Page 113 of The Wingman

“Are you uncomfortable with me sending you flowers?” His low voice makes the back of my neck prickle.

“No,” I admit.

“Are you having second thoughts about what we talked about?”

My heart lodges in my throat. “No. Definitely not.”

“Good.” His eyes turn soft. “Me neither.”

My stomach flutters. I miss him like crazy and can’t wait for him to come home so I can push him down to the floor, straddle his hips, and grind against him until his eyes do that darkened, hazy thing I find so hot.

Flowers feel serious, though. Flowers feel like a relationship. I don’t want to get my heart smashed just when I’m starting to feel like myself again.

“We said we were just going to have fun,” I tell him quietly.

“Buying you flowersisfun. I like spending money on you, Darce. Is that a problem?”

At the tone of his voice—commanding yet teasing—I bite down on a smile. “No.”

“Good. What are you doing tonight?”

My attention darts to my laptop screen. I’m not taking the job with Ward, and I should leave the analytics to the professionals.

“Darce,” Hayden drawls, seeing the guilt all over my expression. “What kind of trouble are you getting into?”

I huff a laugh. “Nothing.” I suck in a deep breath. “Okay, I was watching the game from the other night.”

“You were?”

I give him a strange look. “Of course I was. And I wore your jersey during it, obviously.”

His eyes gleam with pride. “I didn’t know that.”

“Why are you surprised? I love watching you play. Anyway, the game the other night. Ward keeps pairing Alexei with new defensemen, and it isn’t working.”

I have that feeling again, the one that led me to checking the numbers for the Storm’s array of power play and penalty kill configurations.

“There’s this guy who plays college hockey, Luca Walker.” My pulse picks up. “I think he’d play well with Alexei.”

Hayden’s eyebrows go up. “Oh yeah?”

“He played one game in the NHL last year, and it didn’t go well, but I think it was just a one-off.” I shake my head, frowning. “It was just one game, and there are a lot of reasons why a guy doesn’t play well. He’s young, but he has a lot of similar characteristics to you.” Luca Walker is kind of sloppy, but there’s talent there. “Ward has a lot of experienced guys on the team, but if I look at how teams play over, say, five years, they have more younger players that they’re always developing. Thereare only a few young guys on the team right now. A lot of the players are twenty-five or older.”

“You think the Storm should draft this guy?”

“It’s worth a try to see if Alexei plays well with him.” The league’s trade deadline is approaching quickly, and after that, the teams are set for the rest of the season and playoffs. The Storm are likely in the playoffs this year, but there’s no guarantee. If I’m right, a change like this could make a difference. “You should say something to Ward.”

He arches an eyebrow. “Youshould.”

My thoughts go to the job offer in my email from yesterday morning.In case you change your mind, Ward wrote.

Fear holds me back, and I hate myself for that. I’m terrified that my data won’t hold up and it’ll lead to the Storm getting knocked out of the running for the playoffs. Careers are at stake. Someone could get hurt. The team wants to win the playoffs so badly, and I’d never forgive myself if I messed that up for them.

Hayden is a whole new element to why I can’t take this job. I’d be working closely with him. I’d probably be traveling with the team. Thisthing, whatever we’re doing with his sweet kisses on my neck and sleeping in the same bed every night, has an expiration date.

And then I get to watch as he moves on to other girls, showering them with his teasing smiles and pulling them into his lap.

I can’t watch that. I can’t take the job.

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