“Yeah. I felt that way too. Last night I was convinced you were in a club in Miami and some beautiful woman was all over you.”

He laughed and threw his head back. “Nope. Nope. And nope. But I love that you hated the image.”

“I hated it so much,” she said like a hiss.

“Maybe then,” he said slowly, and seemed to be taking his time forming an idea.

“Maybe what?”

“Maybe it can be just us for now?”

“It better be just us,” she said pointedly and swatted his arm.

He pretended it hurt. “Ouch.”

“I mean it. I don’t want you with anyone else while we’re doing this. I suppose we should have set the ground rules already, but this is all new to me. There’s no way I’d sleep with anyone else. And you better not either.”

“I’m not. I wouldn’t. I swear.”

She held up her hand, her palm facing him. “Swear.”

He clasped her hand, threading his fingers through hers. “I swear, Casey, you’re the only one.”

14

New York, night . . .

As they rode home from the ballpark in his town car, she softly ran her fingers through his hair over and over, as if she regularly stroked his hair as they talked in the back of the cushy car. He loved every second of the contact from her, and especially loved that she felt comfortable enough to do it without thinking twice.

Whether she was touching him as friends or as lovers didn’t matter. He didn’t have the brain cells working at full-speed to decipher it. They’d all been put to pasture for the night in the wake of finally coming together with her.

As they rolled through Manhattan, the neon lights of Broadway guiding them on their way downtown, he said, “So, um, how was the game?”

She laughed. “The good guys won. And the crowd went wild.”

“Too bad I missed it,” he joked.

“I’d say you made it just in time for an epic finale. You’re like a closer.”

He laughed. “I’ll happily play that position.”

“Hey,” she said, as she now trailed her fingertip along his neck. He raised his eyes to look at her. “I told you I’m going to London soon, right? To meet with Sofia’s, one of our retailer partners. ”

“You mentioned it. You’re going to an auction too.”

Her eyes lit up, sparkling like a starry sky. “Good memory,” she said.

“To buy a kiss. From Miller Valentina,” he added, hoping to impress her with the real estate he’d reserved in his brain for remembering details of her.

“Now, you’re just showing off,” she said playfully. “So I was wondering—is there any chance you have a hotel in London?” There was a look of mischief now in her eyes.

He laughed. “You know I do. You angling for a free room, Miss Casey?”

“Maybe,” she said, taking her time with that word, lingering on it suggestively. “But I was also thinking a roommate might be nice. Do you happen to have any business in London you need to do?”