Then again, she hadn’t exactly told him she’d missed him in her voice mail, or that she’d had a great time that night they’d spent together. Her voice mail had been cool and professional. So what had she expected in return?
She set her phone aside and went back to her paperwork, wrinkling her nose at the prospect. Design was fun. It fired her blood and fueled her excitement. The accounting and paperwork and everything else that went into starting up her business? Not so much fun. She had accountants and lawyers to handle the finances and legalities, but she was the CEO of Carolina Designs, and as such, it was up to her to go over every detail, including the drudge work she didn’t enjoy.
After two hours of poring over numbers, she was satisfied they were on track.
Her phone buzzed.
Drew.
She picked it up and pushed the button.
“Hi, Drew.”
“Hey, yourself. How’s it going?”
“Busy. How about you?”
“Finally back in town.”
“Away games?”
“So, you haven’t been watching?”
“I’m sorry. I’ve been a little distracted lately. How did it go?”
“Buzz me up and I’ll tell you.”
“You’re downstairs?”
“Yeah.”
She rolled her eyes and headed to the door. “What if I hadn’t been here?” She pressed the buzzer.
“Then I’d have gone out to dinner alone. Hanging up now.”
And now he expected her to just drop everything and go to dinner with him? That was ballsy. And more than a little annoying.
She opened the door and waited for him to show up, which he did a minute later, looking gorgeous as always in relaxed jeans and a navy blue peacoat. He even wore a scarf. Damn, but the man was infuriating, attractive as hell and even worse, he dressed well.
Other than his arrogant attitude, she had nothing to pick apart.
He stepped in and looked around, zeroing in on her coffee table. “Paperwork explosion?”
“Something like that. Would you like to take your coat off?”
“No. I’m starving. I thought maybe you’d want to get dinner.”
“I’m kind of busy. And it’s eight thirty.”
His lips curved. “You’re always busy. So you ate already?”
“I did. Hours ago.”
“That’s fine. I’ll just go grab something.”
“No. Don’t leave. I can fix you something.” He was here and she didn’t want him to leave. She wanted to get him in her clothes and back out of her apartment again.
He cocked a brow. “You cook?”
“I cook.”
“Great.” He took off his coat and hung it up, then followed her into the kitchen.
“What would you like?”
“I don’t know. How about some eggs?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I hate eggs. I don’t even keep them in the house.”
“That’s like . . . un-American, Carolina. Everyone likes eggs.”
“No, everyone doesn’t. I don’t.”
“Fine. What do you have?”
“How about some chicken? I made it for dinner and have some left.”
“That’ll work.”
She took out the chicken and rice she’d baked earlier and warmed it in the microwave.
“Something to drink?”
“Water would be fine.”
He made his way into the kitchen and came up beside her as she prepped the plate.
“This looks good. Thanks for fixing it for me.”
“It’s no trouble.”
She sat at the table with him while he ate. Or, rather, while he wolfed down the meal in what seemed like less than five minutes.
“Hungry?” she asked.
He laid down his fork and wiped his mouth with the napkin. “Starving. It was a long flight and they don’t feed you shit on the plane.” He took the plate to the sink, rinsed it and put it in the dishwasher. “Thank you again for this. I feel human again.”
“You’re welcome.”
He downed the glass of water and refilled it, then came back to sit next to her at the table.
“How was your road trip?”
“Long. Painful. We lost three games. It sucked.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “It’s over. We’ll regroup. And we have several home games now. That’ll help.”
“Will it?”
“Yeah. The home crowd always motivates us to do better.”
“I hope so.”
“You should come to a game or two.”
She leaned back in the chair. “And you think that would help you win?”
“I know it would.”
She laughed. “I doubt that, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“Bring Stella. I’m sure she’d like to see a game.”
“That’s probably true, but she’s busy getting ready for a show. I’ll check with her and see if she’s available.”
He looked around her apartment. “How’s the work going?”
“Good. I’ve gotten a lot done, which was why I called you. I’d like you to try on a few things.”
“Okay.” He pushed back the chair and stood. “Where do you want me?”
She tilted her head back and looked at him. Ridiculously, her first thought in response to that question was, in her bed.
She shook that off and stood. “We need to head over to my work studio. That’s where all the clothes are.”