by C. Morgan
“Of course, he is.”
“I want to take Naya to Paris next,” he said. “Mom sure loves it.”
“Who doesn’t?”
I took another drink and met the eyes of a beautiful woman. She had a sophisticated look about her that told me she was likely a CEO or a lawyer. She looked demanding. Normally, I would be drawn to that. I liked a bossy lady. But not tonight. Hell, I wasn’t interested in anyone tonight.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“What?”
“You’re flighty. You keep drifting off. What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I think I’m tired.”
“You think?” he said.
“I think I’m ready to call it a night. I know you’re anxious to get home to your wife.”
“I’m cool. I can stay out a little longer.”
I laughed at the way he phrased it. “Your leash is extra long. I heard those get shorter as the months pass.”
“I doubt it. She trusts me. I don’t mind her keeping me on a short leash. I want to be on a short leash.”
I groaned. “You’re so smitten.”
That smile of his was contagious. I wanted to know what that feeling was. “I am. I cannot wait for you to fall in love.”
“Sorry, but you are going to be waiting for a while. I’ve got way too much living to do.”
“But you could be doing that living with someone special. It enhances living. It’s like the best high. Everything is better.”
I swallowed the last of my drink. “Okay then, I’m going home alone to my empty house and crawl into my empty bed.”
“You’ll find someone soon,” he said.
“I’m not looking and don’t you dare start trying to fix with me up with anyone.”
He laughed as we both headed for the door. “I just want you to have the same happiness I do. Trust me, it’s something you want.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know we might look alike, but that’s where the similarities stop. We could not be more different when it comes to stuff like this. I’m happy for you, but this is just not my thing.”
He slapped me on my back. “I cannot wait until it happens. I’m going to laugh and then I’ll congratulate you. And you don’t have to ask. I will be your best man.”
I laughed as I walked away. When I got home, the emptiness was just as I expected it to be. I didn’t know why I bought such a big house. I had a condo which I loved but then I saw this project and I wanted it. Now I had a big ass house fit for a huge family and I was the only guy stomping around in it. I dropped my keys, set the alarm, and headed for my bedroom.
I lay in bed, propped up on my pillows with my phone in hand as I surfed the internet. I checked up on the upcoming football season. I wouldn’t claim to be a huge fan of football, but I did like to keep up on stats. After wasting time trying to distract myself from what was really on my mind, I did something I never expected to do. I pulled up Instagram. I had exactly two posts in three years. I didn’t do social media, but I was a silent stalker.
I checked Ryan’s posts. He was a bit more familiar with the social media thing. There were a few pics from his honeymoon. None of him or Naya but the beach and a gorgeous picture of a sunset. I clicked on Naya’s profile and scanned it. I scrolled through and was finally rewarded with a picture of her and Trinity. I pinched the screen and zoomed up on the image.
Her and Naya were at a concert. Trinity had a huge smile on her face as she held up a beer. The date was from last summer. I found myself staring at her lips. I had kissed those lips. I never saw her smile quite like that though.
If I would have seen her at that concert, I absolutely would have tried to get her in bed. She looked so carefree and alive. The woman I met did not look quite the same. The Trinity I met looked stressed. She looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.
I wanted to do something to put that smile back on her face. Hopefully with a steady paycheck, I could help take off some of that stress she’d been feeling. The first out of town trip, I would upgrade her hotel room and try to get her to get a massage or enjoy one of the spa treatments. I was going to make her smile again.
I put away my phone and closed my eyes. I needed to stop thinking about her. Nothing would ever happen between us. It couldn’t happen. I was not in the market for a girlfriend. It was just a mild infatuation.
It would pass.
Chapter 11
Trinity
I was about three minutes early. I intended to be about fifteen minutes early, but things did not go my way. I walked into Ryker’s office carrying the cup of coffee I’d picked up for him. I realized the coffee in the breakroom was okay, but the stuff at the coffee shop was much better.
“Woah,” I said when I laid eyes on a man that could have been an NBA star. Maybe he was. Ryker said he took care of a football team. Maybe he also took care of basketball stars. “I’m sorry.”
I turned to walk out. I probably should have knocked first, but he never saw patients in his office.
“Trinity, wait,” Ryker said.
I turned to see what he needed. “Yes?”
“I want you to meet Dr. Nick.”
I literally had to tilt my head back and look up at the man. He was so much taller than a man should be. “Dr. Nick?” I repeated.
“This is my partner,” Ryker explained. “I told you he was out of the office for a few days. He’s back.”
“Oh, hi,” I said. I was still speechless. The guy was so tall!
“Nick this is Trinity, my new assistant.”
“It’s nice to meet you Trinity.”
“How tall are you?” I blurted out.
He grinned. “Six feet seven inches tall,” he answered.
“Oh my god,” I exclaimed. I was just in awe of the man.
Ryker laughed, a strange, slightly strained sound. Nick smiled again. “I better get to work. It was nice to meet you, Trinity.”
