“Oh no.” Avery grabbed his arm and smiled. “We’re going in.”
“There’s a line.” Geoff waved at the group of people crammed into the storefront and spilling down the buckled sidewalks.
“Sure is.” She tugged his elbow. “Let’s go.”
Avery took another step forward, and her heel caught on one of the cobblestones lining the street. At least this time when she fell she was able to catch herself on Geoff’s arm.
Avery steadied herself and jumped back, but Geoff caught her by the hand. A thousand sparks shot up her arm.
“About the shoes,” he said.
She bit her lip. “Right. Dangerous.” She met his eye, and her stomach dipped. “But also, I don’t have a problem being in your arms right now.”
Geoff’s eyes widened, and she scolded herself internally. Too much. Too aggressive.
But he just laughed. “I see, it’s all part of your plan.”
She nodded, her chest loosening. “Exactly. Since you’ve already shown you’re a nice guy, now you can’t turn down my mac and cheese request.”
“That’s definitely one approach.” His eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. “Still not going to work.”
Avery leaned forward, daring herself to bring her lips close to his ear. “Tell you what—I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take off the lipstick and heels if you try some mac and cheese. Get us both out of our comfort zone.”
She leaned back far enough to catch his wicked grin, and then lifted a finger to stop him. “Don’t say anything about your comfort zones.”
“Fine,” Geoff said. “Anyway, you can’t possibly walk around Pike Place barefoot, so I’ll take your deal.”
Avery bounced on her toes. “Yay! Let’s get some food.”
He shot a puzzled look at her, raking his eyes up and down her body. “What? No. You can’t possibly have another pair of shoes on you.”
She grinned and tugged his elbow again. “Wanna bet?”
Chapter 6
Avery closed her lips around a forkful of Beecher’s macaroni and cheese and grinned at Geoffrey. “See, I told you the mac and cheese was good.”
He tilted his head to the side, a concession. “I admit defeat on this one.” He raised a sauce-covered fork in her direction. “But I still say you lured me here under false pretenses.”
“Muah-ha-ha,” Avery chuckled, raising a pinky finger to the corner of her lips, Doctor Evil style. “A good ex-Girl Scout always comes prepared.” She pointed down at her shoes, a pair of flats that she’d pulled from her purse twenty minutes ago. At first, Geoff hadn’t believed the tiny pieces of leather could be shoes, but the fabric unfolded with some sort of witchery into a full-fledged pair of flats. Avery had shoved her booties into her purse and slipped on the tiny shoes. Somehow they transformed her, made her literally and metaphorically more grounded. She’d also swiped away the lipstick, leaving her lips stained pink but way more kissable. Not that he was noticing.
Geoff flicked his eyes away from Avery’s mouth and caught her eye. Behind her, in the glass-enclosed room next to the eating area where they sat now, a Beecher’s employee ran what looked like a rake through a tub of curds and whey bigger than three bathtubs put together.
Kind of gross, actually.
But letting Avery have this victory made Geoff’s chest feel warm. He chewed the last bite of his food, wiped a napkin over his lips, and tossed the napkin, fork, and now-empty container of food into the trash.
Avery followed his lead, sliding off her seat to throw away her trash and then stepping out onto the street. A throng of people in blue and green Seattle Sounders gear trudged by with soda bottles clutched in their hands.
Geoff looked over his shoulder at Avery. “Is it game day?”
She followed his gaze and shrugged. “For the Sounders? Maybe.”
He leaned back on his heels. “God, I haven’t seen a Sounders game in years.”
“No?” Avery cocked her head at him, her hair waving around her shoulders. It looked soft. Touchable.
“I was more of New York Yankees fan the last few years.” The corners of his lips pulled down. “More by default than anything. But I missed soccer.”
Avery giggled and started walking aimlessly up the street. “You’re such a nerd.”
Geoff jogged to catch up with her, admiring the way her ass swayed as she navigated the cobblestone street in her magic flats. “Watch who you’re calling a nerd, Cheese Girl. That’s a dating pointer.”
