Page 22 of Their After Hours Playbook

“What? Are you twelve?” Paige asked. She scooted across the seat while Zach rounded to the opposite side of the car and climbed in. She left a sliver of space between them, which quickly disappeared as soon as Andre got in on her right.

“Everybody comfy?” Zach asked.

Paige wrapped her arms around her handbag, which was perched on her lap. “Never been better,” she lied.

The cabdriver eased around the corner in front of the hotel, but as soon as the coast was clear to turn onto Las Vegas Boulevard, he gunned it. Paige slid into Zach, then had to wiggle herself back into place.

“Sorry,” she said.

“No problem,” Zach answered in a low voice that sent shudders through her.

“So, Zach,” Andre said. “Where do you think Ryan Wilson will land? I gotta think he’ll have his pick of teams.”

Zach leaned forward to make eye contact with Andre. “You know I represent him?”

“I’d have to be hiding under a rock. Plus, I’m really hoping he doesn’t end up with a team in our division.”

Zach laughed. “Yeah. Well, we’ll see.”

“What’s he going to do without Davante Diggs to throw to? Those two were pure fire together.”

Zach cleared his throat. “There might be some other changes afoot.”

“Whoa. Seriously?”

Zach and Andre quickly launched into an in-depth discussion of professional football, while Paige looked straight ahead and tried not to think about how damn awkward it was to be sitting between them. She had no trouble keeping up with the substance of their conversation since she followed all sports closely, even those in which she had zero clients, like football. It paid to be well versed in the entire industry. Still, she couldn’t ignore the way Zach and Andre got along from the word go. They were a flurry of chatter. They made each other laugh. At one point, Paige nearly asked if they wanted her to sit by the window so they could be closer, but that would have required her crawling over either her ex-husband or the man she was trying like hell to resist. One lap she had no business in, and the other...well, that would’ve been entirely too inviting.

“Which airline?” the cabdriver asked.

“Southwest,” Andre answered.

“Delta,” Paige and Zach both said at nearly the same time.

She turned to him. “Which flight are you on?”

“The eleven-thirty into LaGuardia.”

Paige closed her eyes and begged for some semblance of tranquility. “Do you know your seat assignment?”

“3A. Why? Are we on the same flight?”

Andre quietly chuckled as the cabdriver pulled up to the curb in front of his airline and popped the trunk. “It’s been real, guys.” He opened the door, then pulled out his wallet and offered a twenty dollar bill. “This should cover my piece of it.”

Zach held up his hand. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it.”

“You sure?” Andre asked.

“I am,” Zach said.

“Bye, Paige. Take care of yourself,” Andre said, then turned his attention to Zach. “Make sure she gets home safe, okay?”

“Will do,” Zach replied.

Andre winked at Paige, then closed the door. The cabdriver eased back into the flow of traffic.

Paige scooted across the seat to separate herself from Zach. “We need to set some ground rules for our flight.”

“So you are sitting next to me?”

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