Page 93 of The Strike Zone

Parker pressed his finger to my lips, silencing me. “You’re asking me not to sign it?”

“I’m asking…” I cupped his cheek, I was doing such a shit job of explaining in a way that made sense to me, let alone him, no wonder he looked so confused. “The last week has been amazing, I really like you, which I realize is the entire point of the form, but I don’t want them to know we’re sleeping together.” God, that sounded cringe. “Slept together…having sex.”

“Dating, Davison. We’re dating.”

I blinked, trying to decide whether that made it better, only to shrug when I realized it didn’t. “Same thing.”

“It’s not the same thing. Sleeping is casual. Dating is formal. It’s official. I know we haven’t technically been on a date yet, but we will.”

“Okay, date.” My shoulders dropped, but I couldn’t help the little smile, because if I was to believe Parker—which I did—I was now officiallydatingParker King. “I’ll sign the form, of course I will, but please can we just wait until this interview process is over and they’ve picked someone? It’ll make me feel better.”

“I can’t believe you want to keep me a secret,” he replied, though thankfully his tone was all jest. “You know I should find that offensive, at the very least a huge knock to my confidence. Unless you’re using my body for sex. Are you using my body for sex?”

My smile widened. “Maybe. Are you okay with that?”

“Sneaking around and having sex? Yeah, I could be, but you’d need to make it worth my while.”

“How?”

“Hmm.” Parker stroked along the stubble coating his jaw. “I’ve always wanted to hook up at work, and there’s a few places I want to try out.”

“Like where?”

“Home plate, the locker room, the rowing machine in the gym…Think that would be super hot. Plus, the?—”

A burst of laughter escaped, and I held my hand up to stop him continuing. “You had them all lined up and ready to go, there, didn’t you, stud?”

“What can I say, I’ve been waiting for the right girl.”

My heart kicked into double time. “Me?”

“Hell yeah. You know how I feel about you, Davison. I can put off Coach for a little longer.” He pulled me into him and, so gently I thought my chest might cave in, dropped a kiss to my lips. “I’d do anything for you.”

“I really do like you a lot, Parker King,” I muttered, slipping my tongue along his.

“You’d better.”

“But can you drop me outside the gates before we enter the stadium, I don’t want anyone to see me getting out of your car?”

I didn’t catch his gruff reply, but the poke in my ribs I also received had me laughing the rest of the ride.

TWENTY-THREE

SCOUT

“…and based on the data we have from the Lions social, we should see the new channels double in audience size every month for the first six months before growth steadies. Sales predicts that we can bring in revenues within the first month. In summary, we can soft launch the channel with the new brand before taking it public, and it will work to build presence much quicker.”

Three sets of eyes stared at me. I stared back until it became clear they didn’t realize I was done talking. IknewI should have added a final slide at the end.

Dammit.

“Any more questions?”

There was a pause as Lowe Slater, Ava Martinez, and Tim Chang shared a look I couldn’t decipher, but it was enough to have me searching for the nearest trash can to puke in.

My guts had been churning all morning—actually, since last night—and had been gradually getting worse as my interview got closer.

I waited. Somebody.Anybodygo first. Tim took the honors, thankfully before I hurled.

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