“Oh, we’ll see about that,” Beckham challenges.
“Oh! Speaking of Georgie, I’m going to take some pictures for her Etsy shop and website,” I say.
“She’s very excited about that,” Beckham says, leaning on his stick.
“I am, too.”
Beckham chats a bit more, then leaves to go in the dressing room. Wyatt waits until he’s fully out of sight before speaking. “Need me to linger and be your cover?” he asks his voice low.
“No, Aiden helped me this morning. If anyone sees us talking for a minute it will be fine,” I reassure him.
He nods his head. “Okay.” Then he looks over at Aiden. “Don’t be too long and don’t be obvious.”
Aiden scowls, and I bite back a smile. “Like I would do that,” he says, his voice laced with irritation.
Wyatt raises his eyebrows. “You can’t help it. It’s on your face right now.”
The familiar flush grows up Aiden’s neck, and Wyatt laughs. As soon as he leaves, Aiden turns back to me, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips. “It’s freaking hard not to be obvious around you. I was so worried this morning. When I saw you on the sidewalk, I didn’t know if you had fallen, or worse, if someone had attacked you—”
“But it was just an iguana,” I interrupt. “And I’m fine.”
His eyes meet mine, and I know he’s telling me the depth of his feelings with no words. “I’m taking care of you tonight,” he says, lowering his voice so only I can hear him.
“I don’t need you to, but I’llletyou,” I say, smiling at him.
He grins, and as soon as the dimple appears, I’m done for.
“See you, Scarlett,” he says.
“Bye,” I say casually.
I make my way out of the practice area and push open the doors to the parking lot. I decide I’m not going to go for a hat trick of falling iguanas and avoid the sidewalk, opting to walk through the lot instead. Just as I’m slipping behind the wheel to my car, my phone dings with a text notification. I retrieve it from my bag and see I have a text from Aiden:
I’m so glad you’re okay. You have no idea how panicked I was when I realized you were the woman who was screaming. If people knew about us, I would have escorted you inside, taken you to Jones myself, and made sure you were okay rather than leaving you with your dad.
I type back:
I know you would have, Aiden. The look in your eyes told me everything I would ever need to know.
Brooks is typing …
I still hate it.
Another message drops in:
But I’ll make up for it tonight, I promise. Not because you need me to, but because I WANT to.
I put my phone into the cup holder, and a happy sigh escapes my lips. I might have been hit by a frozen iguana, become infamous at the Miami Manatees training complex, and have a goose egg on my head, but I feel so cared for and adored.
Treasured.
It makes getting hit in the head with a falling iguana okay.
And I can’t wait to be spoiled by Aiden tonight.
Chapter Twenty
I move to open the door as soon as Aiden raps on it. He winces as soon as he lays eyes on me.
