His lips twitched as if he thought my request was humorous.
“I’m all about staying hydrated,” I said, as I reached for the glass of water she set down and took a sip, sucking half of it down.
I needed to flush the alcohol out of my system immediately.
“You never can be too careful,” he chuckled. “I tried to catch you after the pickleball game to thank you, but you ran out of there so quickly I didn’t see you.”
“I had to go get some things done. But thank you, I got your text.” I shrugged.
“You just chose not to respond?” His voice was all tease.
“I was in a hurry and didn’t know you were wanting a response.” My teeth sank into my bottom lip.
I knew he wanted a response. He asked if I had fun. I just didn’t think texting about things outside of work was a good idea.
“You’re a pretty damn good pickleball player. You saved the day. Easton would have lost his shit if you’d sucked.” He tipped his head back with a laugh.
“He’s a little over the top, huh?” I shook my head in disbelief. “I mean, he really thought you should play? It’s freaking pickleball.”
I startled when his finger came over my lips. “Careful, Weeze, those are fighting words in the Chadwick family.”
I sucked in a breath, and he pulled his finger from my lips.
“Well, my priority is you.”
“So you do care,” he said, a wicked grin on his face. “I knew it.”
“It’s my job. If you fail, I fail. And I have a lot at stake.”
His gaze softened as if he felt bad for teasing me about it. “We both have a lot at stake.”
“Correct. So how about you don’t take silly risks that could cause us both a lot of grief.”
“Fair enough.” He clinked his whiskey glass against my water glass and tipped his head back. “For the record, I wasn’t going to run on the court. I was going to prove a point to Easton that I couldn’t stand still and win the damn game.”
“But you shouldn’t have even been out there. You might have turned the wrong way. It’s just not a good idea to take risks right now.”
“Maybe it’s a good thing you’re here then, huh?” He leaned close as the music piped through the speakers around us. The edge of his lips grazed the shell of my ear, and I shivered in response.
I guzzled the rest of my water and reached for the two beers. “Yes. I’m glad I’m here. For work. Just work. Love me somework. Yep. I’m a worker. Okay, I need to get this beer to Emilia. Thanks again for the drinks. I’ll see you on Monday morning.”
“I’ll see you Monday morning.” He winked.
The man was too smooth for his own damn good.
Too damn smooth.
Alarm bells were going off as I hurried across the bar to where Emilia was sitting, talking to a guy I didn’t recognize.
“Hey,” she said. “I was just going to come look for you.”
“I’m here. Brought you this,” I said, handing her the bottle.
“Thanks. This is Brett. We went to high school together.”
I extended my hand. “Hi. I’m Eloise.”
“Yes, you are,” he said with a flirty smirk. He had blond hair and light blue eyes, and he oozed confidence.
