Page 28 of Go Deep

“I didn’t take you for a sugar addict.” Gabe’s low voice vibrates against my ear. Damn, he’s close. So close I could turn my head and taste his lips. I swallow hard as he nods at my plate. I look down at the pile of brownies, cookies, and mini cupcakes I grabbed.

Sugar is my vice. It’s why I pay Zack to ride my ass at thegym every morning. It’s also my go-to when I’m in an uncomfortable situation. Yep,sothere.

“I, uh, ate some real food for lunch.” I grab a bottle of water and sink into one of the couches.

Gabe grins and pops a French fry into his mouth. “You like dessert.”

I almost choke on a cookie. If he only knew… “Maybe I’m trying to hold on to my youth.”

“Or maybe you just like the taste of something sweet. Something forbidden.”

My heart screeches to a halt. “Thank God for my trainer.”

He winks. “Is that your preferred way of working off all those carbs?”

Um… “It’s the only way that keeps me out of trouble.”

Gabe laughs. It’s a hearty laugh tinged with seduction. If I stare for one second too long, he’ll figure out what I’m trying to hide. I have to forcibly turn my head, or else I’ll get swept away into those deep pools of blue.

“Speaking of trouble, where’s your girlfriend? You’re okay with her hanging around these drunken clowns?”

I swallow a large piece of brownie and fuck, it’s amazing. Moist and full of melted chocolate chunks. Jeanette is so good to me, she knows how to feed my addiction. I could never nail her and mess up a good thing. “Jeanette’s not my girlfriend. She’s my personal assistant.”

“Oh, so you’re just sleeping with her?”

“No sex. Purely platonic.”

“And your girlfriend doesn’t mind you having a PA who looks like her?”

Again with the girlfriend. That lie is going to haunt me forever, isn’t it? “She’s been working for me for a few years. My girlfriend isn’t threatened.” Which would be complete bullshit if said girlfriend did exist because there is no way in hell anywoman in her right mind would date a guy who had a PA who looked like Jeanette.

“Interesting. Your girlfriend must be something else, huh?”

“Yeah,” I choke down some water, desperate to get off of the topic of my hot as fuck mirage of a girlfriend. “How’s training camp?”

“Hotter than hell by nine a.m. Impossible to breathe.” Gabe snickers and rolls his shoulder back. “My rotator cuff has been bothering me, too, so I’m trying to take it easy the next couple of weeks before the season starts.”

“Don’t ignore your body.” Ha! What a fucking joke. How do you spell hypocrite again? Oh right, that would be V-I-N-C-E.

“Oh, believe me, I always listen to it.” That mischievous twinkle in his eye makes my cock jerk. I shift to the side, praying he doesn’t notice, since I am clearly the one ignoring his body right now.

“Now tell me, Vince.” Gable leans forward. The way he speaks my name sends tiny quakes shuddering through me. What does he want to know? There’s a look on his face… confusion, maybe? Uncertainty? Disbelief? Whatever the hell it is, I’m more than a little panicked.

Can he see the same things Eva had witnessed all those years? Is my poker face only as good as my actual game, which by the way, is complete crap?

My chest tightens. Jesus Christ, I think I’m about to have a stroke right in the middle of my own event. This guy is about to out me in front of all my colleagues, and I can’t draw in a single breath. He knows, he can see past my bullshit façade. Dammit.

“Yes?” It takes every bit of strength to force out the word.

“How is it possible…” Gabe pops a grape into his mouth, he’s so close I can see the golden highlights glimmer atop his just-been-fucked hair. Each agonizing chew makes my temples pound harder. Tiny beads of perspiration pop up along the back of my neck. My mouth is bone-fucking dry, but I’ve already downed the last of the water. “…that every time I call for a meeting, you’re too busy to talk to me? You said I was a VIP. Is that how you treat all your VIPs? By playing hard to get?”

Chapter 13

Gabe

Oh, shit. So not the question I was going to ask. But his hungry gaze caught me off-guard and I jammed my foot in my mouth instead.

“You think I’m playing hard to get?”

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