Continuing, I say, “Now, for the Lifestyle article, I have a few ideas of how we can select the bachelor… ”
Jensen clears his throat, cutting me off. “We’ve actually already chosen who that’s going to be.”
“Oh!” I exclaim. “That’s great! Way to make my job easy, guys. Who’d you choose?”
Jensen grins. “We all want Zander to do it.”
I blink, feeling a moment of confusion and shock. No. No, it couldn’t be…
“Zander? Who… ?”
One of the guys moves to the front of the group, and when he removes his helmet, I swear to God my heart stops. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
Emerald eyes burn into mine and recognition slams through me. I couldn’t make out the color of his eyes last night in the dark, or the other details that make it so obvious who he is. That thick dark hair. Trimmed beard. Those soft lips.
Oh, fuck.
It’s him. Not just the arrogant asshole I almost bludgeoned to death with a lamp last night.
It’s Kodiak.
Zander… is Kodiak.
My nearly picture-perfect guy, who had me as excited as I was getting my first camera.
The asshole who fucked me than left without a word. Hit and quit it and forever disqualified himself from having more with me.
What the fuck?
He’s part of the team. How did I not assume he was part of the team? What the fuck am I supposed to do now?
Carson suddenly clears his throat, and I realize I’ve been staring at him for longer than is entirely appropriate. I snap out of my stunned gaze and force a smile on my face, trying to appear nonchalant.
“Right,” I choke out. “Zander… it’s nice to meet you. I’ll get you the details on your private shoots and interviews later. And, yes, there will be multiple, as it’s going to be a ten-page spread.”
Oh, God! I’m going to have to work one-on-one with him. How am I going to do this without it being a huge fucking disaster?
“Sounds good,” he grumbles, his expression neutral but his eyes burning as he stares back at me.
Feeling suddenly hot and anxious, I turn to Coach Sullivan and say, “All right, well, I won’t take up any more of your time for now. Thank you for introducing me, Coach. I’ll get out of your way.”
He nods and I turn to hurry away from the bench and back down the tunnel, determined to get as far away from Zander and his unwavering stare as I can. Just as I’m about to step out the tunnel, I look up and spot Grace walking toward me.
“You!” I hiss. Before she can respond, I grab her hand and drag her out into the hallway with me.
“Rylee, thank God!” she says as I tug her along. “I was hoping you were still here. I’m so sorry about the mix-up with the apartment.”
“Yeah, about that,” I snap, turning to face her when we’re in the hall and well out of earshot of the team. “Do you know how awkward this whole mess is! I’m freaking out a bit, Grace!”
She frowns in clear confusion. “Um… okay. I know it must have been a shock, but it’s not the end of the world, I promise. Zander and Carson have already talked and he’s offered to find somewhere else to stay. He should be gone in a few days, so you don’t have to worry about it being awkward for too long.”
I want to grab her and shake her and tell her that I cannot stay in that apartment with Zander, no matter how long, because he’s Kodiak and responsible for the greatest orgasm of my life. The mere thought makes me want to die of embarrassment, but of course, I can’t tell her any of that. I’m not about to admit that I drunkenly hooked up with someone the night of her wedding but can’t remember for sure who it was, or that I now think it’s one of the guys her husband works with!
“Why can’t he stay with Carson? Or you and Jensen in the meantime?” I ask, desperate to avoid being cooped up with him.
Grace flinches and murmurs, “Uh… Jensen and I… we’re sorta loud.”
There’s a beat of silence before we both burst out laughing. Some of my anxiety melts away and I’m able to break through the panic tornado that’s been swirling in me.
