She smirked at his attempt at sarcasm. “Ha ha.”
“No, really. I’ve got dozens of grown men who are usually needier than you.” He settled an arm around her shoulders. “Not right now, but usually. The kickoff game is a week away, and I couldn’t just drop everything because you and your mother had another row. So you called Val. Sounds like you did a smart thing. That lady’s been with you long enough. She’s seen your ugly side, I’m sure.”
She squirmed out of his grasp. “I’m serious. I blew it with her, pushed too much. I practically bulldozed my way into her house.”
“Did she say that?”
“No, but I could tell she was uncomfortable with my being there. I’m her boss. In fact, she kept calling me boss the whole time, even when I told her not to. It was all, ‘Anything you say, boss; okay, boss; you’re the boss.’ I felt awful when she fell asleep. I gave her Monday off to recuperate and even offered her a spa treatment from Zahra as an apology. God knows if she’ll accept.” Clasping her hands in her lap, she dipped her head. “I’m no good with people. Maybe I should get a dog. Or a lizard. Definitely a lizard, something cold-blooded, since, apparently, I’m cold-blooded, too.”
“You’re one of the warmest people I know. You’ve just got a lot of barriers. Sounds to me like you tried knocking down a few of them on Friday night. That’s a good thing. I’m sure Val thought so, too.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not so sure. I just didn’t know what else to do. Like I said, when I couldn’t reach you...” She glared at him, trying to burn him with the power of her eyes. “I called her. She was planning a nice, quiet night at home with some kind of salmon dish and a bath, and I totally crashed it.”
He quirked a brow. “You crashed her bath?”
“No!” She sighed. “Keep up, Bertie. I intruded on her plans for a relaxing evening at home.”
“Did you bring work with you for her to do?”
She clucked her tongue. “No, just a pizza. We’d both put in a sixteen-hour day on Friday. I’m not a monster.”
“Then, what’s the problem?”
“She fell asleep on the couch, and I felt awful that I’d intruded on her, so I left. That’s when I went to Brady’s Place.”
“Where you ran into Jordan, shot a game of pool, kissed him—”
On a gasp, she slapped the space between them. “I did not kiss him!”
“Where he kissed you,” he amended, “while you struggled to retain your honor.”
“Well, not exactly, but...” She dipped her head. “Okay.”
“Then some big guy walked in and made a comment about a building and you ran out. And that’s where we’re at now.”
“Yes.” She waited, but he said nothing more. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“What do you think it means?”
“I don’t know. Ask Jordan.” He pulled her against him again, and this time, she didn’t fight. “Just do me a favor? Shower first. Brush your hair—and your teeth. And put on clean pajamas.”
She yawned as exhaustion finally claimed her. Snuggled into Bertie’s broad chest, his heartbeat thumping against her ear, she whispered, “Okay,” and promptly fell asleep.
EARLY TUESDAY MORNING, Jordan greeted Marcus outside the empty space that had once housed the Stalk Food Store and Farmers’ Market. “Thanks for coming.”
“How could I not? You sounded pretty excited on the phone.”
After Cam had run off the other night, he sensed Marcus was about to do the same. So had everyone else inside Brady’s Place, which sent them all into raucous laughter.
“What happened, Wheels?” Luis admonished. “Was Cam not impressed with your technique? Maybe we should play another game. Your charm seems to be wearing off.”
“Worst response to kissing a woman I’ve ever seen,” Kenny added. “You couldn’t even get her to stay out of pity.”
That remark got Marcus’s back up. The sports physical therapist did not take kindly to anyone ridiculing his clients. Fists at his sides, he stalked forward, intent on pounding some respect into the man. “You listen to me, you little weasel—”
“Marcus!” Jordan cut off the brewing fight. “Forget him. He’s harmless.” He jerked his head toward the front area. “Come on. Let’s go up front where we can talk.”
Marcus shifted his weight to one hip and folded his arms over his chest. “Forget about it. Call me tomorrow or something.”
Jordan pushed forward toward the doorway, hoping he could convince Marcus to stay long enough to hear him out. “No, I can’t forget about it. I need to explain. Please.”
To Jordan’s relief, on a disgruntled huff of air, Marcus followed him to the front of the bar. Jordan gestured to the same booth he’d shared with Cam. Once they were seated, he ordered a beer for Marcus, another ginger ale for himself.
Only after the drinks were on the table and he was assured there’d be no additional interruptions did he open the conversation again. “What you walked in on back there, it’s not what it seemed.”
Marcus took a swig of his beer, but his expression remained impassive. “Uh-huh. Sure. ‘Cuz it looked to me like you were sucking face with the enemy.”
“She’s not the enemy.” He rolled his eyes, sipped his ginger ale, and gathered his thoughts. “Look, like it or not, Cam and I have a history. We didn’t have a great ending, but when we were good together, we were really good together. Tonight, she’d been drinking, and we shot a game of pool, and the music and the game and the atmosphere stirred up some fond memories. That’s all it was.”
Marcus narrowed his eyes and tilted his bottle toward Jordan. “So you two were lip-locked when I walked in out of some kind of weird moment of nostalgia?”
“Of course.”
Either that, or Kenny was right and she’d kissed him out of pity. Because she had definitely responded with enthusiasm when he’d kissed her. Question was, did she respond honestly or had she put on a show to
