Page 69 of Over the Moon

“I’ll be ready.”

“All right, get inside,” he said, his eyes still on me.

“Such a gentleman.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you could read my thoughts right now,” he smirked. “Go. Get some sleep.”

I waved and stepped inside and fell against the door, sliding down to the floor.

Holy hotness.

What the hell was that tonight?

He was sweet and romantic and sexy and bossy all at the same time.

And I was here for it.

There was a knock on the door, and I startled. Had he come back?

I looked through the peephole and laughed when I saw Emilia in her pajamas, standing on the front porch.

I pulled the door open and tugged her inside. “What are you doing here, Em? It’s late.”

“I was up reading, and the motion detectors turned on when you got home. I’m dying to know how it went.” She plopped down on my couch. “By the looks of it, you did not hate the kiss the way you hoped you would. Or did the kiss not happen?”

“Oh, it happened.” I filled her in on all the details, minus the embarrassing way I humped him like a horny teenager. But I told her that we made out multiple times, and we laughed, and we ate, and we even watched my favorite movie at the outdoor theatre he set up.

Her mouth hung open, and her eyes were wide. “This does not sound like a one-time kiss type of thing, Lo.”

I loved that we had nicknames for one another now.

“I mean, where can it go? This is a temporary situation. When we go back to the city in a few weeks, everything will change.” I shrugged, falling back onto the couch beside her. “Why does this have to be the one guy that I like?”

“So why not just enjoy it for a few weeks? Then you’ll go back to San Francisco and you’ll be distracted by work and life, and you can leave your small-town romance in the past.”

I covered my face, feeling ridiculous about all of this. “I just… I don’t know.”

She pulled my hands away and arched a brow. “Tell me what you’re worried about.”

“I like him. More than I ever thought I would. And I don’t want to get attached. I can’t get attached. It’s not an option.”

“Hmmm… catching feelings would definitely complicate things. And what if he catches feelings? That could happen,” she said. “What if you both caught feelings?”

“I would lose my job, Em. Not to mention I would embarrass my father in the process. I would have a hard time getting hired anywhere else if I were let go for inappropriate behavior by the first team that hired me. It’s rule number one of being a woman in this business. I literally just started my job, and I’m falling for the hot hockey player that I’m working with. I’m a complete cliché. This is not good.” I sighed.

“Okay, this is what we’ve got going for us…” She paused, and I laughed because I loved that she felt like she was in this with me. “He doesn’t do relationships, so this could all fizzle out in a few days. Don’t overthink it. He’ll probably act weird tomorrow, which will annoy you, and we’ll be laughing about this by next weekend.”

“You’re right. I don’t even like hockey players normally. It’s probably just a short-term attraction, and it’ll pass. He could easily pretend nothing happened when I see him tomorrow. I mean, maybe he pulled out all the bells and whistles in hopes I’d sleep with him. He’s probably disappointed with the way things went down, and he’s going to be on to the next conquest. So, I’ll just act normal tomorrow.”

“Yes. And if that doesn’t happen and you want to make out with the man a few more times before you go back to the city—no judgment. You’re here for a few more weeks, and he’s so freaking hot. No one would fault you,” she said.

“That’s where you’re wrong. Everyone in my industry would fault me.”

“Well, you’re in Rosewood River, so no one’s here. Think of it like this… What if you’d met him while you were on a vacation? And you’d had a hot fling. Then you got back to the city and found out that he was a new player on the team. You would be innocent because you didn’t know. And it would be over by then, so no crime, no foul.”

My head fell back in laughter. “But I do know that he’s on the team, and I did it anyway.”

“There’s no witnesses. It’s our secret.”

---