His Wicked Games: A Billionaire Romance (The Cunningham Family #1)

I have seven minutes left and absolutely no plan.

  This house is huge, and Calder's tour did little more than make it clear that it would take me a year to learn my way around this place. I have no idea where I'm going, let alone where I might find a suitable place to hide.

  All the same, something surges through me as I run down the hallway. In spite of everything—and even though it's completely crazy—I think I’m as excited as Calder by our little game. More than excited—enthralled.

  Maybe I should let him catch me. The promise of his words still echoes through my mind. If I wanted, I could be at his mercy all night. The prospect tempts me more than I want to admit.

  But reality hits me quick and hard: I can't allow myself to be caught up in this. There's too much at stake. The Center's entire future falls on the outcome of this “little” game, and I'm not going to let my own weakness destroy the thing my dad worked so hard to build. Calder is sexy, yes, and our encounter in the car was probably the best sex I've had in my life, but this is only lust. Lust and self-indulgence.

  I run up a flight of stairs. My only strategy right now is to get as far away from Calder and the foyer as possible. The further I run, the longer it will take him to get to me, and in this game every minute counts. Maybe it's better if I don't hide at all, but continually change my location—after all, a moving target is much harder to hit.

  My cell buzzes in my pocket. Is my head start up already?

  I turn down another hallway and run all the way to the end. Calder will be leaving the foyer now. At the very least I need to find somewhere out of the main thoroughfare where I might bide my time. It won't do me any good to go noisily sprinting down the corridors.

  Without even thinking, I find myself heading in the relatively familiar direction of my bedroom. It's not until I'm outside the door, however, that the thought hits me: I should sneak into the secret passage. It’s perfect—I can wait behind the walls and possibly even spy on Calder's progress in the meantime.

  I dash over to the fireplace and grab the poker. The panel swings open, and I quickly duck into the passage, pulling the door closed behind me. I yank my phone from my pocket and use the dim glow from the screen to light my way as I move through the dark.

  I'm supposed to be concentrating on my goal, thinking of the Center and the money I'll win back for us, but my thoughts keep drifting back to the last time I was here. Just the memory of my naughty spying session sends blood rushing to my face. I’m glad there’s no one here to see me.

  I recognize the way the passage curves just before Calder's room, and I stop and lean against the wall. This is as good a place as any to hole up for a while. I pull my phone from my pocket and glance at the screen. It's been six minutes since the first alarm went off. Fifty-four minutes to go.

  I sit down and lean my head back against the wall. The floor is cold and hard, but all in all I can think of a dozen less comfortable places to spend the next hour. At least I'm not twisted and cramped in a cabinet somewhere or something.

  I can do this. I can win back the money for the Center. In the long run, it doesn’t matter that I had sex with Calder—I can make up for the craziness of the last two days in the next hour. I close my eyes and take a deep breath and wait.