She narrowed her eyes. “And the way your cheeks went red just now tells me I’m on target.”
I shrugged, fiddling with a pen on my desk. “Maybe.”
“Oh, I knew it!” She leaned forward. “C’mon, tell all. This old married lady needs to live vicariously through your fun.”
I shook my head. “Nope. This is . . . new. And I’m not sure that it’s anything. Maybe just friends.”With super sexy benefits, I added silently to myself.
“But it’s the potential of something.” She clasped her hands together under her chin. “Oh, I remember that feeling. That sense of . . . anything could happen, and something wonderful might be around the corner. There’s nothing like new love.”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything about love,” I objected. “It’s way too early to use that word.” And just the thought of considering falling in love again was enough to make me break out in hives. Taking that kind of risk was damn scary.
“Oh, I know what you said.” She waved one hand dismissively. “But I have a good feeling about this.” She sighed, the smile still bright on her face. “Where are you going tonight? Is he taking you somewhere special?”
I shot Cathy a reproving glare. “I told you, I’m not sharing details. I don’t want to jinx anything.”
“Fine, fine.” She stood up, stretching her back. “Well, if I’m not going to get any more out of you, I guess I might as well head for home. See you tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Cathy. Have a good evening.” I waved to her.
“You, too.” She paused in the doorway and looked back over her shoulder. “And don’t think I won’t pump you for information tomorrow morning. Especially if you come in with that telling morning afterglow.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re incorrigible—and your imagination is insane. Get out of my office, nosy pants.”
Her gales of laughter echoed down the hall as she left, and if I was wearing a goofy smile on my face . . . well, there was no around to call me on it, so what did I care?
* * *
I leftthe office at five o’clock on the dot, having shooed out my staff before me. Turning the lock on the door, I almost skipped across the parking lot to my car, giddily eager to hit the road.
It hardly seemed as though it had been four days since I’d dropped Noah at his house on Sunday. We’d gotten precious little sleep the night before, but somehow neither of us had been complaining. In fact, we’d been in surprisingly good spirits as I drove toward Tampa.
We never ran out of things to talk about on the drive. Noah told me about the team, how much he appreciated his teammates, and what it was like to play in a sold-out stadium with all the fans on their feet cheering.
“There’s no feeling like it, none in the world,” he said, and I didn’t miss the note of wistfulness in his tone. “I mean, I guess it’s only second to really spectacular sex. That’s the same kind of high.”
I blushed, but at the same time, I wanted to sing from the rooftops that it was me, Alison Wakely, who’d given Noah Spencer, football star, that spectacular sex he’d referenced. Me who’d had him almost weeping with pleasure as I’d coaxed another orgasm from him, this time making sure he came in my mouth. Me who he’d held during the scant time we had slept. Me who’d seen his eyes first thing this morning as he’d stroked my hair and kissed me good morning.
We’d discussed our pasts, our favorite foods (Italian for him, Asian for me), music (country for him and alt rock for me), and pastimes (we both loved the beach and enjoyed reading thrillers). Noah had told me more about the shock of moving from Wisconsin, where he’d grown up and gone to college, to Texas. I’d described to him how surprised I’d been when I’d discovered that I loved living in the northeast.
“Do you want to stay in Florida now?” he’d asked me. “Or do you think you’ll move back to Pennsylvania eventually?”
I’d shrugged. “I don’t see myself going back up there. I don’t feel an attachment to any one place. I don’t have people in my life who would draw me back, you know?”
Noah had nodded. “I used to think that Ang and I would retire in Wisconsin, since our families are both there, but I can’t imagine living there again. It feels like it belongs to a part of me that no longer exists.”
The only sort of awkward moment had happened after I’d pulled into Noah’s driveway. I’d been slightly awestruck at his beautiful home, and I was busy gaping at it when I heard him mutter something under his breath as he glanced down at his phone.
“Everything all right?” I’d inquired.
“Yeah.” He’d blown out a long breath. “The team hired this nutritionist a little while back. She’s the daughter of the league commissioner, and Coach wants to make sure no one gives her any trouble or tries to come on to her—you know. So he asked me look out for her. I don’t mind, but she’s sort of immature and spoiled. She’s decided I’m her new project, and she’s kind of a pest.”
“Ah.” I hadn’t known what to say. “What kind of project?”
“Oh.” Noah had run a hand through his hair. “You know. I helped her find a place to live, and then we went to get something to eat—this was before the season even began, so long before I even got hurt. She started asking me about what I do for fun, and when I couldn’t come up with an answer that she found satisfactory, she said she was going to teach me how to have fun.”
“Oh, God, those people are the worst.” I’d rolled my eyes. “I can’t tell you how many people have tried to force me back into what they consider real life over the past few years. It’s maddening.”
“I managed to duck her for the first few weeks of the season, but now that I’m not playing, she thinks I have all the free time in the world—which means I should be going out.” Noah’s jaw had tightened. “I can’t just blow her off because I don’t want Coach to get pissed off at me. But I’m fucking tired of pretending to play nice.”
