Tyler was on his feet and in Leonard’s face before I could even register what was going on.
“Can I fucking help you?” he growled.
“Tyler,” I said, standing up and looking around, hoping we weren’t making a scene.
“Nah, I was just paying the star quarterback a compliment,” Riggs stated, backing up while wearing a stupid grin. “Myagentprobably used to say the same—”
“Oh God!” I yelped when Tyler’s hands clasped around the collar of Leonard’s T-shirt. “Tyler, enough. It’s not that serious. He’s your teammate.” I was talking fast, trying to drill some sense into Tyler before this thing escalated unnecessarily.
“Leonard, why don’t you come have lunch with me,” Kelvin Maynard insisted, showing up out of nowhere.
I watched as Kelvin eyed Tyler, both men silently communicating something between one another before Tyler released Leonard.
“You gonna get enough of putting—”
“Let’s go.” Kelvin hooked his arm around Leonard, practically dragging him off while Tyler stared as the two men left. Just as Tyler turned back to face me, I saw Riggs narrow his eyes on me, his face scowling as if I’d personally done something to displease him.
I shrugged him off. “Hey,” I said to Ty, my hand making contact with his arm. “You okay?” I asked tentatively. It always stunned me how Tyler could go from affable to insanely intense to downright badass in the blink of an eye.
“Are you okay?”
I shrugged. “Of course. He doesn’t bother me. I’m more worried about you. He’s your teammate. I get you don’t like him and you don’t have ,to but you should do your best to get along with him.”
“As long as he doesn’t cause trouble for you, he and I can get along just fine.” He bent low, summoning my lips for a kiss.
I stepped closer, wrapping my arm around his broad back, and tilted my head upwards. “He can’t cause any problems for me.”
Ty bent the rest of the way and our lips connected. He deepened the kiss as his tongue invaded mine. A light moan emanated from my throat.
“I have to go.”
My eyes squeezed shut and I sealed my mouth shut against the groaning whine that wanted to break free. I was an adult. I could go a few damn hours being separated from my man.
“Enjoy the rest of practice. I’ll make sure there’s a hot bath waiting for you when you get home.” The words slipped from my lips as if I’d said them hundreds of time before. When Tyler’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree I knew I’d just hammered yet another nail in the coffin of my ‘it’s too soon for us to live together’ argument.
“You said it, not me.”
I rolled my eyes. I had said it. “Bye,” I responded, before grabbing my bag, jacket, and phone from the table and sauntering off.
Just as I rounded the corner to head to the parking lot my phone rang. “Hey, Bren.”
“Destiny, sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you. Will, my guy at the SEC, wants to meet with you for lunch this week to discuss this Phillip Morris character.”
“Nice. You name the time and place and I’ll be there.”
I’d told Brenda all about my suspicions about Phillip Morris and his dubious investments. She, in turn, talked to her connect at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency that was responsible for investigating suspected crimes of this nature.
“So, he thinks this guy is full of shit, too?” I asked Brenda after she gave me the restaurant where she, Will, and I were going to meet.
“Not only does he think so, as it turns out, Phillip Morris has popped up on the SEC’s radar before but they never were able to follow through with anything. I’ll let Will tell you what he can, but I think you’re onto something with this guy.”
“I knew it. Thanks, Bren, for setting this up. I’ll see you on Thursday for lunch.”
“See you then.”
I hung up the phone with Brenda, frowning. I really hated lowlifes like Phillip Morris who fed off the ignorance of people who were just searching for ways to best invest their hard-earned money.
“Still here? Looking for someone else to push up on once Townsend gets tired of you?”
