Page 80 of Love Game

His friend’s circular reasoning made him smile. “I’m gonna pretend that made sense.”

“Be happy. That’s what I was trying to say.” Mike chuckled. “But I guess you already made that choice.”

“Yeah, I did.” Danny glanced at Kate and found her watching him with a worried frown. Shifting closer, he pressed a tender kiss to the lines between her brows, then turned his attention back to the call. “I’ll be in tomorrow to clean out my office.”

Mike snickered. “Should be fairly easy, since you never unpacked.”

Danny thought about the cardboard boxes he’d methodically emptied and flattened that afternoon. So much for his rebellion. It was a damn good thing he hadn’t been ballsy enough to haul the pile of cardboard out to the Dumpster. All he needed was a roll of tape and he’d be good to go. Again. “Piece of cake.”

Flashing a weak smile in Kate’s direction, he ended the call. “They’ll have the papers ready in the next forty-eight hours.”

Pink lips set in a thin line, she nodded once. “Two days. Got it.”

“Kate, sweetheart…” He tucked her hair behind her ear and ran his knuckles down the soft slope of her cheek. “It’s done.”

“Nothing’s done until the papers are signed.” The gold flecks in her eyes shone warm but dull, like the ancient track-and-field trophies tucked at the back of the lesser display cases.

“I want to ask you a question,” he said.

Her startled gaze met his. Those pretty pink lips parted. He saw the hope flare in her eyes and wanted to gut himself with the ballpoint pen she’d been using to mark up his contract. More than anything, he wanted to cash in on that unspoken invitation. Right there and then, his future—or lack thereof—be damned.

A marriage proposal tingled on the tip of his tongue, but he pressed his lips together until the urge passed. He didn’t know exactly where the impulse had come from, but he knew he couldn’t blurt “marry me” and expect her to jump at the offer. He needed to think things through. He needed to have a plan. But the realization that she was it for him wasn’t surprising. He’d been feeling this…rightness…since the moment they first touched. And now he was about to lose it. Lose her. No, he needed a more solid play. She deserved more than a Hail Mary proposal from a guy who didn’t know where he’d land next.

“What question was that?”

Danny hesitated only a moment. He might not have been prepared to throw for the win, but he could test her defensive line. “The West Coast,” he managed at last, quirking a brow. “California? Idaho? Would you consider going?”

She wet her lips and looked down at the papers in her lap, her disappointment palpable. “You said San Jose or Boise State?”

“University of Idaho. Not Boise.”

Like a switch had flipped, the teasing light flashed in her eyes. “Wow. Not even Boise? You really are in trouble, aren’t you?”

“Hey, it beats Rio River College.” He tried to fix her with a stern stare, but he couldn’t hold on to it. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“I’ll have Jonas test the waters in the Bay Area.” She wrinkled her nose, tapped the rumpled printout of the contract, then picked it up and tossed it to the floor. “But I have to tell you, I’m not giving up yet. I like my house, I like my bed, and I like the way you look in it.”

Danny allowed her to push him back onto the pillows she pummeled and plumped each morning. “You’re kind of a female chauvinist pig, you know?”

“Oh, I know.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “It’s one of the things you like best about me.”

“Damn straight it is.” Grinning up at her, he counted down from three in his head, then flipped her over with practiced ease. Pinning her hands high above her head, he leaned in close and dropped his voice to a whisper. “But right now, it’s time to show your man a little sympathy and consolation. Stand by me like a good little woman should.”

“I’ve never been called little, but I’ll give it my best shot.” Kate raked one hand through his hair and slid the other down his belly. “Oh, poor baby,” she purred, stroking him through the slick nylon of his gym shorts. “Does this make it better?”

He closed the distance between them, capturing her lips and stretching the kiss out slow and deep. Her body bowed beneath his, and he took the kiss deeper, hoping she could taste the promises he wanted to make. Trusting she’d choose him the way he’d chosen her. Praying she’d never want to stop touching him. Wanting him.

Loving him.

* * *

Kate paced her office from window to door and back again. The next time she made the turn, Millie rolled the desk chair over just enough to stick a leg out and block her path.

“I’m gonna put you in a kennel if you don’t stop it,” she threatened.

Kate had to admire her friend’s powers of concentration. Millie’d pulled the whole maneuver off without tearing her eyes from the computer screen. Tapping a bright-coral nail to the glass, she drew Kate’s hopscotching attention to the monitor.

“This is still my favorite,” Millie said. Kate squinted at the photograph someone snapped the day she’d crashed Danny’s introductory press conference. Her hair flew wild around her head, but her jaw was set and her eyes were locked on her quarry. “You look like you belong on the prow of a ship.”

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