He needed to tell Miller and Archer to back off, and then he needed to gain back the ground he’d lost with her.
“I’m sorry,” Chloe said into the silence. “I shouldn’t be so ungrateful. It’s lovely of you to want to buy me pretty things and football tickets. I want you to know I appreciate it.”
Now she was apologizing. Chloe, who never backed down from him. He needed to get things back to normal. “I wasn’t being nice. I was being an arrogant ass who tried to force something on you that you didn’t want. Tell me I’ve forgotten how real people live or something along those lines.”
She started, and turned to look up at him with a question in her eyes. He gave her his best master-of-the-universe look. Her gaze went soft and nearly undermined his determination to provoke her back into her usual tart self.
“Being generous doesn’t make you an arrogant ass,” she said, grazing her hand down his arm to lace her warm, slim fingers with his. He felt her touch right into his core. “You just need to keep it in proportion.”
“I guess I’ve lost my sense of that,” he said, wondering how true it was.
She smiled. “It must be hard not to when you’re you.”
CHAPTER 25
As she touched up her lipstick in the ladies’ room mirror, Chloe tried to regain her balance after the emotional roller-coaster ride she’d just taken. She’d excused herself on the way to the table because she was finding it hard to breathe when she was anywhere near Nathan. His revelations and her reactions kept rolling over her like tidal waves.
On top of that, she had to face his two famous friends and the gorgeous women with them. Yes, she felt intimidated. If this were Nathan’s office, she’d be fine, but the social setting made her feel out of her depth.
She tucked her lipstick back in the shiny clutch and squared her shoulders under the blue lace. At least she looked like she belonged here.
She walked out of the ladies’ room only to be pulled up short by the sound of Nathan’s voice coming from behind her. She spun around, but he wasn’t in the subtly lit hallway. She started toward the sound, the heels of her crystal-studded Jimmy Choo d’Orsay pumps clicking on the marble floor as she tried to figure out where he was. The sign for the men’s room indicated it was around the corner in the opposite direction, so that wasn’t the source. She took a few more steps and spotted a partly open door. She hesitated, wondering if she should interrupt what might be a private conversation since he’d chosen to have it in a private room. Then she heard her name.
“Chloe’s a smart woman,” Nathan was saying. “She’s already asked me what’s going on. So lay off the interrogation, Miller.”
“Will you tell her about the bet, or will that be our little secret?” That was Gavin Miller speaking, amusement coloring his tone.
Chloe froze. They’d made some sort of a bet about her?
“I say keep it to yourself.” Luke Archer was in there too. “It might just make her mad.”
The quarterback was part of it as well. And he thought she’d be mad.
“Why wouldn’t she be flattered to know she won the bet for you?” Miller asked. “By the way, I can see why you chose her. She’s got that certain something. Well done.”
It sounded like Nathan had deliberately picked her for something. Was it about seducing her? Had he told them about that? Anger and humiliation welled up in her chest.
“You’re both getting way ahead of yourselves.” Nathan’s voice sliced sharp. “I’ll take Chloe home right now if you don’t back off.”
“Hey, talk to Miller, not me,” Luke said.
Gavin’s laugh felt like it was pounding against her temples. “You’ve got it bad, my boyo. I’ll behave, if only so I can watch you guard your Chloe like a dog with a bone.”
“You’re an idiot,” Nathan said, but he sounded more irritated than angry.
Chloe realized the discussion was ending and she needed to get out of there. Moving fast in the sky-high heels wasn’t easy, but she managed to reach the safety of the ladies’ room before the three men came out of their powwow.
She sank down on the same vanity stool she’d vacated a few minutes before. She could feel hot, furious tears welling up in her eyes. Would Nathan really have talked about sex with her to his two acquaintances?
She couldn’t believe that of him. Yes, he was arrogant and overbearing, but he wouldn’t share their intimacy. He wasn’t that kind of man. It had to be something else. She gulped in a few deep breaths to fight back the tears. Gavin had at least pretended not to be aware that she’d temped for Nathan, so he didn’t know even the basic details about their relationship.
Then what on earth was the bet about?