Page 14 of Broken Player

“Yeah?”

“Is this a date?” I squirmed a little under the heat pooling in his gaze.

He took a step closer, and I could feel the warmth radiating off of his body through my clothes. “I’d like it to be, yes.” He lifted his hand and brushed a stray lock of hair off of my forehead with his fingertips. “Is that okay?”

“Mmhmm,” I mumbled, unable to form coherent words. What kind of sorcery was this? He’d managed to turn me into a jumble of nerves and lust. Only one other person had ever done that to me, but I refused to let him into my thoughts. It was time I moved on.

Yates stepped back and flashed me his bright white smile one more time. “Great, I’ll text you in a little while and pick you up at seven then. Wear something nice,” he added, turning back to his desk. I guess that meant I was dismissed. I bristled at the end of our interaction, but the rest had been great, so I let it go. I was sure he needed to get back to work.

“See you then,” I said and made my way out of the bank.

As the spell broke and the adrenaline of the meeting wore off, I wondered what the hell I’d been thinking. I was not even close to ready to date. And what was this proposal Yates had hinted at? A little bit of hope bloomed inside me at the idea that maybe he’d be willing to help me save the ranch outside of the bank’s rigid rules and policies.

Whatever happened, I had a feeling everything was about to change. I could only hope it’d be for the better.

I hadn't packed a single thing to deal with the wild mess my hair was after a day out in the humid Texas heat, so I sat in a comfortable chair, sipping sparkling water and texting Quinn. At the same time, a hairdresser tamed the mess on my head.

Quinn: Wait, did you say date?

Ryan: Yup.

Quinn: So, he denied your loan then asked you out?

Ryan: It sounds terrible when you put it that way.

Quinn: …

Ryan: I'm glad you're keeping your opinion to yourself. Now help me with outfits. He said to dress nicely. What do I wear?

Quinn: What does 'nice' mean?

Ryan: Hell if I know. Dress?

Quinn: Definitely a dress. Send me dressing room selfies.

I could always count on Quinn to steer me in the right direction when it came to outfit selection. Having a gay best friend definitely had its perks. When my hair was finished, I jumped in my car and headed to a department store. A fancy boutique shopper, I was not. I didn't have a lot of money to throw around on new outfits, but I wanted to impress Yates.

Maybe it was more that I wanted to impress myself. I couldn't remember the last time I had a reason to dress up, so I wanted to make the most out of tonight.

I loaded down my arms with dresses until they shook under the weight, and I had to stretch my neck to see over the top of the pile. Stepping into the dressing room, I tossed the pile onto the waiting chair in the corner and grabbed the first dress off the top.

Pulling it down over my head, I realized my fatal error. I went to the salon before trying on dresses, which meant every dress was going to go over my head. Sorting through the pile, I tossed out anything that didn't have a zipper, hoping I could find something leftover that would look decent on my athletic body. I had curves, sure, but I also had muscles, so looking feminine could be challenging.

I hoped this wouldn't be one of them.

After trying on at least a dozen dresses and hating them all, I started to sweat, and Quinn's messages were getting snarkier and snarkier.

Quinn: I thought men were supposed to do the peacocking.

I glanced down at the dress I had on, wincing at the amount of sequins and feathery things hanging off of it. This was hopeless.

Ryan: Screw this. I'm grabbing pants.

Quinn sent back a string of clapping andhallelujahemojis, and I rolled my eyes. I liked dressing up fine, but I was more at home in pants. They were moreme. And I didn't have time for this bullshit right now. I only had about an hour before Yates would be picking me up at my hotel, and I wanted to grab a quick shower.

I gathered up the huge pile of rejected dresses and dumped them on the dressing room attendant with an apology and mademy way back to the sales floor. I quickly scanned the racks, pulling out a pair of pink wide-leg, high waisted pants, and a white halter neck bodysuit.Perfect.I didn't even bother trying them on, I didn't have time.

When I got back to my hotel, I jumped in the fastest shower of my life, did my makeup, and then threw on the outfit. Thankfully it fit perfectly. I snapped a quick mirror selfie and sent it to Quinn for final approval. The butterflies sprung to life in my stomach. I waited for him to reply, noticing that I only had a couple of minutes before Yates would be knocking on the door.

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