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“Really? From the police?” He’s feigning innocence and it makes me want to both punch him in the arm and kiss him fully.
I start to laugh, the surprise of it all washing over me once again. “Nope. The Washington Commanders! I had no idea you had a contact there.”
He only smiles and the rest of the story comes rushing out of me. “The training team called to ask me about doing an interview. I didn’t know that could happen without even applying. But in the video chat with them the next day, they let it slip that you’d orchestrated it.”
Biting down on his back jaw makes the muscles jump, which does things to my insides—totally loopy things. “I played with a guy who got transferred to the Commanders. He talked to the trainers and made things happen.” He grows serious, searching my face.
“Thank you,” I say, only it comes out quieter than I’d planned.
“It was part of the bet, remember?” He runs his fingertips along the back of my hand.
“They offered me the job, Alec.” I squeeze my mouth closed, breathing in slowly through my nose.
“Wow, that’s really great. Congratulations, Oakley,” he says, his grin broad. “I might have got the ball rolling, but you won the interview. You deserve this.” He sobers, his brow hardening. “Are you starting right away? Or closer to when the season starts?”
I shake my head. “I’m not. I told them thank you, but no thank you.” Joy starts in my solar plexus and radiates out to my fingers and toes.
His face goes slack before his mouth turns up in an uncertain smile. “Are you kidding me? You’re not taking it? I was just worried about what the Bordys might do to your good name—”
“I know, but I don’t care about that, because I’m staying in Longdale.”
He shunts out a breath, his eyes blinking rapidly. He grabs both of my hands and brings them up to his mouth to kiss them softly. “Are you sure?”
I run my fingers through his hair near the nape of his neck. “It feels totally and completely right, Alec.”
“Are you going to stay with me at the house? Please say yes.”
I draw back a little, searching his face. “As much as I want to, and as much as it would benefit Jerry to have his parents living under the same roof—” I smile. “I don’t think that’s the best idea right now.”
“Why not?” He cocks his head to one side. “I mean, I respect your decision, but know that you’re always welcome to stay with me.”
“I know that. But I begged you to break our own rules. I begged you three times!” Heat ripples through my face and neck. “Apparently, I have no dignity when it comes to my attraction to you.”
“You’re attracted to me?” he teases.
“You know I am.” Now my hands are on his shoulders and then his chest. “But not just your body. Everything about you. I am so proud of you and all that you’re working on and how you’ve turned adversity into something good.”
The clearing of my throat is so that I might more strongly believe the next words I say. “I think the smartest decision would be to stay at the resort for now. In fact, the damaged rooms have been repaired and your insurance company gave the go ahead to have guests staying in there again, so I’ve already moved in.”
“Already? You really have done a lot this week. That’s a jam-packed time.” His expression stills. “I am so sorry about the gambling and how that scared you. And about the DUI and then not telling you sooner. Oakley, I can’t express to you how much I care about you and how much I want to be around you. I’ve never felt this way. Ever. You’re the most meaningful part of my life.”
“You’re not Brandt. You’re nothing like him. I made a mistake by thinking you were. I’m sorry.”
He shakes his head. “It wasn’t your fault. I would have wondered the same thing.”
We kiss. It’s a good thing we’re in a public place because I meant what I said about not being able to control myself around him.
But it’s important to me that I do. I want this to work…to last. And I will take things as slowly as I possibly can.
We land in Denver and take a rideshare to Longdale and the resort. We barely have time to change out of our clothes from Austin because Alec is insistent on taking me somewhere.
He won’t tell me where and my mind is going crazy with the possibilities.
I leave the resort, get in my car, and drive onto Lakeside Road to pick him up from the front of the house.
“Can we go pick up Jerry from Stella now?” I ask him as he slides into the passenger seat of my car. The summer heat has penetrated the car, flooding my cheeks with warmth, which is only amplified by the presence of Alec next to me.
“I miss him a surprising amount, too. But we have to do a couple of things first.”
