Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 671

TASHA

I leaned in until my mouth was a breath from Big Bryan's, and the hand with the chip drifted toward the phone lying on the mattress.

And then he did something wonderful and terrible at the same time. He let go of the phone entirely and wrapped both arms around my waist.

Both hands. Off the phone. Free real estate.

My heart slammed so hard I was sure he could feel it through my dress. I kept the kiss soft and unhurried while my free fingers walked blindly along the edge of the phone, feeling for a seam, a port, a slot, anything, and there, along the side, a tiny ridge that gave slightly under pressure. That had to be it. I pressed the chip against it and started easing it in, millimetre by millimetre, my mouth working against his the whole time like my life depended on the performance, which, frankly, it did.

One more push. Half a millimetre and it would seat.

The phone rang.

The blast of it went through both of us like a gunshot. Bryan jerked, and his arms went from around my waist to outright shoving, and because I was straddling him with all my weight committed forward, physics took over and did what physics does.

I went off the side of the bed and hit the floor with my shoulder and my hip, and the chip flew out of my fingers and skittered somewhere.

"Pain," I wheezed at the ceiling, flat on my back. "This is what my life is now. Falling off beds for a living."

Then the panic arrived and bulldozed the comedy.

The chip. Where was the chip? If he found a strange component half-slotted into his phone, or a loose chip on his floor, he would put two and two together in about three seconds, and three seconds after that I'd be a cautionary tale.

I rolled onto my hands and knees and swept my eyes across the floor, frantic and quiet, while behind me Bryan heaved himself off the bed.

He crossed to the corner of the room with the phone pressed to his ear, his back to me, already talking.

I searched faster. Floor, carpet, under the dresser shadow, nothing. Then I turned to the bed itself, and there it was, sitting on the white duvet like a coin someone had dropped from heaven specifically to ruin my morning.

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