Page 67 of Striking Heat
I shake my head. “You’re really going to screw yourself over if you don’t get it together.”
Thankfully, I have my iPad in the back of the car. I keep it with me all the time in case I need to write or take some notes. This way, I can maybe get some notes together that I’ve been putting into the notes app on my phone. Or at least determine all of the questions I still want to ask her.
I’ve done this before, but something always gets in the way, and I don’t feel like asking her anything. I want to listen to her talk, but not about the things the fans will care about. I want to talk to her about her likes and dislikes. I want to find out who she’s dated and for how long. I want to know what she thinks this is between us and what will happen when the article is published. Can I still be at the games without anyone questioning it? And will she even want me there?
I head to the booth in the back of the diner, where hopefully I can get something done. Sal isn’t in yet, so I’ll just have to have some random waitress wait on me. Which might be good because Sal is chatty, and she might have asked me about Mac. Maybe bringing her here was a mistake. Soon, I might not have a place safe from her.
I order breakfast and look over my notes. There’s not much here. Fuck. What am I going to tell August? I decide I better text him back so that he doesn’t get suspicious.
Danny:Yeah, sorry, bro. Got a little tangled up last night. But I’m free for golf or whatever. Hoping to get the article polished off soon. Hit me later if you wanna hang.
I hit send and hope it’s enough that he won’t be suspicious. Getting tangled up wasn’t exactly a lie. I was pretty tangled up with her—three times, in fact. I smile thinking of the way she looked when she was on her knees in front of me.
Like an angel.
“I know that look,” Nick says, dropping into the booth across from me. “Who are you so smitten with, and can I guess?”
My head snaps up, and I look at him through narrowed eyes. “What do you mean who I am so smitten with? I’m not smitten with anyone. I’m not even seeing someone.”
“Oh, you don’t have to be seeing someone to be smitten with them. And I know that something is going on. You didn’t even come to the bar last night. There were so many hot girls there. The team was there, and they were in good spirits. I swear, if I wasn’t hired by Cromwell for pictures for home games and certain he would rip my balls off, I would have taken one of them home with me.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “I’m glad you had a nice time last night.”
“I did. I was hanging out with August,” he tells me. “He wasasking me about the article. He wants to know when you’re getting that done. I covered for you and told you that I know you’re working hard on it.”
“What do you mean you covered for me?”
“I haven’t seen you work on it very much,” he admits with a shrug. “What’s going on with you? Are you banging her?”
My head snaps up. “What?” I try to act surprised, but based on the smug smile on his face, he’s figured it out.
“Don’t bullshit me, man. I see the chemistry there, and I know something is happening. I’m just not sure what. And I’m not sure if anyone else has figured it out. You better hope not.”
He smiles like the cat that ate the canary. He nailed it right, and I can’t deny it. I’m not trying to deny it, either.
I sigh and take a sip of my coffee. “What are you saying, Nick? Are you saying that you’re going to turn us in? Or are you saying that you know and you’re going to be cool and keep a secret?”
He chuckles. “Dude, come on, how did you get yourself so mixed up with her?”
“She’s not as bitchy as you would think. It’s just a front she puts on. She’s sweet, and I like hanging out with her. But I’m not sure that it’s anything more than fucking. And it hasn’t been going on that long.”
“Cromwell is not going to like that,” he tells me. “I’m not going to tell anyone. I just want you to be careful, dude. Cromwell is a powerful man. If he wants to get you fired from the paper, he will. If he wants to blackball you from the city, he will. He has that kind of power.”
I nod. “Think he would do all of that?”
Nick shrugs. “I don’t know, but you better get your fucking act together, man, and get the article done.”
“What do you think I’m doing here?”
“Coming from a night with her, huh?” he teases me.
The waitress comes over, and he orders breakfast for himself.
“I did, yeah, and now I’m trying to figure out what to do aboutit. Trying to figure out what questions I should be asking her. It’s hard. Every time I’m with her; I want to do other things and not treat her like she’s some kind of job.”
“But she is a job,” he reminds me.
“I know. I?—”
