Isaiah scanned the crowd and found Angela talking to Cory in the middle of the room. Her light laughter at something Cory said brought a smile to his lips. Maroon pants molded to her curvaceous hips and thighs. A short-sleeved black lacy blouse draped over full breasts and provided tempting glimpses of smooth skin. She was so damn sexy.
He should mingle and talk with the other parents. That was the right thing to do as camp host, but he headed straight to her and Cory.
They both glanced his way, their expressions open and welcoming. He met Angela’s gaze and felt a hitch in his chest. The subtle shade of red on her lips enhanced their fullness. Brought to mind memories of how great they’d tasted. Desire tightened and flexed like a tiger ready to strike inside him. His pants felt tighter, and he ignored the urge to tuck at his waistband. No need to bring attention to what was happening there.
Cory spoke as soon as Isaiah walked up. “Mr. Isaiah, I was just telling Auntie about the tour. Maybe you could show her around so she could see everything.”
Angela shook her head. “That’s not necessary. I’m just happy you all got to see it.”
“I wouldn’t mind showing you around.” Why in the world had he offered that?
Because of all the halls and empty rooms you could kiss her in.
“Maybe one day,” Angela said. “After camp is over and you have more flexibility.”
There was a hopeful note to her voice. The underlying implication clear. Would they finish what they started when Cory’s spot was no longer a question? The right answer was no. The answer he wanted to give was hell yes. What would be the harm in keeping his options open with Angela in case things didn’t work out with Bridget?
Now you sound like Will. You are not a player.
“Hey, there’s Denise.” Cory turned to Angela. “I’ll be right back.” He hurried across the room to talk her.
Angela chuckled. “Is that the girl you told me about?”
Thank goodness for distractions. “Yes. She’s the one.”
“She’s cute. She doesn’t seem annoyed that he came over. I hope she likes him, too. I’m not ready for a teenage heartbreak.” Angela watched her nephew with interest and a little concern.
“You don’t have to worry about that—at least, not yet. I think she likes him.”
“I have no idea how much of the talk my brother or his mother gave him.” A panicked look crossed her face. “Crap, I may have to give him the talk.”
Isaiah instinctively brushed her arm in comfort. Her skin was soft with the firmness of toned muscle beneath. Her breathing increased. Was that because of his touch or remaining worry for Cory? His hand wanted to linger, caress, and savor the softness of her skin. With effort, he made himself slowly pull back.
“I don’t think you need to do that. I’ve overheard some of the boys talk. He knows the basics.”
Angela’s chest rose and fell with quick breaths. “Knowing the basics is nothing close to knowing how to not toy with a girl’s emotions, or get his toyed with. No one likes to be played for a fool, ya know?”
He did. Which was why he shouldn’t have touched or kissed her. Why he had to tell her about Bridget. “I’ve been wanting to talk—”
“Oh, I want to show you something.” She said at the same time. She’d opened her purse to dig something out. She pulled out a sheet of paper that looked like it had been torn out of a magazine.
“What’s that?”
“It was in this local magazine we get in the office. They had an article about an underwater filmmaker doing a documentary about sharks off the coast of Florida. He’s going to be in our area. I remembered you love sharks and thought you’d find this interesting.”
She handed the paper to him. Isaiah scanned the article, then returned his gaze to meet hers. “You remembered that?”
“I thought it was kind of cool that your favorite animal is a shark.” She licked full lips and took a deep breath. “Maybe after camp, we can talk about that some more, too.”
This was the perfect time to put a halt to things. Tell her about Bridget. Say the kiss was mistake. The words stuck like peanut butter in his throat. He hated peanut butter.
“I’d like that,” he replied. The words were wrong. Saying them made him wrong, but damn, if he couldn’t stop thinking about her, then maybe he shouldn’t stop.
She let out a soft sigh that made him wonder if she’d been holding her breath. Was she nervous? Then she smiled and it was so beautiful and perfect he knew he had to tell her the truth. He never wanted to play with her emotions.
“I need to tell you something,” he said.
Arms wrapped around his waist from behind. A female body pressed against his back. “Surprise.” Bridget’s voice. His body went into panic mode.
Angela’s eyes widened. She took a step back. Isaiah felt scorching hot then freezing cold in the span of three seconds. Damn! This was not how things were supposed to go down.
Isaiah unwrapped Bridget’s arms and pulled her around to his front. “Bridget, hey, you’re here a day early.”
Bridget smiled a little too brightly and slipped her arm through his. She was nearly his height in heels, with striking features and a confidence that had only grown over the years he’d known her. Her natural curls were pulled up in a ponytail on top of her head and there wasn’t a crease in her cream blouse and gray slacks.
The exuberant welcome was unexpected. All of their conversations had been a little awkward since she’d admitted to being more excited about the job offer than coming here for him. She glanced at Angela and a flash of possessiveness hit her light brown gaze. Exuberance explained. Bridget had always served as his block for unwelcome attention from groupies. He used to appreciate it.
