Page 82 of Player For Hire

“Thanks.” She skirted around me and stepped into them. “Mind if I steal your shirt again?”

“Nope. Maybe you can bring a change of clothes and come back tonight. I have today off.”

“That sounds like a very good plan. How about you show me your favorite lunch spot later? Gives me time to get some work done, and then I can get away from my screen for a little while.”

“Now that sounds like a good day.”

And it would give me some time to talk to Cal. Not that I even knew what I was going to say to him.

Hopefully, I would figure it out before we met.

CHAPTER 23

NAOMI

Finding a new rhythm between immersion and dodging sheer panic was a whole new thing for me. Iona was gone by the time I got back to our apartment. She left me a sticky note on the fridge that she’d be gone for the next few days, thanks to an impromptu trunk sale around Boston and Manhattan.

She never really knew what would come up with her job. Being at the mercy of Frankie and her creative vision could often be quite chaotic, but Iona lived for a hectic schedule, so they suited each other.

That left me at loose ends. I hadn’t gotten any real feedback from what she’d read, but my head was still full of crazy ideas. I worked in my room, on the couch, and even at the kitchen island before I gave up and texted Colder.

What’s for lunch?

Colder:

Miss me already?

I grinned at my phone. I did. I kept getting distracted as I tried to navigate a transitional portion of the book. I wasn’t exactly sure where I wanted to go, which probably meant I needed to work on my plot a bit.

Yet rather than conspiracies and rebellion, I found myself touching my neck.

The memory of his hand there made my heart skip. I’d read about that sort of thing in books, though those were a little more hardcore. As usual, Colder seemed to know the exact happy medium of what to show me.

I’d never known a man who was better at reading me, both in conversation and in bed. It was a tad unnerving but mostly thrilling.

Colder:

Is that a no?

I laughed as I realized my brain had gone off track instead of responding.

Sorry, got distracted thinking about last night.

Colder:

Is that so? What were you thinking about?

I leaned on the kitchen island. Could this be another lesson?

No, Naomi. Not everything is a lesson.

This was about me and him. But part of me wasn’t sure how to do the flirty text thing. I actually barely used my phone for much other than the occasional social media scroll when I was bored. Since I’d started writing again, there was little time for that.

How do you always know what I need? Even when I don’t.

I started to backtrack and erase the text. That was too much info so soon. But I’d already hit enter and wanted to simply die.

I could see he was typing and nearly sawed my lower lip off when it stopped. I straightened. Definitely too much.