Page 28 of Play Hard
I gripped her hips, pulling her closer, wishing like hell we were at my place right now and not in the middle of the bar where anyone still in the building could walk in on us.
“What do you want, Serra?” It was suddenly imperative that I knew. In the weeks that she’d been in town and the time we’d spent together, she never mentioned her real reason for coming to Providence and I hadn’t brought it up that I knew about the broken engagement and gambling scandal. There just never seemed to be the right time to ask her what that was all about, especially since I knew she would never do something so disingenuous and illegal. But in this moment, before I could take her home and slide into her the way I’d been dreaming of doing, I needed some answers.
I knew specifically what answers I wanted, so I decided to clarify, “Why did you come to Providence?”
We’d still been close enough for another kiss, but at my questions she slowly pulled back. She didn’t make a move to getoff my lap, just put some distance between the intimacy of that kiss. “I told you I was here visiting my Pop Pop.”
She paused, and I prayed she wasn’t going to leave it at that. Once upon a time we’d been able to tell each other any and everything. Now, I know we’d been apart for a long time, and I wanted that to make a difference in how I viewed our relationship, but that shit was too hard. Aside from the love that almost festered and demolished me, I still cared very deeply for this woman. So, if she lied to me, again, I wasn’t sure I’d come back from that.
I watched her suck in a deep breath and expel it slowly. “I’m also on a leave of absence from work for reasons I’m guessing you’ve learned after today’s press release and social media frenzy.”
I shook my head. “Nah, it’s been nonstop in here since we opened the doors at eleven this morning. What social media frenzy?” Easing a hand from her thigh, I reached back to pull my phone from my pocket, but her hand on my wrist stopped me.
“Don’t…” she sighed, “don’t look now. I’ll just tell you that it’s all lies and projecting. Insults and more hurtful lies.”
I took her hand, bringing her fingers up to press my lips against them. “Tell me about it.”
“Here? Now?” She sighed again. “Can we just go to your place and talk about it?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t like negative energy where I lay my head. It took me way too long to dig myself out of darkness to allow any slivers of it in my home. Tell me what happened.”
She dropped her head, but I quickly chastised her. “Uh-uh, sweetness. Keep your eyes on me and know that whatever it is, I’ve got you.”
Shit. I didn’t mean to say all that.Hadn’t meant to let her know I was already all-in with her once more. Despite tellingmyself I could never give this woman my whole heart again, I would still do anything for her.
“I messed up.” She shrugged as she lifted her head to meet my gaze. “I fell for the wrong guy; he lied and cheated. Now, I’m on the hook with the NBA and possibly the federal government for something I didn’t do.”
Narrowing my gaze served as the only diffuser I had at the moment. “What do you mean you’re on the hook?”
The words from the posts I’d read a few weeks ago popped into my head as I struggled to pinpoint why dumbass Adrian Bowman’s fuck-ups would leave Serra unprotected. I got that he was suspected of gambling and that was a clear violation in the NBA, but what the hell did that have to do with her? The shit about the pregnant reporter, now I knew exactly how that impacted her. It embarrassed and infuriated her which made perfect sense.
“I was his agent and his fiancée.”
She tried to pull her hand away and move from my lap, but I held her still. Moving the hand that was on her hip to wrap my arm around her waist, I kept her other hand firmly in mine. She huffed.
“My lawyer says they may want access to my financial information to see if there were any transactions to bookies or online gambling sites. And to see if I was moving some of Adrian’s gambling money. It’s a big ass mess and I’m so fuckin’ tired of messing up.”
“Whoa.” I bought her fingers up to kiss them again. “Don’t do that. I still haven’t heard how you’re at fault here. Or even under suspicion.” Okay, I guess I could see the correlation. If she was sleeping with Adrian and representing him, she could possibly know about his gambling. If they were planning to get married, maybe they’d combined finances, at which point she would likely be spending the gambling money he brought in.Add to that she’s ethically bound to report any illegal infractions her clients might incur to the appropriate entities and yeah, I could definitely see why they were looking at her, too.
And I didn’t like that shit.
“Come on, Noah. You’re smart and you’re into sports, always have been. So I know you know the rules here. Adrian was betting on NBA games, in his division.”
“Dumbass,” I cut in.
She arched a brow. “Exactly.” She used her free hand to run her fingers through her hair, pushing it back behind her ear. “I didn’t know what or who he was doing for that matter. One day I’m considering a winter wedding—because that’s what he’d been hinting at—and the next I’m getting a call from this simple ass girl who says she’s having his baby. Then, before I could even catch my breath, I’m being called into my supervisor’s office and told I need to take a leave of absence while the NBA, FBI, and whoever else decide how deep I am into this gambling ring.”
“So, wait? Your job thinks you’re involved?”
“No, I don’t think so. I mean, Michaela and Freddie are both great women. I’ve known them for five years and we’ve all gotten along very well. Freddie is actually my closest friend. But they have a brand to protect.” She shook her head. “This is not how I wanted to end the night. I was supposed to be coming over here to start seducing you, then you were supposed to take me home and fuck me until I couldn’t think about this shit anymore.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that last part, even though I knew she was dead serious. “Nobody said that’s off the table, sweetness. I just need to make sure we’re both on the same page here. Besides, how many drinks have you had?”
I didn’t really think she was drunk. It was totally logical that we both had shit we wanted to get out of heads, even if only temporarily. And sex seemed like a damn good remedy for that. Still, I needed to make absolutely sure this was what she wanted.
Her brow furrowed. “Now you think I’m drunk?” Waving her free hand she attempted to move from my lap again. “Just forget it, Noah. I’ll go home and finish drinking these thoughts out of my mind.”
Now, I had both arms around her, and one hand clasping the back of her neck. “Stop trying to get away. I’m not letting you go until I’m good and ready.”
