playing with fire

I jumped in my seat and turned around

to find possibly one of the sexiest guys

I've ever met. I admit, I had searched

him in Google Images before I came, so I

knew what I would be dealing with, but

he was just so much better in person!

His jet black hair curled slightly at the

ends and his liquid brown-gold eyes

twinkled as he assessed me. A smirk sat

on his sharp face and his well-defined

muscles showed through his thin white

V neck tee.

I cursed myself, horrified I was actually

checking him out. But I knew I wasn't

going to fall for him – I wanted a real

guy, a gentleman. That guy who tells you

you're beautiful everyday, kisses you in

the pouring rain and remembers your

birthday (yes, I'm a bit of a romantic) but

by the looks of it, the famous Henry

Parker was nothing like that.

I mean, c'mon, a gentleman definitely

doesn't smirk. So, I straightened my back

and lifted my gaze to his. Be confident,

Lainie!

"You must be Henry," I answered coolly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see

Steve's bemused face at our odd

exchange.

"Of course, who wouldn't know me?"

With that, he strode carelessly into the

kitchen, while I sat there just a little bit

flustered. Ok, so the thought about an

owner of a beautiful mansion must be

beautiful (inside) too, was definitely

wrong. He seemed so shallow, so

callous.

Steve sighed. "Ignore his narcissism. I'll

take your bags up to your room and you

can go into the kitchen and maybe talk

to him."

I grimaced. "Can't I see my room now?"

Steve laughed my reaction. "Later."

I groaned loudly, just so he could hear

how much I didn't want to talk to Henry,

even thought I knew it wouldn't work. I

trudged into the kitchen and found

Henry leaning against the kitchen island,

sipping a glass of lemonade.

My entire mood had changed since I had

met Henry … in a bad way, of course.

I plopped myself on the stool by the

island and an awkward silence followed.

Well, it was awkward to me but to Henry

I guess it wasn't, since he was staring

out of the kitchen window without a

care in the world and into his fabulous

backyard.

He turned back to me and studied me,

making me

uncomfortable. Too uncomfortable.

"You know what's a shame?" Henry

asked.

Wow, he actually didn't say something …

mean. Even though he had only said a

sentence to me before, it had made me

immediately assume he was a cad.

"What?"

"When your fake fiancée isn't even

pretty," he replied, shaking his head. I

didn't think of myself as pretty but did

he really have to say it to my face?

"You have a chest as flat as a pancake,"

he continued, grimacing.

I clenched my fist. OK, that was it!

"Excuse me?!" I exclaimed. "For your

information, I am not! Just look at you! I

don't know how you won the award for

hottest bachelor of the year; you're not

even hot."

Alright, so that was just a teeny lie, but I

wasn't going to back down from the

egoistic jerk.

"Ouch," Henry replied, running a hand

over his biceps. "Are you blind? Can't

you see my babies?"

"You mean your biceps?"

He nodded. "Want to see my other

babies?"

I was confused for a second, but then

he started to lift his shirt up and I yelped

and covered my eyes. I mean, who knew

what was under there?! He probably

had some sort of sixteen-pack. Even

though all I wanted was a gentleman,

hot, hard abs unfortunately made any

girl weak.

"Is it too much for you to handle,

pancake?"

* * *

It had been an hour since Henry had

called me 'pancake.' It was now his

permanent nickname for me.

How could I survive living with the

douche? He was someone who

expected everything to be done for him,

just like my mother. I sighed. But then, I

had lived with my mother for the past

eighteen years, so I guess I could deal

with him for a few months. But he was

just so … aggravating!

I had spent the last hour unpacking my

stuff and checking out my new

bedroom. It was of generous space, but

not too big, which I liked too. A large

oak table sat facing the window with a

spinning chair. At least I had a working

space!

I also had a soft cream rug near my

queen sized bed. My room actually felt

quite comfortable, but I had added a

few homey touches such as my poster

of Glee, my favourite TV show. It was my

guilty pleasure.

I was in the kitchen cooking at the

moment, since I had volunteered to

make dinner. Both Steve and Henry were

all too happy to let me explore the

kitchen. I was used to it anyway, but I

also planned to give Henry a taste of his

own medicine. I

had accidentally chucked in more chilli

than I was supposed to for Henry's slice

of enchilada.

