16. Lily
LILY
The next morning I showered in the hotel with Finn, savoring the feel of the water sluicing down my body. And savoring the feel of him too.
But more so, what I delighted in was both what we were and what we weren’t.
We were the same.
But we were also better.
“What do you want to do when your conference ends?” he asked as he shampooed my hair.
“Mini golf? Or maybe pool?”
“You’re only picking those because you’re so good at them, and you want to beat me.”
I laughed. “I didn’t realize it was a competition.”
He winked. “Baby, I’m always competitive.”
He was when it came to work, but he also wasn’t. A competitive man wouldn’t have let another in the bedroom. “I call BS on that,” I said.
He arched a brow. “Is that so?”
I rinsed my hair. “I don’t think you were competitive last night.”
He hummed, as if considering, and when I raised my face from the water, he said, “Because I don’t have to compete for you. I have you, and all I want is to keep making you happy. Even if that means letting you beat me at pool.”
I swatted him. “I win fair and square.”
“We shall see.”
When we dried off and dressed, he walked me downstairs to where the conference would be held, then he pressed a soft kiss to my cheek. “Go get ’em today, tiger. You’re the best sports reporter the network has ever known.”
From last night to today, I was me.
I was doing it all. Having it all.
I went to work. And I didn’t feel like I had a split personality at all.
Not anymore.
I was no longer ravaged by my imagination. I wasn’t torn up over whether I was good or bad.
I was good. I was all good. And I was good to myself.
I walked on stage, and introduced the panelists during the
Negotiation Skills session. I zoomed right into business mode, talking about Haven’s performance in the Olympic Games when she’d won her gold.
“That has to help when you’re negotiating,” I said. “The fact that you know what it’s like in the heat of the moment, to have everything on the line.”
Haven nodded crisply. “I do think it helps, and I would urge anyone considering a career in sports marketing to do some research to truly understand the mind of an athlete.”
“That’s a great point.” I turned to Josh, asking him a brand new question. “Now, Josh, how do you get into the mind of the athlete when you’re negotiating for them?”
“That’s honestly not my goal, Lily. My goal is to make it work for all parties,” he said, and I tried to rein in a grin. Mostly I succeeded. But a part of me was patting myself on the back for this .
Because here I was.
Finn and I weren’t just the same. We were better.
And this—my work—this incredibly vital part of my life and my identity still clicked.
This was the proof. I’d come out on the other side still me.
Only better.
“Good point. You always want to try to find common ground,” I said, seconding him, thinking too that common ground was often key.
In business. In friendship. In love. In the bedroom.
That was the goal.
And as these two top agents answered the rest of my questions, I kept thinking they had common ground.
And the ground was hot.
Because the enemies to lovers vibe they had felt scorching.
So scorching that when the session ended, and I thanked him, I pulled Haven aside after Josh left.
“You go girl,” I said.
She arched a brow. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged playfully. “You two have some kind of energy.”
She waved a hand. “Nah, it’s nothing.”
I simply smiled. She’d figure it out sooner or later.
Sooner, I hoped as I said goodbye and headed home, delighting in the day I’d had, and looking ahead to another night of pleasure.
That’s what the nights with Finn were, and we had so many in front of us.
I was a lucky woman indeed.