A Numbers Game Read Online Free Page A

that he wanted to clear the air, to absolve himself of guilt. To say he was sorry and walk away. It didn’t matter what his motive was, though. Merrit wanted a different type of closure. The heat in his eyes when he touched her earlier had been unmistakable—he still wanted her, and that knowledge had awakened a need in her she’d thought had shriveled up long ago. Sex with Heath had always been practically a religious experience, one she didn’t want to deny herself. She wasn’t that immature co-ed any longer, though, mistaking lust for love. Tonight, she would take a page from Heath’s own playbook, using him to settle a score—silencing the doubts Grant had planted in her head. And when she walked away in the morning, she’d do so sedately—not at a run—proving to Heath that an encounter with him could no longer touch her heart.
    Her plan seemed a lot more doable when she was sitting in a crowded ballroom with her knight-in-shining-armor brother at her side. Two hours later, as she walked up the sidewalk to the condo, she felt her confidence evaporate into the muggy June night. Heath had left the gala early; she’d surreptitiously kept an eye on table six throughout dinner, but he never took his seat. Now she knew why. He was camped out on her front step, a bottle of beer cradled in his long fingers. His tuxedo had been replaced with a pair of cargo shorts and a faded REM T-shirt. Heath’s coffee eyes were resolute and the soft glow of the porch light bouncing off his unruly hair did nothing to tame his appearance. Merrit nearly tripped over her heels, he looked so . . . dogged sitting there. Not to mention sexy as hell.
    You have to do this,
she chastised herself.
You NEED do this.
    “Lock yourself out again?” Thankfully, her voice held a little bravado.
    He tapped his pocket. “Nope.”
    Merrit leaned against the porch railing, wishing she possessed her sister’s innate ability to act cool around men. Addison had perfected flirting to an art form, and Merrit was light-years behind her in ability and confidence. She wasn’t that practiced in seducing a man, either. Obviously, her plan wasn’t as well thought out as she believed.
    “I wasn’t sure you meant what you said earlier,” he said, his gaze still trained out on the darkened street. “I’ve actually been sitting here thinking you’d probably skipped town with your brother and I’d have to chase you to Chicago.
Again.
”
    Merrit bobbled slightly on her high heels, refusing to acknowledge the twinge of embarrassment she felt about skipping out of South Bend, and then Chicago, a decade ago. “I’m pretty sure the neighborhood watch still has a picture of you on their most-wanted list.”
    She’d already left for Paris with her mother by the time Heath had been caught scaling the gate outside her parents’ home. According to her father, he’d given no explanation for his actions to the police, but no charges were ever filed. Apparently, her parents had no trouble believing it was all a mix-up. After all, why would a big-time college athlete be looking for the boring Callahan?
    “Hmm,” he said before taking a pull of his beer.
    Just watching the muscles contracting in his throat was making Merrit hot and bothered. She was a fool for even getting this close to him; an idiot for thinking she’d have the upper hand in any encounter between them. Or that she could walk away unscathed. Retreat was always her default option because the alternative was scary.
And messy.
It would be easier to just lock herself inside her condo as quickly as she could.
    She sighed into the dark night, deciding to heft the white flag. “Look, Heath. Why don’t you just say what it is you think is so important for you to say and then go.”
    “Invite me inside, Merrit.”
    The heat in his demand coursed through her body, making her ache at her core.
    “I’ve changed my mind,” she whispered. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
    He was up on