Free Playing for Kicks (Play Makers Book 5) by Kate Donovan

together,
remember? Because this relationship isn’t working—”
    “I agree.”
    “You do?”
    She nodded as she plopped down on the sofa
and arranged her nonexistent skirt around her bare thighs. When he
sat in a chair across from her, she continued. “That’s what I want
to talk about. You’ve told me what you need. Now I’m ready to do
it. All of it. I’ll move to your house in Portland and we
can go to bars and restaurants in public. I don’t care who sees us.
And we’ll hang out with your friends as much as you want.”
    “Kerrie—”
    “I know I disappointed you about Sophie’s
wedding. And even though it wasn’t fair to ask in the first place,
since we knew it would be crawling with people who hate me,
I should have gone. I see that now.”
    “They don’t hate you,” he began, then he
reminded himself not to fall into this trap. Debating particular
events rather than acknowledging that their lifestyles as a whole
could never mesh was a lose-lose proposition. So he settled for
assuring her, “Rachel and Darcie were there, ready to keep you
company. And I was there, which is obviously the point.”
    “From now on, I’ll go anywhere you ask. Even
if it’s crawling with Spurlings. Including your precious Erica. All
I’m asking in return is a second chance.” She scooted into his lap.
“Didn’t you miss me? Just a little?”
    “No,” he admitted. “I feel like we’re beating
a dead horse. I know that sounds harsh—”
    “It’s mean,” she retorted, jumping to
her feet and glaring down from her petite height. “I’m telling you
I’ll do everything you’ve asked me to do. I’m already divorcing my
rich husband for you, aren’t I? And I’ll do more, Sean. I’m
humiliating myself at your feet. And you just sit there?” Tears
spilled down her cheeks. “Don’t you love me anymore?”
    Melody’s suggestion loomed large again, but
he forced himself to stand and touch her cheek. “It’s not about
love, Kerrie. We had a strong attraction. Strong feelings. And I’ll
always care about you. But love is about shared experiences. Shared
hopes. Shared interests. And we don’t have any of those.”
    “How can you say that?”
    His voice grew hoarse. “It’s true I asked you
to live with me. Hang with me and my friends. Go on dates. But
you’re forgetting why . So we could get to know each other.
Figure out if our feelings were real. Find out if we were
compatible. If there was more to us than quickies in a motel
room.”
    “Then let’s do that. I’m offering all
those things.”
    He stared down at her, willing her to
understand. “I think we found out the hard way. You’ve been
dragging your feet on the divorce for a reason. You thrive on
melodrama. And seriously, honey, I hate it. And you want to be
alone with me all the time, which is flattering, but I need my
friends too. You hate your family, I love my family. We have
zero in common besides sex.” Trying not to cringe from the hurt in
her eyes, he said firmly, “The fact that our relationship works for
you but makes me miserable says it all.”
    She brushed at the tears in her eyes, then
asked angrily, “Is there someone else?”
    “Geezus, Kerrie, no. I’ve been feeling this
way for weeks. Maybe longer. It’s about us . Two people who
tried and failed.”
    Her eyebrow arched sharply. “I know you, Sean
Decker. You think you can abstain from sex, but you can’t go
a week without it. Yet here you are, resisting me in this outfit. So stop lying and tell me who you slept with.” Exhaling
loudly, she demanded, “Was it Erica?”
    “Geezus, Kerrie, no.”
    “The agent with the big tits?”
    “Cut it out,” he warned.
    “Tell me the truth.”
    His stomach clenched but he forced himself to
answer. “I was going to tell you about this eventually. I had sex
with you . Two nights ago.”
    She was silent for a moment, then an
unexpected twinkle lit her eyes. “Hmm?”
    And as annoyed and frustrated as he felt, he
still