“I was hoping you wouldn’t. And you didn’t. Until now.”
“Well, this is fun,” Liz said, stepping between Cole and Savannah. She turned to Cole. “Look, I have no idea what went on between the two of you, but the team has hired Savannah to work with you, so like it or not, she’s yours.”
Cole glared at Savannah. “I don’t like it. She isn’t mine, and I don’t want her.”
“Tough shit. She’s the best in her field, and you’ll do what she says.”
Great. Someone else to tell him what to do. An image consultant? He didn’t need anyone to change him. “And if I don’t?”
“Then you’ll have to answer to the team owner, and as I mentioned earlier, you’re out of options.”
He took a deep breath and let it out. He’d make this work. Peaches there seemed like a *cat, and he could be pleasant if he wanted to be. He’d just wrap her around his finger and then go about his business, and still make the owner, his coach, and Liz happy.
It was a win-win for everyone. “Fine.”
Liz smiled. “Good. I’m out of here. I’ve got wedding plans to finalize.”
“I’m so excited for you, Elizabeth,” Savannah said, turning her attention to Liz. “How are the wedding preparations going?”
“Everything’s moving right along, thanks to my future sister-in-law, Tara, who’s the best wedding planner ever. If it weren’t for her and Gavin’s sister, Jenna, I’d have slit my wrists by now.”
Savannah laughed, and the sound shot right to Cole’s dick. She had a throaty laugh, the kind you’d expect to hear in a smoky strip joint, not from Miss Image Makeover.
Savannah put her hand over Liz’s. “I’m sure you’ll be a beautiful bride.”
“Thank you.” Liz turned to Cole and gave him a glare. “You behave yourself. And please cooperate. This is the only chance you’re going to get.”
“I promise to be on my best behavior.”
“Why does that worry me so much?” She rolled her eyes and walked out the door, leaving him alone with Savannah.
He turned to face her. “Did you enjoy that?”
She gave him a benign look. “Enjoy what?”
“Leading me on. Letting me think you were some stranger alone at the party, when the whole time you’d been watching me and you knew who I was.”
“I can’t help what you thought, Cole. But you behaved like a gentleman. Not at all like the tabloids portray you.”
“I told you the media lies.”
“We’ll see.”
He’d wanted something different between them. His body wanted something more than what his mind wanted. He was still attracted to her, and now he had to work with her. This sucked. “Now what?” he asked.
“Now you can go back to your party. We’ll get started tomorrow morning.”
“Can’t. I work out with my trainer in the mornings.”
“Where, and what time?”
He told her.
“Fine. I’ll meet you there.”
He arched a brow. “You going to work out?”
“I might. But we’ll do our work after you’re finished.”
“Whatever.”
Her lips lifted. “I promise, these lessons won’t hurt at all.”
“Lessons? What lessons?”
“You’ll see. Good night, Cole.”
For the second time that night, she walked out on him.
SAVANNAH LAID HER PURSE DOWN ON THE GLASS table in her living room, kicked off her shoes, and headed into the bedroom, reaching for the zipper of her dress. She pulled the dress off and hung it up, then stopped in front of the bathroom mirror to stare at herself.
She’d worn her La Perla bra and panties tonight. They were so pretty, a blush pink, with lace and silk. Sexy, provocative.
Unfortunately, the only person admiring the ensemble was her. She inhaled and let out a long sigh, removing the clip and pins holding her hair up. She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it forward.
She wasn’t bad-looking. Average breasts, her body a little on the curvy side. She liked to eat and she could easily slip into the overweight category if she wasn’t so active. She had a lot of restless energy, so she burned a lot of calories that way, which kept her metabolism rolling at a pretty high rate. But she had great legs. She worked out regularly so she could maintain her stamina at the level required to keep up with her clients.
Like her new client, Cole Riley, who’d hit all her hot buttons tonight. Actually, he’d been the first client she’d been assigned to who’d turned her head and made her think of him as something other than just a client.
That man had testosterone stamped on every inch of him. He was hard to ignore. The way he looked at her, pursued her, made her wish he wasn’t her client.
But he was. Starting tomorrow.
Tonight, though, she could think about what might have happened had she been able to indulge in the attraction that had been so obvious between them.
She’d always gone for the bad boys, the kind her mother warned her against, which made her want them all the more. And the one thing her mother had told her was that you could never change a bad boy.