I look right and left as he drags me from the house. Surely, Joran will see us. The worst part is I kind of hope he doesn’t. But he’s nowhere to be found, so my assumption is he’s schmoozing another client.
A few couples and groups linger outside by the stone firepit, but Aiden breezes by them and down the stairs.
“I’m in heels,” I say.
He slows down at the steps. “We’re on a time crunch.”
Stopping on the sand, he goes by a palm tree, and he shrugs off his jacket, tosses his tie and his fingers go to the buttons on his shirt. I quickly turn around, sipping the wine I’ve barely had. I should be way more drunk right now doing what I’m doing.
“How polite of you, but I’m not a shy guy,” he says from behind me.
I hear a belt unclasp and my lady bits are pleading and begging for me to turn around. Get a look at the guy.
A few minutes later, I’m patting myself on the back for having the willpower not to turn around.
“Okay, I’m going in.”
I turn and see his naked ass running toward the water. And what an ass it is. He jumps in and comes back out, his body glistening under the moonlight like he’s emerging from another planet and I’m in the middle of a dream.
My gaze falls down his strong shoulders, taut pecs, and nipples to his valley of abs. He’s got tattoos from his shoulders to his elbows and a small one on his rib cage and let me say it only ups his fuckability. He cannot be real. As I continue to soak him in, it isn’t until he’s way too close that I realize he’s naked.
I screech and turn my back to him.
“It was fucking cold so I would prefer my member not to be pre-judged.”
I bend over at the waist in full-on laughter and hear him chuckling behind me.
“I didn’t look.”
“Sure, you did. I would’ve if it was you.”
I bite my lip because of course I looked at him. And holy hell if that’s him with shrink dick, what does he look like under normal circumstances? It boggles the mind.
“I’m heading to the pool house to dry off and change. Be my lookout?”
“Sure.”
He walks by me, his clothes in his hands while he peeks around a tree before tiptoeing into the pool house. I walk up to the expensive stone patio that surrounds the pool.
I need to leave. This whole thing is only trouble. At first, I didn’t know he was Joran’s client, but now I do. Plus, he has so much hanging on the line with his career, no way do I want to impact that somehow. The man doesn’t have time for a relationship and I’m not all that big on dating a professional athlete anyway. Not that it’s a deal breaker but I definitely don’t want to date one who’s in some pivotal part of their career.
“If he doesn’t score in the next two games, you start looking,” I overhear Mr. Gerhardt’s voice say to someone and I duck under the awning from the balcony to the pool.
“You want to go after a rookie, or someone more established?” a man asks him.
“I want the best of the best. I thought I had it. I feel for the guy, I do. But I’m growing an empire here. It was supposed to be our year.” Mr. Gerhardt sounds sincere, but I see both sides. He can’t afford for Aiden to just come back around. Then again, Aiden’s probably won him a lot of games, too.
“You sure you don’t want to wait for the season to end?” the guy asks.
“No. The longer he goes without producing, the less he’ll be worth. Two games and we look at trades. That’s plenty of time before the trade deadlines.”
“Okay, consider it done.”
I close my eyes feeling pain for someone I barely know.
“But keep it quiet. The last thing I need in that locker room is news I’m getting rid of their captain.”
“Definitely. No worries.”
The door of the pool house opens, and Aiden emerges dressed back in his suit, but his dark hair is damp now. Again, his beauty takes my breath away.
“Funny thing. I checked my phone while I was in there and guess what?”
“What?”
He doesn’t stop approaching me until my back is to the wall. “It’s almost midnight.” He lifts his head and looks around. “And I don’t see your date anywhere.”
“He’s here somewhere.”
I should leave. I need to leave.
He lifts one arm and places his hand next to my head on the wall. “You’re really not going to give me a midnight kiss? You might end up being my new lucky charm.”
“Don’t go putting that kind of pressure on me.”
I press my hand on his chest to gain some space to think about what I’m doing. He might not believe I’m here with someone, but I am. Regardless of whether that guy cares to spend any time with me.
He chuckles. “Guess what jersey number I am?”
“I have no idea. One?”
He laughs again. “You think I’m cocky, huh?”
“No—”
“Thirteen.” He smirks and the girl inside me who loves guys just like him wants to know why he’d pick an unlucky number.
“Thirteen is unlucky.”
“They call me Shamrock. I’ve been lucky as fuck my entire life. I’ve never had to be superstitious before like my teammates. But now I’m thinking maybe a kiss from you and I’ll score a goal after a long dry spell.”
“Is this a line? Because up until now I thought you were a great guy, but this all sounds like extreme bullshit.” I hand tightens around my drink.
“I didn’t much care for you to know that I played but Ford ruined that. I figure might as well be honest with you, especially if it earns me a kiss.” He bends down closer and inside the music stops and someone starts the countdown at ten through the microphone.
I press my finger to his lips. “And what if you kiss me tonight and score in your next game? What are you going to do, chase me down to kiss you before every game?”
He chuckles again, gently lowering my wrist to my side. The guy says eight in the microphone and my chest constricts. “Well, I’d hope that after I kiss you, I could grab that phone number, and maybe we could see each other once you end whatever you have going with your date.”
“You want to date me or go on a date?”
The guy’s voice says five and cheers erupt through the house. But we’re in our own little bubble tucked away under the overhang of the balcony. “I know athletes get reputations but I’m not really a one-night stand kind of guy. I want the real thing. I think we have a connection.”
The guy gets down to three on the microphone and my stomach turns over with queasiness.
“So, what do you say? Can I kiss you?” He leans in, millimeters from my face and I close my eyes as the guy announces two… one.
I panic and before I can stop myself my hand is already moving. I throw my drink in Aiden’s face.
“What the hell?” He backs away, wiping his hand down his face.
“I’m sorry. I can’t.” I run out of our hiding spot and hit the bottom of the stairs, but Joran’s there.
“There you are.” I glance back and Aiden’s right behind me.
He comes to a dead stop. “What the hell, man? Did you piss a girl off like usual?” Joran asks, but he doesn’t wait for him to answer. “It’s midnight and I didn’t have anyone to kiss.”
“Probably because you spent the whole night away from me.”
“Who’s your date, Joran?” Aiden asks quietly.
Joran puts his arm around my waist. “This is Saige. Saige this is Aiden Drake, one of my clients.”
Aiden nods and holds out his hand. “You two have a great evening.” I shake his hand, but he pulls it back immediately and walks up the stairs.
“So how about that midnight kiss?” Joran bends down toward me and I place my hand over his mouth, pushing him back.
“I don’t think so. I’m calling an Uber.”
I follow Aiden up the stairs, but by the time I make it through the house and out the front doors, he’s nowhere to be found.
Way to go, Saige. You finally have a great night with a guy and your conscience screws it all up for you.
But there is no way I can risk being his good luck charm regardless of whether he scores during his next game or not.