Let's Play a Game

I love playing board games!

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his brow furrowed.

“Nothing, I was just wondering how long you planned on watching me.” She put a hand to her hair and cringed when she found a pencil there. She was scared of the way she must look; earlier, she had wanted to get her hair out of her eyes, so she made a sloppy bun. Removing the pencil, and letting her hair down, she blushed.

He smiled wider, “As long as it takes for you to finish, so we can go to dinner.”

“I told you, I have to finish and then Bruno…”

‘Again with the dog’ he thought, “Bruno will be fine, we won’t be gone that long.” He needed something to lower her defenses; he came up with an idea, “Let’s play a game.”

She looked at him, her gaze narrowing, “What kind of game?”

He shrugged, “A couple rounds of truth or dare. Whoever balks first loses.”

“What does the winner get?” she sat up higher in her chair.

He thought for a minute, “If you win, you can go home and take care of Bruno.”

She was suspicious, “And if you win?”

“If I win, you go to dinner with me, my choice of when and where.”

Jules swallowed hard. She had no idea what kind of questions Marcellus could come up with.  

Curiosity finally got the best of her, “Okay, but I get first question.”

He waved a hand, “Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way.” He settled deeper into the chair, “Fire away”

“Okay, truth or dare?”

“Dare” he said not hesitating for a minute.

“Hey no fair, you are supposed to say truth first.” She whined.

He smiled, “Then why did you give me the option?”

She saw that when he smiled, his eyes brightened, making the brown seem more amber.

“Okay, okay, truth then” he said, laughing.

“Is it true that you contemplated suicide after your show ended?” it was something she had read in a magazine once about him; she didn't really believe it and wanted to know the truth.

“Whoa, you really go right for the heart, don’t you?” he looked at her, feigning stabbing himself in the chest. Thinking back to those dark days, he wondered; should he tell her what she wanted to hear or should he tell her the truth? He took a deep breath and let it out. ‘Well, the name of the game is TRUTH or dare’ he thought.

“I have to say that even in my darkest day; I never thought about offing myself.”

Jules smiled, she knew it; he didn't seem the type.

He spoke, “Okay, your turn, truth or dare?”

“Truth” Jules said slowly.

‘tit for tat’ he thought, “How many men have you been with?” ‘Let’s see how you like it’

“When you say ‘been with’, do you mean…”

Marcellus nodded, “All the way.”

“One” Jules answered proudly, “Your turn, truth or dare?”

He sat up, impressed and put his elbows on the table, “Truth”

She thought of an article she had read recently about leading men in general, “Would you or have you ever cheated on your girlfriend?”

“That’s two questions.” ‘This was getting quite interesting’ he thought.

“Okay” she closed her laptop, cupped her chin in her hands and rephrased the question, “Would you ever cheat on your girlfriend?”

He looked her directly in the eye; leaning in closer, “If I had someone I loved, I mean the real deal; love, I would never stray.”

“And if it wasn't the ‘real deal’?” she asked.

He sat back, “I've never cheated on anyone.”

Jules nodded and leaned back.

He leaned in again, “Okay, your turn, truth or dare?”

“Dare” she whispered; afraid of the questions he could come up with.

He smiled, “Excuse me?” not sure if he heard right.

She cleared her throat and said again, “Dare”

He smiled a devilish smile, “I dare you to come over here, sit on my lap and kiss me.”

“That’s three dares.” She pointed out.

“Okay then, I dare you to kiss me.”

She nodded, stood and walked over to him. Leaning down, she touched her lips slowly to his. He responded in kind and they shared a chaste kiss. Even so, they were both left wanting more. She straightened and turned to walk back. He grabbed for her hand.

“Ask me”

She turned back to him, “Truth or dare?”

“Dare” he stood and took hold of her shoulders.

She couldn't think. She wanted another kiss, but what would come next? And if she did give in, would he want to see her again? Or would she just have been an evening plaything?

He couldn't take the wait, “Please Jules, dare me to kiss you.” His voice was low and deep; almost a whisper.

She looked up at him. In a breathless voice she said, “kiss…” the next word was muffled by his lips hard on hers. Pulling her closer against him, his tongue moved deeper into her mouth.

Jules pushed against his chest, but it was a feeble attempt and she knew it. He broke the kiss and hugged her to him, his face buried in her hair. Burrowing through it to her neck, he kissed from her shoulder up to her ear.

“It’s your turn.” she whispered.

“Truth or dare?” he said when he could breathe again.

She looked up at him; knowing what she had to do, even though her whole body wanted to continue down the path they started, she felt it was the right thing.

“Truth”

Marcellus looked at her dumbstruck, “But Jules, I …”

“Are you out of questions?”

‘Oh, she was good’ he thought. He was waging an internal war with himself as to what he should do. His mind balked at the idea of losing, but other parts of his body were crying out for him to take her, right here on the table. Visions of him and her; together; doing things filled his mind…

He heard her ask, “Yoo-hoo Marcellus, are you there?”

He came back to the present. Catching her eye, he released her and sat down.

She smiled and walked back to her seat, across the table from him. His eyes following her all the way around the table, until she was seated.

They sat staring at each other and it reminded her of when she played “Stare” in elementary school. The first to look away lost.

 He blinked, “Tell me that you don’t want to leave with me; right now.”

She felt like telling him that no, she didn't want to, but would it be a lie? Heaven knew parts of her wanted to, but should she tell him that? But what then? Would he take her up on it? What if she lied and said no, would he get discouraged and leave her alone? Did she want that? She found herself in quite a conundrum; damned if she did and damned if she didn't. ‘Best to accept the defeat and go on from there’ she thought.

“I’m not going to answer that question.” She said looking down at her hands in her lap.

‘So’ he thought, ‘she doesn't want me to know how she feels about me’ he began to nod his head. He had enjoyed the game; he knew that once they did hook up, it would make up for all the frustration.

He hadn't said anything, just sat there, nodding his head.

 “Just let me get my stuff together.”

He shook his head, “Remember, I said I would choose when and where.”

“But I thought this whole thing was to get me to go to dinner with you tonight.”

He thought of something much better, “Originally, it was, but now I think we’ll save it for another day.”

“But if not now, when? We have the network presentations coming up and…”

He smiled widely, “I’ll let you know.” He stood and stretched.

She watched his muscles move under his clothing, “But you can’t just leave it hanging this way.” She stood and walked to his side of the table. She didn't stop until they stood toe to toe.

He looked down at her, her chin tipped up, looking at him with those eyes glowing green, her pert little nose and those lips just waiting to be ravaged with his kisses. He lowered his head and saw her close her eyes. He stopped at the last second; placing a gentle kiss onto her forehead.

She waited for his lips to touch hers, when it didn't happen she opened her eyes. She looked around and saw him walking out the door.

“Hey, so when are we going to dinner?” she yelled after him.

He put up a hand and waved, but didn't turn around; walking out of the office, into the parking lot and to his car. He stood in the open car door, looking longingly at the entrance, wondering if he did the right thing. Oh well, he would just have to see how it played out.