Page 52 of Hello Tease

He smirked. “Don’t worry. I know a guy.”

I rolled my eyes at the joke and wondered why I hadn’t thought of that. He carefully pulled the truck into a spot, using the palm of his hand to spin the wheel. Something was so damn sexy about that; I had to pry my eyes away so he wouldn’t catch me staring.

Once he turned off the truck, we got out to wake the kids, and they were in a good mood, excited to watch the game.

We walked with all the people heading toward the stadium, but Knox took us to a private elevator toward the back where an attendant sat on a small black stool.

“This is fan-cy,” Emily said, staring around at the mirrored elevator with elaborate purple and gold tapestry and marble floors.

The attendant chuckled, her dark skin crinkling around her eyes. “Your first game, honey?”

Emily nodded.

The woman reached into a bag behind her and pulled out a small purple football with the Diamonds logo on it and held it out.

“Can I have it?” Emily asked.

“Of course, sugar,” the woman said, then she glanced at Knox. “Which suite?”

“Marquise,” Knox answered.

And if Emily thought the elevator was fancy, the suite made it look like a dump in comparison.

The room held about twenty people, all famous or relatives of the players. There was a bar with two bartenders on staff, an entire buffet of game day snacks, multiple TV screens showing the game, and then a giant windowed view of the entire field.

“Oh my goodness!” Emily jumped up and down in place as we took in the room, and then she sprinted through the short row of seats up to the window. Knox followed her while I walked in holding Jackson, and the pair of them looked over the field. I could see Knox pointing to show her different parts of the stadium.

After how low she’d been with Seth leaving her in the lurch, my heart warmed seeing Knox treat her like a precious gem… like a diamond.

Jackson squirmed in my arms, so I got him some soft food from the buffet, and we went to sit beside Knox and Emily while Jackson took food in his fists and shoved it into his mouth.

Soon, the game began, and we were swept up in the excitement of the day. Yelling encouragement for the players, groaning at mistakes, and arguing with the refs, who had no chance at hearing us.

But then, during a time-out, the camera panned the audience, showing couples for the kiss cam on the jumbo screen.

And then the cameras landed on us.

And the chanting started. “KISS HER. KISS HER!”

My heart sped up, and my cheeks flushed, and with tens of thousands of people staring at me, I wished I could disappear into the floor. I turned toward Knox. “You really don’t have to,” I told him. After last night, I wasn’t sure he was ready for this again—if it was too soon.

His gaze was on me, all blue eyes and full lips and heat that had no place burning in a public space.

“I’m not ashamed to show fifty thousand people exactly how I feel about you,” he said, his voice just low enough for me to hear.

I lifted my chin, entering this special place that existed only for him and me. “And how is that?”

His eyes flicked to my lips, and then he caught my chin in his calloused hand, guiding my mouth to meet his.

The second our mouths touched, it was a shock to my system more intense than any lightning crash. Warmth and tenderness even stronger than the night before, attraction that went beyond anything my brain could think or my heart had felt.

All the yelling, the cheers, the people watching us on the jumbo screen faded away until all I could focus on was this man and the fact thatthiswas how he felt about me. And that it just kept getting better.

We broke apart, and my eyes blinked open, stunned at what had just happened and how it made me feel. And when I met Knox’s eyes, saw his grin, I couldn’t help but smile myself.

Beside Knox, Emily yelled, “ARE YOU GETTING MARRIED?”

Chuckles erupted around the suite.

---