“It was nice to meet you,” I replied and did my best to stop staring. I was making an ass out of myself.
Nick left and I could feel Ryker staring at me. I handed him his coffee. “What’s this?” he asked.
“Uh, coffee.”
“I know what it is, but you didn’t need to bring me coffee.”
“I’m your assistant and that’s what assistants do. Plus, I was getting myself a coffee.”
“Thank you. Let me reimburse you.”
“No,” I quickly said. “You bought me a coffee last week.”
“Please know I don’t expect you to buy me coffee. I know it’s expensive.”
“You’re welcome,” I said and put my laptop bag on the chair. “I’ve already reviewed the schedule for the day. It looks like you are back-to-back with patients and then you have a call with the coach and team doctor.”
“Okay,” he said with a nod. “Got it.” He sipped the coffee and sat down at his desk again.
“I need to run to the dry cleaners, and I’ve got the list of stuff you needed me to pick up. Do you need anything else?”
“No. Thank you for doing such a great job. You are already so much better than my last assistant.”
That made me feel very good. “Thank you. I’ll be back in about two hours.”
“When you get back, I expect to have a preliminary itinerary for the coming schedule.”
I nodded. “Okay. Great. Thanks.”
I was already making a mental note to study up on football. I didn’t need to be an expert, but I needed to at least know the basics. I didn’t want to look like a total idiot. I expected I was going to be talking to the players, and if they mentioned a touchdown or goal or whatever the lingo was, I would look like a legit dumb blonde. Dirty blonde, but all the same.
I walked out of his office and smack into a lady. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” I gushed.
The woman dropped a file when I slammed into her. “It’s fine,” she said.
I dropped to my knees to help her. “I’m
sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”
She lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. “It’s really okay.”
We both stood and straightened our clothes. “I really am sorry,” I said again. I felt like I was just stepping all over myself today. I clearly took a clumsy pill.
“You must be Trinity,” she said.
I looked at the woman with green eyes and strawberry-blonde hair. She was probably in her thirties and pretty. “I am. Do I know you?”
“I’m Alysha. I’m Nick’s personal assistant. You and I will be coordinating schedules and being the general gophers for our bosses. I’ve always coordinated with his past assistants to try and share the burden. They use some of the same services. We can kill two birds with one stone.”
“His past assistants?” I asked. “How many has he had?”
She laughed. “Not so many. He’s not a difficult boss, but he is a busy man. His schedule is brutal. A lot of people can’t keep up.”
“They didn’t know it when they took the job?” I asked.
I could see amusement in her eyes. “I like you. Yes, they knew about the job, but I think they thought it was glamorous. Then they got busy and realized it was no joke. I hope you know what you are in for.”
I shrugged. “I think I do. I feel like I do.”
“Good, then you’ll do fine. Where did you come from?”
“Excuse me?”
“From what I understand, you started almost immediately after the other one quit.”
This was a tricky situation. “His brother married my best friend. We met at the wedding.”
“Oh.” She looked confused.
“We met at the wedding and I bumped into him at a coffee shop. Like actually bumped into him. I hurt my back and he offered to see what was wrong. Then his assistant quit. I had just lost my job and was having a really bad day.”
She was looking at me like I was crazy. Then I realized I was rambling. I just gave the woman my life story in about a minute. It was way too much information. The way she was looking at me told me I had said too much.
“Well then. I really do think we are going to get along well. We should get lunch.”
I couldn’t get lunch. I couldn’t have lunch with the ladies. Not yet. I was still pinching pennies. I didn’t know how much money I was going to be making, which reminded me I really needed to ask him about that.
“I would love to, but I have to run out and do some errands. Maybe tomorrow?”
“Soon,” she said with a smile. “We’ll coordinate schedules.”
“It was nice to meet you. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“I’ll see you later.”
I rushed out of the office and tossed my purse in the passenger seat. I had a lot to do today and I wanted to impress the man. I didn’t know why I was trying to impress him. It was something my parents had instilled in me. You always gave a hundred percent. You had to work your ass off to get ahead. You worked hard even when no one was looking.
I ran his errands and made it back to the clinic in just under three hours. When I got back, the office was quiet. Apparently, it was lunchtime. I had my sack lunch. I felt like the poor kid who couldn’t afford lunch and hid in the bathroom through the lunch hour. I wasn’t going to eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the bathroom, at least, but I was going to eat in the small park across from the clinic. I didn’t want anyone to see me.
I was holding my sandwich in one hand and my phone in the other. I felt like I was reading Greek. I was reading a page that explained the game of football. “Who comes up with this stuff?” I mumbled.
“Comes up with what?”
I almost choked on my sandwich. “Ryker!”
He sat down at the picnic table. He put down the bag he was carrying and pulled out a plastic bowl. “You look so relaxed out here. I just happened to be looking out the window and saw you sitting over here by yourself. Do you mind if I join you?”
It wasn’t like I could say no. “Of course not.”
“What were you reading?”
