Challenging the Center (Santa Fe Bobcats #6)(68)

Ugh! Stupid smile.

Fighting for calm, she took down jeans and a simple short-sleeved polo. Casual yet not slobby. Then she heard a knock on the door. Michael was nearly thirty minutes early. Well, he’d just have to wait, she decided, and put on the outfit. She stopped to quickly fix her hair back into a low, stylized ponytail, slipped on a pair of flats, and grabbed her keys.

And opened the door to… not Michael.

The black man with shoulder-length dreads and a sleeve tattoo down his right arm gave her a brilliant smile. “Hi there.”

“Hey.” He looked familiar… probably from the first day she’d moved in. He must have been in the crowd of men she’d briefly met downstairs.

He waited a beat. “You know who I am, right?”

She looked around him, then down the hall. “Did you knock on the wrong door?”

“Not if you’re Kat.”

Yup. A Bobcat. Had to be. How could she have doubted for a second? The sheer size of him, the confident way he stood, the assumption she would recognize him.

Sorry to burst your bubble, bud.

“I’m Kat, but I have no clue who you are.” She quickly pulled her phone out and checked for any new texts from Michael, warning her of this new development. Nada.

“I’m Matt Peterson. On the D-line with Stephen. Stephen Harrison,” he added for clarification. Which was funny because that clarified exactly nothing for her. “Also a teammate.”

“Right.” She waited a beat. “Michael lives next door if you wanted him.”

Matt leaned against the wall beside her door and gave her a grin that she was sure dropped panties everywhere. For her, it was just a pleasant smile. “I can see why he’s cracked over you.”

Uh-huh. “Okay, so since you knocked by mistake, I’m just gonna go back in and—”

“Not a mistake. I’m here to take you to dinner.”

Well, this was an unexpected development. “That’s sweet, but I already have plans.”

“I know. You and I are heading the same way. Dinner with teammates. Harrison’s house.”

“Michael didn’t say anything about a ride.”

“Michael doesn’t know. He had to stay behind for a quick exam with the team doctor.”

Guilt and concern warred in her stomach. She pressed a hand there to ease the ache. Matt must have noticed, because he added, “Dude’s fine, though he won’t explain where the shiner came from.” A sly smile spread across his handsome face. “You know anything about that?”

“Priests, attorneys, doctors and neighbors all have confidentiality agreements. Did he ask you to come pick me up?”

“I’m here to make sure you don’t fall into the wrong hands,” he said with a wink.

Kat pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of him quickly before he could move.

“What the hell…” he started, then watched while she shot off a quick text.

“Just asking a friend if you’re real or not and if you can be trusted.”

He raised a brow at that. “I seriously think this is the first time my credibility has been questioned.”

“You’re welcome. Happy to be a first.” Aileen’s text back was fast. Girl had rapid thumbs.

Yes, that’s Matt, he’s a teammate. Good guy. Watch yourself. Considers himself quite the lady slayer.

The smirky emoji followed in the next text.

“Looks like you check out.” She waggled the phone in front of him, then stuck it in her pocket. “Now, what’s the real reason Michael didn’t text to tell me you were picking me up?”

“Because he doesn’t know?” Matt chuckled. “I knew he’d be lagging behind. I live one floor up in this building and thought I’d grab you before he could.”

Kat just waited silently for the kicker.

“It’ll annoy the shit out of him.”

“Sold.” She grinned, hooked an arm in his, and walked with him to the elevator. “I still have to tell him I’m with you.”

“Aww, now you’re spoiling half the fun.”

“Sorry. Manny wouldn’t like it otherwise.” She grinned again when he gave her a confused look, then he began to smile, catching on.

“Manny. Ha. I bet he loves that.”

“About as much as he loves his black eye.”

She caught the speculative look Matt threw her direction, but she was having too much fun. As they got in the elevator, she texted Michael.

Caught a ride to dinner. See you there!

What the hell… with who? I said I’d pick you up on the way.

She snorted as they stepped out and walked to the parking garage attached to the apartment building.

“Lambert ain’t happy?”

“Nope,” she confirmed.

Matt Peterson

If he touches you, he’s a dead man. I will rip every one of his dreads out by the root. Tell him that.

I will not.

As they got to Matt’s car—a pretty sweet convertible even she had to admit—Matt pulled his phone out of his pocket, glanced at the screen, then laughed. The sound echoed off the cement block walls of the garage.

“What?”

He opened the door for her, watched her slide in, then leaned down. “Your man… is toast. He threatened to castrate me if I even considered touching you.”