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“Believe me.” His smile grew larger, but his eyes were cold. “You obviously don’t.”
Dang. She’d met him and somehow offended him. That wasn’t like her. With the exception of jerks like Trevor Allred or David Zeus III she felt she was naturally kind, patient, and warm. She bit at her lip and prayed for some kind of help and inspiration.
“I, um, apologize for not remembering our meeting,” she tried again.
His eyes widened even as his body tightened. Something was dreadfully wrong here. “No apology necessary.” His words were gracious but the look in his eyes was carefully guarded. He was hiding something, and she had no clue what it was.
“I wanted to thank you for making my nephew’s year,” she rushed on with. At least she could get part of her mission accomplished. “Your visit to Parley meant a lot to my sister and brother-in-law, and of course to Parley. He told me all about it. He thinks you’re the ‘baddest and the best’.” She held her composure and vowed she wouldn’t let him see how he was confusing and upsetting her with his obvious reluctance. Why had she let herself build up this interaction so high? He hadn’t said anything rude, but he was obviously upset with or uncomfortable around her. She’d never met a man so unresponsive, or maybe frustrated, with her. Men got frustrated when she turned them down, not the other way around. She had no idea how to deal with this situation.
“Parley’s the cutest,” he said, as warm as anything he’d said tonight.
“He is.” Her adorable four-year old nephew had acute lymphocytic leukemia. It was heart-wrenching to watch him be sick and miserable for at least a week after each chemotherapy treatment. Everyone from the nurses to the doctors to the volunteers at the children’s hospital knew of his obsession with and worship of Hayden Warren. A doctor at the hospital met Hayden at a fundraiser for cancer research and arranged for him to visit Parley. Sadly Eva had been at a corporate retreat in Cancun. That generous visit from the superstar was partly to blame for why she’d been so enthralled with him. The pictures and videos of this tough, huge, charming, handsome, world-renowned athlete with the nephew she adored had melted her to a gooey mess. The letdown of their first meeting going nothing like she’d hoped or like she’d built up in her mind crashed into her again. It was silly, and nobody on earth would believe the acclaimed supermodel had an unrequited crush, but there you were.
“Pardon me,” he said easing away from her, “I have a pressing appointment.”
Appointment? At nine o’clock on a Saturday night? In her experience with the Southern California elite that could usually mean one thing. She was vindicated and yet more depressed than ever. Hayden Warren was obviously not the man she was looking for.
“No pardon me,” she threw back at him, before she could bite her tongue. “While you go meet with one of your many hoochey-mamas. I’m sure they just line up waiting for a star like you. No wonder you aren’t interested in flirting with a woman who has a brain in her head and an undeviating moral compass.”
He laughed, actually laughed. His deep, husky laughter was as beautiful as his exterior. Eva fought the sting of disappointment again at this man not being all she’d built him up in her mind to be. She kept a straight face when she wanted to laugh with him.
He sobered but still smirked at her, his dark eyes sparkling. “I’m gratefully lacking in ‘hoochey-mamas’. If I dared ‘meet’ with one of the women who line up waiting for me, my mama would fly down from Wyoming and whoop me.” He grinned. “But if you do find a woman with a brain in her head and any sort of moral compass send her my way, would you?”
“Ah,” she couldn’t help but gasp at how he’d thrown her snarkiness back at her. “You are a … beast!”
His smile grew. “I’ve never heard that one before.”
The crazy thing was … she didn’t know that he had. Not in the context she’d meant it at least. Hannah and Daxon, her sister and brother-in-law, had raved about how funny, endearing, and genuine the Beast was. Parley had told her, ‘the Beast is the baddest and the best ever!’ She’d never seen anything online or in an interview that would’ve revealed he wasn’t the man she’d built so high in her mind. Quite the contrary, it was almost impossible to find anything negative about him, even from opposing fans and players.
He saluted her, straightened away from the wall and brushed past her. He stopped next to her, gazing down at her with those deep-brown eyes. The delicious scent of lavender-vanilla musk and clean man threatened to soften her to him. He was off-the-charts appealing, but sadly not interested in her. She was heartbroken, which was pathetic, but she’d built him up far too high in her mind.
“Tell Parley hello. Great kid.”
“I will.” She shouldn’t have done it, but rejection was so unfamiliar to her, she heard herself making one last ditch effort to engage him. “You could come with me to visit him at home sometime.” She smiled, she hoped alluringly. “Parley calls me ‘Beauty’. I think he’d love to see his favorite aunt with ‘the Beast’.”
His gaze swept over her then he met her eyes again. His look wasn’t full of desire like she usually saw. There was a smidgeon of longing there but it was mostly full of uncertainty and regret. “Apologies, Beauty,” he said softly. “I’m going to have to be the Beast that doesn’t fulfill any of your fairytale dreams.”
He nodded to her and sauntered off before she could overcome her shock enough to respond.
Eva’s hands shook and her chest was tight. Humiliation made her face flare with heat. She hurried into the bathroom, shut the door, and ran her hands under cold water, staring at her face in the mirror as she tried to calm down. Her Spanish mother and Norwegian father had gifted her with smooth, naturally-tanned skin, dark-brown eyes, and thick blonde hair. Her face was world-renowned, but Hayden hadn’t seemed affected by her beauty. Ironically, she’d hoped to find a man who could talk with her and not be awed by her face or body.
But not like that. Was he simply not interested, she wasn’t his type maybe? He was already involved with someone else? There was this weird churning in her gut that told her his lack of interest was something deeper. When he said they’d met, he’d looked injured and almost stunned that she didn’t remember him. Had she hurt him in some way without even knowing she’d done it? How to apologize when she had no clue what she’d done?
She dried her hands and looked at her phone. It was five minutes past nine. Shoot. She was going to be late, thanks to that awkward and disappointing interaction with the Beast.
Hurrying out of the bathroom, down the short hall, and through the massive main area of the house, she went toward the front entry and where she’d been told to meet Sutton and Gunner in the formal office. The security guard from earlier was in the main area. He nodded to her, giving her an appreciative once over. If only Hayden would’ve looked at her like that. The double doors to the office were open and men’s voices floated out.
Eva drew on years of faith in heaven above, schooling, practice, and implementation of poise. She had to put her conversation with Hayden to the back of her mind and focus on whatever proposal Sutton and Gunner had to keep her safe from David Zeus. That should be the most important item of business, not her failure to impress the Beast. She straightened her shoulders, put on her most gracious smile, and swept into the room.
Sutton Smith stood behind his desk, Gunner Steele to his side, and across the desk from both of them—none other than Hayden Warren.
“Not you,” she muttered. Her head started pounding and she wanted to get out of here, go home, and take a bath. This night had been nothing but a nightmare.
“Beauty,” he greeted her softly. He stepped closer to Gunner and said in an undertone that she unfortunately could still hear, “I love you, bro, but if she’s the favor …” Hayden shot a conflicted gaze her way. “I’m going to have to respectfully and beseechingly beg for another option.”
“I am nobody’s ‘favor’ you beastly jerk,” she hurled at him. She was overreacting and she knew it, but his rejection stung deep. She’d honestly thought they were meant to be and he obviously thought the opposite.
Sutton smiled smoothly as if nothing was amiss. “Gunner, the door please.”
