Page 70 of Unexpected Forever
“Some last-minute things on a wedding shower we have in a few days.” She moves her laptop onto the nightstand and settles back. “What about you? How are you? How was your day? How’s Florida?”
I miss the shit out of you.“Hot, humid. Like Florida in July. And I’m exhausted, but in a good way. I hung out with the team for a while during practice.”
“I bet you loved that.”
“I did. I’ve missed it.”
“It’s understandable. That was your whole life for years.”
I love how she understands me. I love how easy it is to talk to her. It also terrifies the shit out of me.
“Yeah, it was.”
“How did the contract negotiations go?”
I rub the back of my neck. I didn’t want to tell her I’m stalling in the form of some bullshit nitpicky contract changes. It’s a sticky situation.
I want to be there with her and the baby. All the time. But there are problems.
If I do what I really want to do with my career, it keeps me in Florida and traveling a lot.
Then there’s the issue of my inability to let anyone get close. My former teammates are the closest thing I have to family other than Megan, and I like it that way.
Or at least I did.
Now, I’m just confused.
Finally, there’s the fact we aren’t together as a couple. And yet, there’s an intimacy between us I can’t deny. An attraction between us so strong we had to make fucking rules to keep things from getting complicated.
It’s making me crazy. Traveling is my only saving grace right now, even though she’s always on my mind.
But I’m not the one for her. And as gorgeous and sensuous as she is, there’s no way she’ll stay single forever.
The very thought of her with another man makes me want to punch the wall.
Charley tilts her head. “That bad?”
Her voice snaps me back. “Uh, it was fine, why?
“Your face looks like you want to murder someone.”
I run a hand down my face, trying to erase the emotions I don’t need to have from my face and brain. “Sorry. We hit a couple of snags Lou will negotiate.”
“That’s good.” She nods before breaking into a smile. “Oh, I almost forgot! Thank you for the chocolate.” Pink tints her cheeks. “I’ve already eaten half the box.”
She slaps a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide, making me laugh. “Hey, babe. They’re made to be eaten.”
“But they were so colorful and glossy. They almost looked too pretty to eat.” She lifts a shoulder with a grin. “Almost.”
I chuckle. “I’m glad you enjoyed them.”
“And I will continue to enjoy them tomorrow.”
Which reminds me as to why I texted her in the first place. “Hey, listen. I wanted to let you know my publicist is going to send out the news about us tomorrow. I wanted to let you know to be vigilant.”
“Do I need to worry?”
I don’t miss the fear that flitted across her face. I clench my jaw, hating the fact she’s worried about this and I’m not there.