She lifted an eyebrow at him. “Watch who you’re calling Cheese Girl, Rock.” She grinned and started crossing the street. “Also a pointer.”
“Touché.”
God, this girl. Once she stopped living in her head and worrying about how she looked, she was pretty damn funny.
The soft strains of an outdoor pianist’s chords brightened the air and made anything seem possible. “What do you say we catch a game?” Geoff called out.
Avery paused on the far side of the street. “Really?”
“Yeah. I mean, if we can get tickets. Could be kind of fun.” She looked at him, deciding, and he pressed. “If I recall, you were a soccer player back in high school, yourself.”
Avery’s voice was quiet. “I can’t believe you remember that.”
“Why? It wasn’t that long ago.”
She snorted. “We attended high school together for precisely one year before you shipped off to college, and you always seemed so caught up in your popular crowd events. I didn’t think you noticed.”
Geoff reached for her hand and squeezed, his throat thick. “Of course I noticed.” He’d never let his attraction go anywhere, but that didn’t stop it from being there to begin with. Didn’t stop him from thinking about Avery long after he’d left for college, and then later New York.
Avery’s chest rose with a deep breath, her breasts pushing up against the thin material of her silky camisole. “Okay,” she said.
Geoff rubbed a thumb over the back of her hand. “Okay to me noticing or to the game?”
She lifted her eyes and smiled at him like a challenge. “In the spirit of getting out of my comfort zone, to both.”
“Okay, I know we haven’t even gone inside yet, but this day is kind of the best.” Avery grinned up at Geoff, her hand gripping his arm as they walked toward CenturyLink Field. Seattle’s sports stadium, home to today’s Sounders soccer game, sat a little over a mile from Pike Place Market. As Geoff and Avery approached the outer gates, they joined streams of green-and-blue-clad soccer fans, and the air snapped with a kind of electricity that couldn’t only be accounted to the upcoming game.
It felt nice to have Avery’s hands on him—strange after years of not touching but also somehow comfortable, like they’d been doing this for a while.
“That’s the cookie talking, Cheese.”
Avery rolled her eyes. “Just take it as a compliment.” She cocked her head. “Or maybe it’s just me complimenting myself for planning a great date.”
Geoff grinned. After he’d hopped on his phone to buy tickets to today’s match (thanks, Internet), he and Avery had made the walk toward CenturyLink Field. As they strolled through the last block of Pike Place, a drift of air that smelled like ginger and molasses and sugar had washed over them.
Avery’s eyes had grown huge as she peered into a bakery case that held cookies as big as her face.
“Gingerbread is my favorite.” She’d looked like a puppy, and he’d wanted to feed her.
Geoff had whipped out his wallet and forked a fiver over to the girl behind the counter.
“Geoff, I shouldn’t.” Avery tugged his arm.
He’d clucked his disapproval. “Today’s not about the rules, sweetheart. It’s about authenticity. And if you authentically want the cookie, then you should have it.”
She’d smiled, and he’d felt so proud. “Twist my arm, why don’t you?”
Now Geoff was glad he’d insisted on the treat. They’d shared it, fingers brushing inside the paper bag, s
ugar on lips and skin, and his chest, at least, felt like soaring.
“A great date, huh?” he asked.
Avery blushed, and he pulled her into the nearest sports memorabilia store. Sounders and Mariners jerseys hung from the walls, and the store’s shelves were crammed with everything from Sounders sunglasses to branded blankets and seat cushions.
“Our seats are going to be kind of high, so I’m guessing they’ll be in the shady section,” Geoff said, glancing at Avery’s cardigan. She looked at him with a question in her eyes. “Meaning cold.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “Right.”
“Let’s get you a scarf.” He pointed at a table display of scarves. “Pick one.” Avery’s eyes got big again, and he smiled. “Pretty sure you’re the one who’s six years old,” he said. “Buy you a present, and you get so happy.”
“Is that really so bad?” she asked.
