Page 107 of A Wild Card Kiss
I refocus on work. We make calls and come up with a pitch that we hope Lacey will love. I try not to stress about not hearing from Harlan.
Besides, there’s time. I’ll surely talk to him tonight, and we’ll be all set before Olive and I see Lacey tomorrow.
But at four thirty, my sister sighs a heavy, “Oh.”
I snap up my gaze from my phone, tension tightening in me. “What is it?”
She hums thoughtfully at her desk, then raises her face from the screen. “Lacey just emailed me. She says she has an all-day meeting tomorrow, but she lives in Hayes Valley and wants to grab a drink in an hour.”
My heartbeat races to the moon.
***
It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine.
I repeat that over and over.
I call up my yoga mantras too.
Yoga and wine and coffee and something. Yoga is how I pretend to be calm…and fuck! I’m not calm. I can’t settle down.
But I need to. I need to trust Harlan meant it when he said he’d be by my side.
I need to trust I’m not hurting him.
I take a deep breath, set a hand on my chest, and will my heart to quiet.
I send him one more message as we leave the office.
Katie:Hi!!!!! I’m freaking out. Is everything okay?
But I don’t hear from him as we head to the bar to meet Lacey, and I do my best to be the cool, collected businesswoman I am.
Or should be.
When I reach the lobby of our building, I’m anything but cool and collected. Especially not when Harlan walks through the revolving door and straight toward me.
Chapter 36
Harlan
That was an exhausting practice.
But a damn good one. I knock fists with Cooper, then Jones as we leave the field. It’s been a long-ass day of stretching, game film, drills, and playbook review.
Then lots of time with the receiver’s coach.
“I feel good and ready for Sunday. You guys?” I ask.
“Hell, yeah,” Jones says.
“Bring on New York. If we win, we’ll clinch a playoff post,” Cooper adds.
“Gee, I hadn’t noticed,” Jones deadpans.
“Smartass,” Cooper says as we head down the corridor. “The wife is coming, and the kids, and I cannot wait to give her a kiss at the edge of the field once we secure our spot. It’s my lucky tradition, and I won’t break it.”
“I’ll do the same with my woman,” Jones adds.
