“No, I’m not,” I answered Kelvin, not even looking his way as I picked up my pace toward the drink table.
“Hey, Ty,” Mitchell called.
I clamped down on my desire to put my hand around his neck for standing too close to Destiny. A thrill shot through me when she lifted her head and her eyes widened just a minor amount.
“Mitch, would you mind if I interrupted your conversation with Destiny here to ask her a few questions?” I’d kept my eyes on Destiny while speaking to Mitch, wanting to see her reaction to my mentioning her name again. Sure enough, the telltale uptick of the pumping of that tiny vein in her neck demonstrated that I got to her as much as she got to me.
“Uh, no, not at all.”
Not a glance was spared in Mitchell’s direction as he walked away. My gaze was trained on Destiny. When she turned angry, narrowed eyes on me, my heart rate kicked up.
“That was rude, Mr. Townsend.” She folded her arms across her chest.
My eyes fell to the small amount of exposed cleavage. Not nearly enough to be lewd but just enough that I could envision what it would look like to run my tongue over the smooth, soft skin of her body.
“Still calling me Mr. Townsend. You don’t take direction very well.” I cocked my head to the side.
Her eyes narrowed even more. “Direction? I certainly don’t.”
I licked my lower lip again. “That’s going to be a problem … for you.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Mr. Townsend, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing.”
“I play a variety of games, Destiny.” I began, moving closer. “Football, for one.” I tilted my head toward the field before turning back to stare her down. “But you knew that. I play games with my niece and nephews. I grew up playing all types of games on my older brothers. I’m used to games, Destiny. But this,” I waved a hand between our two bodies, “this isn’t a game.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mr. Townsend, because there is nothis.” She mimicked the same hand movement I’d just done. “The hell is so funny?” she angrily questioned at my laugh.
“You’re fucking adorable when pissed. That little wrinkle in your forehead.”
She pushed out a heavy breath, stepping back, and shook her head. “Athletes.”
“So you have a thing against athletes?”
She rolled her eyes upward toward the sky. “What is it with you and the wordthing.There is nothingbetween us and no, I don’t have athingagainst athletes. I just know you are mistaken. You seem to believe that my being here is an invitation for you to hit on me but it’s not. I am only here for onethingand that is to do my job. The Williamsport Cougar owners hired me to teach their athletes about financial management and planning and that is what I intend to do. That isallI intend to do, Mr. Townsend.”
I whistled low in my throat. “My you are—”
Destiny held up a finger, jutting it in my direction. “I swear if you call me feisty again, or sassy, or—”
“No.” I shook my head. “Those words are much too … subtle to describe all that you are.”
I grinned harder when her mouth fell open for a full second before she clamped it shut. “Does this usually work for you?”
“What?”
She waved a hand, gesturing it in my direction. “This, you, the whole charm and bedroom eyesthingyou’re doing. Does it usually win over your next conquest? Earning them the coveted spot in your bed for the night, or if they’re lucky a few nights before you move on to your next acquisition?”
I stood up fully, moving in even closer. “So you think I have bedroom eyes?”
Her shoulders sagged as she pushed out a breath, her face turning incredulous. “Wha—”
“Townsend!”
I glanced up to see my coaches waving me over.Fuck.
“Saved by the bell,” Destiny mumbled and started to back up to walk away.
I caught her by the elbow, my own breath hitching at my body’s physical response to our contact. I leaned down farther to get closer to her ear.
