Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Who’s a professional athlete?” Nick asks, walking into the room.
“Oh, my new boss. Foster Vaughn,” I blurt without thinking. “But I’m not supposed to tell you that. Shit, I’m going to get fired.”
Nick’s eyes widen. “No shit? He’s the best halfback, which is not referred to as a running back, in the league. He’s your new boss?”
“He is.” Carrie smiles at her husband, then turns back to me. “You know Nick with his sports.” She turns back to her husband. “Eden’s not supposed to talk about who her clients are, so we need to keep this between us.”
“Of course, my lips are sealed, but it’s not just sports, babe. Football. Rampage football.”
I can’t help but laugh. “I forgot you were such a huge fan. He’s a nice guy.”
Nick nods. “He is a nice guy. You never see him in the tabloids.”
“I looked him up after my first day. I didn’t find much.” Not that it mattered. Foster has told me so much about himself, all things the tabloids would never know, and that information is locked up inside me like a vault, just like I promised him.
“Maybe the four of us can have dinner one night? We can get a sitter for the kids,” Carrie suggests.
Nick looks at his wife and then back at me. “No way. Are you dating Foster Vaughn?” he asks. He moves further into the room and sits on the center cushion of the couch between Carrie and me.
“No, we’re not dating. We’re… friends, I guess is the best way to describe it.”
Nick grins, winks at me, and turns to his wife. “Set it up, babe. We’ll be there.” He leans in and kisses her quickly, before standing with his bag of pretzels, which he must have come upstairs to get, and heading back to the basement.
“Dinner?” Carrie asks.
“I’m not sure. Let me talk to Foster. It might just be a quick hello kind of thing. I know he won’t mind meeting Nick or you, but I don’t know if dinner is the best way to go about it. It would feel like a… date.”
“And that’s a problem?” Carrie asks.
I sigh, leaning my head toward the back of the couch. “I don’t know, Carrie. I’m so confused. What if I’m making this something that it’s not?”
“Slow, Eden. Just take it slow. From what you’ve told me, the progression of something more is there. Just take each day as it comes and see how it all plays out. I’m proud of you. You’re letting a man steal your attention. I have a good feeling about this.” She giggles, and I join her.
“Thank you.”
She smiles and nods. “Anytime, bestie. I know this is all new for you, and I’m proud of you. You’re not running this time.”
“Running is the last thing I want to do,” I admit, and she gives me a knowing look. I guess I’ll do what she says. Just take each day a little at a time. Tonight is the first night he’s ever hugged or kissed me, even if it was on the temple. It could have been a one-off from our conversation, and I’m obsessing over this for nothing. I guess only time will tell.
Chapter Seven
Foster
* * *
“Are you smiling?” Reid asks as I drop the kettlebell to the floor. We’ve been working out at the gym for about thirty minutes.
“What?” I glance over at him, my brow furrowed.
“That.” He points at my face. “You’re smiling,” he accuses.
“Is that a crime?”
“You’re usually all scowly and shit,” Landry chimes in.
“Scowly? Is that a word?” I ask him.
“If not, it should be. They can put your picture next to it in the dictionary.” He chuckles.
“It’s not a word,” Knox tells him, “but they’re not wrong. You are smiling, or you were.”
I turn to Baker. “A little help here?”
Baker shrugs. “The lips were definitely tilted.” He nods.
“Whatever. I don’t know if I was smiling, but who cares if I was?” I was thinking about Eden. She arrived at my place forty-five minutes early today because she wanted to be the one to bring breakfast this time. It’s become our thing. Since her second day of working at my place, I have made her breakfast, and she eats with me. Then, I leave her be to do her thing. We’ve been back to the children’s home together once more since our first trip, and I’m thinking of asking if she wants to go again tomorrow. So, yeah, I was probably smiling. It’s been a long damn time since I’ve spent this kind of time with a woman, even if she’s being paid to be at my place three times a week.
We haven’t talked about the kiss I gave her on Monday before she left, or the hug. I can still feel her in my arms, but it’s fine. I was caught up in the moment and how comfortable I feel with her, and I lost my head. Today, everything was fine, as if those two moments never happened.