An indulgent moment a no.., p.3
An Indulgent Moment: A Novella in the Extravagant Series,
p.3
But I can’t fathom what it could be.
And so I trudge on.
Perhaps I’m in mourning. Or depressed. Or heartbroken.
I’m also busy and tired and behind. My lack of focus leads me to work longer hours, trying to catch up. Which is why I’m startled half to death when there’s a sharp rap at my office door one night around eight.
Both Nadia and my assistant left hours ago. My stomach flutters a little at the idea that maybe—
But when the door opens, it’s Cole.
Sage’s Cole.
“Come in,” I say curiously. “Is everything okay?”
He strides in, confident, determined, as he always is. He stops at a chair in front of my desk and looks at me steadily until my cheeks warm beneath his stare.
“Doesn’t seem everything is okay, does it?” he asks.
“I . . . I’m not sure what you mean.”
He flicks me a knowing stare. “I’m familiar with all the symptoms. Wanting someone you think you can’t have is an illness that I contracted somewhere along the way too.”
My inner defensive lineman gets into position, ready to protect my heart at all costs. “If Sage sent you for a round of talk therapy and ice cream together, I appreciate the gesture, but I’m pretty busy.” I gesture to the mound of paperwork in front of me as proof.
“Then I’m afraid you’ll be even more disappointed to hear I’ve brought you more paperwork,” he says, dipping a hand into an inside jacket pocket and retrieving a folded stack of papers. “It seems to me that there’s more than one disservice being done by keeping your secret love on the team. Not only does it prevent you from following your heart, it keeps him from living up to his potential as well. We both know your starting quarterback has years of his best playing ahead of him. Number Forty-Four will stay in his shadow for his entire career. He’ll never get to show the world what he can do. The Hawks are keeping him on ice simply so that no one else can have him, but you’re stifling his career by doing so.”
My heart sinks. He’s right, of course. “And what would you suggest I do?”
Our strategic decisions are hurting the man I lo—I mean, care about. But I’m only one voice in the team’s decision-making process. And if I stand up for him too vocally, I risk exposing my feelings.
Cole smiles devilishly. “You don’t need to do anything. I took care of it. The Renegades want him. I made a few calls, pulled a few strings. A trade to California takes him off your team, out of your conference, and therefore, right back into your bed, if you’ll have him. It’s all here. It just needs your signature.” He offers me the papers.
My heart, which had been rising, drops again just as swiftly. “No one’s going to agree to this, but thank you. It’s a lovely gesture.”
His eyes frost, and I’m reminded he’s a shark in the business world. “Everyone has agreed. Making deals is what I do. I found something for everyone here. Don’t underestimate my abilities.”
I take the papers and look.
It’s true. Everyone has signed. The space for my signature is the last. I can’t sign fast enough, but even though it’s now possible, how can I know that Xavier will even want me again? With the way I walked out on him, haven’t even laid eyes on him since, he’d be forgiven for thinking I got what I wanted and moved on.
I may, in my haste to protect my heart, have fumbled his. “But, Cole . . .”
“It’s done!” he calls to the darkened hallway, and then my door is filled with a six-foot-five god, his thousand-watt smile lighting me up from the inside out. I hardly hear my best friend’s man say his goodbye before I’m in my player’s arms, his lips crashing down on mine.
During the season, he’ll be in California and I’ll be here, but there are planes to see us through.
At last, I can have the man I’ve longed for.
This time, I’m not worried about being too overcome by him. This time, the magic of the light is shining from us. Let everyone else be dazzled. We’ll be too busy to notice.
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Ready for more sexy love stories in THE EXTRAVAGANT SERIES? Daniel’s love story with Scarlett comes in the lush, sexy, fake marriage romance MY ONE WEEK HUSBAND. Nadia’s romance comes in THE VIRGIN RULE BOOK.
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Lauren Blakely, An Indulgent Moment: A Novella in the Extravagant Series
