Page 24 of #Awestruck
I scooted my chair back toward the table. “Look, you have your calls to make, and I have mine. We’re not here to chat.” Why was I hearing my mother’s voice in my head telling me to be polite? “And I haven’t sold any yet. Although you could just buy all the tickets.”
It seemed like a brilliant idea. Evan could easily afford it, and then we’d be done.
“Why would I do that? Then I’d be the only one there.”
“Untrue. Your ego is probably your favorite plus-one. I’m sure the two of you would have a fantastic time together.”
He grinned and leaned in toward me. “We could go together. You could be my plus-one. Or I could be yours.”
My plus-one? He wasn’t even in consideration to be my minus-one. I opened my mouth to tell him that, but he kept talking.
“If I bought all the tickets, then I wouldn’t get to spend more time with you, enjoying your ever-so-pleasant company. And nobody wants that to happen.”
I did! “I want that!”
“Do you really?”
What, he was so amazing and wonderful that I should be grateful just to be in his presence? “Yes. Because if you bought all the early-bird tickets, we could go home.”
A wolfish grin lit up his entire stupid handsome face. “Sounds good to me. I’d love to go home with you.”
Why did that make my pulse beat so erratically and my breathing go shallow? “Oh please. Mr.Chastity Belt himself wants to go home with me?”
He moved in closer. “I didn’t say anything would happen. I may flirt, but that’s as far as things would go.” I sucked in a deep breath when he reached over to brush a strand of hair from my cheek, delicately tucking it behind my earlobe. His fingertips were calloused and warm and felt way, way too good. “Even if you have me imagining otherwise.”
He said the words under his breath, as if he hadn’t intended to say them out loud. But I heard them. And my body just reacted with a bigyes, please, starting a flush I felt in my stomach that traveled all across my skin. Like the kitchen lights had just sunburned me.
And goose bumps broke out everywhere as he took in my flush, letting his fingers drift down from my ear to my jaw, under my chin. “Ashton, there’s something I need to say—”
Not yet. Not like this. Not when I wasn’t prepared and my defenses were in disarray. “I’m not talking to you about your apology or excuses or whatever.”
He leaned back, taking his hand away. “That’s not what I wanted to say. Because that’s what tomorrow night is for. Tonight is about making sure that Aubrey doesn’t murder us in our sleep for not doing what she wanted. I’d forgotten how scary she could be.”
That made me smile. Against my will.
And he, of course, noticed. “You smiled! An actual, real smile. I was a little worried you’d forgotten how.”
“Maybe that was just a smirk. How do you know I wasn’t envisioning your career-ending injury, reducing you to a life of selling used cars?”
Evan leaned back in his chair, his strong forearms crossed against his broad, tight chest. “My finance guy has made sure I’ll never have to sell used cars, even if I got cut from the team tomorrow. And that was definitely a smile. That I caused. And I’m going to make it happen again. Maybe even make you laugh.”
I couldn’t help myself. He was being really charming. Another smile crept up on me.
“Two in a row!” He raised both of his hands above his head, like a ref signaling a touchdown. “This is almost as good as when I won the Super Bowl last season.”
I twisted my lips, but it didn’t do me any good. I smiled again. “You won the Super Bowl? All by yourself? I’m pretty sure you had some help.”
“Yeah, I did. But that got me Smile Number Three.”
“Okay, you proved whatever point you wanted to prove. Let’s just get back to work.”
Evan smiled at me and nodded as I began dialing the first name on my list. His denim-clad knee grazed against mine, and I jerked away, nearly falling out of my chair.
I’d told Aubrey that the only sparks that could happen between Evan and me were of the things-being-set-on-fire variety.
I was wrong.
Because I felt that slight touch zinging around inside me like an electrical current before it exploded into a ball of fireworks in my stomach.
