Page 23 of Here Be Dragons
"Can I get my shirt back?" he asked.
She shook her head. As she had determined before, she was not going to give this up. No way.
"Ava, it had a Cleveland Dragons logo on it."
She looked down at her chest and the dragon circling her left breast. Then she turned back to him, shrugged, and gave him an innocent smile. No words, just the smile, letting him know that he wasn't getting it back.
"Are you going to make me walk back to my room without a shirt on?" he asked.
"That's not the worst thing."
His head fell down, his shoulders slumped. Some men could admit defeat, and right now, Shane was going to be one of them. He slowly shuffled over in his dumb shoes and planted a chaste kiss on the top of her head.
"So I guess we have to play this off as if nothing happened?" he asked quietly.
She reached over and gently grabbed his hand. "Nothing happened," she replied.
He nodded, and she was thankful that he understood. This was just a one-time thing for them or just a one-trip thing for them maybe. It was something they both enjoyed in the Hamptons, but they knew it had to stay in the Hamptons. She didn't have to explain all of that to him or have some real conversation about their feelings or whatever. What would happen would happen behind closed doors at this stupid hotel and that would be the end of it.
"You going to the gym now?"
She had switched to that light tone she would use on clients. Pleasant but only a little friendly. She hoped he picked up on it and realized she was trying to change the subject to something more flippant.
"I'm just going to make up some excuse," he said. "Had a late night on the phone with that reporter or something."
"Not a bad plan," she replied. "So I'll... see you later."
He stood up straighter, the emotions on his face slipping away, which disappointed Ava a little. Then he gave her a curt nod.
"Good night, Ava."
His voice was tough now, stoic. It was a sign of how he would act the next time she saw him at the conference center. She didn't like it, but she knew it had to be this way. And she could tell he knew the same thing.
"Good night, Mr. Taylor."
He gave her a small smile as he gently pulled his hand out of hers and walked away. She couldn't bring herself to watch him walk out, even if she did know that his ass looked amazing in those track pants.
She heard the door open and then latch closed behind him. Then Ava took a breath to center herself and got off the bed. She had a battle to fight today and it was time to get ready. Shane and his gorgeous body and stupid adorable lopsided smile would have to be shoved into some corner of her mind.She had work to do.
Chapter Eight
It had been four days since she had that meeting in her room with the players and their lawyer, and it had done exactly what Ava hoped it would do.
The news started leaking two days ago in the San Francisco paper, then spread online, and made it to the front page of the Detroit and Cleveland papers the next day. She had to especially give Shane credit. The reporter in Cleveland dug up a bunch of local stuff that even Ava hadn't realized was going on. This stupid plan of Jason's wasn't limited to his San Francisco headquarters. He was cost-cutting at all of his offices across the country. So when a few players started leaving little seeds of doubt in the minds of reporters, they ran with it.
The reporter at the Cleveland paper seemed particularly appreciative, sending a fruit basket to Shane's room at the hotel.
"To be clear, I didn't send that to you as a reporter. I sent that to you as a fan who is really damn hopeful that he doesn't have to write more stories about restaurants in Cleveland. Get the season started soon, man!"
Shane had played the reporter's voicemail for Ava three times the other night, although that was because Ava asked him to play it over for her so he really couldn't say no. She was wearing her black lace underwear -- she had prepared this time -- with the juice from an apple dripping down her chin. She wasn't going to hide that fact and even played it up more when she realized just how much it was turning Shane on.
When he kissed her, he moaned and complimented her for tasting extra sweet. Then he had his way with her. Again. She definitely didn't complain about that either.
She wasn't kidding herself. She knew this couldn't continue and that they were on borrowed time now. Ava's plan was doing its job by pressuring the other owners' lawyers to get the contract done so the season could start. Once the deal was final, her relationship with Shane would be final too.
That bothered her a little bit. She would be lying if she said it wasn't at least a little disappointing that she would have to say goodbye to him soon. She liked being around him, and not just for the sex. After he had his way with her the other night and that apple of hers was done, they spent three hours sitting on chairs in his room looking out over the parking lot talking about... well, anything. Life back home, the hockey season, his two sisters, and her brother. His view wasn't as nice as hers, but she didn't care. She wasn't about to leave to get a better view when the best view was right next to her.
During the day, she distracted herself by sitting in a bland conference room having her way with these stupid lawyers. Ava loved sitting across from the Bay City Bears' lawyer as he fumbled again over another answer. She was enjoying this. She wasreallyenjoying this.
