Page 71 of Off the Post

“How did things go after the tournament?” Leanne looks up from the forms I’ve handed her for an upcoming event merchandise order. Because she had a sick child at home on Monday and so wasn’t in the office, I had to wait until her return to get these signed.

She scribbles her signature on one and flips it over to sign the other.

My first thought is of my hookup with Soren. I blink, assessing whether she somehow knows or can sense that we were together after the golf tournament.

Leanne waves the pen in the air and hands me back the signed docs.

“I’m so sorry I had to leave you to handle the rest on your own. Mia came down with a fever, and I swear, Gabriel went into a total spiral. You’d think that man has never taken care of one of his own sick children before. My God, for such a brilliant man, he can be helpless without me.”

I dip my chin and chew on my lower lip to hide my laughter at her plight. She points the ballpoint pen at me in warning.

“Heed my advice,” she says sternly. “Before you ever decide to have kids, make sure your partner takes parenting classes and reads all the books. Trust me. Never assume they’ll be a natural at it.”

I raise two fingers. “Girl Scout promise. In fact, I swear to never have kids. Period.”

This extracts a laugh from Leanne, which turns into a cackle as she throws her head back and hoots wildly. Then she wags the pen again.

“Good thinking. Parenting is hard. I love it when a woman knows her position on the subject and sticks with it.” She gives a quick glance to the family photo sitting on her desk, and her shoulders rise and fall. “Then again, you can always change your mind. I did. That’s the beauty of life. You might someday find the right person, and they make you believe in happily ever after, so your dreams evolve to something new.”

My heart flickers in response. For a moment, I thought I had the beginnings of that with Soren.

Except he hasn’t been in touch since he made his fast getaway so maybe I was wrong.

Although that’s not technically accurate. He did have the courtesy to reply to the texts I sent last night after I hadn’t heard from him in over twenty-four hours.

Me: Hi there. How did your workout go?

Soren: Good. Tough. Tiring.

Me: I bet. Well, I hope you get some rest tonight. You deserve it. I was worn out, too.

After an hour-long pause of hope that he’d continue the flirting, I got the hint. Crickets. I didn’t want to embarrass myself by pushing my agenda when he’s no longer interested, so I let it go.

I’ve made up a myriad of reasons why he hasn’t replied yet. With each passing moment, I spiraled and my thoughts went dark. And my God, my imagination can create some gruesome explanations for his lack of response.

I keep reminding myself that I went into this hookup with my eyes wide open. I even told him I wasn’t ready for a relationship. Soren obviously took my words at face value and has held the line on his end, which I can’t fault him for.

But this isn’t just about the great sex we’ve had. It’s the inexplicable connection and the thread of promise I saw in his heated gaze each time he looked me.

Obviously, I read too much into it. Soren isn’t into me the way I am to him.

I pretend to myself that I’m not smitten with Soren. He’s soft-spoken, genuinely kind, extremely attractive. Clearly devoted to family. All of that is a total turn-on.

But there’s something just beneath the surface that gives me pause, a pervasive sadness that slips through cracks in his demeanor. Some may see The Wolf as a fierce loner and elite athlete, and they love him for it, but I’ve gotten a few inside peeks behind the curtain.

I’ve seen him around Nicolas. So kind and patient. And in the intimacy department, he’s both restrained yet furiously wild.

He’s a contradiction. I want to peel back the layers to understand Soren for who he truly is.

I know I will love what I find there.

“Okay. Where were we?” Leanne says, tugging me back to the business at hand. “Ah, yes. These purchases are for the upcoming August Evening Under the Stars dinner and auction, right? You’ll send out the Save the Date invites to all our donors and celebrities? It’s right around the corner and we’ll need RSVPs stat.”

I nod. “Already on my to-do list. I’ll submit these orders tonight and those emails will go out first thing tomorrow.” I check my phone and calendar. “I’m not sure if you’re aware, but we’ve had some latency issues and error messages with our website lately. I’ve asked Sam and he said he’d investigate it. Otherwise, we’re set for August twentieth. I have the park booked and I’ve confirmed with the vendor who’s supplying the games and portable bouncy houses.”

Leanne claps her hands together and grins. “Oh, my kids are going to freak out! They love those things. And Ali, let me just say that it’s such a nice change to have you come on board with these fresh and family-friendly ideas. Your predecessor thought everything had to be boring wine-and-dine events to drum up the dollars.” She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “I like your style. Keep up the good work.”

I blush under her compliment. “Thank you, Leanne. I’d love to see this one become an annual event.”