Page 32 of Thoroughly Innocent Intent

“He knows he’s not perfect, but he doesn’t try to hide that or make excuses for it. Once he realizes he’s made a mistake, he tries not to make it again. Those aren’t the qualities of someone who likes to play games with peoples’ feelings. So, if he says his interest in me is genuine, I have no reason not to believe him.”

“I hear you.” Delaney reaches for my hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. “But you have to understand that what you’re describing is completely opposite of how the man has been acting for years. It makes me worried about you.”

“I know you’re worried.” I pull my hand back. “That’s because you’re basing your opinion on gossip. Those pictures and captions are designed to make money, not tell the truth, so they shouldn’t be the basis for determining a man’s character.”

“Are they really that far from the truth, though?” she asks softly. “There are a lot of images of him with women.”

“If you were famous, there’d be a lot of images of you with men, but I’d call you a hopeless romantic instead of a serial dater.” It’s a harsh retort, and Delaney winces appropriately, but she doesn’t object. She can’t because she knows I’m right.

Delaney wants to find her soulmate, and she’ll go on as many dates as necessary to find him. I don’t begrudge her that. But if she condemns Colt for dating around, she’d have to condemn herself for doing the same thing.

“I guess that’s fair.” She rubs her temples, no doubt reeling from the revelation that the only difference between her and Colt is that her life isn’t on public display.

“So, what now? You two are what…dating? Fucking?”

“Delaney!” I hiss.

“What?” She throws her hands up. “They go hand in hand.”

“Just because I like Colt as a person and I’m attracted to him doesn’t mean I’ve jumped straight into his bed.” Aside from the fact it feels premature to share intimate details, I’m not ready to admit how curious I am about getting intimate after the evening on his patio.

We didn’t go any further than I had a few times before, though it was nothing like my earlier experiences, where I kept waiting for the fireworks that were supposed to happen and never came. With Colt they did, and I’m eager to experience it again. More eager than I should be.

“Hey, if you’re going to jump into the dating pool, you might as well live it up. I may be worried about what the guy will do to your heart, but I bet he’d take good care of your body.”

It’s not an apology, not exactly, because Delaney won’t apologize for the concern she thinks is justified. It is a peace offering, lightening the mood, and telling me in her own colorful way that I should do what makes me happy.

I roll my eyes dramatically and hold my glass to hers, my own little peace offering. Then she tells me about her latest bad date.

Colt

It’snotuntilI’mstanding at Sam’s office door that I realize she probably doesn’t have a vase to go with the flowers I’m holding.

In my defense, I’ve never done the whole flower thing before. I’ve always just bought women whatever jewelry or clothing they pointed to when we went shopping, so I was never really responsible for more than just handing over a credit card. I’ve never done the actual choosing of anything I bought for a woman.

The flowers were an impulse buy, a selfish one, because I’m hoping they’ll make up for the fact that I’m about to cancel a meeting for the third time in a row. While I think I did a good job with the actual flowers, a bunch of orange and yellow things the lady called lilies, it didn’t occur to me to get anything to put them in.

Samantha doesn’t have a lot of personal stuff in her office, least of all a vase, so I have no idea where she’s going to put these.

I tap the door a few times to let her know I’m coming in.

Now that I’ve seen her several times, I get smiles instead of the nervous deer-in-the-headlights looks she used to give me, and that sweet little look guts me every time. It’s so genuine, reflecting how she feels without any thought about how she looks.

Of course, she looks beautiful, but not in the sexy, sultry way most women flaunt around me. Hers is a smile of joy, something I guarantee she hasn’t practiced in the mirror to see how it makes her look, and the fact that I can put such a smile on her face makes me unreasonably proud. I just hope she doesn’t lose it when she hears my news.

“What are those for?” She nods at the flowers.

“Do I need a reason?” I place a chaste kiss on her lips as I hand her the bouquet. I haven’t seen her since t she came to my house last week, and I don’t want to come on too strong, but I’m also not going to greet her like that night didn’t happen.

“No, I suppose not.” A faint blush creeps into her cheeks. I hope one of these days she won’t get embarrassed when I touch her, even though I find it incredibly sweet that she does, because it means she hasn’t had many people treat her the way I do.

She scans the room quickly before swiveling her chair and setting the flowers on the filing cabinet behind her. “Sorry, I didn’t think about a vase to put them in.” I take my normal seat.

“It’s no problem, I have vases at home.” She turns back to her desk. “Should we get started?”

“About that.” I grimace, “I can’t stay. A few of the new guys want to review the film before our first game next week, and Shane and Dante are busy.” I can’t say why they’re busy, no one knows about the pregnancy, and Dante’s injury is being kept under wraps as much as possible, which means once again I’m cancelling without being able to explain exactly why I’m having to do it.

“I know it’s just preseason,” I continue, “but they’re showing initiative and coach wants to encourage that, so I’m headed to their apartment to help them out.” It should’ve been Shane’s turn to help the rookies today, but apparently Elliot’s morning sickness has been pretty bad, so he wanted to get home right after practice to check on her.

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