“So do you.” He took a step forward. She took one back, obviously trying to maintain professional distance. He grasped her wrist, felt the fast thump of her pulse as he rubbed his thumb over her skin.
“Nervous about the party?”
Her gaze met his. “A little. I want it to go well for you.”
“It’s just the guys from the team, Peaches. Don’t sweat it.”
“But you don’t like entertaining here and I know I forced you into this. I don’t want you to be stressed over it.”
He laughed. “I’m not the one who’s stressed. You’re flitting around here like freakin’ Tinker Bell. Maybe you need a drink to calm down.”
“I’m fine. Not worried at all. This is what I do.”
He ran his hand up her arm. “Then maybe it’s something else that has your pulse racing.”
Her eyes widened and she pulled her arm away. “No, it’s nothing else.”
“You can’t keep running away from me. From us.”
The doorbell rang and she offered up a smile. “Yes, I can.”
Two of his offensive linemen were at the door along with a girlfriend and a wife. They made a beeline for the snacks, claiming that, after today’s workout, they were starving. Savannah played hostess and greeted everyone while Cole held down bartender duties.
Within an hour his place was crowded with people. He was actually surprised that nearly his entire offense showed up. So did the coach, though he assumed Coach showed up to make sure his guys didn’t get wasted, since they had practice tomorrow and a game this weekend. The only people drinking hard liquor or mixed drinks were some of the women. A few of the guys had a beer or two, but mostly stuck to water or soda. They all knew what practicing with a hangover was like—it was unpleasant, especially if the coaches knew you were hung over. They’d make your day a living hell.
Cole found himself huddled with Lon and Jamarcus. Kenny had made friends with a couple other rookies, so he hung out with them.
“Your assistant do all this?” Lon asked.
Cole searched the room and found Savannah talking to a few of the women, encouraging them to come to the food table to get something to eat.
“She did.”
Savannah caught his gaze and blushed, then smiled.
Jamarcus’s girlfriend, Tanya, came up and slid her arm around him. “This is very nice of you, Cole. Thank you for inviting us.”
“Thanks for coming.”
“And Savannah is so sweet. We’re both from Georgia, so we’ve been catching up. Makes me miss home.” She looked at Jamarcus. “We need to go to my mama’s house for Christmas.”
Jamarcus laughed. “Whatever you want, baby.”
Savannah saw them looking her way, so she came over. “How is it going? Can I get you anything?”
“We’re great, honey. You should take a break and enjoy some time with your man,” Tanya said.
Cole fought a smirk as Savannah cast a worried look in his direction. “Oh, we’re not together. I just work for him.”
He loved when she blushed like that. He loved seeing her entire body cast in that pretty pink shade when he made her come.
His dick twitched just thinking about getting her naked and making her squirm under his tongue.
When she met his gaze, he knew she knew what he was thinking about. She cast him a warning gaze, then turned to his friends.
“If you’re all okay, I’ll see if anyone needs anything. Excuse me.”
She wandered off.
“Wow.”
Cole turned to Tanya. “What?”
“I don’t mean to be gossipy, because that’s not in my nature, but there were some serious fireworks exploding between you and Savannah.”
He grinned. “You think so?”
“I know so. Don’t you think so, too, Jamarcus?”
Jamarcus looked at Cole, then back at Tanya. “No comment. I’m not getting my ass kicked over that one.”
Cole laughed and clapped Jamarcus on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, man. Tanya is right. There’s something going on. I just don’t know what it is yet.”
“Well, for what it’s worth, she’s beautiful. Nice, polite, and friendly. If I were you I’d grab her and never let her go.”
“I agree,” Tanya said. “If you don’t, someone else will snatch her up and you’ll regret not taking the chance.”
They were probably right. But it was difficult when the object you were chasing was doing her best to avoid getting caught.
SAVANNAH WAS SO PLEASED. THE PARTY WAS FANTASTIC. Cole had spent the majority of the night hanging out with Jamarcus and Lon and mingling with his offensive line. He’d had some major one-on-one time with Grant Cassidy, the Traders’ quarterback. The two of them had huddled in the corner, having an intense conversation. When she’d inched over to eavesdrop to make sure they weren’t simply talking about women or sports cars or something else innocuous, she heard them dissecting plays.