Page 97 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout

“Then he should know better than to play with a fuse,” Beau growled, running a hand over his face before conceding. “Fine. I’m jealous.”

Sienna pursed her lips, fighting a grin.

“Because he took my place.” Beau’s hands gripped her hips, and he guided her backward until she collided gently with the brick wall beside the door. Sienna didn’t lower her gaze from his. “If you think it doesn’t kill me to know that he took a slice of my heaven, then you’re a fool. An absolutely gorgeous, stunning, beautiful fool.” He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth while his thumb traced the outline of her mouth.

“I gave it to him,” Sienna reminded him before lowering her voice, her eyes not leaving his. She moved her hands between them, creeping them beneath his shirt, her nails sliding up the trail of hair to his naval.

That was the end of it for Beau. He abandoned her body only to flip his front-facing baseball cap backward.

“Business is over?” Sienna asked, her lip curling in a curious smile.

“No.” Beau cradled her cheeks with both hands and pulled Sienna’s face to his, wasting no time parting her lips and sweeping her mouth with his tongue. Sienna’s hands had come to rest on his when he backed away, fighting for his closeness. “I wanted to do that, and my hat was in the way.”

She took a deep breath, holding his hands against her face tighter. “Do you want to know a secret?” Swallowing, Beau leaned forward, but Sienna tilted her head, moving her mouth to his ear. “Ialwaysimagined it was you.”

Beau sought her lips. “Tell him to get lost.”

Sienna pressed a kiss to the corner of Beau’s mouth. “He’s fixing my fridge.”

“I’ll order a new one right now.”

She sighed, dropping her hands to Beau’s chest. “He’s afriend.”

“We started off as friends, too,” he reminded Sienna as she went to step aside, but Beau didn’t release his grip on her waist.

“You’re right. I should’ve learned my lesson,” Sienna quipped before pushing him off her. “I have to get back to work.”

Beau held out a hand. “You have your keys on you? I’ll change your oil tonight before I head home.”

Sienna reached into her pocket, unclipping her car key, and tossing it to him. “Thank you.”

Beau pointed a finger. “LA. Next month,” he said as Sienna moved past him. “I’ll let you know the exact days tomorrow. But look, no matter where I go next season, I don’t have a lot of time to waste. I’m trying to make the most of every minute I can with you.”

“I’llthinkabout it.” Sienna opened the door. “But right now, I’ve got to think about getting an influx of cash into this place quick. Fromcustomers.Not just friends. Or boyfriends. Even really great ones like you, Beau.”

* * *

Beau shook off a hard pass from Giles. “Thinkabout it,” he relented, as if the idea of a weekend away was preposterous. “She saidthink—”

“You can lead a horse to water, Beau,” his teammate chimed in. “Fancy, schmancy expensive bottled water or a leaky sewer pipe.”

“She’s as stubborn as a damn horse,” Beau agreed, brushing a scuff from his cleat.

The Sparks’ captains’ practice—an off-season, unofficial player-run workout—had just ended. It had been grueling but promising, a better vibe than when Beau first signed with the team two years ago.Maybe there’s something here, Beau wondered, looking around at the players littering the field—quarterbacks, linemen, and running backs dancing, joking, and laughing.But anything had to be better than last season.

“My mom’s the same way. When women do it on their own for so long, they never stop.” Giles shook his head. “You know she still clips coupons? She drives twenty minutes out of the damn way to buy milk because it’s ten cents less a gallon. I’ll never understand it. But seems your girl is pretty much the same.”

Beau nodded, trying to shrug off his frustration.

“She was fine with you footing the bill for that Golden Penny gig, yeah?”

“Maybe. But who could say no to taking sick kids to Disney World? She isn’t the Grinch. Just hardheaded.” Beau sighed. “She’s weird about letting me take care of things, is all.”

Maybe that’s because I promised I would and left her to do it all on her own, Beau reminded himself.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t help. Get creative. If things are bad with the bar, how is she going to say no?” Giles pointed out.

“Creative? What do you mean?”

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