“I was able to snag an earlier flight and decided to surprise you. I like to meet the kids you work with.” She glanced back at Angela and held out her free had. “Hello, I’m Bridget. And you are?”
Angela stiffly took Bridget’s hand. “Angela. My nephew is part of the program. Are you one of the volunteers?”
Bridget’s laugh was so sharp with condescension it could have sliced steel. “No, I’m Isaiah’s girlfriend.”
Angela’s negative head-shake was so slight he would have missed it if he hadn’t watched her so hard. An ashen cast dulled her vibrant skin. Guilt and self-loathing created an acidic cocktail in his stomach.
“Oh.” Angela took a step back and glanced at Isaiah. “Well, I better go meet this girl that my nephew likes so much.”
Questions filled her eyes. He didn’t know what to say. There were no words. He had asked Bridget back but they hadn’t put a name on what they would be when she returned. Still, he couldn’t call Bridget a liar in front of Angela. Hurt flashed over Angela’s features before she quickly walked away.
Bridget turned to him. “Looks like I got here just in time.”
“Why do you say that?” The words were tight. He focused on Bridget, but the urge to go after Angela and say...something was like an itch he couldn’t reach.
“I saw how she looked at you. Another desperate woman trying to latch onto a basketball star. You can thank me later for stepping in. I know you hate women like that.” Bridget pulled her arm out of his and glanced around the room. “Introduce me to some of your friends and tell me how camp is going.”
Just like that, Bridget had dismissed Angela, viewing her as no sort of threat when really, Angela threatened everything he’d planned for the next step in his life. Before her, a life with Bridget had been his safe, secure and happy future. One conversation, one kiss and a simmering attraction later, and he was ready to throw away years of stability and companionship?
Isaiah looked into Bridget’s eyes. He didn’t feel the swell of need, excitement or longing he felt with Angela, but he did feel the trust, respect and, yes, happiness
he usually felt when they reconnected. Just as anyone would when one of their best friends came to town. They needed to talk about their future—if they had a future—but now wasn’t the place.
“Let’s start with Coach Gray,” Isaiah said and took Bridget over to where Coach was talking with some of the parents.
Chapter 10
I’m Isaiah’s girlfriend.
“Nope, not this morning,” Angela mumbled to herself and hurried from the car into the office ten minutes late the next morning.
She tugged on the waistband of her skirt and grunted because no amount of tugging would make the skirt any looser. She swore everything in her closet had shrunk overnight. That’s what she got for eating half a tub of ice cream and a bag of potato chips before going to bed. Cory decided to move slower than a sloth on sleeping pills this morning, which certainly contributed to her being late and exhausted, though really it was that she’d been tossing and turning all night.
Learning the vibe she’d felt between her and Isaiah was all in her imagination hadn’t set her up for a good night’s sleep. He’d only been messing with her while he dated some tall, beautiful, I’m-so-polished-you-might-as-well-call-me-spit-shine woman. She was such an idiot for kissing him.
She rushed through the front door and speed-walked down to her office. No one stopped her to say good morning. Good. She wasn’t in the mood to talk. She put her stuff up and turned on her computer to go through emails.
The office was quiet. Unusual for first thing in the morning. There was always at least ten to fifteen minutes of people chitchatting before they got to work. She checked her calendar. Nothing scheduled.
Footsteps sounded outside her door before her supervisor, Tamara, poked her head in. “Angela, what are you doing in here?”
Tamara’s light brown eyes widened and she came farther into Angela’s office. Four-inch heels added additional height to her small curvy frame. She had a fondness for animal print, often throwing in a zebra-or leopard-print scarf or shoes, like the ones she wore today with tan slacks and a black button-up.
“I was running a little late.”
Tamara waved her hand, indicating Angela needed to move. “Come on. Mr. Cooper called a meeting. The director from the Columbia office is here to talk about our cross-training with his team. We’re gathering in the conference room.”
Angela cringed but jumped from the chair. “I thought they weren’t coming until next week.” She grabbed her notebook and a pen before popping up from her desk.
“So did I, but you know how Mr. Cooper likes to spring things on us.”
Angela followed her supervisor down the hall to the conference room. A man she didn’t recognize paused in the middle of speaking and watched as she and Tamara entered. He was tall, midthirties with mahogany skin, and was dressed business-casual in a green polo and dark gray slacks. He paused long enough to bring attention to their late entrance before he continued talking.
Mr. Cooper’s angry green gaze could have boiled water in Antarctica. The perfect embodiment of a pious and judgmental person, Mr. Cooper only lost his pinched expression when he was helping kids. For him, relaxed was a cartoon tie instead of a standard blue or red one with his dark brown suits. But he cared about their office and the kids, so Angela excused his uptightness.
There was no seating left, so Angela stood in a corner. She listened as the speaker, Alvin, talked about how his office had increased volunteer participation. The work they’d done was impressive, and Angela’s frazzled feelings from coming to work late slowly faded as excitement grew with the idea of helping to take their office to the same level.
Mr. Cooper stood after Alvin finished his talk. “Thank you, Alvin. You all know why we invited his crew down—to do more with our volunteers and help more kids. So we’re going to require commitment from everyone on the team on this. Starting today.” He stared pointedly at Angela.