Geoff rubbed a hand through his hair. “No, Ave, it’s not.”
She studied the display and selected a green and blue scarf with the Sounders logo stitched in bold, cheesy letters.
“That’s the one?”
“Yep.” Avery smiled as she headed toward the register. At the front of the line, she reached for her wallet, but Geoff stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“My treat.”
She grinned even wider, and his face got hot. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
Geoff paid for their purchase, and Avery wrapped the scarf around her neck. It clashed with her entire outfit, but it also put a grin on her face that made him want to smile, too.
They exited the shop and made their way through the stadium’s security lines, grabbing two plastic cups of beer and locating their seats just as the clock counting down to game time hit five minutes. Despite Geoff’s original concerns, the seats weren’t bad after all. From here, he and Avery were high enough to get a full-field view from close to the midfield line, and to also see over the top of the stadium to where the Space Needle and Ferris Wheel scraped against the sky.
Avery dropped into her seat and settled her cup into the plastic cupholder attached to the chair in front of her. The air smelled like popcorn, hotdogs, and beer, and Geoff felt like he was twelve again. That was probably the last time they’d all gone to the game as a family—he and his parents and Sophie. After that came The Announcement, and then The Divorce, and then, well…
Avery nudged his arm, drawing him out of his thoughts. “Look at us, being all spontaneous.”
He smiled back at her and swallowed a sip of his beer. “To getting out of our comfort zones.”
Geoff settled against the plastic seat, and the cold bit through his jeans. Maybe he should have gotten a scarf for himself, too. Or he could just move closer to Avery. For body heat. It was simple thermodynamics.
He leaned his arm on their shared armrest, and before long, the infectious energy of the crowd swept him up and chased away the cold. He clapped and cheered along with Avery as the stadium’s two large screens projected an image of a pretty girl stepping to the center of the field. She wore a glittery tiara in her hair and a Miss Seattle sash tied over her stylish trench coat.
Miss Seattle walked to the microphone and smiled to the crowd. “Scarves up, Seattle,” she called, and the crowd stood, everyone with a Sounders scarf flashing their scarves back at her.
Beside him, Avery jumped to her feet, hooting and hollering as she lifted her new scarf.
As Miss Seattle ended her segment, Geoff gestured at Avery’s scarf. “Aren’t you glad you got that?”
She beamed at him and dropped back into her seat. “Thank you again.” Over her shoulder, a flash of color filled the projection screen. Now the cameras panned from group to group, capturing a couple of kids in full-out face paint, a group of college-aged kids waving styrofoam fingers.
And then him and Avery.
Holy shit.
“Cheese, look.” Geoff nudged Avery, and her face broke out into a huge smile of recognition. She lifted her hand to wave to the camera, and seeing her so happy made something inside him give. He wanted to make her that happy, too.
Before he could think twice, he reached a hand on either side of her face. The world narrowed down to Avery’s pretty eyes, to her enticing lips falling open in a sweet gasp.
He leaned forward and captured her mouth with his, kissing her gently, breathlessly. She tasted like cinnamon, and she felt like home. His heart slammed in his chest as the crowd erupted around him, but he was here in this moment as Avery yielded to him, parting her lips and letting him taste her. Her hair fell over the backs of his hands like silk, and he tightened his grip, making her moan into his mouth.
Avery.
Oh, Jesus Christ.
When he finally pulled back, chest heaving, the camera had long since panned away.
But his sister’s best friend just stared back at him, her eyes dazed, and a slow smile spreading on those definitely kissable lips.
Geoff sat back in his chair, all the cold replaced by fire in his veins. He might never be cold again.
Avery touched a finger to her mouth. “What was that for?” she whispered.
He grinned at her. “Kiss Cam.”
She lifted an eyebrow like she could see right through him. “Consider me a fan.”
Chapter 7
A giant bouquet of roses obscured Naomi’s head on Monday morning, but there was no mistaking the glee in her voice as she carried the blooms through the X Enterprises office. “Special delivery!”
