AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Isn’t that—” Dane questioned, looking between us and the sidewalk.
“Rowan Ellis!” Maggie blurted in reply, getting Rowan’s attention as he was about to step into the bar. Looking everywhere but at him, I didn’t know why I felt something, and I couldn’t define it either. Whatever the nag in my stomach was, I didn’t like it, so I avoided him and sipped from Dane’s glass.
His descriptions of me from the car ride slipped into my thoughts. He called me intelligent… And sexy. Who says that? I pictured him giving me his shirt in the rose garden and driving us to his house in the thunderstorm, and how he told me there was a lot he could do that Ryan Marshall couldn’t… Why am I even thinking this? I hated Rowan Ellis. I had since he forgot he kissed me in college and was a pain in my ass for the rest of my life. Then Aubrey popped into my head, asking me with her perfect voice to let it go for the sake of their wedding.
I could be professional in public and bite my tongue until their winter nuptials because I was always better than Rowan Ellis.
Monica and Maggie paid their tab and started walking back to the train stop when Dane offered to walk me home.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him. “I’m just a few blocks that way.”
“Call me if you need help,” he told me, hugging me goodbye before he left me outside of the bar. The streets were lit and full of cars, so I felt safe walking home alone. I think the only reason I questioned myself was the last tequila shot and my wobbly stomach acting all sorts of ridiculous with my memory flashing back to last week.
“Meredith,” I turned when someone called me, “are you leaving?” Ryan ignored people approaching him for an autograph as he jogged over to me.
Looking around to make sure I was the only Meredith he was talking to, I remembered he was a coworker of Rowan’s, who was best friend to my best friend’s fiancée, and I had to play nice.
“Yeah,” I replied, smiling at him. “I have a meeting in the morning. And you’re playing in Tampa tomorrow night, so you should head back, too.”
“I like a woman with an excellent memory,” he noted, winking at me. Uh. Shouldn’t Ryan Marshall cornering me outside on a hot summer night, remembering my name, and winking at me, have done something magical to my nerves?
“Do you think,” the brazen bastard reached for my hand and I froze, “you’d want to meet up when we’re back in town?” We moved against the wall as people filtered out from the bar, distracting our conversation.
“As much as I appreciate you expecting me to wait for you,” I smirked, “I’ll be out of town for a while.” He was gorgeous. Why wasn’t that sparking something? Lifting my gaze up to his, I wondered if this was his routine for his one-nighters, especially after Ryan thought he was romantically cradling my face in his rough palms.
I reached up to take his hands down, but an arm came flying next to my face and knocked Ryan away from me.
“Marshall!” Rowan barked, shoving his teammate. Ryan was holding his jaw as he stood up, his pretty face scowling at Rowan.
“What the hell?”
Rowan glared at him, waving his arms around as he spoke. “Step off! Go back inside and leave her alone.”
They yelled at each other until a small crowd formed, both quickly aware of the audience before Ryan grumbled something to both of us as he stormed off.
“You’re ridiculous!” I shouted, taking Rowan’s hand in mine. Rowan’s skin was warm, heating my hands as I anchored his fist in my grasp. “Stop acting like an idiot and go home!”
“I’m ridiculous? Am I the one hitting on you in a bar, Meredith?”
“No. You’re just the one hitting other people.”
“He knows you’re off limits,” Rowan growled, his blue eyes like ice as he glared at me.
I stepped back, repeating his words to myself. Off limits? “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
He combed his fingers through his hair as soon as I let go of his hand. Rowan looked at the sky and closed his eyes. “You’re off limits. Let it go and you go home.”
“Absolutely not,” I rebuked, stubbornly digging my heels in. Rowan was ignoring me like a total jerk, so I smacked his chest. I may have broken a finger against his abs, but it was worth it because the mix of shock and awe in his expression was priceless.
“Go home, Meredith. I’ll see you in Seattle,” he told me, shaking his head as he walked away.
What the hell just happened? I asked myself that until I fell asleep, wondering how my Monday went from blah to even worse in a matter of hours. There was no answer to what the hell “off limits” meant, or why anyone but myself staked that claim.
NINE
Aubrey picked me up at the train station on Saturday morning, dressed in black and quieter than usual.
“I’ve been like a mouse all week,” she told me. “I just never know what to say or what to do. I don’t want to offend anyone or step on toes.”
