Lie to Me (Pearl Island Trilogy #4)(69)

“I don’t know.” One of her shoulders lifted in a listless shrug. “Jackson Square, I guess. It’s early enough to walk around a bit before I catch the trolley back to my grandparents’ house.”

“Okay.” He started the car and drove down the dirt road that would take them back toward the highway. The thought of just dropping her off in Jackson Square sat ill with him. Whether she wanted to show her emotions or not, she shouldn’t be alone. “If you want to kill some time, maybe you’d like to hang out with me for a bit?”

“What do you have in mind?” She finally looked at him.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I was planning to go back to Vortal Headquarters, but—”

“I’d like that.”

“You would?” He glanced over at her.

“Yeah, actually, I would,” she said slowly. “I didn’t get to see much of it yesterday.”

“I can give you the grand tour.”

“And finally teach me how to play Vortal?”

The question caught him off guard, and made his hopes soar. “You still want to play?”

“I do.” She nodded. “I really was fascinated by everything you told me about developing the game. I wasn’t pretending.”

“I thought you were just trying to get into my pants,” he joked, then instantly wanted to kick himself.

To his surprise, she laughed. “I was.”

“What?”

“C’mon, let’s be honest. We were both hoping to wind up in bed together. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as both parties are interested for the right reasons.”

“Duly noted.” He nodded, wondering if she was saying she wanted to sleep with him again. His heart nearly pumped out of his chest.

“So,” she said as a smile curved her lips, “do I finally get to play Vortal?”

“You are so on.”





Chapter 18





“Watch out!” Luc shouted from the living room. His voice also came through the headset Chloe wore, while on the computer screen Sir Blade, dressed in a green tunic that hugged his muscular body, charged toward her through the forest. “He’s trying to sneak behind you!”

“I’ve got it,” Chloe said into her own headset, working her hand controls. Luc had set her up on his massive desktop computer tucked into an alcove off the living room. His apartment had vanished, however, the instant she’d been transported into the lush medieval world of Vortal. She muttered under her breath as the dragon on the screen tried to slither his way around her. His teeth gleamed as he emitted a menacing hiss, then he uncoiled his long neck and drew back his head.

“He’s about to blast you,” Luc warned.

Adrenaline pumping, Chloe worked her controls to swing her sword. Unfortunately, she hit the control too hard and spun in a circle.

“Whoa!” Luc shouted.

On the screen, Sir Blade ducked just in time to escape getting slashed. Then he sprang past her, thrusting his sword deep into the dragon’s chest. Blood spurted as the dragon screamed. A clawed foot sent Sir Blade flying against a tree, where he groaned in pain. The dragon staggered from the wound, but didn’t go down. Instead, it narrowed its yellow eyes at Sir Blade, ready to incinerate him.

Chloe had a split second to decide whether to go to Blade’s aid or seize the chance to dash past the distracted dragon into the cave the beast had been guarding. “Wha’do I do?”

“Go for the treasure,” Luc ordered.

But the dragon was going to get Blade. She never would have made it this far in the game if they hadn’t decided to play as allies. He’d saved her life more times than she could count. How could she abandon him now?

“Go!” he yelled, raising his sword to battle the dragon. “Now!”

Fighting the urge to help him, she charged into the cave. There she spotted the prize, a gleaming emerald sitting on top of a pile of smaller gemstones. Sheathing her sword, she grabbed the prize with both hands.

Medieval horns trumpeted her victory as the screen switched to show both their scores. To her surprise, she’d actually scored higher than Luc.

“Woo-hoo!” She thrust both fists into the air. “I won!”

“Only because I saved your ass several times.” Luc’s voice sounded muffled now with the game over.

Removing her headset, she turned the desk chair to see him sitting forward on the sofa, holding the controls plugged into the laptop on the coffee table. She smiled teasingly as he removed his own headset. “You’re the one who wanted to play as allies.”

“I wanted to be sure you survived long enough to enjoy the game.” He looked at her eagerly. “So, what did you think?”

“I loved it!”

“I’m glad.” Relief washed over his face. “One word of advice, though. When you’re playing with a master as your ally, you need to trust your partner a bit more. You nearly got both of us killed several times.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Rising, she went to join him. Settling into the corner of the brown leather sofa she thought about the game. Vortal was every bit as exhilarating as she’d hoped. She couldn’t wait to play again. “I’m not sure I’m cut out for playing as allies.”