“I’m sorry,” he said, dropping his voice so she knew that he was serious. He was sorry. For everything.
Her eyebrows rose as she cleared her throat and nodded. “Thank you.”
He gave her a smile. “Now, should we start this interview?” Hoping it was his smile that caused her cheeks to flush, Zach took it as an invitation to lean and give her a wink.
Like two wrong sides of a magnet, Danielle stepped back. Zach tried not to notice it. Thankfully, she disguised her movement as looking for her bag. When she located it, she walked over, removed a notebook and pen, and then came back over to him.
Needing something to do other than just stand there and stare at her, Zach made his way over to the dumbbells and picked one up. Pushing his muscles past their breaking point seemed like a good way of keeping himself distracted.
Danielle clicked her pen and flipped open her notebook. He noted how she kept flicking her eyes up to him and then back down to the paper. It was almost like she was trying to avoid not looking at him as much as he was avoiding not looking at her.
And then he pushed that thought from his mind. Last time he got swept up in trying to analyze her actions, he had stupidly kissed her. Right now, he needed to push all thoughts of her and him from his mind and focus on the task at hand—which was answering her question.
Glancing over at Danielle, Zach raised his eyebrows. “Sorry?”
She chewed her lip as he felt her gaze travel down to his arms and then, almost like she’d been shocked, she pulled her eyes away and stared—hard—at the paper. “How do you think last year went?” she asked, her voice quiet, like she was scared that something might be revealed through her tone. A feeling Zach was all too familiar with.
Switching hands, Zach focused on the questions and the pain rushing up his arm as he began curling the dumbbell. After all, that was all he could do. Danielle was off limits and if it took pain to remind him of that, then he’d inflict it on himself.
He had to.
An hour later, Zach was shaking from his workout. Apparently, the best way to push himself was to have Danielle here, asking him questions. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for them to fall into a professional rhythm.
Zach was even able to focus on the questions about the team, his predictions for the new season, and his plans to keep in shape. He even managed a few smiles at her when she got out her camera to record a segment about how NFL players stay in shape. He was sweaty and gross, but she said the viewers would love it.
When Danielle clicked her pen and stood, Zach glanced up at the clock.
“I think that’s good for now. I’ve got a lot of stuff to work with.” She stuffed her notebook, pen, and camera into her bag and turned, giving him a wide smile. He couldn’t tell if it was fake or real and he hated how much he wished it was real.
“I guess we can get together again next week?” she asked as she pulled out her phone. “I should probably get some more footage of you not all sweaty,” then she dropped her voice and whispered, “even though I’m sure what I have will attract the attention of a lot of women.”
Zach stared at her. Was she giving him a compliment? When she didn’t elaborate, he decided that it was best to just move on. He couldn’t spend his time with her trying to dissect her words. It would kill him inside just to have them not mean what he so desperately wanted them to mean.
“Are you sure you don’t need anything else?” he asked. Was it wrong that even though warning bells were going off in hismind, he still wanted her to stick around? That he didn’t want this meeting to be over?
She was chewing her lip as she stared into her purse. After pushing some items around, she glanced up at him. “Yeah, I think I’m good.”
Zach stepped forward. He wanted to get her stay. There was this deep down desire growing in his chest and he felt as if he were about to burst. “Are you sure?” he asked, before he could stop himself.
Danielle glanced up at him. Her brow was furrowed as she parted her lips. “I think so,” she said.
“Okay,” he said.
She cleared her throat, pulled her purse strap up onto her shoulder and turned toward the door. “I should get going. I’ve got a bus to catch.” She moved to walk away.
Not wanting her to ride the bus, Zach reached out and grabbed her arm before he could stop himself. “Take my car. Paul can drive you back home,” he said as he glanced down at her.
Danielle pinched her lips together as she dropped her eyes to his hand and then slowly raised them to meet his. “I’m used to the bus. I’m a big girl,” she said.
Zach nodded. He was sure she was a capable woman, but he didn’t like the risk taking the bus brought to her. “I know. I’d just…feel better.”
She studied him for a moment before sighing. “Okay. Yeah, I guess.”
Zach grinned at her as he pulled his phone from his pants pocket and texted Paul who responded with a “be right there”.
“He’s on his way,” Zach said as he slipped his phone into his pocket.
Danielle was chewing her lip as she nodded. “Great. Well, I’ll see you next week.” She regarded him for a moment beforeturning and making her way to the front doors. Zach’s black Lincoln could be seen through the large glass windows as it pulled up.