I wiped my fingers on the paper towel I packed in my lunch. “I was trying to understand the game of football. It is a lot more complicated than I thought.”
He was laughing. “Why are you reading up on football?”
“You said I’m going with you to games. I don’t want to look and sound like a total dumbass in front of people who play football for a living. I’m not trying to be a coach, but I would like to know the basics. Like what is good and what is bad. That’s the extent of what I want to know. The other stuff is too much.”
“I think you will learn better if you see it. It’s better when you learn by watching. You’ll never learn by reading about it.”
“Are you going to teach me?” I asked in a saucy voice. I didn’t mean to flirt. It just came out.
“I will absolutely teach you. We have to cheer for my team. That’s the only rule.”
“Do you expect me to wear a cheerleader outfit? Shake my pompoms?” Oh my god. What in the hell was wrong with me? I looked at my sandwich. It had to be laced with something.
He smiled. “If you want to wear a tiny little skirt and shake your pompoms, you will not hear any complaints from me.”
“You’re such a man.”
He took a bite of his salad. “Thank you. I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
I scoffed. “As if you need to be complimented. You of all people know just how manly you are.”
He leaned forward. “But hearing it is always a good thing.”
“You’re such a flirt,” I teased.
“Me? I wasn’t offering to show you my pompoms.”
“Neither was I. I said I would shake them.”
“Fuck it,” he said with a laugh. “You can show them and shake them.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I will keep that in mind. And what about you? What will you be showing and shaking?”
“Anything you want.”
“You’re so bad.”
“Ah, Trin, come on, you can’t say I’m bad. We both know that isn’t true.”
He was so flirty and fun. I had not seen this side of him. This was the side of him Naya warned me about. He could be dangerous. That sexy smile of his was making me feel hot. This was why he was called a sorcerer. I was about to drop my panties with just a flash of his charm. Him calling me Trin was even hotter.
I took the last bite of my sandwich. “I should probably get back in there. I need to go through emails and get that itinerary on the calendar.”
“Don’t go yet,” he said in a husky voice. “It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a picnic in the park. I don’t want to go in yet.”
How could I resist a plea like that? I reached into my bag and pulled out my banana. And then looked at him. Me eating a banana in front of him felt strange. It felt sexual.
He cocked an eyebrow. I peeled it back and took the first bite with my eyes locked on him. I was feeling naughty. I knew I shouldn’t be doing it, but it was too damn fun to stop. Flirting with him was just a little dangerous. It was like he was the forbidden fruit.
It wasn’t going anywhere. It was just a little harmless fun.
Chapter 12
Ryker
The woman was going to kill me. I walked into the bathroom and locked the door. I needed a minute. My erection was going to kill me. She was teasing me. Why? Why was she fucking with me? She was the one that said we couldn’t mess around. If she didn’t want me, why was she flirting?
Tease. That’s what she was. A tease.
We both knew what was happening. We both reined it in when it got too heated. It was a dance. I pushed, she pulled back. She pushed and I pulled.
Since that lunch earlier in the week, I’d been in this weird heightened state of arousal. Teaching her about football was fun. She was eager to learn and so damn smart. I loved how efficient she was as well. I was damn lucky to have her as my assistant.
I
turned on the cold water and doused a paper towel and used it to sponge the back of my neck. I was overheated. That woman.
Why? Why did it have to be her? She was the one woman I couldn’t have. I soaked the towel again and wiped it over my face in an attempt to cool down.
“She’s just a woman,” I said to myself while looking in the mirror. “There are hundreds. Thousands. Not this one.”
I took a deep breath and tried to blow away the frustration. I closed my eyes, and damn if her image didn’t pop up. She was wearing a pair of black slacks with a white button-up shirt that was just a little snug. The buttons strained across her breasts. She wore a black lacy something under the damn thing. It reminded me of lingerie. I was certain it was lingerie. She wore it to fuck with me.
I was going to order her some of the polos the other staff wore. I often wore the polos when I was with the team. It not only separated me from the other medical staff that worked with the team, but it was also some serious free advertisement. The goal was to make her look less sexy. I had a feeling that was impossible.
I had seen her the morning after a night of drinking and wild sex. Most ladies would look a little rough around the edges. Not her. She had looked good enough to take right back to bed.
“Fuck me,” I groaned and adjusted my dick. I couldn’t see patients with a fucking boner.
I stared up at the ceiling and counted to ten. I thought about my mom. I thought about the ninety-year-old woman that insisted on being topless while I adjusted her neck. It took one more time of counting to ten but I managed to control the erection. When I looked at Trinity, I was going to picture the old woman. That was the only way I was going to make it through this.
I left the bathroom and managed to get through the rest of the day. I had a dinner meeting with Nick to start planning for my away time. This was the part of the year that required him to step up and run things while I focused on the team. I was treating him to a nice dinner at one of the best restaurants in the city. I’d made the reservation almost a month ago.
“You sure know how to treat a guy right,” he teased when I ordered one of the better bottles of wine from the menu.