Chapter Six
Molly
St. Leasing had won the game. The bleachers spilled out onto the field, as was customary after a home game win. Molly had hung back. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see Keller—she did. Her whole body was screaming at her to go find him. She wanted to touch him; she wanted him to wrap his arms around her. But his text during the game had given her pause. Who did he think he was? She wasn’t an object and he had no right to make demands on her like that. Did he want her? Or did he not want anyone else to have her?
Molly didn’t play games. She’d told him that already. And she didn’t listen to demands, or to threats. Yet she knew she wouldn’t walk away. That thought alone had thrown her for a bit of a loop. She’d waited until Corey was done congratulating everyone, and then she’d driven back to her and Dom’s house where a crowd had begun to amass. The FBI agents had shown up almost immediately, like they had been following Corey and Molly. Now, they were stuck out on the edge of the patio, making small talk once again.
Molly’s gaze kept darting around the backyard, waiting for Keller to show up. She was nervous and excited. And she kind of hated herself for it.
Corey nudged her arm and gestured with her head toward the back door. Keller and Dom stepped out of the house, both sets of eyes searching through the throng. Molly held her breath as Keller’s gaze landed on hers. When he started to stalk toward her, his eyes full of fire, her pulse started to race.
“Oh hey, here are our guys.” Corey put a big smile on her face, intercepting Dom easily with her arms around his waist. “Agent Grimes, Agent Brooks, this is my fiancé, Dominic Hardy, and Molly’s boyfriend, Keller Byrne. They are two of the four coaches you saw at the game.”
Molly jerked back slightly at Corey’s introduction. Keller wasn’t her boyfriend, at least not that she knew of. For some reason though, she made no move to correct her friend. Instead she played the role Corey had not-so-subtly assigned her. She beamed up at him as he slid a strong arm around her hip.
He held his hand out to both agents, like he didn’t have a care in the world. “We were wondering when you guys were going to make it into town. Did you enjoy the game tonight?” Molly knew different; she could tell by the punishing grip he had on her. Keller was tense, coiled.
Agent Grimes answered easily, unaware of the strain in the air. “The game was great. You guys coach an amazing team.”
“Of course the company in the bleachers was wonderful as well.” Brooks chimed in and Molly winced as discreetly as possible. “Coach Hardy, congrats on the little one on the way. And Coach Byrne, Molly didn’t mentioned she had a boyfriend when we met at the coffee house yesterday morning.”
Keller tightened his grip on Molly’s hip, if that was even possible. “Yes sir, I saw you hit on my girl. I was waiting in the truck.”
Brooks grinned back, a smile that looked just as forced as Keller’s had no doubt been. “Waiting in the truck while your girlfriend gets out in the rain to get your breakfast?”
Molly quickly put her hand on Keller’s chest and let out an easy laugh. “It’s much safer that way. No matter how many times he tries to teach me, I just can’t get the hang of driving that big truck.” She had no idea what made her say that; she had never driven Keller’s truck. But it was like she could literally feel Keller’s body spiraling tighter with every word Brooks spoke. And for some reason she had this innate need to calm him down.
“I thought you were going to try and come by a yoga class, Agent Brooks.”
Keller leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of her head. The movement was causal, like he’d done it a thousand times before. And it sent chills racing down her neck.
Brooks looked around the patio as he talked, taking it all in. “We are going to be pretty busy over the next couple of weeks. But I wouldn’t miss coming to one of your classes.” He winked and Molly held her breath.
“Keep winking at my girl and we might have a problem, agent.” Keller said the words with a smile, but his tone made it clear that he was anything but kidding.
Brooks and Keller stared at each other for a few seconds, neither one of them backing down. Molly didn’t know what to do; she felt like she was standing in the middle of a battlefield just waiting for the first cannon to be lit.
Corey laughed loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “You two have to check out Moon Bar while you’re in town. It’s the only place to get a drink around here, and it’s filled to the brim with gorgeous single girls.”
“Is that right? Well, then we’ll make sure to put it on our list.” Agent Grimes was obviously on board, trying to help Corey ease the tension. “We know you all are in the middle of baseball season and on a tight schedule. It shouldn’t take too long to wrap up this little investigation and then we’ll be out of your hair.”
Corey nodded. “You two please let us know if there is anything we can do to help.”
“We will, ma’am, thank you.” And with that, thankfully, they both left with Agent Grimes basically dragging Agent Brooks away.
Molly placed a sugary sweet smile on her face—totally at odds with all the confusion swirling inside her head—as she looked up at Keller. “We need to talk. Now.”
Keller nodded, slow and resigned. Like a child that knew it was about to get in trouble. “Uh, so, we’re going to head out. Dom, I’ll call you tomorrow. Coop, make sure Linc gets home safe, okay?”
Corey rolled her eyes. “Of course I will. We can’t have him passing out on the sidewalk again. What would the FBI think of that?”
Keller pulled Coop to him and placed a quick peck on her head. The movement didn’t make Molly jealous, but it did tug at her heart. For some reason, she liked seeing Keller be so sweet to Corey.
“Bye, guys.” Keller took Molly’s hand and snagged a box of pizza on their way around to the front yard. “We can go to my house, if that’s okay with you.” Molly nodded and they walked the short distance to his house in silence.
The night was playing on a loop in her head. His possessiveness. His dominance. His aggression. And the way that none of it had turned her off. She still wanted him; she still wanted to be next to him. If she was being completely honest with herself, she wanted more than that. She longed for him to touch her again, to kiss her. Her body felt like it was on fire, burning from the inside out.
It was getting harder and harder to maintain her composure around Keller.
She didn’t know how much longer she could last.