It took me a moment to realize she’d stopped talking and that I needed to look at her face, not her legs. So I dragged my gaze up to her mouth. She was chewing her lower lip, licking off the gloss in her nervousness. I was suddenly flooded with the image of what else she could be doing with her mouth on me.
Yeah, it was immature, but damn, I couldn’t figure out what she wanted.
“Ellie?” I said, her name coming out in a low, lust-filled growl.
“It’s Rachel’s dress. I didn’t pack for a date.” Then she shrugged. “Remember? I live in Indianapolis and drove up here for the barbecue. No dresses required.”
“And Rachel didn’t have anything in her closet that was a little less…” What? Sex in black knit? “Modern.”
“You were expecting a poodle skirt? Sweater and pearls? Nun’s habit?”
I flushed. I hated it when someone caught my inner thoughts. “Look, I know I’m a jock, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
She jolted upright. “I never thought—”
“So what’s the agenda here? There’s going to be press, and I need to know your game plan.”
She blew out a breath. “You weren’t supposed to say yes.” And then she frowned. “Wait…press? What press?”
I leaned back and folded my arms. It was the only way to keep them off her. “You made a big show of asking me out publicly.”
“In my parents’ backyard!”
“In front of the team. And Gia.”
She frowned. “Who’s Gia?”
“You remember the bouncy brunette in heels. She had a thing for your mom’s ambrosia salad. She’s the team’s publicist.”
I watched as her eyes widened in memory. Yeah, for all Gia’s perky beauty, the woman knew how to fade into the background when needed. Neat trick for a publicist.
“But this isn’t about the baseball team.”
“Gia’s job is to make us popular. There’s nothing better for clickbait than an old-fashioned date.” I watched her expression closely. “In fact, I considered the possibility that you and Gia had set this up beforehand.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “No! This has nothing to do with publicity. God!” Her expression morphed into horror genuine enough that I knew she wasn’t faking.
“So what’s the deal?”
She swallowed and her gaze slid away. Clear guilt and embarrassment. The girl carried her emotions on her sleeve, and part of me wanted to make this easier for her. It’s not like I enjoyed embarrassing pretty girls, but the Bobcats took publicity very seriously. And I’d just been chewed out by team owner Joe Deluce about how my playboy ways were unacceptable. I had to cool my bad-boy antics. Which meant I couldn’t afford to go out there not knowing what was going on.
“You were supposed to reject me,” she said in a low moan.
“You said that before. It still doesn’t make any sense.”
She huffed out a breath, making her breasts bounce in a really distracting way. Then she glared at me as if it were my fault. “I was trying to get rejected. Rachel thought if I made it clear there’d be no sex, you’d turn me down flat.”
Okay, so now my eyes were on her face. Well, her mouth specifically, but that didn’t help me process her words. “You thought I’d say no?” To going out with a beautiful woman? While in front of the girl’s parents and the guys? Was she crazy?
“Well, nicely, of course. I, um, thought you’d say you were tired after a game or something like that.”
“Keyed up.”
“What?”
“After a game. I’m usually physically tired, but emotionally keyed up. Almost hyper.”
She blinked. Long lashes, soft brown eyes. I knew from yesterday that when the sun caught the irises just right, her eyes shimmered with gold.
