Chapter 15
BECCA
I stuck my toe out of the bubbles and traced slow circles along the foam, trying to wrap my head around what had happened tonight.
And I wasn’t just referring to the date, although I deserved a medal for making it through that shit show.
Rowen was nice, but that man should never be allowed on another dating app again.
Especially after spending the entire night talking about his ex-wife and his kids’ obstructed bowel issues.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the second he started showing me pictures of his coin collection, I knew we were past the point of no return.
By the time the date ended, I was ready to delete the dating app off my phone.
The worst part was that I couldn’t stop thinking about Nate.
I picked up my phone, unlocked the screen, and scrolled up through our earlier text messages. He was probably wondering how the rest of my date went. I didn’t want him to draw the wrong conclusion, so I typed out a message before I talked myself out of it.
Me
I’m home. The date was a bust.
I stared at the ceiling, wondering why he decided to blow up my phone tonight. We had an agreement. Why now?
Nate
Glad to hear it.
I snorted as my fingers flew across the keyboard.
Me
Just so you don’t get the wrong idea, it had nothing to do with you trying to ruin it.
I set the phone down and leaned over the tub to light a few candles and try to unwind.
The bathwater was warm and exactly what my tight muscles needed. I relaxed my head on the edge of the tub and sank deeper into the warm water, letting the bubbles slide up over my shoulders.
I was exhausted in ways that had nothing to do with my date tonight and everything to do with a six-foot-two quarterback who apparently didn’t know how to honor an agreement. Like, keep things professional.
My phone buzzed on the side of the tub with an incoming FaceTime call.
Speak of the devil.
There was no way I could answer it while sitting in the tub, so I hit decline.
Then it buzzed again. Same name flashed across the screen. He was a persistent little thing.
I looked down as it kept buzzing, staring at the notification on the screen.
Nate
Please pick up your phone.
Absolutely not. He’s already caused enough problems tonight. I wanted peace and to reset my brain. Pretend that tonight never happened.
I tipped my head back against the tub and tried to meditate. Or whatever version I remembered from when I took that yoga class during my freshman year of college.
I groaned when the screen lit up with another FaceTime call.
Did he honestly think I would find this charming? I told myself to keep ignoring him, but clearly, he wasn’t going to stop.
I had a few choice words for him, and he was going to listen. I set my wineglass down, wiped my damp fingers off on a towel, and swiped to answer it.
The smug bastard’s face filled the screen, and I totally forgot what I planned to say. He looked relaxed in a way that was completely unfair, considering I was unraveling by the second.
Messy hair, shadows under his eyes, and laid back on the bed with one hand behind his head, acting like he didn’t hijack my thoughts tonight when I should have been focusing on someone else.
“Well, that’s not the view I was expecting. Do you always answer your phone like that?”
I let out a soft laugh, despite how frustrated I felt. “You really do have terrible timing.”
His gaze dipped to the edge of the screen, where the foam bubbles covered everything but my shoulders. The slow, heated look in his eyes sent a ripple through me.
I realized then that I shouldn’t have answered. Because normal, smart people wouldn’t have accepted a FaceTime call while sitting in the bathtub, naked.
“I thought maybe you would still be dressed or already changed into your pajamas.”
I fixed a few strands of hair that had escaped my ponytail. “It’s been a long day, so I needed some self-care, and just for the record, I don’t normally answer a business call while I’m in the bathtub.”
His brow lifted. “Business call? Is that what we’re calling this?”
“Yes, and we won’t talk about how highly inappropriate this is.”
I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, even though there wasn’t one thing funny about this at all.
“We’re not doing anything wrong. We’re not even in the same zip code.”
He smiled, causing both dimples to pop out. Then, I remembered I was pissed at him.
“I can’t believe you did that tonight,” I said, resting my one elbow on the edge of the porcelain. “You’re lucky I picked up because I was going to continue ignoring your calls.”
“Like I would let that happen.”
I huffed out a laugh. “You’re really persistent, you know that?” I dipped my fingers beneath the water, dragging them lazily across my skin.
His eyes followed the movement. “So, tell me how bad the guy was.”
I rolled my eyes. “He wasn’t horrible. I’ve had worse dates, but we clearly weren’t a match.”
“Why’s that?” he asked, shifting his weight on the bed. “Was he bald? Have bad breath, or was he just boring?”
