Page 10 of Only for Tonight
“They are not pink.” I stand up and put both my hands on my cheeks.
“They were pink when you were flirting with me.”
“I was not flirting with you.” I laugh nervously and glance around to avoid looking into his eyes, and wait for the ground to open up so I can fall in and then die. I roll my eyes and grab the bottle of water to stop my mouth from saying something else. “You were the one who wanted to know what his prize was.”
“You said I won the game.” He points to me.
“Actually, I said you passed. I never said anything about the game.”
“Same thing.”
“So not the same thing.” I shake my head. “You’re flirting with me.” I point to my chest.
“So what have you been up to?” he asks and I take another sip of water.
“Did you just avoid what I just said so you don’t have to admit that you were the one flirting with me?” I ask him, my cheeks even feel like they are getting pink as he looks over at me with a smirk on his face that turns to a grin.
“Maybe”—he takes his bottle of water and drinks a sip—“or maybe not.”
“Work.” I put the bottle of water down when the bartender comes back, letting him off the hook.
“What do you do again?” he questions me and I tilt my head to the side.
“By saying the word again, it means you asked the first time and you forgot.”
“I know what you do.” He rolls his eyes. “It has to do with, like, social media and stuff.”
“Okay, fine, you get half the points,” I retort as the bartender places the drink down in front of me. “A perfect shade of pink,” I observe, holding up the glass and taking a sip of it. “So good.”
“So what is it that you do?”
“You know my mother started her social media company many, many moons ago.” He nods his head. “And she stuck mainly to players, but then after I graduated with my marketing degree, I’ve branched out under her company. She runs the side of the business with the players and stuff. I run the other side of the business that deals with sports brands. Each brand has their own social media accounts that were boring and dry, but I’ve been growing them for the last couple of years. We go over marketing plans every quarter and then I run with it by creating social media content. I’ve now started doing sports shows as well.”
“So if they are launching a new stick or whatever, they message you?” he asks me the question.
“Well, sort of. What they do is tell me who is using the stick. Then we set up video footage and then I’ll work with it to create all their marketing videos for social media only.”
He’s about to ask me another question when his sister comes up to him. “I’m leaving with Mom and Dad,” she says, getting on her tippy-toes before turning to me. “It was so good to see you.” She leans in for a hug. “Now that we’re following each other on social media, we can definitely keep in touch.”
“I would love that,” I reply, giving her a big hug. “Remember what I said, keep your head in those books. Boys are smelly at this age.” She laughs at me and so does Jaxon, who just watches her walk away. When she joins his parents, they all hold up their hands to say goodbye.
“I should also head out.” I take another sip of my drink. “I have an early flight tomorrow morning and missing it isn’t really an option and flying hungover is just”—I grab the bottle of water—“not a journey I want for myself.”
He chuckles. “Let me drive you home.”
“Okay,” I agree and then we walk around saying goodbye to everyone. As we walk out of the room, I head with him but stop at the elevator and press the button up. He looks over at me but doesn’t have a chance to ask me a question when the door opens, so he steps in with me and I press the button to my floor.
“Where are you going?” he asks as he turns to face me.
“You said you wanted to drive me home.” I laugh at him, my palms getting sweaty as the nerves now build up even more. It’s all fun and games playing this scenario out in my head, it’s another when it’s actually coming true. “I’m staying here at the hotel.”
He’s about to say something else, but the doors open and I take a step out. I don’t know if he’ll follow me or not. I don’t even know what is going to happen if he does come to my room. Do I say goodbye to him at my door, or do I invite him in? My head is spinning. “Do you have a girlfriend?” I blurt as I get to the door.
He puts his hands in his pockets and he takes a deep inhale. “I don’t.”
I don’t say anything to him, I just open my purse and pull out my key card. I put it on the black round circle until we both hear the click of the lock. I push open the door and look over my shoulder. “Do you want to come in?” I ask him and he takes a step closer to me. I think I stop breathing when he’s standing in front of me, chest to chest. His hands go to my face at the same time his mouth crashes down. His tongue slides into my mouth at the same moment one hand wraps around my waist and then goes down to grab my ass before he picks me up, my heels not on the floor as the sound of the door clicks shut behind us.
five
