Page 16 of The Situation
This whole situation has happened so quickly that I haven’t had much time to think about the ramifications if she doesn’t show up—or, worse, if she shows up at the restaurant with someone else. It wouldn’t be surprising if some other man had locked her in for dinner. There’s also the tiniest possibility that she’s not into me.
I bite back a laugh.Of course, she’s into me.
Her reasons for turning me down aren’t clear, but I suspect I can get to the bottom of it before the night is over.
And, if I’m lucky, I’ll get under her before morning, too.
ChapterFour
Aurora
I run a towel over my wet hair. My hand trembles, making the process difficult. It’s hard to do anything when I’m still buzzed from my interactions with Tate.
“I really want to see you again, Kelly.”
My knees wobble as I recall Tate’s devilish smirk leveled at me.
How is this happening to me?
I’ve floated around my hotel for the last couple of hours, replaying our conversation on the plane and again at baggage claim when we ran into each other.
He offered me a ride to the hotel. I politely declined.
My body still tingles from his hand touching my lower back as he helped me into my ride-share. He wasn’t thrilled with my decision to get into the car with the random driver the app sent, and I saw him snap a quick picture of the license plate. I had to finesse my way through the interaction, so he didn’t pick up on my real name, and I apologized to Tony, the driver, for Tate’s subtle-not-subtle instruction to get me to the hotel quickly, safely, and in one piece.
It was unnecessary. It was alsosofucking hot.
My phone rings in the bedroom, and I work my fingers through my wet hair as I answer it.
“Hello,” I say, putting my intern, Tally, on speakerphone.
“Hi, Aurora. How’s Columbus?”
“No complaints so far. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to check in and see if you need anything before I leave for the weekend.”
“You’re sweet, Tally. Thank you for checking on me. I can’t think of anything I need, and things here are going great.”My ego is on cloud nine.“How are things in the office?”
“Good. I finally got the schedule for the stadium gym and forwarded it to you. It’s already pretty full through the end of the year, so we might want to reserve slots next week to be sure we have space for tryouts.”
I smile. “Smart.”
I’m lucky to be working with her.
Gaining Tally Thatcher as an intern was an unexpected win. She already had a couple of months’ experience working for the team, and we clicked instantly. She’s kind and passionate, and her energy makes work fun.
“I also did some digging into community events for the rest of the year and found a few that I think might work great,” she says. “Everyone I’ve talked to has been very receptive to working with us. I’m so excited about how this is coming together.”
“That’s excellent news. Did you hear back from Charlie about our timeline?”
“Yeah …” She hesitates, drawing my curiosity. “He came by this morning and asked to meet with us on Tuesday. I got the feeling that something was off.”
“Really?” My brows pull together. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t seem upset with us or anything. It was more like his tone hinted something was on his mind that he wanted to say in person. I don’t know how to describe it.”
I hum, racking my brain for potential issues.
