Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Fuck it… we’re far enough away from the ballroom no one would ever see us back here.
“Come on,” I mutter and step up my pace.
Danica laughs, clutches her dress to lift the hem and runs along with me. I glance back over my shoulder, see no one following us. As soon as I turn right into that hallway, I’m going to slam her into the wall and kiss the fuck out of her. I’d like to hike up that dress but I won’t. Not yet.
Too much risk for that, but a kiss will hold me over.
We fly around the corner in a wide arc only to come to a skidding stop as we take in… holy fuck.
Bain and Kiera are there and he has her pressed into the wall. He’s got one of her legs hiked around his hip and the other gripping her jaw to hold her still for what looks to be a bruising kiss.
Danica gasps loudly, her free hand covering her mouth as her eyes widen in shock. Neither Bain nor Kiera jump apart but they do end the kiss and turn their heads our way almost lazily. Kiera looks playfully wicked as she grins and Bain looks nonplussed.
But then both glance to where Danica and I are holding hands. My inclination is to let go or make excuses that she hurt her ankle and I was helping her to a bathroom and we were lost.
Instead, Danica pulls away from me but not to hide the fact we were clearly looking for some private space of our own. She marches right up to Kiera, grabs her by the hand and pulls her away from Bain.
“Come on,” she says and drags Drake’s sister along with her, away from the catastrophe of hooking up with Bain.
Kiera looks over her shoulder at Bain and blows him a kiss. Danica marches with purpose past me, not sparing me a glance but I note her cheeks are red. The two women disappear around the corner and I can only imagine their conversation.
My head turns to Bain who casually moves my way.
“Dude,” I drawl with a shake of my head. “What the hell was that?”
His eyes flash impishly, his smile unrepentant. “I could ask you the same.”
I don’t let him distract me. “Drake will fucking kill you if he finds out you’re trying to get carnal with his sister.”
“Not trying,” he says as he strolls past. I walk along with him back toward the ballroom, neither Danica nor Kiera in sight.
“You’ve already…?”
He doesn’t reply, leaving me to guess if he’s pulling my leg. “What were you and Danica doing sneaking off?”
“We weren’t sneaking,” I protest in a low growl. “We’re friends.”
“You’re full of shit,” he says but then stops to turn toward me. “I told you once before, there is no bro code in effect. You’re free to see Danica if you want.”
Without admitting anything, I grumble, “Not everyone will think like you.”
“That’s true,” he says, and that’s not something I necessarily wanted confirmed. “There may be some who don’t see it that way, either on the team or among the fan base. But what the fuck does that matter?”
“That’s an awful cavalier attitude,” I muse, preferring to throw the heat back his way. “Sort of the way you’re being with Kiera.”
Bain shrugs. “The difference between you and me is I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I do things to make myself happy. You should too.”
His eyes bore into me as he silently awaits my admission about my involvement with Mitch’s widow.
But it’s not my place without talking to Danica, and the only thing Bain or Kiera knows is that we were holding hands.
“I’ll catch you later,” I say and pivot away from my teammate. I brace for him to follow me or force me to talk, but he lets me go.
♦
I exit the elevator on the eighteenth floor and follow the signs to room 1827. Danica texted me a few minutes ago that she was there and waiting. After catching Bain and Kiera in a compromising position, effectively precluding the steamy kiss I was after, I retreated to the ballroom. Kiera and Danica were in there talking for a few minutes before they split and went their separate ways. I headed straight for the bar to order a bourbon to calm my nerves.
I was bothered about finding Bain with Drake’s sister, as it could cause strife among the team. Drake has made no bones about wanting everyone to stay away from Kiera. But I’ve also got to deal with the fact that Bain is now rightfully assuming there’s something between Danica and me. I’ll have to answer for that.
For an hour, I waited for the event to conclude and I stayed far away from Danica, instead hanging out with a few of the single guys—Boone, Foster and Kirill.