the wine we want, if you have it. Two bottles would be better than one.”

  “I’ll go and check now, sir.” The apathetic-looking waiter’s eyes lit up as he departed the table quickly.

  “That’s too much money.” I whispered at him. “You can’t spend $500 on wine.”

  “If they have a bottle, it’ll be about $850, actually.” He smiled at me and his eyes crinkled. “I’ve got billions, Katie. There’s no need to be worried. Consider it a catch-up drink for all those nights I took you out to dinner and you only got a water.”

  “Yeah, but we’re not dating anymore.”

  “Whose fault is that?” His fingers caught mine and he squeezed them until I looked up at him. “Don’t tell me what to do, Katie.”

  “I’m not telling you what to do.”

  “You made me lose control in my life once, I’m not going to let you do that to me again.”

  “What?” I frowned, but then Mr. Kai started talking about business, so I just sat back and smiled at the other women in the group. They smiled at me politely and I smiled back, not knowing what else to do.

  The waiter hurried back to the table with a huge smile. “Sir, we’ve found two bottles for you. Would you like to do a tasting?”

  “Yes,” Brandon nodded and raised his glass, and the waiter popped the cork and poured a sampling into his glass. Brandon gave it a quick sniff, swirled it in his glass and then sipped. He allowed the wine to sit in his mouth for a moment, and then swallowed. “Delicious.” He nodded at the waiter. “I like it a lot. The wine is deep, well-balanced and complex.” He turned to me. “Just like I like my women.”

  “So you two married, yes?” One of the women on the other side of the table leaned forward. “Happy couple?”

  “Yes.” Brandon nodded and I sat back with a fake smile on my face.

  “She is younger than you?’ Mr. Kai questioned and looked back and forth at us. I was surprised at the bluntness of his question.

  “Much younger.” Brandon nodded. “But what does age matter when it comes to love?”

  Mr. Kai didn’t respond, but instead seemed to explain the conversation to the others at the table. Some of the women’s eyes changed from polite to accepting and I realized that now they thought I was the wife, everything was okay.

  “What sort of business dinner is this?” I whispered in Brandon’s ear. “Only one of them speaks English and I can’t imagine this is a setting where any deals are going to get made.”

  “The Japanese culture is different from ours, Katie.” Brandon kissed my cheek as he whispered. “This may seem like an informal dinner to you, but it is also a vetting process. A process where they will evaluate whether I am someone they think they can trust.”

  “At a dinner?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes, at a dinner.” He pulled away from me and raised his glass. “Kanpai.”

  “Kanpai.” They raised their glasses and smiled back.

  I lifted up my glass and repeated the phrase they had used “Kanpai.” I took a sip of the wine and immediately felt soothed. This was a good glass of wine, indeed.

  “Enjoying it?” Brandon looked at me as I continued sipping and I nodded. “It’s a very delicate wine. The blueberry, boysenberry jam, vanilla, licorice, chocolate, truffle, earth and smoke scream from the glass, don’t they?”

  “I, uh, guess.” I laughed. “I mean I do taste some blueberry, I think.”

  “I’ll have to teach you about wine one of these days.” His eyes danced as I took another sip. “There’s a vineyard in Napa, owned by some family friends, that I love. They have a castle and I always thought it would make a romantic trip.”

  “It sounds like it.” I smiled back at him, but I wanted to question him. Was he saying that because he really wanted to take me, or because he was playing a role?

  “How long you two been in love?” The one lady who seemed to know some English asked. I felt tongue-tied and nervous at her question. I was scared that it would be obvious to Brandon that I still loved him if I answered.

  “I think I’ve loved, Katie from the moment I first met her.” Brandon responded. “My heart only began beating the moment I met her.” He stared at me with love in his eyes and his fingers brushed a piece of hair away from my face. “She was my angel. She found me at a time when I was in an emotionally bad place. She saved me from myself. Her love, her beauty, her kindness, her love of life, they saved me.”

  “Oh, Brandon.” My heart melted at his words and I reached over and grabbed his hands. “I feel the same way.” I couldn’t stop the words from gushing out of my mouth. ”I feel like I was made to love you, that a part of you has always been in me, just waiting for us to meet.”

  The couples across the table stared at us, not really understanding what we were saying, but feeling the love flowing between us.

  “I knew you were the one for me in the very beginning,” Brandon continued in a soft tone, but then his eyes hardened as they looked at me. “I think a large part of it was your honesty. I always knew that no matter what happened, we would always have the truth. And I knew that nothing can break up a couple that has the truth on their side.” He pulled away from me, still smiling, and I felt a deep pain shatter my heart as he hammered the nail in. He was never going to forgive me. It didn’t matter that it had been seven years since the lie. Seven years for him to get over what I had done. He was determined to continue making me pay for what I had done. Taking this job had been a mistake. Everything had been a big mistake. I lectured myself to stop trying to give him second chances and to stop hoping for the impossible. How much more did he have to tell me or do before I would accept that we were over forever? All I had left to do was to do to him what he had done to me. I was going to fuck him and then leave him as if he meant nothing to me. I knew that it may not break his heart, but it would definitely hurt his pride, and that’s all I could hope for right now.

  ***

  “Did you enjoy dinner?” Brandon was polite and distant as we walked away from the restaurant. The dinner had gone well, and his guests had gone of
f in their taxis looking fairly pleased. I wasn’t sure if it was due to the wine or the company, though. The two bottles of wine had turned to five and we were all a bit jolly by the end of the meal.

  “I had a good time. They were nice.” I walked slowly, trying not to stumble. He placed his arm in front of me, but I ignored it.

  “Let me guide you, Katie. I don’t want you to fall.”

  “No, thanks.” I shook my head. “I’m fineeeee.” My words slurred slightly and I giggled.

  “You’re drunk.”

  “No, I’m not.” I hiccupped.

  “Katie.” He sighed and pulled me towards him. “Hold on to me.”

  I wrapped my arms around him and pushed my breasts against him, as I let my left hand fall down casually and brush against the front of his pants. His body grew tense as he held on to me and I kissed his neck.

  “Let’s go dancing.” I whispered in his ear, letting my tongue lick his inner ear before I nibbled on his earlobe.

  “You should really get home.” He shook his head, but I could see desire emanating from his every pore.

  “I don’t wanna go home yet.” I hiccupped again. “Let’s go dancing, I know a place.”

  “How do you know a place?”

  “I saw it yesterday.” I grabbed his hand. “Please.” We stood there in the middle of the street, and he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

  “Fine, we can go for an hour. That’s it.”

  “That’s all the time I need.” I whispered to him as excitement filled me. An hour was going to be more than enough time.

  “Welcome to the club.” A scantily clad lady ushered us into ‘The X Room’ and I pretended that I didn’t notice Brandon’s look of surprise as we walked into the dark club.

  “Katie,” he hissed as I dragged him towards the booming music. “What sort of club is this?”

  “I don’t know.” I lied. “I just want to dance.”

  “Katie.” He grabbed my hand to try to pull me back, but I just laughed and pulled away from him. I pushed my way through the crowds of men until I found an empty booth in the side of the room and sat down. “Katie.” His eyes narrowed as he sat next to me. “This is a strip club. We can’t do any dancing here.”