His eyes flashed.

I grinned. “I mean, I know we’re having great sex, but well, you know what I mean.”

He groaned, leaning down and capturing my mouth. “You’re more than a screw. You know that, right?”

I almost preened. “The best words ever. Put that on a Valentine’s Day card.”

A grimace, then a chuckle. “Shit. I’m sorry. I…” He leaned back, tilting his head to the side. “We don’t use the big words.”

“Because of me. Because of my baggage.” I squeezed his hand. “So if you think I’m a chick who wants to shout it to the tabloids or anyone that we’re whatever—”

He laughed. “We’ve progressed. Screwing to whatever.”

I lifted a shoulder. “—then you never really knew me.” I waved a hand around. “All of this is a lot, but I’ve got too much damage in me to start getting ideas. You can relax. I’m here to whatever you and hang out. That’s it. But if Juan’s girlfriend isn’t cool, I might ditch the game.”

His eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“No.” I flashed a grin. “But I might ditch her and watch from the aisle somewhere.”

He groaned, bending down to rest his forehead to mine. His hands cupped my face. “Don’t do that. Marie’s cool, and you’ll hurt her feelings. Then Juan will get mad at me because Marie’s very picky about who she befriends.”

That made her more appealing. I perked up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead just as a honking sound came from outside. “Jesus Christ. I’m going to kill that guy.”

“Go.” I shooed him. “Get out of here.”

He backed toward the door. “Marie knows the code to lock everything up, and stick with her after the game. We’ll meet up with you guys.” He turned to jog down the stairs.

I scrambled to my knees. “Good luck!”

“Thanks,” he shouted.

Then the door shut again, and I could hear voices outside.

I couldn’t help myself. I went to the window, watching Reese get in the passenger side of a very expensive-looking car. I had no clue what kind it was, but it screamed money. The gate opened, and the car sped off.

Then it was me, and the realization of the world I’d stepped into hit me hard.

I was fairly certain I’d just crapped my pants.

Reese lied to me.

Marie was nothing like Hadley.

I mean, height and weight she was petite like Hadley, but she had black hair, a lip ring, and had a solid amount of makeup on her face. Also, her arms were crossed over her chest and she was inspecting me like I was an ant under her shoe.

“What are your intentions with Reese?”

That wasn’t even her first question. She’d started off the interrogation Monty Python-style with “What is your name? What is your favorite color?” And we’d progressed from there. I was past the first molehill of questions and she now circled me as I sat at Reese’s kitchen table.

“Uh, my intentions?” I shrugged. “Besides phenomenal sex?”

She kept circling, those arms still crossed tight. “You know what I mean. You’re a funny one, I see.”

I was tempted to snort, but I’d done that after the first four questions. She got tired of it, growling, “You’re not taking this seriously.” I’d been refraining since.

I sighed instead. More appropriate.

“Okay.” I was having déjà vu. This was the third time my cards had needed to be laid out, and I stood.

Marie paused in her circling.

I mirrored her, folding my arms over my chest. “I get that you’re being protective of Reese, but if you think I’m going to lay out all my innermost secrets to you, a stranger, you can walk right back out. Reese invited me here. He said you’d hang out with me until he was done, but I have no problem buying a scalped ticket and going to see his game by myself.”

She sneered. “It’ll be in the nosebleeds.”

“I don’t give a shit. I’m going with the pure intention of being able to say yes, I was there to support him when he asks about the game. I don’t like lying, but I’m also not going to let you interrogate me anymore. The first ten minutes were out of respect because Juan is a nice guy. The next ten minutes were for my entertainment, but these last five minutes, the arrow went real quick to not enjoying this anymore.”

“Reese never asks me to take care of someone for him. Ever.”

“Then maybe you should trust him? I don’t know what to tell you.”

Her eyes were almost slits. She tipped her chin up. “You hurt him, and I will sic a private investigator on you. I’ll ask him to expose your weakness, and whatever that is, I’ll exploit it. I don’t care. Reese is a damned good guy.”

“Why do you think I’m here?”

She cocked her head. “Because he’s rich, and famous, and hot?”

“I don’t care if he’s rich. The famous thing actually freaks me out, and yeah, the last part is nice. I’ll give you one of those.”

“Are you an actress?”

I snorted.

A small growl escaped her closed mouth.