“Never,” he whispered right back.

We were in our own little world right then, our own moment.

The people ceased to be.

The stadium faded.

All the noises, the sounds, even the beverages and food we were holding, all of it was gone.

I’d moved beyond the attraction.

I was starting to fall for him.

Oh no.

29

Nate

“Monson.”

I looked at the aisle and stood. “Dierek, you’re late. I’m surprised you still came to the game.”

Mason’s agent laughed, then groaned. “Traffic and a small crisis that got sorted out. Apologies, but I still wanted to show up.” He clasped me on both shoulders, looking me up and down. His empty chair was on the other side of Quincey. Before moving past, he said, “Congratulations on the news.”

“Thank you.”

Dierek was our age, a few years older, and he had no children. As far as I knew, he had no relationships either. He was married to his job, but he was one of the top agents in the world. I’d say it was working for him. He was also a good-looking bastard, and until that moment, I never thought about his looks.

I was thinking now because he shook Quincey’s hand and held it way longer than he needed to hold it.

“So sorry again for my lateness. You’re the beautiful Quincey Royas.”

“Hello. And thank you. It’s nice to meet you.”

He was still holding her hand.

That was unprofessional of him, like highly unprofessional. He wanted to represent her, not fuck her. There were lines. Roles.

I stomped down a growl, because what the fuck?

But he was moving past her, starting to let go of her hand.

It would be irrational of me to rip them apart.

I was asking myself if that was irrational. That was probably a sign.

Jesus. Logan would be laughing his ass off at me.

Why’d Mason refer him again? Right. Because he was the best agent in the business.

Everyone else was starting to sit. Someone just scored.

They were still shaking hands.

“Okay.” I pushed Dierek into his seat.

Both turned to me, shocked.

I ignored them, gesturing to the field. “It’s an important play.”

A gurgle left Quincey’s throat as she continued to stare at me.

I coughed, clearing my throat. “Since it’s the fourth quarter, I’m assuming you’ll want to have dinner with us afterward?”

“Yeah.”

I liked Dierek. Or I had, until today, until he held Quincey’s hand for an inappropriate length of time.

I told him, “Matteo will be joining us.”

“That’s good. I haven’t talked to Matteo in a while. It’ll be good to catch up.”

We were on our feet in the next second. The momentum of the pass interception by Matteo’s team led the charge through the rest of the fourth quarter. Dierek talked to Quincey a bit more, but everyone was cheering so loud that conversation was minimal between the two.

And I was also watching that like a hawk.

I needed to cool it. Severely.

She expressed a wish to get a new sort of agent, and I delivered. Dierek was interested, so despite being new to her world, I knew he’d be good for her. Her career, I mean. Good for her career.

I was a jealous fucking asshole.

Jealous.

Jesus.

I was rarely jealous when it came to women. Then again, I’d never cared enough about a singular woman either. Except for Valerie, but she’d been different in a lot of ways.

“Hey.” Quincey was laughing and nudged my shoulder with her hand. She held out her phone. “She’s so cute.”

I heard the adoration and felt it deep inside. Emily had taken a picture of Nova in her crib. She was tangled up in a blanket, her penguin, a dolphin, and a whale. She looked damned cute.

“She loves the marine mammals, huh?”

“She does.” Quincey took the phone back, sending off a text. “I think she gets it from Stephanie…” She trailed off, a look of horror flaring over her face.

“Quincey?”

“Oh my God.” A soft utter from her.

Something happened on the field again. Everyone was roaring around us, jumping to their feet. Quincey stayed sitting. So did I. I bent closer to her. “What’s wrong?”

She turned those horrified eyes my way. I had to crane to hear her. “I forgot she’s not mine. I forgot that she came from Valerie.” The horror was quickly turning to shame, and something worse, something darker. “That’s horrible of me. To forget… and I thought she actually came from me for a second. I’m going to be sick.”

She shoved up from her seat and darted past me. She was up the aisle in a flash.

“Nate?” Dierek leaned over.

I glanced at the clock. There were thirty seconds left.

Grabbing my coat and hers, I stood. “I have to take care of this. We’re eating at Peluzza. Seven. Reservation is under my name.”

“Okay. Yeah.” He nodded in the direction Quincey had gone. “Is she okay?”

I hesitated, but he needed to be told something. “Uh, yeah. It’ll be fine. A recent death in the family.”