Page 60 of The Wedding Deal
The absurdly handsome man lying next to her in bed was sleeping like a rock, and Charlotte took advantage of the chance to unabashedly stare. Not that she’d ever held back very well when it came to Lance Quaid, but he was always on the go, always moving, forever on the phone.
Apparently all he needed to slow down was insanely hot sex several times in a twenty-four hour period.
If it weren’t for his declaration about five of those hours ago, she’d be lamenting the fact that the wedding was tomorrow and their trip was almost over.
He wants to try to make us work. Even when we get back to San Antonio.
He asked me to be his girlfriend.
Since she was too keyed up to sleep, she sent off a quick text to Shannon letting her know about the new development.
Shannon:Nice catch! I mean he sort of breaks your football rules on EVERY SINGLE LEVEL, but he’s smoking hot and his net worth is through the roof.
Shannon’s sudden obsession with net worth came from her issues with her last freeloading boyfriend, which was why she now had a salary requirement for the guys she was willing to consider dating.
But Charlotte hardly cared about that. Of course, it was easy to say money didn’t matter when you were sleeping on Egyptian cotton sheets in a five-star hotel room you’d arrived at by flying across the country in a private jet.
While her family had never been anywhere near the same wealth stratosphere as the Quaids, she’d experienced life with and—after Dad lost everything they had—without money. While it definitely made things easier in a lot of ways, it was far from the most important thing to her.
Especially when it came to guys—to her boyfriend.
Under Lance’s all-business exterior beat a heart of gold. His brashness came from his desire to change the team and to do what was best for it. And in spite of how difficult it’d been for him to swallow his pride, he’d been a trouper about calling and apologizing to their old/new CFO.
At the end of the wedding rehearsal, he’d made sure they stopped to say goodbye to his nephews, his sister and her husband, and his parents. They’d been hand in hand when Lance told his mom she’d be happy to know he’d considered what she’d talked to him about, and that Charlotte was now his work associateandhis girlfriend.
The woman had embraced her so tightly that Charlotte could still feel the residual hug, feel the acceptance and happiness that’d flowed through her veins.
It was like a damn fairy tale.
She was far from a princess, but she did love her shoes. Enough she wouldn’t go losing one of them like Cinderella. She’d rather a guy see her in rags and talking to mice than leave one of her pretties behind.
The idea of a football princess hit her, and she smiled at her silly, late-night thoughts.
This was going to work. She’d never truly believed she could have it all and had given up on fairy tales long ago, and yet… She looked at Lance again. She snuggled up next to him, and when he automatically reached out for her and pulled her closer, she kissed his cheek.
It wasn’t until sleep had nearly sucked her under that she realized she’d never called her dad.
…
Charlotte lifted her satiny pink skirt and strode down the hall in her unbuckled silver heels as quickly as she dared, her suitcase trailing behind her. She’d been nearly done curling her hair when Lance had texted and said he needed her for a call—the call—ASAP.
She slid her key into the hotel room, swearing when it flashed red instead of green. Before she could try again, Lance swung open the door.
“Maybe we should increase the offer. I’m sure he could get a higher salary with…” His gaze ran down her, snagging at the slit that came halfway up her thigh. She’d wondered if she should pin it together to ensure it remained in the proper range, but as his eyes heated, she decided that from time to time, a little impropriety was in order. As long as she didn’t show up the bride she was good, and she’d seen Stacy’s dress right before they’d taken the photos of the female portion of the wedding party—that was hardly a risk.
“With who?”
“Huh?” Lance said, jerking his head back up. In his black slacks and open white shirt, he was quite the sight himself.
She smiled, a thrill going through her. Not only because he was all hers, but also because she’d managed to elicit such a strong reaction from him. Maybe breaking the rules now and then did have its advantages. “You were in the middle of a sentence.”
“Right. I…” He leaned forward, bracketed her head in his hands, and kissed her. His mouth was urgent and demanding, and she happily acquiesced and let him devour her. By the time he broke the kiss, they were both breathless. He exhaled and rested his forehead against hers. “That was supposed to help put kissing you out of my head so I could focus. But now I’m getting other ideas, and I don’t have time for ideas. Unless it’s a genius plan on how to increase our budget without increasing it.”
“That…would be impressive. Maybe not so much realistic, though.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “It’ll be enough.”
“But he could probably get more from another team.”
“He doesn’t want another team. He wants to play for the Mustangs and turn them into a championship-winning team. To do that, we still need to acquire several other players. He’ll understand that, and we can negotiate a bit if we need to.”
