Page 30 of No Wrong Moves


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With the tasteof Pearce on my lips, I relied on autopilot to get me to Lottie. After keeping away from the man for the past few days in an attempt to not distract him, I’d done a piss-poor job of that by mauling the guy. And a few hours before his game, no less.

If it wasn’t for the fact he’d melted in my arms and kissed me back, I would have felt guilty. Perhaps I should have anyway, but how could I when his kiss was the best I’d ever had?

By the time I reached Lottie’s side, the players she’d been with were on the court and Tony was next to her. Guilt barreled into me. Not only had I abandoned her, but with the way Tony was looking at me, he had a fair idea of why I’d dragged Pearce away from him.

“I’m so sorry,” I rushed to say, my gaze first on Lottie and then on Tony. “I didn’t mean to be so long and—”

“Dad, Tony was just telling me about an interview he did with Josie Spellman.”

It took me a moment to catch up and redirect my focus to my daughter. Excitement filled her features, making me realize that she hadn’t even noticed I’d been gone.

“He said he’d reach out to her and see if she’d be interested in talking to me. That would be so awesome.” She peered up at Tony with stars in her eyes, and he chuckled.

“I think Josie would be more than happy to chat with someone so dedicated to the game and looking at following in her shoes.” Flicking his attention to me, he smiled. “I hope that’s okay?”

My brain finally cleared from its kiss-drunk fog, and I smiled back, this time remembering my manners and reaching out my hand. Tony took it and shook as I said, “Tony, that would be incredible. Thanks.” When I dropped his hand, I cleared my throat, trying to will heat from spreading in my cheeks. “And thanks for looking after her.”

Still with the same friendly smile on his face, Tony shrugged. “It’s more than okay. It gave us an opportunity to talk about tonight’s game. Lottie said you guys aren’t watching?”

“Well, we are, but at home… uhm… I mean at Pearce’s place.”

Tony glanced at my girl, concern dipping his brows. “How are you healing? Pearce said you were recovering brilliantly.”

“I am,” Lottie said with the confidence of a girl who knew exactly who she was. “Dad said we can definitely attend Pearce’s next game, which will be another win.”

“You’re that confident about tonight’s win, huh?” he asked.

“Absolutely. Pearce is going to kick ass.”

I winced, wondering how it was my ten-year-old was making excellent progress at sounding like a sailor. “Lottie, no cussing.”

Her pursed lips told me she was fighting to not roll her eyes at me. “Sorry, Dad. Butt, I meant butt.” She grinned.

“I actually have to get back to work,” Tony said. He focused on me, saying, “I don’t have your details. Should I get in touch via Pearce?”

The embarrassment I’d been trying hard to hold on to spread quickly to my cheeks. “Yeah, sure, thanks.”

“No problem at all.”

After our goodbyes, he headed away, and I peered down at my girl. “How are you feeling? You ready to get out of here?” She looked a little peaky.

“I still haven’t spoken to Pearce.”

Just the sound of his name had my pulse picking up speed. “Okay, let’s quickly find him again, then we’ll grab something for dinner tonight to eat before the game.” I turned and searched for Pearce. It took barely a beat for me to spot him. He was in the middle of doing some basic ball work with Cassius and Ollie.

While we waited for him to finish, Lottie talked nonstop about Josie, a super successful agent. Sure, my kiddo was only ten, but she knew her own mind and had ambition. And from everything I knew about Josie, she’d be a pretty impressive role model.

A good ten minutes of Lottie’s gushing later, I snagged Pearce’s gaze. It wasn’t necessary to indicate I needed to go or that Lottie wanted to wish him luck, as he immediately said something to Cassius, which he followed up with a smack to his teammate’s gut when he laughed. Then he was jogging over to us. Each footfall of him getting closer, heat licked over my skin. Who knew unwavering eye contact could be so damn intense?

By the time he reached us, my body vibrated with the need to scoop him close and lay one on him. It took everything in me to keep my hands to myself, but one kiss did not make a relationship.

“Hey,” he greeted. “You guys heading home?”

There went my crazy pulse again. “Yeah.” I bobbed my head, aware that I hadn’t blinked yet. I cleared my throat and forced myself to look away and take a much-needed blink. Fuck, I needed to get myself under control, but Pearce running toward me had been the start of what dreams were made from. It was kinda sad he was strapped down so I couldn’t see his swinging dick.

“Uhm… yeah, so Lottie just wanted to wish you luck,” I said, the thought of his dick taking up residence in my overactive imagination.

At the slight widening of his eyes and then the quirk of his brow, it was clear he knew my thoughts weren’t perhaps suitable for public sharing. When he flicked his attention to Lottie and lowered to a knee, I took a steadying breath.