Right at that moment, he staggered into

the kitchen. "Phew! What's that smell?!

Its definitely not pancakes, that's for

sure!"

"Enchiladas," I replied, ignoring his

pancake joke.

"Mexican, huh?" Henry asked. "Hmm …

I'll need something sweet afterwards.

Maybe pancakes …?"

At first I was about to tell him that we

were having ice cream for dessert, but I

realised Henry's mind was nowhere near

food.

"Ugh, never, you sick pervert!"

So he was conceited and he had a dirty

mind! Well, I guess I shouldn't be

surprised, right? Usually all players have

dirty minds.

Henry smirked. "It's all good, you don't

need to worry. Why would I want to

sleep with a pancake anyway?"

"I'm not like the Barbie dolls you sleep

with, got it?" I snapped while plating up

for dinner.

Steve came into the kitchen holding

papers and frowning. "What about

Barbie dolls?"

"Steve, can you please tell Henry to stop

calling me pancake?" I asked politely.

Steve had to be on my side since

he was my uncle. Family comes first,

right?

"Why are you calling her pancake?"

Steve asked, facing Henry.

I expected Henry to at least have the

decency to look scared but nope, he just

grinned! "She has a flat as a pancake

chest," he replied easily.

Steve looked incredulous, and then

roared with laughter. Great, he wasn't

on my side after all. So much for family

loyalty!

"Sorry," he finally choked out. "But its

just … you two are like an old married

couple arguing."

"I would never marry him, he's such a

perv!" I exclaimed.

"And she's such a pancake!" Henry

yelped, looking equally as horrified.

I sighed exasperatedly at him. "That

doesn't even make sense!"

This made Steve laugh again so I

grabbed the cups of water in my hand,

ready to take them to the dining table.

"Take the plates, Henry," I ordered.

I saw Henry roll his eyes and I walked off

first and into the dining room, where

Steve had just taken a seat.

"Henry, hurry up!" I called, since he was

carrying the food.

I was hungry and so was Steve, but

most importantly, I couldn't wait to see

Henry jump up and down like a monkey

when he swallows all the chilli I had

given him.

Henry then came in and set the table, but

he gave me his plate. "No, this is yours,"

I said. "I put more chilli in mine because

I like it that way."

Henry shrugged and switched them. I

smiled as he didn't question any further

and looked up beneath my lashes to see

if Henry had taken a bite, but he hadn't.

He was listening intently to what Steve

was saying. I bit into my enchilada and

chewed.

"Ok you two," Steve addressed. "About

the engagement, we're going to

announce it next week on Saturday and

meanwhile …"

But I couldn't hear Steve anymore. I

could only concentrate on the burning,

hot sensation in the back of my throat. I

knew enchiladas were chilli, but it

wasn't this chilli! Oh no …

I looked up, horrified to see Henry trying

to contain a smile as he watched me,

whilst pretending to listen to Steve. He

then took a dramatic large bite out of

his and smirked at me. What.did.he.do!

I fanned my mouth and grabbed my

glass of water, chugging it down as fast

as I could, but it wouldn't dull the

intense burning! I felt like strangling

Henry! I couldn't believe the guy had

beaten me at my own game! He had

probably swapped the piece of

enchilada on the plates, that jerk! I

pushed myself out of my seat and

rushed into the kitchen to grab more

water. I added loads of ice and drank

the whole cup. Well, it took about three

cups before I could actually talk.

Once I had finished, Henry sauntered

into the kitchen, hands in his pockets.

"What happened, Lainie?" he asked,

faking concern.

"You know what happened!" I hissed,

narrowing my eyes at him. God, I could

still taste the chilliness in my mouth and

down my throat, and trust me, it wasn't

pleasant.

He laughed, amused. "Ooh, you're quite

feisty you know?"

Yeah, I knew I could be feisty when I

wanted to be. "Don't do that again, ok?"

He made an innocent look while I glared.

"Do what? You said you added more

chilli to your plate, right? Why are you

blaming me?!"

I groaned and stomped out of the room,

but not before screaming, "I hate you!"