Page 9 of Their After Hours Playbook

Paige doubted that. Why did men think things like that? “Are you happy?”

“Very much so.”

She forced a smile. She did want Andre to be happy and move forward in his life, even if she sometimes felt like she was treading water simply to survive. “Congratulations. I’m really, really happy for you.”

“You got a guy in your life?”

“Not at the moment.” She said that as if she regularly dated and was merely taking a brief hiatus, which wasn’t close to the truth. She’d been on one date since their divorce that had gone tragically bad, and she hadn’t tried since then. Finding the right guy required work and time, and she didn’t have the energy or bandwidth. If love found her, she’d consider it. If sex found her, well, she’d be foolish to turn that down. Especially if he was hot and could make her laugh.

“That won’t last. You’re too gorgeous to stay single.” He eyed her up and down, making her feel on edge. There had been a time when she’d loved it when he did that, but the betrayal that came in their marriage made it seem quite different now. “You look amazing in that dress, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Paige glanced over Andre’s shoulder, and Zach popped into view. He was headed in their direction, but was stopping every few feet to talk to someone.

Andre turned and followed Paige’s line of sight. “Oh. Hey. There’s the boy wonder.”

“Zach Armstrong?” Paige wondered if word had gotten out about Zach expanding the purview of Armstrong Sports. “Seems like a pretty generous nickname. Not sure he’s a wonder yet.” Although he is wonder-ful to look at.

“Are you kidding? He just signed Ryan Wilson. Very big deal.” Andre turned back to her. “And of course, more than a little controversial, since Ryan was still represented by Epic Sports. No matter what, it was a baller move.”

Paige grumbled under her breath, studying Zach as he continued to chitchat with people. Good god, he was a vision, but her suspicions of him seemed to be proving true. He’d stolen someone’s client? Not cool. “That’s Tom Armstrong’s influence.”

“You would say that,” Andre quipped.

Paige was not going to walk down that particular path. Discussing Tom Armstrong with Andre would only make her angry. “I’m not wrong.”

“Regardless of whose influence it is, the kid has game.”

Kid. Paige didn’t know Zach very well, but was certain he would dislike that particular nickname.

Andre glanced at his phone. “Oh. Hey. I need to go. But hopefully I’ll see you around?” He leaned closer and kissed her on the cheek.

Paige managed a grin. She was glad Andre had found someone. Really, she was. But if he was moving on, did that mean she should be doing the same? “Sure thing.”

She grabbed the handle of her suitcase and took the few strides required to reach the elevator, then pressed the button to call for it. She was painfully aware that Zach was nearby, but she wasn’t ready to talk to him yet, so she kept her eyes trained on the numbers above the doors. It was taking forever. Absentmindedly, she looked to her left and spotted Zach just as he turned in her direction. Their gazes connected and he flashed a grin. Her head swam. It felt like a bolt of lightning had cracked open the hotel’s ceiling, struck her in the chest and all that electricity headed straight between her legs. She quickly looked away and jammed the call button repeatedly. “Come on,” she muttered, then pulled out her phone to check the time. Her first sponsor meeting wasn’t for another hour. Needing something to do or a lifeline of some sort, she sent April a text. Tell me again when you get here? There was no response.

She looked up from her phone, only to see Zach was right there. Mere feet away. With his eyes trained on her. “Going up?”

“I think it only goes up from here.” She hoped the same could be said for her day.

“Right. Which floor are you on?” He punched the button several times and shook his head. “The elevators in this hotel take forever.”

“I’m on eight.”

He turned to her with a look of utter surprise and, oddly enough, a bit of delight. “Funny. Me, too.”

So much for her day improving. Of course Zach was on the same floor she was. Fate just had to play that little trick on her. The elevator dinged and Paige jumped. The doors parted and let off an entire carload of people. Zach held the door for her as soon as the coast was clear. She stepped on board and he was right behind her, along with at least another dozen people, including a family with so many roller bags that it was a miracle there was room for any passengers at all. Everyone had to jockey for position and crowd together. That left Zach and Paige penned in the corner by suitcases.

“I saw you talking to Andre Held,” Zach muttered quietly. He lowered his chin to his chest to speak to her. “You don’t represent any of his players, do you?”

She peered up at him, uncomfortably aware of how hard it was to breathe in his presence while trying not to stare at his mouth. If he was half as good at kissing as he was at making her feel unsettled, making out with him would be all kinds of fun. “He’s my ex.”

His eyebrows popped up in surprise. “Ex-boyfriend?”

“Husband.”

“Oh. I guess I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah.” Of course, Paige wasn’t about to tell Zach that his beloved stepdad, Tom, had played a role in the demise of her marriage. That wasn’t a subject for light conversation, especially with so many strangers within earshot. The elevator dinged. They were on the eighth floor.

---