Page 44 of Sacrifice Bunt

That was the part that scared her the most. In fact, like was a pretty tame word for what she felt for him.

He made her so angry and so frustrated. He also made her hot. He made her smile, made her laugh, and he made her think. Those qualities outweighed the anger and frustration. In fact, she actually sort of liked the frustration he caused her. It was definitely foreplay. She could imagine the kind of hot, sweaty sex they'd have after a shouting match.

She definitely wasn't normal. That wasn't normal.

How had her life come to this? Worrying about a guy? About the future of her love life instead of worrying about her career. Love was never in the books. That was never the plan. She loved her career and her job. She loved helping her clients get what they wanted out of life. There had been no time for anything else. Why was she willing to risk that now?

She asked herself that question many times throughout the day and even again as she walked up the steps to Allana and Shane's house.

More like their mansion.

Shane was the owner of the Valley Falls Strikers Soccer Club and, from what she knew, a billionaire.

Billion with a B.

He was also a nice guy who cared about the city of Valley Falls, cared for the players in his club, and loved his wife madly.

That's the part that stuck in her head.

This man, who for so long only cared about his job, now would happily leave it all behind for Allana if that’s what it came to.

It just didn't make any sense to her.

“Are you going to stand out here all day, or are you going to go in?” She looked behind her and found Mae. Mae was Allana's best friend and was also married to Cooper Holland, a superstar in the soccer world. And even though he was at the end of his career, he was still one of the best players ever.

“I was thinking about just standing out here. Maybe I could somehow get advice through osmosis through the door.”

“I guess there’s a first time for everything,” Mae said with an eye roll. “Get your ass inside.” Mae pushed open the door as if she lived there, and they both walked inside.

“Finally,” Allana said with her hands in the air. “All day, all I thought about was what in the world Zara is going to tell us.”

“Zara’s going to tell you, but first, she needs a drink,” Zara said, talking about herself in the third person.

“Don‘t be a smartass. You know where they are.” Allana pointed behind her toward the fully stocked bar. “Get what you want and then get back out here and be ready to tell this story.”

“You are bossy as fuck,” Zara said, then made her way to the bar. On a typical day, she'd choose beer or even a margarita. Today called for something a little stronger. She found a bottle of very nice and very expensive scotch and poured herself a glass.

Spilling her heart to her friends required courage, the kind of courage you got from scotch. She took the glass of liquid courage back to the living room, where she found not only Allana and Mae but also Ruby, Hannah, and Cassidy, Allana’s sister-in-law.

Looks like the gang was all there.

“I guess you're ready to talk now," Ruby said. “I’m seriously dying to know who your mystery man is.”

“Wait,” Allana said, standing in front of Ruby. “You knew about this?”

“We ran into each other a couple of days ago at the stadium, and she opened up just a little bit.” Ruby put up her hands in surrender. “But I promise I don't know who the guy is. She would not tell me.”

“So there is a guy?” Mae asked and then looked over at Hannah. “You're suspiciously quiet over there. I take it you know who this guy is?”

“Not my horse, not my race,” Hannah said.

“Damn it, just tell us,” Allana said. “The suspense is killing me.”

Zara took a huge sip of her scotch, found an empty spot on the couch, sat down, and leaned back, taking a deep breath. “It's Noah.”

Why the hell was voicing it so hard?

“As in Noah, Noah?” Cassidy asked. “The Noah Ashe who came to my wedding, and you danced with you while you looked like you were chewing on glass?”

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