Page 41 of Offside Secrets
“Campbell—”
He pushes off the wall and steps closer as the car ascends again. “Yeah?”
I should step back. Maintain professional distance. Remember that Elle’s waiting for me upstairs and that we’re in a hotel elevator where anyone could see us.
Instead, I stay exactly where I am.
“We shouldn’t,” I whisper, even as he reaches up to cup my face with one hand.
“You can be in charge outside of the elevator, okay?” He leans in, slowly traces a line with the tip of his nose from my ear to my cheek, moving ever so slowly as he stops himself right when his lips reach mine, inches away. “In here, let me lead.”
“I don’t know about this…” The words come from my mouth, but let’s be honest, I’m in a paralyzed trance, almost as if my body is floating above us, looking down and watching this happen to me. If it were a TV show, I’d be cheering this man on.
“Yet here we are,” he murmurs, voice low and threaded with something that sounds suspiciously like surrender as his mouth lands on mine.
This kiss isn’t a question. It’s a claim. And this one burns hotter, hungrier. His lips move with purpose—soft, sure, tasting like mint and victory and a man who knows exactly what he wants.
The dessert bag slips from my fingers, forgotten, thunking into the corner as my hands slide up his chest. The fabric of his dress shirt strains under my palms, warm from his body heat, and I feel the solid muscle beneath. Steady, strong,real.
He exhales sharply, the sound rumbling in his chest before he deepens the kiss, mouth slanting over mine with unrestrained need. One of his hands cups my jaw, thumb sweeping across my cheek, while the other settles firmly at my waist. He pulls me closer until I can feel his heartbeat pounding through both of us, until the only thing keeping me upright is the heat of his body and the way he’s holding me like he can’t bear to stop.
The elevator hums around us, but it feels like it’susmoving—spinning, lifting, tumbling. My breath catches when he groans softly, the sound low and raw, and I swear my knees nearly give out.
The ding of the fifteenth floor slices through the moment. We break apart, foreheads pressed together, breaths minglingin the charged silence. His hair is mussed from my fingers, his tie askew, lips deliciously swollen. I probably look like a woman who’s been kissed senseless…because I am.
“This is my floor,” I manage, voice unsteady and whisper-thin.
“It is.” But he doesn’t move away from me. Instead, much to my shock, he reaches out and hits the emergency stop for the elevator and looks at me.
“What are you doing?”
“Whatever’s going on with Lawson or the new team, or all the constant decisions you’re juggling…I want you to know, you can come and talk to me about it. It’s a lot to hold so much in, eventually things start to seep out.” He wraps his arm around my waist tightly and pulls me into his chest. “If I have my way, I’ll be someone you trust to share those things with, but I know it’ll take time. Just know I’m here.”
The words hit me like a physical blow, because they’re exactly what I needed to hear. He noticed. Not just that Victor was there, but that it’s been weighing on me. That behind the owner’s box and the confident decisions, I’m calculating risks and running scenarios and wondering what Victor wants badly enough to show up in Harrisburg. That it’s not only about Victor, it’s about more: it’s about taking care of my team, my people. My Renegades.
I want to wrap my arms around him, stay right here and talk more, but I have to say pulling the emergency stop in an elevator where we’re surrounded by press and prying eyes, not Campbell’s smartest move today. “I should go. Elle’s waiting.”
“I know.” He picks up the dessert bag and hands it to me, our fingers brushing in the exchange. “But think about it, okay?” He taps the button and the doors slide open. “I get that you have deals to navigate, decisions to make—all the owner stuff. But whatever he’s circling around for, it stresses you out. So, feel free to unload sometime, okay?”
I step out of the elevator on unsteady legs, turning back to look at him as the doors begin to close.
“Campbell?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
He leans out the doors and looks around, a devilish grin on his lips. “For the making out in the elevator or winning the game?”
“A little of both,” I chuckle. “But mostly for tonight. For checking on me during the game.”
His smile is soft and genuine as he reaches out his hand to tuck a stray hair behind my ear. He looks around once more before kissing my cheek. “Anytime.”
The doors close, and I’m left standing in the hallway, dessert bag in hand, my lips still tingling from his kiss and my heart doing something complicated in my chest.
Elle’s going to take one look at me and know exactly what happened.
And for the first time in a long time, I don’t mind being that transparent.