I laughed. “He wasn’t bald, and I didn’t get close enough to smell his breath. He spent the entire night talking about his ex-wife, his kids, and his coin collection.”
He whistled. “Sounds like it was a thrilling date.”
I laughed. “I swear, I know more about his son’s IBS issue and his ex-wife’s bunion than I care to admit.”
He snorted. “The guy is an idiot.”
“You think so?”
“I do,” he said without hesitation. “Because if that were me sitting across from you tonight, there isn’t a chance in hell I’d let you go home alone.”
The ease in the way he said those words threw me. I glanced at him, searching for some regret and finding nothing.
“We said we would keep things professional,” I reminded him, even though my words lacked conviction.
“We did, yet here we are.”
I needed to get this conversation back on track and gain some sense of control over the situation. “Why are you still awake? Shouldn’t you be resting up for the game?”
His eyes softened. “I couldn’t sleep until I knew that you made it home okay. Without your date,” he emphasized.
I pressed my lips together, unsure how I was supposed to respond to that. He could be charming one minute and cocky and teasing the next. But it was moments like this, when he was soft and vulnerable, that really got to me.
I dragged my fingers across my knees. “Nate, this is a very bad idea. It feels like we’re doing something inappropriate.”
His smile faded. “Doesn’t feel like that to me.”
I hated how much I wanted to agree with him.
“I’m just worried about my job and how this will look if we start something.”
“Becca, we’re miles apart. We are simply talking. It’s not like I’m sitting in the bathtub with you.”
I shook my head, fighting back a smile. “That’s helpful.”
“Exactly.” He grinned. “Completely harmless.”
“Completely harmless, my ass,” I said, feeling the absurdity of all this catch up to me. “Pretty sure my HR director would faint if she knew about this phone call.”
This would definitely go in the “what not to do” handbook for Journalist Integrity.
His gaze dipped for a minute before moving back to my face. “You have no idea how badly I wish I were there right now.”
For a guy who liked to keep things simple, he sure was making this difficult.
God help me.
“You are impossible,” I said, propping the phone against a candle. “And you need to stop saying stuff like that.”
His gaze drifted over the visible parts of my shoulders. “I’m being honest.”
His honesty was going to get us in serious trouble. This was the kind of thing that my professor warned me about in my Ethics in Journalism class. If this ever got out, my credibility would be destroyed.
“It’s probably best that you’re in Chicago right now instead of here.”
“I’m tempted to buy you a plane ticket right now.” His blue eyes darkened. “Because this feels really unfair.”
“What feels unfair?”
He leaned in closer to the screen. “You naked in a bubble bath while I’m miles away.”
I narrowed my eyes. “This is how careers go up in flames,” I said, sinking deeper into the water, causing the bubbles to rise to my chin.
“Becca, I respect you too much to let anything happen to your career.”
Those words felt comforting when they should have made me feel the exact opposite. I should have been shutting him down, not giving in.
“You are making this really hard for me,” I admitted, staring up at the light fixture. I wanted the restless mess in my head to go away.
“You probably shouldn’t have answered the call then.”
He was going to get me fired if he didn’t stop.
I shifted again, trying to get comfortable, which I immediately regretted. That little movement allowed more skin to fill the screen.
His gaze dropped. “Are you doing this on purpose?”
I paused, swallowing hard. “Doing what?”
“Playing all innocent and acting like you don’t know what you’re doing, when you know exactly what you’re doing.”
The heat between my legs had nothing to do with the temperature of the bathwater anymore.
“I’m not doing anything on purpose.”
I should stop this, laugh it off, and tell him we will talk when he gets back into town. I knew I should. Instead, I shifted the camera and leaned back against the tub. I sank deeper into the water, letting my arms fall to the side.
“You’re killing me, you know that.” He exhaled in that low, rough, lazy voice of his that made my stomach fill with butterflies.
“We should stop,” I said, as my fingers slid down past my belly. He couldn’t see them, but I bet he knew where they were headed.
This was so unlike me. I didn’t do this. I didn’t do reckless. I didn’t blur lines and do impulsive shit like sit naked in a bathtub with a man who could make my life more complicated than I was prepared for.
“We’re just talking,” he said as I watched his fingers curl into the throw pillow on his lap.
“It’s never just talking with us,” I said, moving my hand back up before I did something stupid that I couldn’t take back.
“So, why are you still on the phone?”
“Probably for the same reason you are.”