Page 75 of Play the Game

“See?” Ellie whispers her popcorn breath into my ear. “I told you he was nervous.”

I roll my lips together to hide my amusement.

“Your dad doesn’t get nervous,” Emory adds, making me jump. Ellie’s hands tighten along my shoulders as she starts to argue with Emory. She puts him in his place, and I find it hilarious.

He raises his eyebrows after she finishes her argument. When she goes back to watching her dad, Emory snags my eye. I catch sight of his grin even if he tries to hide it.

“Good game.” I keep my voice smooth, sounding bored. I can’t betoonice to him. He might get the wrong idea and think I’ll end up in his bed with no panties on again.

My stomach flips. Every single time I’ve caught Emory staring at me since I ended up in his bed, heat rushes to all the quiet parts of my body, and my mind fills with the most inappropriate thoughts.

It’s a sickness, and the only cure so far is avoiding him, so back to the couch I went even though he was openly displeased.

“Did you just compliment me?”

Ellie keeps her attention on her father but inserts herself. “She did, and also, most people say thank you when someone compliments them. My dad said it’s rude not to say thank you.”

A laugh bubbles out of my throat, and when Emory’s white teeth appear behind his lips, I think everyone feels the shift in the universe, because all of a sudden, the cameras swing to him.

He quickly steps in front of me and Ellie, shielding her from the cameras.

Rhodes slips out from behind the chaos, and I do the same. I place Ellie on the ground between the two of us, and with Emory being in the spotlight, she’s hidden.

“Hey,printessa,”he whispers down to his daughter in Russian.

“Did you have a nervous belly, Daddy?”

He grunts. “Something like that.”

He’s angry, and when he looks at me, I give him a look that hopefully tells him that I understand.

“Did she give any excuse?” he asks.

He’s referring to the nanny, I assume. “Bathroom.”

Ellie pipes up. “I think she fell in.”

I laugh out loud, while Rhodes curses under his breath before squeezing the back of his neck with his large hand. “Thank you for watching her.”

I place my palm on his arm, even though I can tell he isn’t the touchy type. There is just something about him and his daughter that I resonate with, and I think he knows there isn’t anything underlying when I give it a squeeze. “I will watch her anytime. Just have Emory get a hold of me, okay?”

“Here’s your bow.” Ellie tries to pull the bow out of her braid, tugging on her hair.

I stop her. “That’s yours, silly.”

She smiles brightly. Her dad scoops her up and takes off down the hall, peppering her with kisses to make her giggle.

When I turn back to Emory with a soft smile on my lips, I see several cameras pointed in my direction. My smile falls immediately, and Emory’s eyes are wide with an apology, like he’s trying to warn me.

Oh no.

“Well, there she is…Mrs. Olson!”

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I may have signed a contract to be Emory’s wife, but nowhere in that contract did it say there would be cameras and sports reporters shoving a microphone in my face.

With my gaze pinned to Emory’s, I bite the inside of my cheek and slowly walk to his side.

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