Page 10 of Body Heat

“You don't know what you're talking about, Britney,” the girl said. “Marnie is like a thousand times cuter than this chick. It makes no sense that he'd get serious enough with her but not even give Marnie a second glance.”

“And that right there is why you'll never fit in with the wives, and we're all rooting for Dave to wise up and dump your ass.” Her attention shifted to me, and she asked, “What's your name?”

“Sera,” I answered with a grin, really liking Britney’s style.

“Sarah?” The girl rolled her eyes. “See, she even has a boring name.”

“Actually, it's Sera, spelled S-E-R-A. It's short for Serafina.”

“Whoo, boy!” Britney hollered, slapping her knee. “You couldn't have been more wrong about her name if you tried. And if you had more than two brain cells to rub together, you’d look under the surface and realize Sera here is a hell of a lot more interesting than you think. I have a feeling that still waters run deep in this one.”

I lifted my cup and asked, “Can I buy you a drink?”

“Hell, yes,” she agreed, nudging the woman sitting between us to ask, “Switch seats with me?”

“I’ll buy a beer for you, too,” I offered the woman.

“Sure,” she said as she got up. “I’ll take a Miller Lite.”

I flagged down a beer vendor carrying a cold tub of bottles and ordered three. I was on the job and hadn’t planned to drink more than one to fit in, but the bottles were aluminum, so nobody would know I was leaving them half empty. Plus, Whit and Devon were seated about ten rows behind me, so I had backup in case the stalker tried something during the game.

Settling back in to watch as Rowan took the field again, I jumped to my feet and cheered with the crowd when he threw for a touchdown with only thirty seconds left on the quarter.

“Hot damn! Your man is on fire.” Britney tapped her bottle against mine. “If he keeps playing like this, you’re going to have to come to the rest of the games this season.”

Since I didn’t know how long it was going to take to resolve Rowan’s stalker situation, I couldn’t commit to Britney’s suggestion. “This was a one-time thing. I’m sure Rachel will want to use her ticket during the next home game.”

Britney aimed her thumb in direction of the girls we’d gotten into the argument with earlier. “Football players are notoriously superstitious. If Rowan kicks ass on the field, a bunch of the guys would volunteer to give up their tickets in a heartbeat. If their current flavor of the week doesn’t understand the game comes first and complains too much, they’ll be replaced with someone who does.” A wicked gleam entered her eyes. “Maybe I’ll suggest to Roger that he gives up his ticket.”

“Who’s Roger?” I asked.

She grinned. “He plays on the offensive line, and the teenybopper behind us is currently riding his dick.”

I grinned back. “Have I mentioned how much I like your style?”

“Not yet, but all is forgiven if you buy the next round of beers, too.”

I laughed and raised my almost full bottle to grab the beer guy’s attention again. “Sure, I can do that.”

The cost of a couple more beers was a small price to pay to keep Britney happy. Not only was she a lot of fun to hang out with, but she was also a font of information when it came to people connected to the team.

Chapter 8

Rowan

Off days were some of my favorites during the season, second only to game days. Thirty-six hours wasn’t long enough for the aches and pains from my game to disappear, but this one was still better than most because Sera was in my bed. It was the first morning since meeting her when I didn’t have to hurry out the door to get to the stadium. Rolling onto my side, I enjoyed the sight of her sleeping beside me. I reached out and lifted a long, dark curl off her pillow and wrapped it around my finger.

“I guess you haven’t figured out that I’m a light sleeper yet.” Her voice was raspy from sleep, and my morning hard-on flexed at the sexy as hell sound.

I was grateful for the loose fit of my athletic shorts and the sheet draped over my lower body when she turned over and blinked up at me. Resisting the temptation Sera represented had been difficult even when my schedule was jam packed, but I had a feeling it would be impossible with her to myself today.

Things on the stalker front had been quiet, without any new developments since Carl hired the security team. I still felt like he’d been overreacting, but now I was grateful for it because I might never have met Sera otherwise. Our situation was unusual, with her moving into my home the same day we met and technically working for me, but we’d grown close over the past week. Sleeping with someone night after night was bound to do that.

“I figured that out the morning you almost shot my mom,” I teased.

She sat up and flared at me. “I did not almost shoot your mom!”

“I don’t know.” I grinned at her. “It seemed like a close call to me. I mean, you had your gun out. For all I know, the safety was off.”

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