Amelia laughed. “So that’s how it is. Nothing serious, then?”

“No.” Mia took a sip of her water to cool down her wayward emotions. “We’re just friends.”

How many times had she said that to someone? How often had she said it to herself? She was lying to her friends and her family about her relationship with Nathan.

Why? Who was she protecting? Was she doing the right thing?

She didn’t know the answers to any of those questions anymore and it made her feel even more out of sorts.

It was clear that Nathan wasn’t happy about her not sitting next to him. Frankly, she wasn’t happy about it, either. And what difference would it have made if they had hung out together? They might be in a relationship, but first and foremost they were fr—

That word again. That word was beginning to annoy her. And it pissed her off that she was becoming annoyed with it.

“Seems to me it’s more than friends, Mia,” Amelia said.

Mia picked up her water, needing the cool glass surrounding her hands to ward off the heat boiling inside of her.

“Honestly, I don’t know what it is anymore. But whatever it is, it’s confusing the hell out of me.”

She was going to have to figure it all out soon.

THIRTY

NATHAN HAD PUT ALL HIS FRUSTRATIONS AND ANXIETIES into the game against Tampa, which worked in their favor. They’d won the game twenty-eight to seven, which meant they were two wins up in the preseason, and his confidence level was rising. In that department, at least, he was feeling pretty good.

He’d played a little more in the game. Getting more reps was important and he looked forward to the next home game this weekend against Kansas City.

Right now, though, he was glad to be home and to have a day off. The first thing he wanted to do was see Mia. She’d dashed out of the restaurant after dinner last weekend, and she’d claimed she was swamped with work after that, so he hadn’t been able to talk to her or see her. Her text replies had been pretty much one-line answers and he realized she was busy so he didn’t want to bother her.

But he also knew she was avoiding him. So he drove to her office and parked in the garage, then took the elevator to her floor.

He’d purposely waited until close to the end of the workday. That way, maybe most of her business would be finished, the office would be virtually empty, and he could talk her into going out for a drink so they could talk.

The elevator doors opened and there was a slam of people hustling back and forth past the front desk.

What the hell were all these people doing at four thirty on a Monday? Didn’t they ever wind down? Didn’t anyone cut out early? Christ.

“Hi, can I help you?”

He noticed the young, sharply dressed woman at the front desk had directed the question at him, so he walked forward.

“I’m here to see Mia Cassidy.”

She smiled at him. “Do you have an appointment?”

“No, I don’t. Can you tell her Nathan Riley is here to see her?”

The woman blinked. “You’re the Nathan Riley? The quarterback?”

His lips curved. That was the first time he’d heard that one, since the “the” part was usually reserved for his dad. “Just Nathan Riley.”

She picked up her phone. “I’ll ring Ms. Cassidy and let her know you’re here. Please, take a seat.”

“Okay, thanks.”

He grabbed a chair and took out his phone to answer a few text messages and e-mails.

“Would you like something to drink, Mr. Riley?” the receptionist asked.

He looked up from his phone. “No, thanks, I’m good.”

Mia walked out, looking gorgeous in a purple dress that hugged her body. The dress had tiny white buttons down the front and all he could think about was undoing those buttons one by one and unveiling what she wore underneath.

Yeah, probably not a good thing to think about. Or the fact that she wore sky-high heels that accentuated her beautiful legs.

He stood and cleared his throat.

“Nathan. What are you doing here?”

“I was in the neighborhood. Thought I’d drop by and see your office. But if you’re busy, I can come back some other time.”

“Of course not. Come on, I’ll give you a tour.”

He followed her as she turned right.

“To the right here is the conference room,” Mia said. “For example, if you were interested in working with MHC, we’d do a presentation to you here.”

The conference room was big, with glass walls on one side, windows on the other and several oversized comfy chairs. A long table centered the room. There was a projection screen on one side of the room and a whiteboard on the other.

“Over here is where our tech staff is housed,” she said. “They handle making sure everything’s in working order in the conference room so our presentations go off without a hitch. They’re in charge of all our software as well as our hardware, so we kind of worship them.”

Nathan’s lips curved. “Understandable.”

She made a turn around the corner. “Lunchroom is over here.”

He stuck his head in the lunchroom. Of course Mia would make sure they had a good-sized spot for everyone to kick back and relax, with a full-sized refrigerator, microwave and even a stove, along with several tables, chairs and a sofa.

They made their way down the hall. “Individual offices here and there for our finance and marketing staff, along with mini conference rooms for department meetings.”

He could see this office had been well thought out and planned for everyone’s needs.

They turned the corner. “Marketing and PR is in this section. They, too, have their own small conference room over here for meetings.”

She led the way to the other side of the office.

“This is administration, where my staff is housed.”

They walked past a few other offices. “Monique is in here.”

Monique was on the phone and waved at Nathan as they walked by.

Finally they made their way to the end of the hall.

“And this is my office.”

It was a big office, nicely painted in a soft gray with a large white desk, a couple of chairs, and a sofa nestled against the far wall. The décor was definitely Mia. Bookshelves, an antique clock, and a few watercolor paintings. Colorful, but not ostentatious.

“I like it.”

She closed the door behind them. “Would you like a water or a soft drink?”

“Water would be good.”

She went to the mini fridge and pulled out a couple of cold waters, handing him one and opening one for herself.

“I’m sorry I’ve been unavailable,” she said as she took a seat on the sofa.

Nathan sat next to her. “I figured you were avoiding me.”

Her eyes widened. “I was not avoiding you. We had a couple of very complex presentations the past week or so and it’s occupied all my time. I think I told you I was busy.”

He leaned against the back of the sofa and stretched out his legs. “Busy could mean a lot of things, Mia. Including ‘I don’t want to talk to you.’ ”

“Nathan. If I didn’t want to see you or talk to you, I’d just tell you that. You should know me well enough by now to know I don’t play those kinds of games.”

“Okay, fine. But it sure felt like a brush-off, especially after last home game when we went out to eat. You practically ran out of there before we could talk.”

She took a sip of water and laid the bottle on the table. “That night was confusing for me. I’ll admit I retreated.”

“What confused you?”

“You. Me. My feelings about what was happening between us.”

He leaned forward. “Talk to me about how you feel. What’s bothering you?”

She shook her head, then looked down at her hands. “I don’t know.”

“Is it us?”

Her head shot up. “No. It’s not that at all. I think I was just in a weird mood that night. I’m sorry. A lot of it is the job. There’s so much pressure, you know?”

He smoothed his hand down her arm. “Babe, I know. I’m sorry you’re feeling that way, but you know you can talk to me about anything.”