Bedroom Games
Page 58

I stared at Brodie, shocked.
He was right.
There was no way I’d have won the game. I’d played hard, and at times I’d played ugly, and I hadn’t cared as long as it got me to the end. But I’d never stopped to consider what I’d do when I got to the end and everyone was mad at me. “Oh, shit.”
“That’s right, oh shit.” He looked a little relieved.
I scowled and smacked him on the arm. “You still didn’t have to vote me out, you son of a bitch!”
He grasped my wrist, capturing it and dragging me closer to him. “Didn’t I? If I knew you were going to lose, why would I send you up there for a bitter jury to eviscerate?”
“They weren’t all that bitter to you—”
“Because they liked me. And they liked Jendan. But because you played harder than both of us, they hated you.” He leaned in and nuzzled my cheek. “And the last thing I wanted to see was them attacking you on TV in front of everyone, with no one to defend you.”
“So you voted me out and made it look like brilliant gameplay for yourself, thus clinching your own win,” I said bitterly. “Should I clap now?”
“You can be mad at me if you want,” he said, still nuzzling my cheek. I felt his nose brush against my skin, and a shiver moved down my spine despite my anger. My damn body was reacting to him even though I was still furious. “But I wanted to protect you. No one hurts my baby with me around. And this way, I ensured I won the money for us. You said you trusted me, right?”
“I did trust you!” I’d sat in my chair and hoped and hoped for a sign, just one sign that he’d show me that it wasn’t all just a showmance for him. But he hadn’t given me one. “You ignored me at the finale.”
His tongue brushed along my jaw line, his voice growing husky. “That’s because I couldn’t get away from the cameras and Becky and all the stinking interviews. I’m blind from all the damn lights.”
I softened a little at that. I’d been blinded, too.
Brodie lightly bit my earlobe. “I missed you, Kandis.”
Was this more of Brodie laying it on thick? “It was only a day, Brodie.”
“Yeah, but it made me realize that bed wasn’t the same without you. You think it didn’t tear me up to vote you out, knowing how hurt you were going to be? I couldn’t sleep last night, imagining how you felt. I wanted to say something, but I just…couldn’t. I wasn’t sure until the last minute that I was going to do it, but it was the only way I could think to win and not have you come out of this trashed by everyone. You played hardcore the entire time, all strategy. I was hoping you’d realize that if I voted you out, I’d cinch this thing and win the money for me and you.”
“Pretty words,” I told him, leaning away and pulling out of his grasp. “But useless. Didn’t you read your contract? You can’t share your prize-winnings with anyone on the show even if you wanted to.”
“They can’t do anything about it if we’re married,” Brodie said, looking at me with sad, soulful eyes.
I stilled. Time stilled. “Married?”
My heart thudded loud in my ears as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He got down on one knee and looked up at me, heart in his eyes. “I made one of the assistants drive me around town after the interviews so I could go get this. It’s not great, but it’ll do until we can get you a real one. And the size is probably all wrong, but I wanted to do this right, and I wanted to do this tonight, before you had a chance to get away from me.”
He popped the lid of the box open and held it out to me. “Kandis Thornton, I know I can be a total asshole at times, but I love you and I feel like we were born to be a team—in and out of the game. You’re the most beautiful, smart, intelligent, clever, and devious woman I’ve ever met. Plus, you have a killer ass. I love you, and I want you to marry me so I can share the million dollars we won together.”
A knot formed in my throat, and an ache burned in my heart. It was so incredibly sweet of him to offer. “You don’t have to marry me just because you feel obligated to share with me.”
He gave me an exasperated look and shook the ring at me, still remaining on bended knee. “I want to marry you because I love going to bed with you and waking up with you. I love scheming with you. I love sex with you. I love the way you twitch every time you get nervous. I love—”
“Okay, okay,” I said, putting my fingertips to his mouth to silence him. But I was smiling now. I looked at the ring in the box. It was a big, square-cut diamond surrounded by lots of smaller ones on a platinum band. I gasped at the size of it. “I thought you said this thing was a piece of crap.”
“Well, yeah. I don’t get my check until tomorrow morning.” He smiled sheepishly. “I’ll buy you a real one then, if you want. J-Lo big. So huge you knock people over with it.”
“I want this one,” I said softly, and I pulled it out of the box. Sure enough, it was too big, but I slipped it over my finger and didn’t care one bit.
“Is that a yes?”
I nodded, and when he grinned and got to his feet, he grabbed me by the hips and lifted me into the air, then he thumped both of us down onto the nearby bed. We fell together, tangled, and I laughed.
“Thank fucking god,” Brodie said. “I thought you were seriously, seriously pissed at me.”
“I was,” I said, and I grabbed him by the starchy collar of his dress shirt, pulling him closer for a kiss. “Why the hell didn’t you say something sooner?”
“I wanted to get the ring,” he told me between kisses. “And I wanted it to be real. I didn’t want to do it on TV because then it’d always seem like it was for the show. I wanted this to be just you and me.”
That was…the perfect thing to say. I gave him an intense kiss and rolled over until I was on top of him, straddling his hips. “You’re a devious man, Brodie Short.”
“It’s a good thing I found an even more devious woman to keep me in line.” He grinned up at me and raised his hips, pressing his arousal against me.
“Mmm, you make it sound like we’re the perfect team.”
His fingertips brushed over my cheek. “Are you kidding? I know we’re the perfect team.”
And that was why I was crazy about him. Sneaky, yet incredibly optimistic. “You know I love you, right?”
A huge grin covered his face. “Well, I’d assumed you did, but it’s nice to hear it out loud.”
“I wasn’t sure if you were telling me the truth when you told me you loved me,” I confessed. “I thought it might have been more manipulation to get me to vote for you.”
“Jesus, Kandis. How dirty of a player do you think I am?”
“You did screw over your own sister in the last game you played.”
He grinned. “Yeah, but Katy had gone on and on about how she didn’t want to play the game. I honestly thought she wouldn’t care. And it turned out perfect because she ended up with Liam. And the million dollars that should have been mine, except I screwed myself because my partner sucked.”
“So let me see, last game you hosed your sister and then yourself, and in this game you hosed me. Can’t imagine why I didn’t believe a declaration of love.”