Avery’s mouth dropped open as Naomi approached her desk, and she pressed a hand to her chest. “Are those for me?”
“They are, and they’re heavy.”
Avery swept a few papers on her desk into a neat stack, and Naomi settled the vase into the spot she’d cleared.
“You must really have impressed someone,” Naomi said.
Avery forced her face to go neutral. “Guess so.”
Naomi straightened and looked at her expectantly. “So? Who are they from?”
Avery reached for the small envelope the florist had tucked among the stems. Her fingers brushed the petals, and they released a sweet, heady fragrance that perfumed the air in the office.
She slid open the envelope and pulled out the simple card. It had only two words: Go, Sounders.
Avery blushed and touched her fingers to her lips. “Just a friend.”
Just a friend who had kissed her like he meant it. Just a friend who’d made the whole world stop spinning for a moment of time.
She and Geoff hadn’t talked about it for the rest of the game, but somehow their fingers kept touching, and they’d high-five for each one of the three goals the Sounders had scored. When the game let out, and the crowd swept down the stadium stairs in a frenzy, Geoff had wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against his side.
She’d told herself he was just being chivalrous and protecting her. But it had meant more to her than that.
And maybe it had to Geoff, too.
“I need more friends like yours,” Naomi said with a knowing sparkle in her eye.
“Someone’s trying to make me look bad,” issued a deep male voice over Avery’s shoulder.
Avery turned to smile at Jeremy. Her boss had always stocked the offices with fresh flowers, even keeping a table in the marble-and-glass women’s room for the sole purpose of holding new blooms.
“You remember Geoffrey Carter from How to Hook a Hottie?” she asked.
Jeremy lifted an eyebrow. “Yes.”
Oh shit, now what was she going to say? Think, Avery.
“We’re exploring, um, partnership opportunities.”
Her cheeks burned, but Jeremy just nodded. “Turning it around, are we?”
“Yep.” Avery dropped her eyes to the flowers. “We are.” Maybe she could use this to her advantage.
Jeremy and Naomi returned to their desks, and Avery reached for her cell phone and a notebook. She hugged them against her chest and hurri
ed into the nearest empty conference room.
The bad thing about the open floor plan and glass walls? Anyone could see what you were doing. But at least with the conference room door closed, no one could hear her eat her words.
“Cheese Girl.” Geoff’s tease should have made her angry, but his honey-warm tone made something catch in her chest.
“Rock.”
“You know, I kind of like when you call me that.”
Avery grinned and cleared her throat. “I’m not sure what the protocol is for our, um, relationship, but I feel like you’re going above and beyond here.”
“You mean the flowers?”
She rubbed her free hand over her pencil skirt and lowered her voice. “I mean the flowers.”
“They’re all part of my plan, Cheese. You like them?”
“I love them.” Avery glanced through the offices. Even from here, she could spot the bright wash of pink they loaned to the sleek space. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Avery blew out a breath. She still needed to figure out how to spin this to make sure her job wasn’t in jeopardy. “So, I was talking to our CEO about partnership opportunities in the future.”
“Mmm.” Geoff’s voice in her ear raised a few fantasies in her mind. “You know what that sounds like to me?”
She squirmed and pressed her thighs together. Her voice came out high and breathy. “What’s that?”
“Like a second date.”
It wasn’t entirely what she’d had in mind, but it also wasn’t a bad idea. “I like where you’re going with this.”
“Me too.” She could hear Geoff moving around in the background—the shuffle of papers, some soft music coming from computer speakers. “Did you happen to visit any of the gossip websites this past weekend?” he asked.
Her chest tightened. “No. Why?”
“Because the video of us—you know, the one from the stadium—got picked up by TMZ.”
Avery put him on speaker phone so she could pull up the website on her phone. Sure enough, a still from the video of the two of them at the game popped up on her screen—Geoff’s hands in her hair, her eyes closed and one hand pressed against his chest, over his heart.
His Temptation (X Enterprises Book 4) Page 4