Page 83 of Timelessly Ours
“He will if you catch him off—” Nicole spots me in the kitchen and freezes as I raise my brow at her. “Of course you should always tell a grown-up first before doing anything.” Then, like she can’t help herself, she bends to my daughter’s ear and whispers something not meant for my ears.
Rory giggles then, staying loyal to her nanny, nods back at Nicole, zipping her lips.
Straightening her features, Nicole clears her throat and approaches me as I hand her a cup of coffee. “Your poker face needs work,” I tell her dryly.
“If I was trying to get one over on you, I would,” she counters with a mischievous smirk.
God, she’s sexy.
And I’m so relieved to see her so…relaxed. Comfortably flowing through my home, standing close as she sips her coffee.
Then I take out the single pill from the container and hold it out for her.
She shakes her head. “I’m good today, thank you.”
“Are you sure?”
She nods. “It’s supposed to be as needed. And I don’t feel like I do.”
I nod, satisfied and a little bit wistful that maybe I might be the reason.
I put the pill back in the bottle. She’s only taken two since it was prescribed and I like being the one taking care of her. For the days I’d left the house early, I’d leave one by the coffee counter and for the most part, come home to find it untouched.
“How’d you sleep?” I ask as Rory steps into the den to pack her backpack.
She sweeps her eyes over me. “Probably better than you did. Kept my bedroom door open and noticed your light on pretty late.”
Running my fingers through my hair, I sigh. I’m not about to tell her that I had vengeance on my mind all night.
That’s…not healthy and counterproductive.
“I was…going through strategies in my head for the next game and—” My gaze lands on my little girl playing in the other room and then back to Nicole. The woman who I’d asked for nothing but honesty while she was living here—and here I was lying to her face.
The same one that looks up at me with trusting eyes.
With a growl, I pull her against me. “I’m lying. I couldn’t stop thinking about you. About what you shared with me. And all the ways I can make it better.”
She smiles and presses a hand to my chest, her eyes dropping appreciatively to it. “God, you’re so solid.” Then her eyes flick back to mine. And I brace myself for an ‘I don’t need saving’ defense. Or something about not needing a man to make it all better.
But she doesn’t say any of that. Instead, she pushes up on her toes, grips my biceps, the way she does, the way I’ve come to love, and brushes her lips softly against mine. “You already have.”
“What’s going on, Coach?” Nick and Jace walk into my office after changing.
“I need another set of eyes,” I say, glancing back at them from my office couch, facing the TV on the back wall. “Yours should count as one,” I grumble.
“Hey, you’re the one who needs help.” Nick snips, joining me on the sofa. “What no popcorn?”
“Shut up,” I say to one, then look at the other one—the one dating my daughter. “Sit down.”
“I’m good,” he says casually, leaning against the desk, arms crossed.
I roll my eyes. The guy is still traumatized from when I called him into my office last season threatening to expose the fact that he’d been hiding an injury—if he didn’t break up with Angel.
Not my finest moment.
I’ve made amends—countless amends if you ask me. But the guy is still on edge every time he walks in here.
“I need you both to watch these playbacks from our last few games and tell me what you see.”
