His brow furrowed in thought, and I couldn’t believe I was sitting there waiting for him to answer me, instead of telling him it was wishful thinking and to forget about it.
“Say you have mold and the landlord is taking forever to fix the problem, and you can’t live here because it’s a mess. Instead of me putting you up in a hotel, you’re staying in my secondbedroom.” He shrugged and grinned. “See? Problem solved. Now come here.”
“Not so fast, big guy.” In theory, his idea wasn’t the worst, but there were so many ways it could go wrong, the least of which was that damn picture. “Don’t you think the gossips will be all over the fact that you were caught kissing some blond in an elevator, and then all of a sudden I’m there in your apartment, a long-haired blond guy? Something tells me they can put two and two together.”
A puzzled expression settled on his face. “Why would you be doing anything different now than you have been? We won’t start going out holding hands or kissing in public.” He paused. “Yet.”
“I hate when your arguments make sense,” I grumbled, and he snickered and caught me around the waist.
“Everything I say makes sense.” He kissed my neck. “Say it again.”
“What? That you were right? It happens occasionally,” I teased, growing weaker by the second as his lips skimmed across my cheek.
“No. You know.” He caught my mouth in a hungry, possessive kiss. “Tell me, please.”
It left me breathless that this big, tough guy, so feared on the field by his peers, was standing in my crummy little kitchen, begging for three little words.
“I love you. I fell in love with you all those years ago, but I told myself it could never work because of who you are.”
“And I promise you, nothing—not football or anything else—will stop us from being together. Not now. We’re getting our chance, and this time we’ll go the distance.”
I let him drag me off to the bed, but in the back of my mind I had a feeling nothing would be as easy as he believed.
**
I sent Patrick home after lunch, claiming I needed time to sort through what to pack and what to leave. Frowning, he leaned against the door.
“Leave it all. Whatever you need, you can buy once you get to my place.”
I chuckled. “Oh, the lifestyles of the rich and oblivious. With what money do you suggest I purchase an entire new wardrobe and still have funds for living?”
“Fuck that. I can afford whatever you need, ten times over.”
Having grown up with money, then losing it all, I’d had to learn the value of a dollar. Patrick, who didn’t come from money, no longer needed to worry about how much things cost, but he’d better learn quickly that the macho attitude of him paying for everything wasn’t going to fly with me.
“I’m sure you can. And I appreciate your offer, but it’s not happening. I refuse to let you pay for my things. I still have to figure out how we’re going to work out this situation.”
“What situation?”
Better to have this talk now than later, I thought as I zipped up a duffel bag. “Look. I’m not gonna move in and live off you. And before you start yelling about how much money you have and all that jazz—which I already know—I have a salary, and that’s it. Period. I also have a lease here, and I’m not giving it up. So when I come tonight, we’ll sit down and figure out how much I’ll contribute to household expenses.”
“Spreadsheet king,” he grumbled. “I swear you get off on all those charts.”
“Part of my charm. It’s what you hired me for, remember?”
“Okay, okay. We’ll work it out. I promise.” He arched a dark brow. “And yeah, it was. You being hot as fuck was a bonus.”
My face grew warm, and I raised my gaze to the ceiling. “God help me.” I pointed. “Out. I have stuff to finish. And your lawyer called. He wants a meeting. He knows it’s the bye week.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ve never met in person, only on video. With these new endorsements I signed once I moved to New York City, and more coming in all the time, he wants to go through them, plus foreign ones as well.” He paused and narrowed his eyes.
“What? I can see you’re thinking about something.”
“I want to tell him about us. And before you object, he can help us deal with media and get NDAs in place, things like that.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“He’s my attorney, Fal. There’s attorney-client privilege.”
