Playing a Player (Sweet Cravings Book 1) Read online

  Playing a Player

  By Ivy Smoak

  Copyright 2015 Ivy Smoak

  All Rights Reserved

  Want a behind-the-scenes look at my journey as an author? The ups, the downs, the movie deals…I’ll share it all!

  And as a special thank you for joining, you’ll get an exclusive copy of my short story, Emergency Plan F.

  CLICK HERE to join the party!

  To my permanent roommate.

  I will win our next Nerf gun battle.

  CONTENTS

  Title

  Part 1

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Part 2

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Part 3

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Epilogue

  Emergency Plan F

  A Note From Ivy

  Part 1

  Chapter 1

  I sat down on a stool in my half empty apartment and sighed. Callie had been the last of my single friends. Now she was married and I was roommate-less. I looked down at my bridesmaid dress. It was poofy and hideous, and it made me look like a troll. I glanced at the clock on the wall. My first interviewee for a new roommate would be stopping by early in the morning. I had never lived with someone I didn't know before, and the thought made my stomach churn. I slid off the stool and stumbled slightly. Being single at a wedding always seemed to make me drink too much. All these weddings I had been attending were just a horrible reminder that I currently wasn't even dating anyone. I kicked off my high heels, went straight to my bedroom, and collapsed on top of my bed in the ugly, poofy dress.

  ***

  A knock sounded on my door.

  I groggily opened my eyes. "Huh?" I put my hand on my forehead. "Ow." My head throbbed. I looked at the alarm clock on my night stand. Who would bother someone at 8 a.m. on a Sunday? "Go away!" I mumbled into my pillow.

  The knock sounded again.

  "Oh, crap!" I had completely forgotten about the interviews. I pushed myself off the bed, ran to the front door, and pulled it open.

  "I'm so sorry, I..." I stopped talking when I saw who was standing there. He was nearly six feet tall, lean, yet strong at the same time. He had a chiseled jaw that made my own jaw drop. He had hazel eyes, dark hair, and tan skin. I didn't know who he was, but he definitely wasn't here answering my ad for a new roommate.

  "Hi," he said. His voice was deep. He smiled down at me. "It's nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand. I could feel my face flushing. Oh God, I'm still in the horrid bridesmaid dress!

  "Hi." I shook his hand awkwardly. His strong fingers sent a shiver down my spine. I felt like I was still drunk. I quickly pulled my hand away. "I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong apartment."

  He looked down. "32 C?"

  "What?" Was he guessing my bra size? I crossed my arms over my chest.

  He took a step forward and knocked on the front of the door with the knuckle of his index finger. "It says 32 C."

  "Oh, right." Of course he's referring to the room number. "I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

  "Rory."

  "You're Rory?" I had done some light stalking earlier in the week, and Rory was one of the only people on my list that didn't have a Facebook. Maybe that was because I had been looking for a girl.

  "Yes, can I come in?"

  "Um...okay?" I stepped to the side to let him pass. He must realize that I would never share an apartment with a male stranger.

  "It's Keira, right?"

  "Yes." I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. I was having trouble not staring at him. He was so handsome.

  He nodded and looked around the room. "How big is the bedroom?"

  "That's rather forward." Shit, did I just say that out loud?

  "What?" Rory laughed. I wasn't sure if it was because of the expression on my face or because of what I had said.

  "I mean it's right forward. I mean, it's over there." I pointed to the door next to my bedroom. My heart was beating out of my chest. I needed a cup of coffee. And some Advil. And for this sexy stranger to not be staring at me in this hideous dress.

  "Can you give me a tour?"

  "Of course. This is the living room," I gestured with my hand to the open area in front of us. There was a small couch and a T.V. "And here's the kitchen." It was open to the living room. "And the two bedrooms and the bathroom are over there." There was a small hallway that was open to the kitchen, and both bedrooms were connected to it. I walked toward the bedrooms. I could hear him following me. "This is my room," I opened up the door and immediately slammed it shut. There were clothes scattered all over the floor, including every bra I owned because I didn't know which would work best with this dress. "But you won't be going in there, so of course that doesn't matter."

  Rory laughed. His laugh was deep and alluring. Everything about him was charming. I looked down at my feet and opened up the bedroom door next to mine. "This would be your room. I mean, this is the second room." What is wrong with me? I stepped to the side to let him go in.

  "It's bigger than I pictured." He put his hands in his pockets and walked over to the window. "Nice view."

  "Mhm." I was looking at him. I glanced away when he turned around. "And the bathroom is right next to this room." I walked out and opened up the bathroom door. I had left a box of tampons sitting on the vanity. I swatted them off the counter and into the bathtub just before Rory walked in. "Just normal bathroom stuff in here. Toilet, shower."

  He walked by me and pulled the shower curtain to the side.

  Shit.

  "Oh, there's something in here," he reached down and picked up the box of tampons. It felt like my whole body was melting.

