Page 80 of When You Wish Upon a Wideout

They ended the call with Janet, and Beau immediately stepped into the pantry, eyeing the men setting up the machine in the corner.

“Needs a good two hours to get to temperature once we finish setting it up,” one of them said.

“All good, man. I won’t really need it until tomorrow night.” He went back into the kitchen, grabbing two beers from the fridge and opening them, but Chase didn’t raise his bottle to Beau’s cheers.

“The Clarke girl. Coin toss girl,” Chase said. “Or that Clarke girl’smother.Jesus, Beau. This is why you’ve been spending time out in the boonies?”

Beau scoffed. “What’s it to you? I’m doing my part. I’m training. I’m going to camp—”

“You’re tossing a multi-million-dollar contract and a competitive season, that’s what you’re actually doing,” he exclaimed. “Beau, we’re a team. If there’s something else going on that’s affecting your decisions, then you need to let me know about it.”

Beau paused with the bottle at his mouth. “I told you over a month ago, I don’t want to go to LA.”

“Yeah,” Chase said. “You did. But maybe you need to think aboutwhyyou need to think about it in the first place. I really don’t know what you’ve been up to these days. But if you’re about to make a life-changing decision based on someone else and herkid, well, that’s something we should talk about.”

I’m standing in the luxury condo I own, paying you your cut, being in the position to closeDisney Worldbecause I based all my decisions on someone else,he thought andGreg came to his mind.I was just thinking about the wrong person before, that’s all.He shook his head with a laugh and grabbed the package before opening a drawer for the scissors.

“I’m glad you think this is funny. Maybe you can get a job playing Goofy at Magic Kingdom when you retire.”

“Goofy? You must be kidding.” Beau opened the box, digging through paper. He pulled out the sparkly pink and gold Mickey Mouse ears and put them on his head. “Call me Walt Disney.”

* * *

The next day in the same kitchen, Beau tossed the plastic containers and wiped down the counter after making a mess of the food he had brought up from Il Cielo. He had turned down the restaurant’s offer to send the food up on dishes. If he couldn’t cook, he could at least dosomethinghimself to prepare for Valentine’s Day—even if that meant not so gracefully plating fettuccini and lighting candles.

The candles were unlit when the doorbell rang. Beau quickly put the plates into the oven to keep warm and rinsed his hands before rushing to the door.

“You’re early. I didn’t light the candles yet.”

“I know. I was expecting more traffic,” Sienna said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

Beau liked that even on Valentine’s Day, Sienna didn’t look much different apart from a little more eye makeup.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” she spoke quietly, dusting her lips against his.

He rubbed his nose against Sienna’s, drawing a breathy laugh from her. “Come in. Let me take your coat,” Beau said, offering to hang up her trench as he stepped in, but Sienna moved past him. “It’s not much.”

Sienna rolled her eyes at him over her shoulder.

“I mean, it’s small. But it’s only me.”

The condo might have been in a luxury building with a gym and a swimming pool, but Beau took one of the smaller units—a two bedroom, two-and-a-half bath on the eighteenth floor.

“Didn’t make sense for me to have something bigger. I’m on the road a lot, don’t need a lot of space. It’s got a killer view though.”

He watched Sienna run a finger across the length of the marble island as they entered the kitchen, taking in the way her hips swayed.

He bit his lip.Maybe not as good asthisview.

Deeper into the living room, Sienna stopped in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. Beau swallowed heavily watching her silhouette in contrast with the twinkling lights of downtown Dallas—the curve of her waist where the coat was cinched, the fullness of her hips beneath. His pulse raced, and his fingers twitched greedily at his sides.

“It’s the nicest place I’ve ever been in,” Sienna admitted, still facing away and looking out the window. “What?” she peeked over her shoulder, clearly curious about his silence.

“It’s better than I imagined, that’s all.”

“What is?”

Beau cleared his throat. “You. Here.”

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