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I sneer, but then I also shake my head in amazement, not at Lyra, but at Everly. At her beautiful brain. “Fuck, you’re hot.”
“Why is that hot?”
“Because you’re smart. I love the way your mind works.” I take a beat, mulling over her thought process. “You really think that’s what they’re doing?”
“I do. She’s trying tostopyou. But in this case—she wants to stop you from potentially saying something bad about her.”
“I was never going to,” I huff. “How the fuck wouldthat help me? Especially now, when I’m trying to fix my rep? It doesn’t help me to talk shit about an ex. Garrett has even said as much—that brands don’t look fondly on people who badmouth their exes.”
Everly’s smile is soft as she says, “He’s right. But she’s scared. She’s worried you’ll ruin her reputation, so she’s trying to control the story. To remind the media that she’s beloved. It’s like she’s trying to build a wall around herself. So even if you revealed what happened, no one would believe you because how could they? She’s this popular singer who shows up at a dog adoption event and kisses puppies.”
That’s…insidious. I breathe out hard, but after a few seconds, I make a choice. To let the frustration go. To stop talking about her. To focus on this beautiful present and the woman in my arms. “I’ve had enough of Lyra. Enough of Bane. I don’t want to talk about them anymore. They don’t matter to me,” I say, running a hand over her hair. “But you do.” And to show her she’s the only one on my mind, I say, “Do you know what my favorite part of your beautiful brain is?”
“Which part?”
I tap her temple lightly. “The part that said yes to me, and now I want you to say yes to something else.”
She inches closer. “You do know you make it impossible to say no.”
“That’s my goal. So go on a secret date with me.”
Her flirtiness vanishes. “Max, that's so risky. I’m trying for this promotion, and so is Elias and…” She stops, tilts her head, like she just remembered something. “Speaking of, did he see us in the equipment room?”
“I’m not sure. But I ran into him right after,” I say, thenI tell her about the encounter. “You don’t think he suspects something?”
Everly closes her eyes, blows out a breath. When she opens them, she says, “He made a comment about it, and he also came into my office the day you sent the panties. Right after I opened them.”
“Shit. Did he see them?”
She shakes her head, but she winces. “No. But maybe he’s suspicious…and he really wants the promotion. He pretends he doesn’t, but he does. And he’s so connected, and he plays into the wholeI’m a former athletething. Like he thinks that makes him a better candidate.”
My chest caves. I hate that she has to face these challenges. I pull her closer. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I don’t want to do anything to hurt you. Especially at work.”
“We just have to be careful around him. Around everyone,” she says, then frowns. “You know the team has this unwritten rule that employees can’t date players.”
Right. She said that at the rink with the kids when Becca teased her about having a crush on me. I wasn’t sure she’d meant it. My heart sinks to the ocean floor. “You mentioned that before. That’s real?”
She explains the reasoning, and I hate how she has to deal with this sexist rule.
“Thisthingcan’t be anything more,” she says, but her tone sounds heartbroken, andthat—that emotion—tells me something important. “Especially in the middle of us working so closely together on this makeover. We have the next event in a week or so. And then another one.”
Right. Step two—a series of community outreach events. And I don’t want to cause any problems for her at the next one like I did today. The next one needs to go perfectly, and I’ll do my part.
“I know,” I say. But I also plan to hold on to that emotion I heard in her voice. I plan to hold on to it and figure it the fuck out. Because I don’t know how to change that rule but I also don’t know how to change these feelings for her that grow stronger by the day. “That’s why I said go on asecretdate with me.”
“Max,” she says, but it hardly sounds like a protest.
“You know you want to.”
She doesn’t fight it. She melts into my arms. “Of course I do,” she says, vulnerable and open and a little sad.
I’m not letting her go.
“Then say yes,” I say, wiggling my brows.
She narrows her eyes, swatting my chest playfully. “Are you going to ruin it like you did all my other dates?”
“Did I really ruin them?”
