“Just got back. I got a favor to ask, can you take a look at the ESPN contract for me? I need a set of eyes I can trust before I sign.”
“Sure. Email it to Andi, and I’ll look it over tomorrow.”
Tall, blonde, and tan sets his butterscotch eyes on me, flagrantly moving from my face to my feet. By the time his attention makes the round trip back up to my face, he’s wearing a gleaming white grin. For obvious reasons, I do not smile back. His eyes skip from me to Fancy, trouble brewing in that golden gaze.
“Is this the little lady?” he asks Fancy.
“Dane, don’t.”
“Did your friend wander off the Ponderosa? I think there’s a 1950s TV show missing its main character.” I turn to address the beefcake directly. “This is New York, bubba, we don’t use that kind of language ‘round here.”
He snorts and smiles wider. Men, God’s test-run before she created woman.
“She dudn’t know who I am?” he asks Vaughn, his accent especially thick for my benefit, a big smile still draped across his chiseled face.
I turn my amusement to Vaughn. “Really? This is the company you keep?”
“Amber this is––”
Tall and tan cranes his neck to scan my jersey. “This one’s a stinger. Harper’s got his work cut out for him.”
My eyeballs are going to pull a muscle if he keeps this up.
“Quit it, Dane,” Vaughn finally adds.
In between Vaughn and Tall and Tan, I spot a few of the players walking into the room. Among them is Harper, freshly showered and ultra handsome in a well fitting navy suit. He looks really bummed. My heart goes out to him. His big puppy dog eyes search and find me in the crowd. I wave and he answers with a tired smile.
“’Scuse me, I have a friend to console.” I push past Vaughn and his goofy friend and hold out open arms for Justin who lumbers into them without hesitation.
“You played a great game,” I say, patting and rubbing his back.
“We sucked,” he mumbles.
“How do you feel? You took some nasty hits.”
“Achy. I’ll sit in ice when I get home.”
“You need some company?”
“Nah. I’m gonna take a couple of Tylenol PMs and sleep it off.”
A masculine cough gets my attention. Or maybe it was the weird vibe branding the side of my face. Justin, who happens to be seven inches taller and had to hunch down for me to hold him, stands upright.
“Good game. Great stats,” Vaughn says to him.
“Don’t matter. We lost,” Justin answers, much more subdued than he typically sounds.
Vaughn’s pointed gaze turns on me. “Ready to go?”
Dry amusement tips up Justin’s lips on one side. “Forgot you two live together.”
“Hopefully not for long.” The minute the words are out my mouth I regret them. The weird thing is, I don’t know why. It’s not like I could hurt Vaughn’s feelings. He probably feels the same way about me, but for some reason there’s a pit in my stomach. My gaze skitters away, to some very interesting lint on the floor.
“I know you’re disappointed, Harper, but you’ll get plenty more chances.” Vaughn’s voice is unaffected. If my jab bothered him, his voice doesn’t betray him.
“Ready to go?” Once more, that low, soft voice addresses me. I nod and Vaughn turns to leave. After I kiss Justin’s cheek, I follow my roommate out the door.
The car ride home is conducted in painful silence. A storm is brewing next to me. I can feel it gaining momentum with every silent minute that ticks by. I’ve never seen Fancy mad. Not that I have a lot to reference, but I’ve never even seen him mildly upset. He’s always the one guy in the room with a crooked grin and laid back attitude, even if it rings phony half the time. At least, it does to me. To everyone else he’s the second coming of Prince Charming.
In the underground garage, he pulls into his parking space and shuts off the engine. “Is something going on with you and Harper? You never answered my question.”
Any guilt I was feeling over the bitchy comment is immediately replaced with irritation. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
I hop out of the car and attempt to take my aggression out on the door, by slamming it shut, but I’m thwarted by one of those pesky ‘soft close’ features. German engineering and all that jazz. Not bothering to wait for him, I head to the elevator.
“It’s my business if you’re dating my client,” he says, right on my heels.
“I didn’t know,” I say with a shrug. I’m a bit surprised, though Justin and I don’t often discuss work and never once have we discussed Vaughn so there’s that. As soon as we step into the elevator, I direct my gaze to the panel, avoiding all eye contact with the man standing way too close to me.