Page 130 of Vegas Heat

My curiosity shouldn’t be piqued considering he’s my girlfriend’s father, but he’s also a good friend of mine—the kind of friend I would talk to about those types of things. The kind of friend I’d brag to about that little office I found not far from the owner’s suite this afternoon.

But I can’t, and it feels…strange.

“You got any plans for the night?” he asks.

I shrug. “I might take a look at some more film for the team prospects, but I’ll probably turn in early so I can get up for a nice early morning workout tomorrow at the stadium.” I slide into a chair at the table and chug down half my beer.

“Good plan.” He finishes making his sandwich along with Gabby’s, and he sets her plate on the table between him and me before he takes his seat across from me and starts to dig in. “Joanie said all the plans have been approved, so next week they’re working on finding the contractors who will make your kids fitness thing happen.”

“That’s great news,” I say.

“What’s great news?” Gabby asks as she reappears in the kitchen.

“Your sandwich is ready,” Troy says, and Gabby glances at it then sits in front of it. Her knee bumps mine when she sits, and neither of us moves.

What would Troy say if he could see our legs touching under the table? Would he think anything of it?

How long can we expect him to be oblivious to this when the connection between us is smoking hot?

“Troy was just telling me the plans for StrongFitKids have been approved,” I say.Come on, Noah. Think of a way to throw him off.

She takes a bite of her sandwich as she nods. “Oh, that is great. What’s the next step?”

“Finding contractors to start construction,” Troy says.

“What will our roles be once that starts?” Gabby asks.

“That’s a better question for Joanie, but she was telling me how impressed she is with your social media skills. This is on the down low for now, but our current social media manager, Zelda, wants to take on a smaller role since she’s having her first baby in a few months. It’ll be tough to keep up her current schedule with a newborn, so she wants to move out of management and into an assistant role. Joanie suggested a sort of contest between the interns if any of you are interested in the position.”

Gabby’s brows rise. “As in…one of us would have a full-time job as a social media manager for an MLB team right out of college?”

Troy nods. “Joanie and I are very impressed with the crop of interns this year, and there’s still that final spot she’s going to fill in the next few days. We both feel that giving the position to someone younger who understands all the different social networks would be beneficial to growing our brand.”

She raises her hand. “I want it.”

Troy chuckles. “Then prove you deserve it, baby girl. From what I hear, the other interns might be interested, too.”

Certainly she would have an edge given who her father is, but on the other hand…how would the other interns treat her ifshe got the job over them? How would they treat her if it was a competition the way Troy just presented it?

“Oh, and that final intern spot?” Gabby says. “I know one of the applicants. I can vouch he’s a good guy.”

I keep my gaze down on the table as I push down the feelings of envy that she’s vouching for some other guy. I don’t like it.

The complications keep swinging toward us, but I’m confident enough in what we have that we can overcome them.

I just hope I’m notoverlyconfident the way I was three years ago when my cockiness took me out of the game.

CHAPTER 8: GABBY

My dad takes off for the night, bidding us both goodnight before he goes, and we head up to my bedroom. I think about snuggling on the couch with him, but I don’t know if my dad has some secret cameras set up here that might catch us in the act. I say as much to Cooper once we’re in my room.

“I feel like this is our only safe place,” I say, sitting on the edge of the bed. “What if there are cameras down in the family room and the kitchen.”

“I thought you were inviting me in for sex,” he admits, and I giggle.

“I mean, of course. But I also thought it might be nice to just lay together and do normal things you’d do with your boyfriend.” My eyes widen as the word leaves my mouth.

“Did you just call me your boyfriend?” he asks.

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