Embarrassment burned her cheeks, but she returned his stare with an optimistic one. She was late today, but she would make this work. She wanted to continue working here, hopefully as a case manager once she completed her graduate degree. Coming in late today was not the best start to this project, but she didn’t want Mr. Cooper to doubt her commitment.
“Alvin and his team will meet with each of you individually to go over your volunteer files and get an idea of ways to improve their participation. Because we can’t afford to shut the office down for a day, we’ll have meetings after business hours to compare notes and run training. The first meeting is today at six, so Alvin can go into more detail regarding which of his team members will work with each of you and strategize for the best use of their time while they’re here.”
Six! Angela pulled out her cell phone and navigated to her calendar even though she already knew what her schedule looked like. She was off at Sweethearts, which meant she hadn’t asked Nate to watch Cory for her. She quickly texted him to see if he could, and he answered right back.
Sorry, Angela, but I’ve got a meeting tonight.
Crap, what was she going to do about Cory?
“Ms. Bouler, is there a problem?” Mr. Cooper’s voice cut into her thoughts.
Angela slipped her cell into her pocket. “No, sir.”
“Good.”
He spoke for another few minutes. Angela went over every possible scenario she could think of as to what to do with Cory. She could call Vicki, but she probably had to work tonight. There were evening child-watch programs, but if Cory thought he was too big for a babysitter, he’d definitely balk at the idea of her leaving him at an evening day care.
The meeting finally ended and Angela hurried out of the conference room instead of staying behind to talk more with the group about logistics.
Mr. Cooper followed her out. “Angela, a second.”
She skidded to a halt, took a deep breath, then turned and faced him. “Yes, sir.”
Mr. Cooper’s expression was still pinched and disapproving. If Angela hadn’t known him to light up with joy whenever they helped a kid, she’d wonder why he even worked in their office. “You seemed distracted in there,” he said. “Are you going to have a problem with helping to improve this office?”
“Not at all.”
“Then why were you staring at your phone?”
“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I’ve recently had to take temporary custody of my nephew. He’s thirteen and I don’t have anyone to watch him tonight. I texted a friend to see if they could help out.”
Mr. Cooper’s eyebrows drew together. “I understand that, but I need your full commitment on this project. If you want to be a case manager one day, then you need to make sure your personal life doesn’t interfere with your work here.”
Angela gritted her teeth. Her commitment had never been a question before. She had the best volunteer participation rate and it wasn’t as if everyone didn’t know she was the one to step in with other people’s volunteers when they were having trouble.
“I’ve always been committed to what we do. I know what these kids are facing and that’s why I want to be an advocate for them.”
“Then you above anyone understands why I don’t like for my employees to bring their own family problems to work?” The cool reprimand cut her to the quick. Mr. Cooper was unmarried with no kids of his own so he wasn’t very flexible when it came to family emergencies from his employees. Their advocacy work was his entire life, and maybe unfairly, he expected it to be the same for his employees. She didn’t usually deal with him directly and thankfully Tamara was more understanding.
Don’t take it personally. He’s like this with everyone. That knowledge didn’t make her feel any less guilty for coming in late. “I’ll work everything out with Cory.”
“Good. I’ll see you at the six-o’clock meeting. On time.” He turned and walked away.
Angela balled her hands into fists and bared her teeth to the back of his head. Taking a deep breath, she turned away and walked back to her office. It was still early. She had time to find someone who could watch Cory while she worked late. At least this would keep her mind off of Isaiah.
Yeah, right, you’re thinking about him right now.
Angela huffed out a breath, pushed Isaiah from her thoughts and focused on the myriad of challenges ahead.
* * *
For the first time in the years he’d volunteered for the Gators’ basketball camp, Isaiah was glad to see the day end. He rubbed his tired eyes and yawned while he walked to the storage area in the back of the center to put up the balls. He didn’t have to help with the cleanup at the end of the day, but he always wanted to show his thanks to the camp counselors, who put up with the hassle of securing the facility and keeping the public, who continued to use the facility while the Gators held camp, separate from the players and the kids in the camp.
Today he wished he could be a little selfish and rush out like most of the other players. But just because he hadn’t slept well and struggled to not snap at people like an angry alligator didn’t mean he had to skip out on helping.
Keri walked out of the storage room just as he was getting ready to go in. “I can take those from you.” She reached for the bag of basketballs in Isaiah’s hand.
“I’m already back here. I can put them up.”
She stepped aside and let Isaiah open the door. “How are you doing today?” The question was simple but her tone was wary.
Isaiah put the balls on the right shelf and leaned against the door of the room. “I’m fine. Why do you ask like that?”
“You seemed a little...off today.”
He ran a hand over his face. “Sorry, I didn’t sleep well last night. I’m a little tired today.”
“I hope there isn’t anything about the camp that’s wearing you down. The kids, our schedule, one of the parents or guardians...” Her eyebrows rose and she tilted her head to the side when she said guardians.
Overtime for Love Page 7