The Kissing Game Read Online Free PDF Page B

Quinn anyway. Damn him for sitting where Simon ought to be sitting.
    Frankie's eyes were sparkling and she was smiling, her dark hair gleaming in the restaurant's dim lighting. Simon quickly pulled his own eyes away from her, well aware that Leila was watching him.
    His face had been expressionless—he knew it had been. But Leila was looking at him, her eyes slightly narrowed. “Si, are you …. ?” She couldn'tpossibly have seen anything on his face, but still, somehow she knew. “My God, you
are.”
    She was guessing. She couldn't possibly know for certain what he was thinking and feeling. No way. “I'm what?” he asked, his voice cool and calm.
    Leila was blunt. “You're targeting my best friend to be your next flavor of the week.”
    Simon made himself laugh. “Don't be ridiculous.”
    “It
does
sound ridiculous, doesn't it? I say the words, and they sound utterly ridiculous. You and
Frankie ….
?”
    Simon took a careful sip of his drink. The soda was cold, and the rum felt warm. Together they made his stomach jump. What was wrong with him? “Obviously your imagination is on overload.”
    “But I saw you staring at Frankie with that look in your eyes,” Leila said.
    “What look?”
    “You
know the look I mean. The one where you
really
look.”
    “Of course I'm
really
looking. I'm curious. I've never seen Francine wear a dress before. It's bizarre.”
    Leila didn't believe his protests for one second. She laughed, looking at her brother with both pity and amusement in her eyes. “She will never— never in a million years—fall for your lines. She's seen you in action way too many times for that to happen.”
    “For what to happen?”
    Leila looked up as her fiancé and Simon's longtime friend, Marsh Devlin, pulled a chair up to the table and sat down. The way she instantly transformed was amazing. Simon's sister was quite attractive with her violet eyes, short blond curls, and sweetly heart-shaped face. Still, she was nothing truly exceptional. But when she looked at Marshall Devlin, her love for the man became an almost tangible, visible thing and she became incredibly, breathtakingly gorgeous.
    And Dev. Dev had been his best friend for years, and Simon had never seen him look so thoroughly happy.
    He couldn't help but feel a pang of envy. He'd been avoiding Dev and Leila lately, he realized. The pair still disagreed and had spirited debates— they probably always would. But they clearly loved each other. Their love and happiness madethem seem so …. complete. Every time Simon was with them, he felt like a puzzle with several pieces missing.
    “What are you doing here?” he asked them. “Celebrating your ten-and-a-half-week engagement anniversary or something?”
    Marsh smiled across the table at Leila, and Simon had to stifle his annoyance. They deserved to be happy. He, on the other hand, deserved nothing. He glanced at Frankie again. And nothing was exactly what he was getting.
    “Actually we're meeting Jesse here for dinner,” Marsh told Simon in his crisp English accent.
    Simon sat up. “Jesse's in town?” Marsh's American half brother was nearly ten years their junior. It had been years since Simon had last seen Jesse Devlin. He remembered him as a tall, athletic college kid more interested in baseball than in school and grades. He had to be …. what? Twenty-seven years old now—not a kid anymore.
    “I think he's here to try to borrow some money,” Marsh said with a rueful grin. “He doesn't believe a doctor could be anything but loaded. We'll have to set him straight.” He took in Simon's well-groomed hair and casually dressyclothes. “You're not here alone, are you? You could join us—”
    “Simon's got a thing for Frankie,” Leila announced, and Marsh's smile turned to a look of astonishment.
    “Frankie Paresky?”
    “Fine.” Simon spread his hands as if he didn't give a damn what Leila said or Marsh believed. “Spread rumors about your best friend.”
    “He was sitting