“Trust me. You wouldn’t know what to do with me if you really knew me.”

“I think I could handle it.” I offered him my mug, and he tapped his cup against it. The silence was heavy as we took our drinks but not as awkward as I thought it would be.

“Now,” I said, setting my mug down. “Tell me why you asked Bailey where I’d be today.”

“Had a rough practice.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. “And you thought I could help somehow?” Did he want me to rub his sore muscles? While in the shower? My mouth watered just picturing it.

He glanced around the café as if he feared we might be overheard. There were only a few other patrons in the shop, and they were across the room. The slow pace of the café was one of the reasons why I adored it so much. “Coach wouldn’t let up on me. He’s still pissed about the bar incident.”

I nodded, completely understanding his coach’s position. If one of my employees had as many violent encounters as Rory had, then I’d have the person on a three strike system. I gasped, tilting my head. “What strike are you on?”

A smile shaped his lips as he shook his head. “You never stop surprising me, Red.”

“Not used to being with a woman with a mind of her own?”

“Am I with you? I thought we were just ticking items off a list, and I haven’t seen a contract, yet.” He licked his lips again, and I huffed, completely flustered every time the man brought any attention to his damn mouth—which I knew all too well what it was capable of doing to my body. “You have one, don’t you? A contract?” He asked with a full-out grin. If I hadn’t already been sitting down, my knees would have buckled.

“You’re avoiding the question,” I said, struggling to keep my composure.

“Which one?”

“Strikes.”

“Ah,” he said, sighing. “I’ve lost count.”

My mouth popped into the shape of an O before I reigned it in. The idea of him being benched scared me almost as much as the idea of him taking me up on my offer of an exclusive relationship for three months. “You’re the best enforcer we have. You can’t keep this up, Rory. We need you.”

He chuckled. “How long have you been a Shark?”

“Longer than you.”

“Ha!” He smacked his hand on the table. “You’re something else.”

“I thought we established that the other night.”

He leaned over the table, drawing closer to me. “We only scratched the surface that night.”

My chest rose and fell rapidly as I couldn’t hold a single breath with him so close, his scent tickling every nerve in my body. “Oh?”

He nodded, leaning back in his chair. “I’d like to take you up on your offer.”

“Oh?” I wasn’t capable of another word, the idea of having Rory to myself for three whole months before I had to swear off sex-God men like him forever stole every intelligible thought I may have had.

“Who could pass it up? You pitched it so well.” His tongue ran across his lower lip like he could still taste me.

My thighs clenched.

“It’s what I do.”

“You ready for me to show you what I do?” He shifted his long legs beneath the table, his knee brushing mine. A flare of heat flew across my skin, and I glanced down at the financial reports I’d all but forgotten spread across the table.

“No,” I said, my shoulder dropping. The crease between his brow was back, so I hurried on. “I have to finish this.” I pointed to my laptop and stack of papers next to it. “How about dinner at my place tonight?”

He smoothed out his face in a blink and finished off the coffee in his cup. “Tell me when and where.”

I clicked my pen and wrote out my address on a piece of paper. “I never give this out,” I said, slipping it into his hand. “And if you could make sure the paparazzi aren’t following you—at least until we finalize all the details of our arrangement—I would appreciate it.”

He shook his head and stood, flashing me that brilliant smile that was equal parts charm and pure sex. Leaning down, he put his mouth right next to my ear. “You know, Paige, I think three months will give me just enough time to fuck that business tone right out of you.”

Turning on his heels, he left me sitting there with my mouth hanging open with no words on my tongue. I watched him walk away, enjoying every inch of the view until he was out of sight. Fanning myself with one stack of reports that I had to get done, I shifted in my seat. Three months with Rory and I’d have to invest in an entirely new line of lingerie because I couldn’t seem to keep dry around the man.

Chapter 5

Rory

Fucking grow a pair and go in already! My knee bounced uncontrollably in the back of the sedan, my driver waiting patiently as I sat and stewed outside Paige’s house. I was already twenty minutes late—exactly the amount of time it had taken me to get to Phantom, walk inside the club and exit out the back entrance. The paparazzi had followed me and hopefully would wait there for me to leave through the front. Paige was clear on her terms when it came to the paps catching us before we knew exactly what we were doing.

Maybe that is why I couldn’t get my ass out of the car. I’d never been nervous to have dinner with a woman. Hell, I didn’t even twitch when a puck bunny had thrown me a curveball and showed up with my name tattooed on her hip.

No, I was a go-with-the-flow kind of man, but Paige was all business and all out of my league. When she made her offer, I thought I’d fallen into one of the many fantasies I’d had about her since the first time Bailey had introduced us. Three months of no-strings-attached sex with the redhead that invaded my dreams so many times I was waking up every day as hard as a teenager again? Hell. Fucking. Yes. And if it cleaned up my image enough to appease coach and keep me on the ice? Then win, win.

So why are you still sitting in the car like a scared little boy?

A deep breath and a mental kick in the balls later, I shoved open the door and told my driver I’d call him. He’d been with me for years and knew the score—sometimes I wanted a quick escape and others I didn’t mind staying the night. I wasn’t sure which tonight would turn into and always liked to be prepared either way.