Page 13 of Steamy Dunk
Sure, she took his warm-up jacket and he would have to text her or something and get that figured out. Of course, he hadn't picked up the phone to do that, but neither had she. He hoped that wasn't a bad sign and that he would come back to the building and find out she had just left it at the front desk for him to pick it up.
Actually, he wouldn't mind that because he was now on the road for eight days without a warm-up jacket after she stole his. The equipment guys bring extra track pants and extra uniforms but apparently bringing an extra warm-up jacket to cover the one you left at home or had stolen by a beautiful woman was something they didn't pack for the road.
But again, he was on the road. On Saturday, he was having his way with a beautiful woman he had just met. On Sunday, he was at the airport for an eight-day road trip.
The timing was a mess and he was making it worse by not sending her a text or calling or even explaining his lack of contact.
He was pissed off that she left, horny thinking about her coming back, and he still hadn't done anything about it. At some point, he would have to figure this all out. But today, he had basketball.
So far, he had a morning practice with the team and then back to the hotel for a shower and some lunch. It was one of those typical basketball on the road lunches with bland chicken, pasta, and some other extras. The hotels must have a "protein and carb menu for athletes" that they shared with every other hotel because it was the same from place to place.
But as the team started to head back to the elevators to get in their afternoon naps before the game, something very different appeared -- or rather someone.
"Well, hello," Tyler said in a very knowing voice. "What kind of afternoon delight do you have planned?"
"What?"
Tyler nodded his head towards the restaurant's bar and a woman sitting there with a computer in front of her and a martini glass next to it.
Violet.
What the hell? Yes, he hadn't talked to her since Saturday, so did she follow him here? It was easy to check the schedule and know he was on the road, and where the visiting teams stayed wasn't a total secret. But it also seemed a little odd that she had just invited herself to Kansas City after one night. She didn't seem like the clingy type, especially since she hadn't called him or texted him after leaving while he was still asleep.
So why was she sitting at the bar at the restaurant in the hotel where he was staying?
"I'll uh..." Parker turned to see Tyler giving him a stupid knowing grin. "I'll catch you before the game."
"Make sure you save some energy for the game," Tyler said with a wink.
Ugh. That just made it worse. How was he going to explain this one to Tyler later? He didn't invite Violet there. So what? She just coincidentally was in the same hotel in the same city at the same time? Yeah, that was too coincidental.
Parker took a deep breath, trying to steady himself as he walked over unsure of how to handle this. He couldn't confront her in the bar in public like that and it was hard for him to be inconspicuous when he was almost seven feet tall and a professional basketball player that people recognized.
Maybe it was just a weird misunderstanding. Maybe she thought this would be a nice gesture.
Maybe he was still horny after their night together and maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing if she was in town just to see him.
He put his hand on the back of the bar chair next to him. "Excuse me," he said politely. "Is this seat taken?"
"Don't sit there," she said directly without looking up from her computer. "I'm doing work and I have a boyfriend."
"Really? Because you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend on Saturday."
Her fingers paused in midair over her laptop's keyboard and he could tell she was too stunned to respond. Maybe he caught her off guard and she was waiting for later to knock on his door or something and announce her presence.
She finally turned to him with a look of shock on her face that made him think she was just as stunned to see him there as he was to see her there.
"Um, hi." Her eyes wandered down his body before coming back up to look at his face. "What are you doing here?"
He couldn't help the incredulous look he gave her. "I was about to ask you the same thing."
The corners of her lips turned up into just a bit of a smile as if she had finally caught on to what was happening here even if he hadn't figured it out yet. "Work."
She pointed to the papers that he just noticed sitting next to her with some bright pink and orange swatches.
Oh. Oh, yeah. This was a coincidence.
Of all the hotels in all the cities, apparently they both were actually both there for work.
