Page 36 of Love Game

Poking her head back in, she scoffed. “Veggie? Really? Didn’t you see what I did to that salad?”

He stared straight into her eyes. “You’re beautiful when you’re soaking wet.”

She blinked at him, then shook her head. “Just for that, you’re bringing the beer too. And none of that ‘light’ crap either. Real beer,” she ordered as the door swung shut behind her.

* * *

“I’m just saying it seems like a cheap way to delay the inevitable, that’s all. Who in their right mind thinks they can overcome a three-basket deficit when the clock has started adding the decimal point to the equation?”

Danny leaned forward in his chair, his hands planted flat on his knees. He’d tried to pound a fist on the arm of the chair to drive home a point earlier in the taping, but the hollow thud hadn’t had the desired impact. All it garnered was a pitying smirk from the woman sitting across from him. The slim, snug pencil skirt Kate was wearing, on the other hand, packed all the wallop of an atomic bomb. Judging from the appreciative once-over he’d caught the sports anchor giving her, he wasn’t the only one who thought so.

Turning back to the guy in the middle—Davenport, that was the string-bean reporter’s name—Danny flashed a winning smile. “Come on, Jim. I know you’re a basketball guy and all, but you have to admit the last couple of minutes of the game get a little ridiculous at times.”

“Ridiculous?” Kate edged forward in her seat. “What’s ridiculous is you telling me that managing the clock to my team’s advantage is different from trying to ice a kid attempting to kick a twelve-inch ball through a couple of poles from fifty yards away.”

“Eleven inches,” he corrected. “A regulation ball is between ten and a half and eleven and a half inches.”

A smile quirked her lips. Dark brows arched eloquently. “Wow. I have to say, I’m a little shocked. Most guys would try to add an inch rather than take one away.”

“Some of us don’t need to,” he retorted.

Suddenly, the scarecrow perched between them pressed a finger to his earpiece and sprang to life. “And that looks like all the time we have for this week. Coach Snyder, Coach McMillan, thanks for joining us here on The Warrior Way.”

The moment they were clear, Davenport turned toward Kate, effectively blocking Danny out. Not one to be put off by guys he could snap like toothpicks, Danny simply unclipped his microphone and stood. The sportscaster rambled on about the summer basketball camps, all the while darting glances over his shoulder as if waiting for Danny to leave the set. For his part, Danny wasn’t a big fan of how close String Bean’s knee was to Kate’s. As a matter of fact, it rankled him enough to make him step up. If anyone was getting close to that sexy, black skirt, it was going to be him.

“If you’ll excuse us, Coach Snyder and I have another meeting this evening,” he said, interrupting the man midsentence.

Davenport turned to Kate for confirmation. “You do?”

“We do?” she asked at the same time.

The impertinent lift of her brow challenged him. One infinitesimal little quirk, and he found himself riding the razor’s edge of annoyed and intrigued. He glanced at Davenport, then met Kate’s gaze directly, brain and body willing to rise to whatever she threw at him. “Boosters. We were going to figure out a way to tap them to finish what was started in the shower rooms.”

“Oh.”

A rosy flush crept up her neck. It looked awful pretty with the pale-blue sweater she wore. In truth, he was becoming quietly obsessed with the sexy secretary look she sported in the studio. The costume, coupled with those disconcertingly frank stares, was enough to have him ready to climb out of his skin. That delicious blush was an added bonus. One he couldn’t wait to taste.

“Shower rooms?” Davenport glanced from Kate to him and back again. “Didn’t you just upgrade the facilities?”

She dismissed Davenport’s question with a shrug and rose. Standing almost toe-to-toe on the tiny set, she looked Danny straight in the eye and flashed a game-winning smile. “There are a few…finishing touches needed.”

The reporter stared up at them, his brow knit in confusion. “You’re going together.”

Kate stiffened and took a quick step back. The smile was nothing but a memory. “Well, we’re going to the same place,” she amended. She removed her own earpiece and mic and dropped the equipment onto the chair. “Do you need directions?”

She asked the question with such an air of polite distance, Danny almost laughed. “No, I know my way around pretty well.”

Her lips twitched, and she quickly bit the lower one as if she couldn’t trust it to behave on its own. “Fine. I’ll see you there.”

She pivoted and stepped off the set without giving them a chance to respond. Danny nodded to Davenport, then made to follow suit, but she stopped beyond the camera range and raised a finger as if a thought had occurred to her.

“Oh. Sometimes parking can be a bit hard to find off campus, but if you stick to the side streets, you’ll probably get lucky.”

Danny nodded once to let her know he caught her drift, raised a hand in farewell to Davenport, and followed Kate through the studio at a discreet distance.

Once they were out the door, Kate glanced over her shoulder and added, “Don’t forget the beer.”

* * *

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