Page 31 of Imperfect Player

“Hey there, sunshine,” he says.

The sight of him takes my breath away. He’s in a suit, just like the night I met him. He’s not wearing a tie though, and the top two buttons of his shirt are undone.

“I didn’t realize you had a meeting with Tripp.”

“Just a quick one. I need to be at the airport in a couple hours.” Silence falls over us. Ethan clears his throat. “Do you have a minute?”

“Me? Oh, yeah. Sure.”

I gesture toward my office, only he doesn’t move. “Ladies first.”

“And they say chivalry is dead.” I enter my office and head straight for the window. “Everything okay?”

In the reflection I can see him perch himself on the edge of my desk.

“Just dandy.”

“Then what are we doing here?” I ask as I turn to face him.

“I’m not sure,” he says with a chuckle. “I guess I just wanted a couple minutes with you before I left.”

I’m blushing. I don’t need to see it to know it. I can feel the heat on my cheeks.

“You’re cute when you blush,” he tells me.

He rises from his spot on my desk and closes the distance between us.

“Thank you,” I reply, my voice soft and unsure.

Him and these damn mixed signals. Me and my stupid desires.

Being friends with Ethan is turning me into a mess.

“I just wanted to warn you that Kai was in town. I wasn’t sure if you knew, but a couple of the guys ran into him yesterday.”

I think back to the missed call from Maddox that I hadn’t yet returned.

“Noted. Thank you.”

“If you need a place to hide out or whatever, you can stay at my place.”

“That’s a very generous offer to make to someone you barely know.”

“Are you saying you’re untrustworthy?” He chuckles. “That’s what I thought. I just . . . ”

“I get it. I appreciate the thought, but it’s not that serious. Really.”

“I’m only a phone call away if you need anything.”

“Back at ya.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He opens his mouth as though there’s something he wants to say but closes it just as quickly.

“I’ll see you soon.”

---