Page 43 of Wine and Research
Without taking her eyes off the game—more specifically, Jeremy—Elle pulled a sandwich from the bag before passing the bag to Faith. “Didn’t expect you to provide entertainment, too.”
Her gaze on the guys, Faith performed the same sandwich grab-bag pass maneuver to Jenna. “Certainly wasn’t planned, but I never look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“Especially when the horses are so amazingly muscled,” Jenna murmured, removing her sandwich.
For several minutes, the three of them sat there eating and viewing their fill in silence. Elle was pretty sure Faith’s gaze was on Nico, while Jenna’s was on Scott. Hers, of course, centered on Jeremy.
She hadn’t really spoken to the guy since he’d reduced her bones to mush and left her completely satiated. The fact that he hadn’t asked to stay all night had both disappointed and relieved Elle at the same time. She hadn’t wanted him to stay, because falling asleep with him was on her “Things not to do” list. And yet she’d experienced an unexpected, albeit unwanted, ripple of disappointment because he hadn’t even tried.
Which was stupid with a capital S.
They were both obviously on the same page, and she appreciated it. And if he decided that one evening was enough, she’d accept that and be grateful for the amazing memories—and orgasms—he’d given her.
No way would Elle pursue him. She was still of the mindset to let fate decide if she should see him again, even though she was not opposed to a few more sated scenes with him. It’s too bad she hadn’t had a conversation with him yesterday about where they stood. For some reason, fate had intervened and sent her to work at Gabe’s instead of with Jeremy. Hell, she hadn’t even gotten a chance to say more than “Hi” to the guy when he’d stopped in for lunch.
Why? Was fate being cruel? Was it just life?
Was she going to finish her sandwich without him invading her thoughts?
Not likely. Not with his muscles flexing down his arm and back as he completed a perfect layup, putting his team ahead.
Nico grumbled, and Jeremy smiled before he said something and walked backwards down the court. Her heartskipped a beat. The guy didn’t smile often, but damn, when he did, it was dangerous. She reached for her mocha by the Confection Connection box in the middle of the table and took a big sip before setting it back down.
Chocolate and coffee were her idea of liquid courage, and it was a good thing, because Nico whipped the ball at Jeremy’s feet, hard. It bounced completely over him, as well as the fence and into Faith’s yard, rolling to a stop near Elle’s chair.
Her pulse kicked up as Jeremy’s gaze followed the ball then slowly rose to meet her face, and holy wow, he smiled again and it reached his eyes, turning them an electric blue that warmed her down to her toes.
As if on autopilot, Elle got up, grabbed the ball with one hand and walked to where Jeremy stood on the other side of the fence.
“Here, you might need this,” she said, a smile on her lips as she fought back an unexpected bout of shyness.
He took the ball from her and tossed it over his head toward the court without dropping her gaze. “I definitely do. But not the ball.”
Elle’s heart careened into her ribs from his words and the way he looked at her like he remembered everything they’d done to and with each other…and he wanted to do it again.
She lifted her chin and slid him a lopsided grin. “Another round?”
“Yeah.” He matched her lopsided grin and added a heated gaze. “For starters.”
Warmth funneled low in her belly. “I like the sound of that. When?”
“You tell me.”
Right now, her mind screamed, but she managed to keep the words for making it past her lips. She had to write. Dammit.“After I hit my daily word count. So, probably this evening,” she replied, hoping he didn’t already have plans.
He smiled. “Sounds good. Shoot me a text when you’re done.”
“Okay, but I don’t have your number.”
His lopsided grin returned. “Oh, yeah, you do. But give me your phone.”
Realizing with a start that she was still holding her half-eaten breakfast sandwich, Elle dug her cell out of the side pocket in her yoga pants with her free hand.
“That from Gabe’s?” Jeremy asked, staring longingly at her forgotten sandwich.
“Yes.” She chuckled, holding it out to him. “You want to finish it?”
He frowned. “Are you sure?”
