Between Commitment and Betrayal (Hardy Billionaire Brothers, #1)(34)

She hummed without giving much away, like she was digesting what I said. “I think today I finally want to know … What happened to your wrist?”

“Happened during the sport you don’t watch,” I mumbled, not caring to talk about it.

“Want to share?” She pried a bit more as she took a crescent roll out of the bag.

I should have asked her what happened to the past staying in the past. Yet, I didn’t want to. I was going to pry one day, step over the boundaries and break the rules where I could with her. I already knew it.

I admitted what I pretty much allowed anyone to admit around me. We didn’t talk about my wrist within the HEAT brand. It was something everyone knew I wouldn’t dwell on and they shouldn’t either. “Got hit wrong in a preseason game.”

“By more than one guy?”

I nodded and ground my teeth together without giving further details.

“You should rehab it.” She took a bite and moaned. “I could help.”

“I’m done playing ball, Everly. And I was able to play the rest of the season once it was healed.”

“So, you didn’t give it much time to heal then?” she challenged.

“I have ninety percent of function back and don’t want surgery.”

“I could get you to one hundred percent with stretching,” she said with brighter eyes than she’d had a second ago.

“That crescent roll going to your head and giving you energy already?”

“It is pretty good. You want one?” She dug another out of the bag.

“Nope. I had breakfast.”

“So what? This whole bag is for me?” She shook it and the brown paper crinkled in her grip. “I can’t eat all this.”

“You didn’t tell me what you wanted. How was I supposed to know? Next time tell me so I won’t have to order the whole restaurant.”

“That’s when you guess and buy one thing.”

“Everly, my wife gets what she wants, and if I don’t know what that is, I just get everything.”

Her sapphire eyes widened at my comment. She wasn’t sure how to respond. I saw her cheeks flush and how she wiggled in my leather seat.

Flustering Everly would be something I was going to enjoy doing for the year to come. I already knew it.

“You need to stop with the wife stuff. Even as a joke.” She wrinkled her nose. “Just call me Evie like everybody else.” She enunciated it like I didn’t know already she wanted that.

“I don’t call you that,” I pointed out and glanced in my rearview mirror to see an SUV following me.

“Everyone does though.”

“Well, your husband doesn’t,” I shot back because I didn’t want to be like “everyone” to her. I maneuvered into another lane and they did the same.

Her long lashes fell over her cheeks as she breathed out. “Declan, you’re trying to frustrate me. We both know this is going to be difficult as it is. I don’t need you throwing around wife and husband in private.” Then she saw me glance behind us. “Is someone following us?”

“Might be a pap or two.”

She immediately tensed, her whole body going ramrod straight. “Honestly, I’m not even sure why I’m going to work with you when I can Uber. This isn’t good for either of us.”

“It is,” I countered. “Gives us time to talk.”

“Could give the public something to talk about.”

I shook my head, not wanting anyone to destroy the small relationship we were building. “People expect this. The magazines are already printing that we’ve become close. Haven’t you read—”

“No.” She said it fast, hard, full of determination. Then she glanced at me, her sapphire eyes vulnerable. “I’m not good with media. I hate it. I told you that. So, if they’re going to write about us, I’d rather not know.”

“The media is going to write about us at some point, Everly.”

“Okay.” She obviously didn’t want it to be true.

I hated to offer, but I had to. “You can talk with Piper if you’d like.”

“I’d rather not.” She picked at the corner of the paper bag.

I took a deep breath, knowing that I needed more time with her, knowing we’d need a reason to be closer. “Look, I’ll have you work on my wrist.”

“You will?” Her eyes lit up, and she zeroed in on it. “Really?”

I grumbled, “My wrist doesn’t need it, but it’ll show everyone we’ve become friends and will lead to less questioning when I drive you home from work. Last appointment of your day, keep free for me.”

“Oh.” She frowned before taking a large drink of her coffee and then taking a bite of her crescent roll. “Sounds good.”





14




DECLAN





SHE STRETCHED my wrist every night for a month after when I was in town.

I’d find her near the weights and have her twist it any which way she thought was necessary that day. After a month of her brand of rehab, though, I felt the tension and discomfort changing in my arm, like she had some magical touch.

Or maybe it was her attitude, the way she didn’t care about anything outside the stretching. She didn’t ask me about football, didn’t care to know how the injury actually happened, and I knew she didn’t give a shit if I ever stepped foot onto the field again. She was the complete opposite of every therapist and coach I’d had questioning the progress.