Page 13 of Their After Hours Playbook

Going to the pool had been a brilliant idea. This was so much better than being in meetings.

“Another mojito?” April asked, already flagging down the waiter.

Paige slurped what was left in her plastic glass. “Sure.” She set it down on the side of the pool and swirled her feet and calves in the warm water. Raising her face, she caught some of the day’s fading rays. Even though the pool was heated, it wouldn’t be long before the sun would dip below the horizon and it would get entirely too cold to be out there in a bathing suit. For now, she would soak up all she could.

“Two more, please,” April said, presumably to the waiter.

Paige opened her eyes and returned her attention to her friend as the waiter walked away. “I wish we could do this more often. Every day, maybe?”

“I will gladly take a break from work and hang out at the pool, drinking cocktails with you, anytime.”

“We should retire together,” Paige offered.

“If that means it could be like this, I’m in,” April said.

On the surface, it was a nice idea, but Paige did sometimes wonder how she was going to spend her time later in life. Her business was the center of her existence, but what happened when the time came to set it aside? Sure, it was twenty years away, but time had a way of sneaking up on a person. How would she ever learn to live without that as the center of her universe? “So, I ran into Andre this morning.” Paige kicked her legs in the water. “He’s getting married.”

“Oh, wow. I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.” Paige waved it off. “I mean, I’d be a little more fine if he wasn’t marrying a team cheerleader who also happens to be in med school.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“The man can really be a cliché when he wants to be.”

“That’s not a cliché. That’s winning the lottery of love.” Paige thought about it, but not too hard. She didn’t want to picture Andre and what she imagined his fiancée looked like. “I’m glad that he’s happy. That he found someone and figured out how to move on. It at least proves the theory that it’s possible.”

“Of course it’s possible. I just wish you’d been able to do it first. There’s no shame if it stings a little. He hurt you. Deeply.”

Paige didn’t like to think about it very often. It brought up so many unpleasant feelings—betrayal being the worst, and the one that was the slowest to go away. “Anyway. Now you know what’s up with Andre.”

April clutched Paige’s forearm. “Forget your ex. I see a far more stunning prospect.”

“What? Who?”

“Opposite end of the pool. Ridiculously tall and hot? It’s your friend from the draft. Zach, right?”

Paige looked up, confronted with the vision of Zach as he pulled his T-shirt up over his head. It was like it all happened in slow motion. He was all legs and abs and strong shoulders. The thoughts that flew into her head were not good. They were decidedly naughty. They involved her mouth exploring every contour of his stomach. And other places. “Oh, god. I can’t get away from him.”

“Why would you want to get away from that?” April playfully batted Paige’s shoulder with the back of her hand.

“Because I don’t trust him. He’s up to something.” Saying it out loud made Paige question the idea. Funny, but it had seemed perfectly logical when it was on a perpetual loop in her head.

“You don’t need to trust him. Just look at him.”

“Did I tell you he’s in the room next to mine?”

“No. You did not.”

Just then, Zach dove in, hardly making a splash at all. He gracefully slipped through the water, not coming up for air until he’d traversed nearly half the length of the pool. He swam the rest of the way, looking as though he was trying out for the Olympics. His stroke was perfect. Because of course it was.

He reached the stairs at the shallow end, where Paige and April were seated, then stood with his feet on the bottom of the pool, which left him naked and dotted with water drops from his shoulders to his ribs. He swept back his hair in one swift motion with his hand. “Paige. Funny running into you here.”

She tried very hard to hide her smile, but it was a pointless effort. Why did he have that effect on her? “Hey, Zach. This is April Chapman.”

April held out her hand as he approached. “Zach Armstrong, nice to meet you. Ryan Wilson was quite a signing.”

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