  "That's nothing." I grabbed them out of his hand and threw them behind the door. "Just trash."

  His body was close to mine. He smelled like cinnamon. He was smiling at me. I wanted to laugh it off, but I was too mortified.

  I took a step back. "Okay, that's everything." I walked out of the room and back toward the front door.

  "Don't you have any questions for me, Keira?" he asked.

  "Oh, right. Yes." I turned to the counter in the kitchen and opened up my laptop. I slid onto the bar stool. A moment later he slid into the one right next to me. I gulped.

  I laughed awkwardly as I waited for my computer to load. As soon as the screen lit up, I clicked on my roommate questionnaire. "Okay, how old are you?"

  "26."

  Same age as me. I typed out his answer on the document. "What do you do for a living?"

  "I'm the executive chef of La Patisserie, right down the street from here. It's only open for lunch. You should come check it out sometime."

  Is he asking me out? No. No, he'd be working. He's just being polite.

  "Do you prefer to shower in the morning or at night? Oh, I'm sorry
. You don't have to answer that. It's just, I wanted to see if our schedules would conflict."

  "At night."

  "Okay. That's actually nice, because I shower in the morning, and that way we wouldn't run into each other. But I don't take long showers or anything. I won't be in your way at all." I looked back at my computer screen. "Do you keep odd hours? Like, do you stay up late or wake up late? Anything like that?"

  "That depends on what I'm doing. But normally, no."

  "That's good. Are you single? I don't mean that in a weird way. It's just that my past three roommates all got married after just living here for several months. I'm looking for something more long term. Someone. Someone more long term. In a roommate kind of way."

  "I'm not getting married anytime soon." He shifted slightly in his chair and his knee bumped into my thigh. "So you don't have to worry about that."

  I crossed my legs away from him and continued to stare at my questionnaire. "Do you have commitment issues or something?"

  "Is that really on your questionnaire?"

  I turned my computer away from him. "It's number five, yes," I lied.

  "I don't have issue committing to my living situation."

  "So why are you leaving your current apartment?"

  "I don't get along well with my roommate. And it's far away from work."

  "Why don't you get along with him? Or her?"

  "He's always trying to shower at night."

  "I see."

  Rory laughed.

  Geez, he was laughing at me. I looked back at my list of questions. "Do you mind sharing clothes? Oh. No. Never mind. I'm sorry, this is kind of embarrassing. I thought you were going to be a girl."

  Rory laughed. "I get that a lot."

  "Right. Because of Gilmore Girls?"

  "Mhm." He looked at me and raised his left eyebrow. "Is that going to be a problem?"

  "Um, I don't know. You're the first person I'm interviewing. I definitely won't be discriminating based on sex." Oh my God! "I mean, if you're male or female. I mean, you're male, obviously. Just in general. I won't be breaking any laws."

  Rory laughed again. "Well I don't mind sharing my clothes with you, if that helps."

  "Oh." I could feel myself blushing. "I think that's all my questions."

  "When are you looking for someone to move in?"

  "Right away."

  "Okay. Well I'm in if you want me."

  I do want you. But not as a roommate! "I'll get back to you soon, Rory. There are several other people stopping by today, so I can't make any promises."

  "Keep me in mind." He stood up and walked over to the door.

  "I will." How could I forget meeting you?

  "Nice dress by the way."

  I laughed awkwardly. "I was up late at my friend's wedding. Actually, she was my last roommate. And I was a bridesmaid. I didn't pick this out. I don't normally wear things like this."

  He smiled. "It looks good on you. Oh, and here's my card." He pulled a business card out of his wallet and handed it to me. "Make sure to stop by the restaurant. I hope to hear from you soon."

  "Yeah, okay. Bye, Rory."

  "Bye, Keira." He gave me one last smile and left.

  What the hell was that? I ran to my room to change before the next interviewee arrived.

  Chapter 2

  I opened up my laptop and scrolled through the list of remaining applicants. Any one of these girls could be a serial killer. Or a man. A knock on the door brought me out of my trance.

  I slid off the stool and headed to the door. I took a deep breath before opening it. Please just be a normal girl. I opened the door and smiled. "Hi, you must be Piper." I extended my hand to her.

  She shifted uneasily before shaking my hand. As soon as her hand fell from mine, she grabbed hand sanitizer from her purse and squirted a large glob in her hand.

  "I just washed my hands," I said.

  "I'm sure you did." Her tone was accusatory.

  "Did you want to come in?" I asked as politely as I could muster.

  The girl nodded and walked past me. "This doesn't really look like the pictures."

  "Lots of the furniture belonged to my previous roommate. I was hoping to split the cost of some new stuff with whoever takes her place."

  "The price is a little high then, don't you think?"

  "It's just half of what the rent is. It's the same that I pay."

  "Does it at least include utilities?"

  "No." This girl wasn't very nice.

  "How often do you clean?"

  "Whenever anything needs to be cleaned."

