Chapter 12 #2
I shook my head. “Nah, it’s been nonstop in here since we opened the doors at eleven this morning. What social media frenzy?” Easing a hand from her thigh, I reached back to pull my phone from my pocket, but her hand on my wrist stopped me.
“Don’t…” she sighed, “don’t look now. I’ll just tell you that it’s all lies and projecting. Insults and more hurtful lies.”
I took her hand, bringing her fingers up to press my lips against them. “Tell me about it.”
“Here? Now?” She sighed again. “Can we just go to your place and talk about it?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t like negative energy where I lay my head. It took me way too long to dig myself out of darkness to allow any slivers of it in my home. Tell me what happened.”
She dropped her head, but I quickly chastised her. “Uh-uh, sweetness. Keep your eyes on me and know that whatever it is, I’ve got you.”
Shit. I didn’t mean to say all that. Hadn’t meant to let her know I was already all-in with her once more. Despite telling myself I could never give this woman my whole heart again, I would still do anything for her.
“I messed up.” She shrugged as she lifted her head to meet my gaze. “I fell for the wrong guy; he lied and cheated. Now, I’m on the hook with the NBA and possibly the federal government for something I didn’t do.”
Narrowing my gaze served as the only diffuser I had at the moment. “What do you mean you’re on the hook?”
The words from the posts I’d read a few weeks ago popped into my head as I struggled to pinpoint why dumbass Adrian Bowman’s fuck-ups would leave Serra unprotected.
I got that he was suspected of gambling and that was a clear violation in the NBA, but what the hell did that have to do with her?
The shit about the pregnant reporter, now I knew exactly how that impacted her.
It embarrassed and infuriated her which made perfect sense.
“I was his agent and his fiancée.”
She tried to pull her hand away and move from my lap, but I held her still. Moving the hand that was on her hip to wrap my arm around her waist, I kept her other hand firmly in mine. She huffed.
“My lawyer says they may want access to my financial information to see if there were any transactions to bookies or online gambling sites. And to see if I was moving some of Adrian’s gambling money. It’s a big ass mess and I’m so fuckin’ tired of messing up.”
“Whoa.” I bought her fingers up to kiss them again.
“Don’t do that. I still haven’t heard how you’re at fault here.
Or even under suspicion.” Okay, I guess I could see the correlation.
If she was sleeping with Adrian and representing him, she could possibly know about his gambling.
If they were planning to get married, maybe they’d combined finances, at which point she would likely be spending the gambling money he brought in.
Add to that she’s ethically bound to report any illegal infractions her clients might incur to the appropriate entities and yeah, I could definitely see why they were looking at her, too.
And I didn’t like that shit.
“Come on, Noah. You’re smart and you’re into sports, always have been. So I know you know the rules here. Adrian was betting on NBA games, in his division.”
“Dumbass,” I cut in.
She arched a brow. “Exactly.” She used her free hand to run her fingers through her hair, pushing it back behind her ear.
“I didn’t know what or who he was doing for that matter.
One day I’m considering a winter wedding—because that’s what he’d been hinting at—and the next I’m getting a call from this simple ass girl who says she’s having his baby.
Then, before I could even catch my breath, I’m being called into my supervisor’s office and told I need to take a leave of absence while the NBA, FBI, and whoever else decide how deep I am into this gambling ring. ”
“So, wait? Your job thinks you’re involved?”
“No, I don’t think so. I mean, Michaela and Freddie are both great women.
I’ve known them for five years and we’ve all gotten along very well.
Freddie is actually my closest friend. But they have a brand to protect.
” She shook her head. “This is not how I wanted to end the night. I was supposed to be coming over here to start seducing you, then you were supposed to take me home and fuck me until I couldn’t think about this shit anymore. ”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that last part, even though I knew she was dead serious. “Nobody said that’s off the table, sweetness. I just need to make sure we’re both on the same page here. Besides, how many drinks have you had?”
I didn’t really think she was drunk. It was totally logical that we both had shit we wanted to get out of heads, even if only temporarily. And sex seemed like a damn good remedy for that. Still, I needed to make absolutely sure this was what she wanted.
Her brow furrowed. “Now you think I’m drunk?” Waving her free hand she attempted to move from my lap again. “Just forget it, Noah. I’ll go home and finish drinking these thoughts out of my mind.”
Now, I had both arms around her, and one hand clasping the back of her neck. “Stop trying to get away. I’m not letting you go until I’m good and ready.”
“So you get to hold me hostage, but you won’t fuck me like I requested? Got it. Let me go.” The last was spoken with heavy annoyance, but I continued to grin.
“Nah, you didn’t request I fuck you. It was more like you thought you were going to convince me that’s what I wanted to do. Which, hey, there are definitely no lies told there. But I still need to know you’re good up here.” I tapped the side of her head.
“I am,” she shot back. “You want me to walk a straight line? Count backwards from one hundred? What?”
“I want you to tell me you’re not still in love with that bastard.
” I was no longer smiling, no longer joking about what I wanted or needed from her.
“I’m not trying to be the get your lick back or whatever the hell y’all call it.
Spending time with you these last few weeks has been dope.
I knew I would never stop missing you, but I’d gotten used to the fact that you weren’t in my life anymore.
And then, with the opening of those elevator doors, you were.
I like it. But not enough to get either of us tangled up in some shit we can’t walk away from whole this time. ”
She held my gaze, thinking about my words and coming to what conclusion I had no idea.
My body wanted her to say she was cool and that sex was still what she wanted.
My heart would leap for joy at those words.
Hell, even my mind was on board for the physical connection, with the caveat that I not get any delusional ideas of taking us through the emotional wringer again.
Cupping my face in her hands, she licked her lips again, then replied, “I want sex, Noah. That’s it.”
I shook my head. “That’s not all I asked you.”
She blinked slowly a couple of times before saying in a voice so soft if my face wasn’t only a few inches away from hers I wouldn’t have heard her, “When I said I messed up it was because I agreed to marry a man I don’t think I ever loved.
” She placed a soft kiss to my lips. “Just like I messed up when I let you walk out of my life.”