Free The Endgame by Cleary James

removed the pins from her hair, then he teased it out, running it through his fingers until it fell in a wild, tangled mess around her shoulders. His gaze dropped to her mouth and his eyes darkened as he ran a thumb across her lips, smudging her lipstick. Lisa felt her pulse quickening at the touch of his fingers against her skin.
    ‘There. You look suitably debauched,’ he said, releasing her.
    ‘Thank you,’ she said, kicking off her shoes. She picked them up, then Grayson took her hand lightly in his and led her out of the room.
    They found Mark and Isabel sitting next to each other on the sofa in the living room. Lisa was relieved that they were both dressed again, though looking as mussed up and tousled as she and Grayson were.
    ‘There you are,’ Mark said, standing as they came into the room. He looked tired, Lisa noted with relief. She hoped Isabel had worn him out and they could go straight to sleep when they got home. She felt depressed suddenly, a sick knot of dread settling in her stomach at the prospect of going home with Mark. Weariness overcame her and all her earlier tension returned.
    ‘Did you have fun?’ he asked, holding out an arm to her.
    She nodded as Grayson released her hand. She went to Mark and he put his arm around her, pulling her into his side and kissing the top of her head. ‘Ready to go?’
    ‘Yes.’ But she wasn’t. She wished she could stay here. She yearned to go back into the library with Grayson and curl up in that armchair. She had felt safe and warm there. She shivered, and Mark ran a hand up and down her arm. She dropped her shoes on the floor and stepped into them.
    ‘Come on, let’s get you home,’ Mark said, curling a proprietary hand around her ass. Embarrassed, she dropped her eyes to the floor. Suddenly she looked up and her eyes met Grayson’s and she gasped at the emotion she saw in his face. He looked almost ... hurt. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he was jealous. But that wasn’t possible. She was being ridiculous and fanciful. So why did she feel so guilty, as if she were cheating on him? Why did it feel so wrong to let Mark touch her like this in front of him?
    She shook off the feeling, but still found herself unable to look Grayson in the eye as he and Isabel saw them to the door.
    Lisa was taken aback, but touched when Isabel put her arms around her and enveloped her in a hug. ‘Thank you for coming,’ she said. ‘It was lovely to meet you.’
    ‘Thank you. I’m sorry I was a bit–‘
    ‘You were perfect,’ Isabel said, releasing her, and the warmth of her smile almost made Lisa well up. ‘I hope we’ll see you again sometime.’
    ‘Thank you for a lovely evening,’ Mark said as he shook Grayson’s hand. ‘You must come to us next time. Let’s do this again soon.’
    Lisa tensed. Grayson had put up with her tonight, but there was no way he’d want to spend another evening playing chess with her while Mark fucked his gorgeous girlfriend. She expected him to make some vague non-committal response, but to her surprise, he smiled smoothly at Mark and said ‘I’d like that a lot,’ his gaze drifting to her.
    ‘Great! Give me a ring and we’ll arrange a date,’ Isabel said to Mark.
    ‘I’ll look forward to it,’ Grayson said, turning to Lisa and tracing a finger lightly down her arm.
    She smiled at him, grateful that he was keeping up the charade. ‘Goodbye Lisa,’ he said, eyeballing her as he took her hand and raised it to his lips in a sweetly chivalrous gesture. ‘Until we meet again.’
     

CHAPTER SIX
     

Grayson and Isabel stood side by side in the doorway as Lisa and Mark got into the back of the waiting car and were driven away. Grayson watched wistfully as the car disappeared around the corner. He felt Isabel’s arm go around his back as he closed the door.
    ‘So, how was that for you?’ she asked, shooting him a sympathetic look as they walked back to the living room together.
    Grayson let out a