“Done,” Julia said. “Oh, while I think of it—don’t tell Maggie we told you about her blog. She threatened to smother us with her breasts if we told anyone.” She paused then added, “Those boobs of hers could do the job. Promise?”
“Her breasts?” Connor chuckled. “Yeah. Okay.” He hung up, smirking. Death by tit smothering. What a hell of a way to go.
“Can you tell me what I’m doing standing on the sideline of a rugby field freezing my ass off?” Maggie tugged her wooly hat over her ears and pulled her knee-length coat tight around her waist. “Greg’s not playing today.”
“Clearing the hangover cobwebs.” Julia moaned and rubbed her temples.
Maggie lifted her chin. “I wasn’t the one who stayed up late drinking a bottle of wine after leaving the pub.” She winked at her friend. Her complaints were only half-hearted.
Play moved down the rugby field toward them, and she concentrated on the players, searching for number eight. There he was. Tall. Dark. Broad shoulders. Connor played with determination and skill, the form-fitting uniform fueling her fantasies. His slim hips tapered to a tight butt.
Although not traditionally handsome, when he grinned, his entire face lit up and made her want to smile in return. His blue eyes twinkled. Connor was a nice person. There weren’t many guys who could hang out with four girls and hold their own in wide-ranging conversations covering the gambit from work to make-up, sex and sport.
And everything in between.
There weren’t many taboos once they’d had a few drinks, including masculine topics, which made Maggie wonder if perhaps they should cut down on the drinking. Nah, they chatted the same way during lunch breaks at work. They were a team. So why couldn’t she stop daydreaming about Connor? They’d all met Gwen, his girlfriend. A requisite blonde with long, toned legs and loaded with sex-appeal, she bubbled with life and seemed the perfect match for Connor.
Why did that fact make her so miserable?
The game passed in a blur. Maggie had difficulty concentrating, still nursing a sense of dread since climbing out of bed this morning. She waited with Julia, Susan and Christina while Connor chatted with his team mates and members of the opposition.
“I wonder where Gwen is,” Maggie said in a matter-of-fact voice, looking for the leggy blonde.
“Didn’t you hear?” Julia asked. “Connor and Gwen broke up last week.”
Christina quit ogling the players and snapped to attention. “What?”
“He never said anything to me.” Surprise skittered through Maggie first, followed by excitement. Then that meant—
Don’t go there.A relationship between the two of you wouldn’t work, so there was no point in letting her thoughts drift in that direction. Besides, you made a promise to the others.Connor remains in the friend category.Remember?
“Did he say what happened?” Susan asked, curious.
“No, just that the parting was amicable. I asked nosey questions, and he refused to answer,” Julia said. “Shush, he’s heading this way.”
Mud covered Connor’s face as he stalked to them, his eyes sparkling through the grime. “Hey, did you see the way I left the opposition in my dust?”
“Yeah, we saw,” Susan said, trying not to sound impressed.
“Don’t you mean mud?” Maggie said with a grin, striving to keep her voice natural. She couldn’t let her feelings for Connor screw up their friendship.
Connor’s smile burst with sunshine, despite the overcast day. “You girls coming for drinks?”
“Are you kidding?” Christina asked. “I intend to scope out the eligible men.”
“Count me out,” Maggie said. “I have to go home and change for dinner. I have a date with Greg.”
Susan’s brows rose. “But didn’t you—” She came to an abrupt halt, shot a swift glance at Connor before offering Maggie a weak smile. “We’ll miss you,” she finished.
“You can tell me about it tomorrow.” With a sigh, Maggie refrained from ogling Connor and turned away.
“Hey, wait—” Connor grabbed her hand and grasped it, spinning her back toward him. Maggie stumbled and would have fallen if he hadn’t seized her shoulders. The musky scent of male sweat, mud and wet clothing filled her nostrils while a shiver rocked her to the core.
“I’m such a klutz.” She froze, tipping back her head to stare him in the face.
His thumb made a slow pass over her cheek. “Sorry about the mud,” he explained in a husky voice. “But I wanted to remind you about our date at the gym tomorrow.”
“I won’t forget,” Maggie promised.