  "My last roommate was really sloppy. I don't want to live with someone like that again."

  "I really do clean a lot. I just vacuumed the living room and cleaned the bathroom. And I never leave dishes in the sink. That's actually a pet peeve of mine too."

  "It doesn't look clean."

  "Excuse me?"

  Piper looked around the room. "Can I see your bedroom?"

  "Why?" My answer was a little snappy, but I couldn't help it. Who was she to come into my apartment and criticize me? Besides, I was supposed to be conducting the interview, not her.

  "To see if you're sloppy or not."

  "Why don't you just believe me?" I thought about the clothes strewn around my room, which now included the hideous bridesmaid dress. I was sloppy. It was like this stranger could see right through me.

  "Because you have shoes in the middle of your kitchen floor. That's a cooking hazard, surely."

  "What?" I tilted my head and looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, my high heels from the wedding were still on the floor. "Oh, I got home late last night from a wedding. I must have just overlooked them. I promise that I don't usually leave shoes laying around. I keep all my personal stuff in my room."

  "And why can't I see your room?" she countered.

  "Well...um...like I said, I just got back from a wedding. And I didn't really have time to tidy up my room..."

  "Thanks, but no thanks." Piper walked past me and out the door.

  What the hell?

  ***

  Seven interviews and seven duds. And Piper hadn't even been the worst. I put my face in my hands. There were only two days until the end of the month. If I didn't choose someone soon, I'd have to pay next month's rent solo. I could afford it, but I'd have to take the money out of my savings.

  I bit my lip. In the back of my mind, I was thinking about Rory. Actually, I couldn't seem to stop thinking about him. He had been the nicest one. But I couldn't live with someone I was attracted to. That would be uncomfortable. And I had only asked him half of my questions because I had been too embarrassed. I barely knew anything about him.

  He really was the best option, though. I picked up Rory's business card from the counter. His restaurant was open until three. I glanced at my computer screen. It was only 2 o'clock. Maybe if I went down there, I could get to know him better before rashly asking him to be my roommate.

  Before I could chicken out, I grabbed my purse and hurried out of my apartment. I made my way down the street, searching for the restaurant. It was nestled between a Starbucks and a pizza place. I had never noticed it before. I pushed the door open and a bell rang to announce my arrival. The small restaurant was deserted. It was past lunchtime, though, so maybe their usual crowd had already left. I looked around. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to sit down or wait for a hostess. There was a man at a counter in the back staring at me.

  "Can I help you, miss?"

  Oh, I'm supposed to order back there. I wound my way between the small bistro tables to the back of the restaurant. There was a chalkboard behind the counter. All the menu items were in French, but the descriptions were in English.

  "I'm sorry, I don't really know how to pronounce anything. Can I just have a turkey sandwich on a croissant?"

  "Sure thing. Did you get that, Rory?" The man looked over his shoulder.

  "Got it!" Rory said from somewhere I couldn't see.

 
"That will be $7.50, miss."

  "Okay." I grabbed my wallet out of my purse. Just as I pulled out a ten dollar bill, Rory walked up to the counter. An apron was tied around his waist and his hair was mussed up. He looked even sexier than he had earlier. There was a dot of flour on his cheek. And he was smiling at me.

  "This one's on me, Jerry."

  Jerry looked at Rory and then back at me. "I actually need to use the restroom. I'll be back." He winked at Rory and walked away.

  Rory put his elbows on the counter and leaned forward slightly. "I hope you're bringing me good news, Keira. You saw how short of a walk it is from your apartment to here."

  "I actually haven't made up my mind yet." I put the money on the counter and slid it toward him.

  "Lots of good contenders, huh?" He slid the bill back toward me and put the plate with the sandwich on it down on top of the money.

  "There were a few." I laughed, remembering Piper storming out of the apartment. "Actually most of them were horrible. There was this one girl who thought I was too sloppy to live with. She was super rude."

  Rory leaned forward on the counter. "I don't mind if you're a little dirty."

  The way he said it made my heart race. I could feel my face blushing. "I don't mind paying, Rory. I didn't come here to get free food. You just mentioned it, and I've never been here..." I shrugged my shoulders. I couldn't seem to control my rambling around him.

  "It's on me. I insist."

  "Are you trying to bribe me?"

  "I'm just being nice. But if you're accepting bribes, then yes, it is a bribe."

  "Well, thank you." I grabbed the sandwich and my money and made my way over to one of the tables. Geez, could I be any more awkward?

  Chapter 3

  A chair squeaked. I looked up and Rory was sitting down on the other side of my table, regarding me curiously.

  "Are you done working?" I asked.

  "No, not yet. I didn't want to miss talking to you, though. Look, I know you don't want a guy roommate."

  "It's not that." I laughed uncomfortably. "Actually, yeah. It is that. It's just kind of awkward."

  "Well, I'm not planning on walking around naked, if that's what you're worried about."