Page 20 of Their After Hours Playbook

“I guess I don’t understand why any of this means it has to be the end. I’m totally up for just sex. We both live in the same city. Hell, our offices are only two blocks away from each other.”

She padded to the corner of the room and plucked his shirt from the floor, then marched it back and thrust it in his direction. “Absolutely not. Last night was the beginning, middle and end.”

Zach calmly took his shirt and climbed out of bed, opting to stand in front of her completely naked, with the hard-on that was still very much present. Let her see what she was saying no to. Let her look at what she’d be missing. “Okay, Paige. Whatever you say. I’d like to use the bathroom before I go. If that’s okay with you.” He tossed the shirt on the chair instead of putting it on and calmly stepped into the bathroom to hide his annoyance. He splashed ice-cold water on his face and chest to help abate his body’s excitement over the prospect of sex. He dried his skin, then used the bathroom and washed his hands, all while wondering if Paige Moss would ever take him seriously. Was he doomed to be dismissed by her forever? What more could she possibly want from him? A connection with a deep-pocketed sponsor and five orgasms in one night should have been more than enough to keep her interested. Apparently not.

He stepped out of the bathroom, then fetched his boxer briefs and tugged them on. Paige was standing near the door to her room, still wearing the robe and not saying a word. The silence was beyond awkward. It was painful. He put on his pants, then his shirt, telling himself that this might just be for the best. Tom’s approval and his personal success were most important to him. He needed to focus. His night with Paige had been all kinds of fun. But that was in the past now. At least according to her.

He picked up his shoes, but didn’t put them on. Instead, he tucked his socks inside of them. “Okay, then. I guess I’ll see you around.”

“You’re going to walk out of my room barefoot?” she sounded panicked.

“I am. And I’m going to do it slowly, too. Just in case I run into anyone we know while I’m out in the hall.”

She frowned at him, but that only made him think harder about how badly he wanted to kiss her. “You realize this could be just as bad for you as it would be for me. I mean, if anyone found out.”

He shrugged. “I like living on the edge. It makes life more interesting.”

“Don’t you want to be taken seriously, Zach? You’ve just taken over your father’s company, and I know for a fact that there are agents who have been there as long as you’ve been alive. You have to know that some of them resent you. I’m sure they’d do anything they could to railroad you. Do you really want to give them ammunition?”

Zach hadn’t thought about that, but that wasn’t what was really bothering him right now. It was the confirmation, from Paige, that some people didn’t take him seriously. He was deathly afraid she might be part of that contingent. “It’s just next door. I think I can make it that far.”

“It’s your career. I can’t tell you what to do.”

He stepped closer to her, their gazes connecting before he let his focus drift to her lips. He couldn’t escape the sense that this wasn’t the end, even when she was telling him it was. There was more between them. He knew it. “Let me know if you change your mind, Paige.”

“I won’t. Change my mind.”

He turned the doorknob, then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Well, I certainly appreciate a woman who knows what she wants.”

Paige slumped against the door of her hotel room as soon as Zach was gone. She was so turned on right now that she could hardly see straight. Zach had been wrong about five orgasms. It was actually seven. Of course she’d kept score. Hell yes, she had. If only because he was light-years ahead of any other guy she’d ever gone to bed with.

And how had she responded? She’d sent him away.

“It’s for the best. Right?” she asked herself as she took several steps ahead and dramatically flopped down on the bed face-first. Unfortunately, the sheets were perfumed with a beguiling mix of Zach’s heady smell and the familiar scent of sex. Visions of last night rushed through her consciousness—his strong hands all over her, his unforgettable mouth visiting everywhere his hands had been. Being with him was intoxicating. He left her entire body buzzing with electricity. The longing for more of Zach was so strong that it created a burning sensation in the center of her chest. Despite everything she’d just said to him about how it would never happen again, she could be easily convinced to show up at his door stark naked right now.

But no. That was not a good choice for her. Not now. Not tomorrow. Or next week. Just because she’d slept with Zach, didn’t mean that she suddenly trusted him professionally. And her history with his stepdad had proven time and again that there was no cozying up to anyone involved with Armstrong Sports, unless you wanted to eventually get stabbed in the back.

And then there was the personal side of her inner conflict over Zach. He was twelve years younger than her. More than a decade. He had his entire life ahead of him. He probably wanted a marriage and children—one thing she’d already failed at, and the other she was certain was no longer in the cards for her. All of which meant he would eventually reach a point where he no longer had a use for her. She didn’t get involved because she refused to get hurt. That was a good choice. It was smart. And all of that aside, did he even like the same music and movies she did? If they were together, what would happen when the sex faded? Did they actually have anything in common?

“Cut it out, Paige,” she said into the emptiness of her room. Why was she tormenting herself with hypotheticals? She needed to get a grip. Her brief time with Zach had been amazing. Full stop. She’d had her fun. And now it was time for a return to reality, and that was not possible in this room, this hotel or this city. She needed to get to the airport as soon as possible. Maybe she could hop on an earlier flight. Was she running away? Absolutely. Running back to her normal, everyday life where she worked hard and didn’t give a man a chance to stomp on her heart.

She crawled across the bed until she could grab her phone from the nightstand. She pulled up the airline app, tapped her reservation, then scrolled down to a button at the very bottom of the screen that would allow her to change her travel plans. With a little luck and a fee of several hundred dollars, she grabbed the last first-class seat on an earlier flight to New York. It made her feel slightly better about her lot in life. This was the version of herself she most appreciated—the Paige who took charge, changed her circumstances and moved forward.

She rolled off the bed and hustled into the bathroom, then started the shower. Moments later, she stepped into the warm spray, but the instant she spread soapy bubbles over her skin, her mind flew to Zach. Dammit. If she’d been smart, she would have convinced him to take a shower with her before he left. That would’ve left her with an expanded treasure trove of white-hot memories. The downside of a one-night stand was having to accept that there would always be things left undone. It was baked into the concept. Not that she’d done this very often. It wasn’t her thing. When she was younger, her response to sex had always been to pull the other person closer and hold on tight. That was how things started with Andre. But there would be no holding on to Zach. It was a losing proposition.

She turned off the water and got out of the shower, dried off, then dressed in a comfortable knit dress for her return trip back to New York. She quickly packed up her suitcase, being far less careful than she would typically be by allowing her dirty clothes and the clean ones to intermingle. She was not going to miss her new flight.

Still, she hesitated for an instant out in the hall. Was Zach still next door? Was he angry or upset with her? Or had he already moved on? His cavalier attitude when he’d left made her think the latter. In this instance, she needed to be more like Zach.

She ducked down the hall with her roller bag and was relieved when there was no one else waiting for the elevator. After a quick ride downstairs, she stopped by the front desk to drop off her key card, then hurried outside to the cabstand. She’d been in line for only a few seconds when there was a warm hand at her waist. Zach. She quickly flipped around. The disappointment hit her all at once—she sighed and her shoulders dropped. It was Andre. “Hey.”

“Heading out already?” he asked.

“Yes. I have a ton of work to do. I really need to get back home and catch up on everything I’ve been ignoring while I’ve been in Vegas.” She looked down and saw that he had his suitcase as well. “You’re leaving, too.”

“I promised Casey I’d get back as soon as possible. Between work and her school schedule, Sundays are usually the only days we get to spend any time together at all.”

Paige couldn’t deny the anger bubbling up inside of her. It wasn’t jealousy. She simply didn’t understand the universe’s criteria for doling out life circumstances right now. Why did Andre get to find love so effortlessly while she was completely frazzled after a one-night stand? “That’s nice.”

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