I had no doubt that Dee could carry her own bags to wherever she chose, the top of Everest, if she wanted, and I also had no doubt she enjoyed doing everything for herself. But if she was to tell me to keep my hands off her property while Guy was watching, she knew she’d be rude, and she didn’t want to look rude in front of Guy.
Little Miss Sparkly Sunshine had a crush on my manager.
I stored that factoid to annoy her later; anything to get that smile to fade and to see the crack in her façade of perfection.
“This is amazing.” Izzy stopped suddenly, almost causing Ryan to walk straight into the back of her, his attention on his phone as it pretty much had been through all the journey. “Do you get to stay in places like this all the time?”
I looked at Izzy. Some of the women’s had been here before, so I wasn’t sure why she hadn’t. She was cute with curly blonde hair that bounced when she laughed, which was a lot. To be honest, she was exactly what I’d usually go for, but I didn’t have any urge to try and score a night with her while we were here. Probably because Sunshine Sparkles would end up judging too much.
“Sometimes. It’s usually hotels when we’ve got away games.” I watched Dee try a couple of keys to open the front door of the lodge.
She was one of the smaller players on the women’s team, both in terms of height and build. I’d seen her play once, and I remembered how quick she’d been, her footwork and ball control better than most of the men I’d played with.
“Struggling?”
Her head swung round, her smile forced. “Nope, there’s just a few keys on here.” She turned away, tried again, and the door opened. “See.”
She went straight through, the door opening into a lounge decorated in dark wood and tartan.
I put her bags and mine down near the sofa, watching Dee while she looked around. The main room was an open plan lounge and kitchen, although the only thing we’d be using the kitchen for would be snacks, and they’d be delivered. All the bedrooms came off the lounge, and I knew they’d all have an en-suite bathroom.
She tentatively opened one of the bedroom doors and went in. Izzy and Ryan were both on their phones, oblivious to their surroundings which was a shame, but then again, so was I.
I followed Dee into the room, having the sense to keep my distance. She’d gone straight to the window, which had a view over the loch, the area’s tallest mountain, Ben Lomond, in the distance.
“You want this room? I’ll bring your bags in.” I had no idea why I’d turned into her manservant.
“Izzy or Ryan might want it.”
“They’re too busy on their phones. Finders, keepers. You have this one.”
Her smile wasn’t there. She folded her arms and frowned. “Why are you being nice to me? Is there another room that’s better and you want it for yourself?”
I folded my own arms, mirroring her, although I hadn’t had a smile to lose. “I have no idea what the other rooms are like because I haven’t been in this lodge before, but if there is one better than this, I’ll take it.”
She didn’t relax her stance. “Shall we go and look at the others?”
My phone pinged as I walked out of the room, not looking back to see whether she was following. I checked the screen, seeing a text from Dino. There had been a meal out for the coaches this evening where he was announcing the winners of our league, so I was pretty sure this was telling us if I’d beat Dee or not.
I stopped walking across the lounge towards one of the other bedrooms to read it – walking and texting wasn’t something I was great at, which I discovered when my ex thought I’d headed the ball too hard after I’d texted her something fucking stupid.
The message had probably been sent to both of us. I’d beat Dee by a point, meaning she was buying dinner.
My grin was worthy of the devil himself.
“Did you pay Dino to fix this?”
I knew without turning round that she definitely wasn’t smiling.
“No. And I’m pretty sure you have the maths ability to check.” I turned around to face her, her expression something between annoyed witch and scared rabbit. “We can call the bet null and void, if that will stop you from trying to kill me in my sleep.”
“No. I’ll take you out to dinner.”
I’d never been taken out to dinner in my life by a woman.
“We’ll see.”
“What do you mean,we’ll see?”
