Page 61 of Against the Clock

I dismiss the wayward idea as completely out of hand. There are chapels all over Vegas. It doesn’t mean anything.

Sure would be a twist to my piece, though.

I tap out a few notes, reply to a few emails, and start thinking about dinner. I’m smiling and humming to myself as I log out and shut everything down. My stomach explodes into happy butterflies.

I have a date with Daniel Harrison tonight.

CHAPTER 26

DANIEL

She opens the door on the first knock.

“Hi.” Her hands run over the tight, creamy dress she showed me this morning, tugging it down.

“Kelsey Cole,” I say, unable to look away from her.

“Do I look okay?”

Is she seriously asking me that?

I shake my head slowly, in disbelief. “Kelsey, you look amazing. You’re stunning.”

She is, too, her dark blonde hair falling in waves around her shoulders, her brown eyes sparkling, her lips painted a dark red that makes me think about how they’d look wrapped around my dick.

“I promised you I wouldn’t have sex with you again until you begged me, and I meant it, but I didn’t promise you I wouldn’t be thinking about it,” I say, my hands wrapping around her hips and pulling her close.

A laugh trickles out of her and I drink her in, her pretty, freckle-dusted nose, the quirk of her eyebrows as she stares up at me.

“Can I kiss you?” I ask.

She doesn’t answer, simply pulls my face to hers, and just like that, the whole fucking day melts away. None of the shit with Rhett or the team matters. None of the crap my agent texted me today about retirement announcements matters.

Only this, right now, her mouth on mine, the delectable scent of her all around me.

“Hi,” I finally say, breaking off the kiss. “You hungry?”

“Starving,” she answers, her cheeks pinker than they were a moment ago.

I tuck her hand into mine and it feels better than any football ever has. It fits. She fits.

She deserves someone younger. Someone less selfish, someone whose job won’t leave her crying in a bar bathroom.

My molars grind against each other and I push the thoughts aside. Fuck that. I want her, and I’ll make Kelsey Cole mine.

“Did you have a bad day?” she asks, eyes narrowed, watching me.

I tuck her in close, and she lets out a tiny whuff of surprise.

“It’s better now,” I say. “With you.”

“What happened?”

I sigh. I love how smart she is. I love how perceptive she is.

Fuck, I love that she cares enough to ask.

“You know how I got tackled last night? Illegally, I mean.”