“I’m sure you are. The team is very happy to have him.”
His mother put her arm around Cole’s waist. “We’ve missed him since he started playing football. He travels so much and is rarely home except in the off-season. It’ll be nice to have him around for family dinners. You should come, too, Savannah.”
“No.”
Everyone looked at Cole.
“Cole, that was impolite.”
“Sorry. But you know how I feel about work and home life mixing.”
She smacked her son on the arm. “And you know how I feel about you being rude and obnoxious.” She turned to Savannah. “Since the season hasn’t started yet, do come. Sunday dinner is at five o’clock.”
Cole would hate that. What a perfect opportunity to get to know him better through his family. “Thank you for the invitation. I’d love to.”
She could feel Cole’s gaze on her, but decided to ignore him. Instead, she turned to his sister. “Alicia, what do you do?”
“I’m in sports medicine. I’m working with the St. Louis Rivers baseball team. It’s a relatively new position for me, so I’m very excited.”
“Oh, what an excellent field.”
“We’re so proud,” Cara said, obviously beaming with pride.
“It’s a great career,” Alicia said with a grin. “Fortunately, my family has always been filled with jocks for me to experiment on.”
Savannah laughed. “I’m sure that’s true. And the Rivers. What an amazing team. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. I’m thrilled to work with them. They have an excellent team of doctors and therapists.”
“And athletes,” Savannah added. “They’re lucky to have you. I’d love to know more about what you’re going to be doing for them. Sports medicine is such an interesting field.”
“Let’s dance.” Cole grasped her arm.
She tore her gaze away from Alicia. “What?”
“Dance. Music. Dance floor.”
“Oh. Sure.” She looked at his parents and sister. “Excuse me. It was lovely meeting all of you.”
She knew what he was doing. She could have said no to the dance, but that would have been impolite, and he was doing a fine job of that, so she didn’t want to add to it.
He swept her against him—tight. “What are you doing here?”
“I was invited.”
“You didn’t mention that the other day.”
She shrugged. “You just assumed I wasn’t going to be here.”
“And so you finagled an invitation from Elizabeth.”
She sighed. “I’ve known Elizabeth for five years. She and I have become friends. She invited me to her wedding. Would you like me to dance you over to her so she can confirm that?”
“No.”
His body was tense as they swayed to the music.
“What was that all about with my parents and sister?”
She lifted her gaze to his. “I introduced myself to your family.”
“And I said no.”
“It would have been inappropriate for me to ignore you. We work together.”
“No one needed to know that.”
“You hardly need to shove me in a closet, Cole.”
He lifted his head and looked around. She squeezed his hand to grab his attention. “What you and I do together is between us. I didn’t say anything to your family that you need to worry about.”
He gave her a terse nod.
“Though I don’t think you need to be ashamed of it.”
“I’m not ashamed of anything I do.”
“Are you sure? Why do you feel the need to hide me away like I’m some deep, dark secret?”
“I told you. I like to keep my personal life separate from my professional life.”
“It seems to work out just fine for your cousin. Look at all the friends Gavin has here at his wedding. So many from his team.”
“That’s his deal, not mine.”
“Maybe it should be your deal. If you make friends with your teammates, it makes for better game play—”
“There’s nothing wrong with the way I play.”
“May I finish?”
He clamped his lips together.
“It makes for better game play and fosters a sense of team camaraderie. Surely you know this from playing organized sports since you were a kid, through high school and then again in college. A team needs to be a cohesive unit in order to operate at prime efficiency. If one cog in the wheel is broken, the entire team suffers.”
“I line up where I’m supposed to, and I catch the ball like I’m supposed to. My stats speak for themselves.”
He looked away. She squeezed his hand again to get his attention.
“So does your behavior and the fact that no team has bent over backward to keep you in the entire time you’ve been with the NFL. That speaks volumes.”
“I didn’t come here to work tonight, Savannah.”
Frustrated at where this conversation was going, she let go of his hand. “You know what, you’re right. Neither did I. Relax and enjoy your cousin’s wedding.”
SHIT.
Cole watched Savannah walk away. He’d hurt her feelings.