Protect Me Not ((Un)Professionally Yours 2)

His eyes lit with pleasure. “Now I get why they call you Swish.”

“I was a pretty good netball player,” she acknowledged modestly. “Despite being vertically challenged. Did you play basketball?”

“I wasn’t tall enough.”

Whoa, she couldn’t imagine that. He towered above her and most other men. Her brother Miles, who always seemed larger than life to her, was a good five or six inches shorter than Ty. Slimmer too. Ty was massive, but not in a brutish way. He moved elegantly for such a big man, she liked watching him walk…it sounded trite, but he honestly reminded her of a big cat. So much lethal, quiet grace.

But in the towering world of basketball players, perhaps six foot three was considered average or something? She wouldn’t know, she wasn’t an avid follower of the sport.

He seemed to recognize the skepticism in her face because he graced her with another grin. He was being generous with those tonight.

“I was a short, scrawny kid in high school. I only shot up in my senior year and by then I’d been on the baseball team for a year already. They appreciate a scrapper in baseball.”

“Baseball?” She screwed up her face, and his eyebrows rose to his hairline.

“What’s wrong with baseball?”

“That’s the boring version of cricket, yes?” She stifled a giggle when those sky-high brows plummeted into a formidable frown.

“Ma’am, I’ve tolerated a whole helluva lot from you these past months, but that…that’s possibly the worst thing you’ve ever said to me. How can you compare such a-a milquetoast sport to baseball? Sacrilegious, is what that is.”

Aah, a button. She mentally rubbed her hands together in glee.

Also… milquetoast? How delightful.

“I happen to love cricket,” she said, with a serene smile. “There’s nothing milquetoast about it.”

“They wear white. They play for days and often tie. They retire to tea. How else would you describe it?”

“It’s a great spectator sport.”

“It’s like watching paint dry.”

“A couple of years ago I went to the New Year’s test match in Cape Town. England vs South Africa. We sat on the grass, I was in my bikini, catching a tan, we were drinking beers, enjoying a barbecued meal. What other sport can you think of that turns spectating into a day of fun in the sun?”

“Beach volleyball.”

“Too much sand,” she dismissed. “I also love the rules, the skill, the athleticism.”

“What athleticism?”

“I think professional cricketers are often in better physical shape than baseball players.”

“Bullsh—” He stopped himself, but the fact that he’d gotten most of the word out, before realizing it, made Vicki feel more than a little smug. “That’s nonsense. I don’t…”

“Vic, why are you hiding out over here? I’ve been looking for you. I wanted to introduce you to Pete’s friend, Teddy.”

Bella gestured toward a tallish, slender man of about thirty. He had kind eyes and a sweet smile. Vicki concealed her bitter disappointment when Ty seemed to recall himself and pushed to his feet. No trace of humor or emotion left on his face. Instead, he eyed Teddy without expression before folding his hands in front of him and stepping aside, to allow Bella to shuffle the man closer.

Teddy gave Ty a discomfited glance, clearly not sure if he was treading on any toes, but he seemed to relax when Ty took a further step back, tacitly allowing the interaction.

He took Vicki’s offered hand. “Lovely to meet you, I’m Theodore Lloyd.”

“Victoria Hollingsworth, but please call me Vicki.” His elegant hand folded around hers, and he gave her a firm but not overly tight shake. She liked that and smiled.

He returned the smile with another sweet one. He seemed like a nice man. She wasn’t sure why Bella was introducing them, but when her friend gave her a bright grin and hooked her arm through Ty’s in an effort to drag him away, the penny dropped.

Oh, Bella was matchmaking. Lovely. Her friend had only been back in the country for a month, and already, she was trying to set Vicki up.

Ty reluctantly allowed himself to be led away, but his eyes met Vicki’s above Teddy’s head, seeking assurance that this was what she wanted.

She had a flash of regret as she considered the progress she’d been making in getting him to open up about himself. But Ty had often made it clear that she was nothing but a job and that their relationship was strictly professional. And just because he had unwound a bit, didn’t make that reality any less indisputable.

She deliberately looked away from Ty, letting him know that he wasn’t needed here, and focused on Teddy, who—while not her usual type—seemed like a perfectly lovely man.

And chatting with a nice man seemed like a much better way to pass the evening, than bleeding her recalcitrant protection officer for reluctantly offered pieces of personal information about himself.

“I assume you work with Pete.” Vicki pinned a bright smile on her lips as she focused on Teddy, who took Ty’s recently vacated seat.