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“Yeah, can’t do that. I need someone to let me in. Can’t you come down?”
Her gaze landed on the dress in the still-drying puddle on the floor and pinched her eyes shut, a promising start to a headache building up behind the bridge of her nose. “Hey, Chris? Can you ring my assistant up? Please?”
“Yeah, tell her it’s 4B.” He left the kitchen and disappeared across the apartment. Maggie hurried frantically down a narrow hallway, the only one in the place, praying she’d find a bathroom.
“You’re not going to let her in like that?” she called back to him before shutting the door. Compared to the high ceilings of the rest of the loft, the bathroom seemed positively claustrophobic.
“No, of course not,” he replied. After an interminably long silence, Molly entered the apartment with a shriek of laughter.
“I’m in here!” Maggie called, stamping her foot with impatience.
The door opened and Molly’s hand thrust through, clutching a garment bag. “I’m sorry, just he answered the door naked, in an apron. That has to be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“You tell no one about this, do you understand?” Maggie hissed back, unzipping the bag to find a neatly pressed Tahari suit with a chartreuse jacket and black skirt. A lacy black bra and panties looped around the hanger.
Molly snickered on the other side of the door.
By the time Maggie was dressed and had wrangled her now totally frizzed out curls into a loose, messy bun, Chris had put on some jeans and filled a Bengals travel mug with coffee. “You can keep it, they’ve got tons of them laying around the stadium,” he’d insisted when she’d protested taking it along. “I didn’t know how you liked it, though, so I left it black.”
“That’s how I like it,” she said, slipping into her coat as Molly held it out for her. “Molly, wait in the car a minute.”
“No problem.” Her assistant left with a tightly stamped down smirk and raised eyebrows, but the important thing was, she left.
Maggie shook her head, pushing a stray curl from her face. “So, I’m sorry about that. But just a tip, the next time a Bengals employee shows up in your apartment, have pants on.”
“God, I hope not,” he said with a laugh. Then, when he realized she wasn’t joking, he asked, “Oh. So, what are my legal rights if another employee walks into the clubhouse unannounced and watches me getting dressed?”
“I wasn’t watching. I mean, I’m not an employee. Both. I’m your boss. Which… actually makes it worse.” She squinted her eyes shut. “Listen, this was… fun. But that’s all it can be, okay?”
He didn’t say anything.
That only made her want to keep talking. “I mean, this can’t get out. I would be… ruined. Probably. I don’t know, I don’t even know if there are rules for this. But it would be bad for both of us.”
He still didn’t say anything.
She even gave him an extra-long pause so he could jump in. When that didn’t work, she asked, “You know, I’m sure you have these same concerns?”
He shrugged. “If I did, they didn’t get in the way of anything last night. Where’s all this coming from? We had a good time. If you wanted to do this again, I’d be game. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t be disappointed if we didn’t see where this led.”
Ouch. She did really want to do it again. Several times, actually. The kitchen, the shower, and the sofa had all been really good times. “It’s awfully fast to be talking about where things are going to ‘lead,’ isn’t is? I mean, after all, we just had sex. We didn’t have a mind transplant or something.”
“I’m not declaring love here. I’m not asking you to marry me. I’m just saying there’s no reason we can’t see where this goes.” He shook his head. “I like you. I think you’re a lot of fun and really hot. That might be all there is, but right now, that’s what I’m interested in. So, yes, I’ll be discreet. But that won’t stop me from hoping for more, Magpie.”
Just the use of her childhood nickname dissolved some of her strength. That reminder that he was familiar, he was safe, tricked her into believing that her love life was important. At the moment it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. “Fair warning, Chris. I don’t foresee this happening again. And I’m not saying that to issue a challenge. It’s not an invitation to prove me wrong.”
“Fair enough. You’ve said your piece, I’ve said mine.” He put out his hand to shake hers. “Thanks for a great night.”
“Yeah. You too.” She turned and headed for the door, then stopped. It felt wrong to leave it like this when he so obviously wanted more from her. “Maybe after the season’s over, and you’re not a player anymore.”
