Challenging the Center (Santa Fe Bobcats #6)(30)

“Sawyer’s not going to like this,” he warned, settling himself on the seat in front of her.

“Sawyer isn’t my boss. Red is,” she added with a smile, pointing her thumb to the left at the sexy redhead he’d seen on the bar the last time. “So do you want to pick me up?”

He wanted to do more than that. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder, drag her out to his car, speed back home at a reckless pace, haul her sweet ass upstairs to his apartment, and tie her to his bed for a week, where she couldn’t get into any trouble… unless it was with him.

Shifting uncomfortably on the stool, he just said, “I’m staying.”

“I don’t get off for five hours. That’s insane.”

“Insane feels about right,” he muttered. “Just bring me a water and something on draft.”

“You can’t park here all night,” she warned as she turned to the taps and started pulling the darkest beer. He grimaced but didn’t say anything. “They need money just like I do, and you can’t take a seat away from a paying customer.”

“I’ll tip well,” he growled as she set the glass down on a coaster in front of him.

“You better. I’ve got court time to pay for.” With that light warning, she moved a few spots down and greeted another customer—male, of course—with a genuine smile.



Six hours later—and thank God he only had walk-through practice tomorrow—Michael dragged his exhausted body to his apartment. “I can’t keep doing this.”

“I didn’t ask you to stay with me,” Kat pointed out reasonably. “I said I would Uber home. Frankly, I should get a car for myself at this point.”

Did it make him a little bit of an * that he didn’t like her separating from him? Probably. He wasn’t her manny, however much she liked to say so. She didn’t require his permission to come and go. He was just supposed to mentor her, keep an eye on her. Cut off any disasters in the making.

Which he had, so far, sucked at.

“If you want a good deal on a get-around car, I know a guy. If you can wait until after the game Sunday, I’ll get you hooked up with him.”

She nodded silently but didn’t seem like she wanted to go to her own apartment. So he took a chance and opened the door, motioning her in.

He waited for her to set her folded white shirt down on his kitchen table. She wouldn’t look up at him, which made him nervous. “Kat—”

“Don’t say it was a mistake.” She finally met his eyes, and they were intense. “Don’t tell me kissing me was a mistake. Anything else but that.”

“It wasn’t a mistake.” Unexpected, maybe. But after the second round, he knew it wasn’t a mistake. “It caught me off guard. You came in here—”

“In here?” Kat did a turn, looking at his apartment.

“Into this apartment building. Into Santa Fe.” Into my life. “With this swagger. This tough-girl routine. Too cool for school.”

“Too cool for school.” Kat moaned, but laughed right after. “How old are you?”

“Old enough to know there’s more to you than this attitude you’ve got about life right now.” Michael stepped forward, every cell in his body jumping at being close to her. He cupped her head with both hands, using his thumbs to gently tilt her head up for him. “Let’s clear something up. I don’t want to be your babysitter or your supervisor. I’m not getting paid to mentor you. And I don’t want there to be any weird power play junk between us. There’s no boss here. Now. With this.”

“Can’t I be the boss?” she asked in a husky voice, her eyelids drooping a little. Her body swayed into his as if unable to stand upright anymore. “I’m a good boss.”

He chuckled and kissed her nose, then her eyelids, which fluttered closed. “I’m tired, and you’re probably dead on your feet.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve had to do the whole customer service thing,” she admitted. “I’ll probably regret it in the morning when I go to training.”

“Training?” He slid his hands down her neck, her shoulders until they were cupped under her elbows. She moved with him as if in a trance.

“My coach in Florida found me a trainer here. No more begging to use your facilities. Now I just need a coach to work with and I’m set.”

He realized then he didn’t like the idea of her working out elsewhere. Logistically, bringing her to work was unreasonable at best, against the rules at worst. But still, he’d slowly built up some sort of fantasy world in which he brought her to work with him and she became a type of good luck charm. Caleb had already asked him today if she was coming back again soon.

But she wasn’t a good luck charm, she was a woman with her own training needs. Her job had physical requirements like his. He wouldn’t reduce her to a cute side piece when she was there for a job.

But what happened in the gym and what happened in the apartment were two totally separate things. He kissed her briefly. “We both have to get up tomorrow, and we’ll both regret it if we don’t get some sleep.”

“Sleep. Yup.” She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his chest, as if she could fall asleep standing up. When she went slack against him a moment later, he worried she actually had.