Page 20 of Hard Hearts

“I’ll pick you up from your office. Six sound good?”

“Ubers are allowed at my office, so I can find my own way home.” Her hand is on the latch.

I reach out and grasp her arm. “You’re running away from me.”

“I’m going to work.” She tugs herself out of my grip. “I’ll see you later, Kaden. Last night was great. Really.”

I’ve never heard a kiss-off delivered so kindly, but she’s got shit to do, and delaying her won’t put her in a better frame of mind. I’m going to punt and return with a better offensive plan. “All right, Kitten, but don’t call the Uber because I’ll have to fight him, and that would look bad in front of your coworkers.”

I zip off before she can deliver a retort. At physical therapy, I ask for some advice.

“If a woman says that she’s too busy to see you, is she really too busy, or is that an excuse?”

My therapist crunches his brows together. “If a woman said that to you, she’s really too busy. If she said it to me, it would be an excuse.” He hands me a different colored band and tells me to repeat my reps.

“Nah, how is any woman too busy if Gunner wants to see her? My sister’s married, and she’d run her husband over if you called,” says my teammate Hal. He’s a lineman.

The other Mavericks player in the therapy room, Danny, pushes himself up on one elbow. “Did someone really give you the ‘I’m busy’ excuse?”

“It seemed legit at the time.”

Danny shakes his head. “You’re doomed, man. Is she an actress or pop star? Because how are you getting the Heisman shaft?”

He holds out an arm, mimicking the famous Heisman trophy stance.

“What are my options?” I ask, ignoring the doomed part.

“Flowers,” Danny says.

“No way.” Hal shakes his head. “Women hate flowers these days. It’s meaningless. I bought my girl roses on Valentine’s Day, and she was disgusted. You have to do a gift, and it can’t be chocolates either. Like I had to get hand-dipped tangerines from Belgium and a necklace from a brand that only sells jewelry four times a year to make up for the roses snafu.”

“Hal’s right,” my therapist says. “You have to give her something special and unique, or she’ll be too busy for you for the rest of your life.”

That’s grim.

Chapter Fifteen

FRANKIE

There are only so many times I can go over this contract at this point. I know I’m using it to keep myself busy. I went ahead and sent it over to Kyle and Turner. This is supposed to be a team thing, but they bounced out of here two hours ago.

I overheard them talking about going to play golf or some boring shit. I, of course, wasn’t invited. It’s not that I even remotely wanted to go; it’s the fact that they didn’t even give me the option.

The boys won’t invite you to their club if you’re better at their job than them. It's not that they're incompetent, but if they can drag ass, they will. They don’t have anything to prove, and I’m starting to wonder if I do. Both of them know I'll get this done and wrapped up in a bow.

There’s nothing more that I want than to send it straight to my boss Evan, but that will get twisted and used against me if I do. They would claim that I hadn't given them a chance to participate. They love to play the victim when it’s convenient for them.

They both have been radio silent to me about this contract since the dinner. In fact, the only email I received was from Turner asking me if my fiancé could get tickets at a discounted price to football games.

I grimace as my email receives a reply from Kyle. All it says is that it looks good, but I know he didn't read shit. It’s been thirty seconds since I sent it, and the contract is over fifty pages. I close my laptop, packing up for the day.

When I step off the elevator, Kaden is standing there, leaning up against the wall, one foot crossed over the other. The second his eyes land on me, a smile spreads across his handsome face.

A face that had been between my thighs last night. The man is way too handsome for his own good and my self-control.

"You're here," I blurt out. It's rude, but I suppose I keep thinking he might be tired of my shit. I'm me, and I even get tired of my own shit. It shouldn't surprise me that he showed up. He said he was going to, and he hasn’t gone back on his word since we started whatever this is between us. I’m guessing that’s not the only reason he showed up either. Probably thought I was going to try to dip out on him.

“Where else would I be?” He pushes off the wall, heading straight toward me. I stand there as he drops a kiss on my lips as if it’s the most natural thing in the whole world. “I missed you.” Kaden takes my hand. I don’t miss the security guards at the front desk who are watching all of this.

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