Chapter 10
You told my brother, what?
This day couldn’t end soon enough; it had dragged on with meetings and phone calls for what seemed like an eternity. I looked at the box on my desk containing Margo’s gift. Jan needed a raise for having it made and delivered so quickly. Of course, Margo could pull the “friends don’t buy friends gifts” card, but then I’d remind her of the handkerchief she bought me, so technically, she started it. And the basket of cookies, well, that was me doing my best to let her know I was thinking of her without actually saying the words.
When I pulled up in front of Margo’s office, she was waiting for me outside. Rather than give me the chance to open the door for her, she did it herself and fastened her seatbelt. “Hi, thank you for picking me up. So, where are we headed?”
I laughed at her impatience. “Hi, and you’ll see soon enough.” It really wasn’t a major secret, but for some reason, I wanted to keep the details to myself until we got there. Then, at least, she wouldn’t have the opportunity to refuse. Not that she could change my mind. Technically, I didn’t have a choice, and I had a feeling she would like it.
As usual, the city streets were flooded with cars. It was times like this that I wished I hadn’t given Arthur the night off. Not because I couldn’t maneuver my way through the city, but because I would rather focus on her than the taillights in front of me. It was easy being with Margo. Something about having her with me felt right.
Maybe it was because we had known each other for a long time, or perhaps it was because we had great sex. . . once. I needed more. I needed to feel her again. One thing I’d never do was push her into anything she didn’t want. Nor would I ever want to hurt her.
Not wanting to overthink things, I decided to keep the conversation light. “How was your day?”
“My day was good. Although, whoever created taxes should get a good ass kicking.”
I shook my head. “Don’t you have an accountant?”
“Yeah, QuickBooks.” She laughed but I could tell she was serious.
“If you ever need help, let me know. I’m a whiz at accounting, and I do have an accountant on staff if you need him.”
“Yes, I know you’re a math genius, but I have it all under control. Thank you, though.” She paused for a minute. “How was your day?”
“Good. I talked to Adam.”
When I cut my eyes toward her, she stared at me with a slack jaw. Her voice stammered a bit when she asked, “What? You didn’t tell him . . . I mean, he doesn’t know . . .”
“That we had incredible sex and I’ve been trying my damnedest to get back into your pants?” I couldn’t suppress chuckling, especially when she gasped. “Of course not. He had a question for me, that’s all.”
“Oh, how is he? I should call him.”
“Yes, you should, and he’s doing great. You know, closing deals and making money.”
“Typical Adam. My father will be proud.”
Hearing her say that made a small ache grow in my chest. Something told me she was proud she branched out on her own, but hearing those words from her family would mean the world to her. When Adam got back into town, I needed to figure out a way to suggest that without letting him know I’d been spending time with his little sister.
After about twenty minutes, we arrived at our destination. TEN PINS flashed in neon red lights. A large white bowling pin, rimmed in red, hovered over the entrance.
“Bowling? We’re going bowling?” Her voice raised about seven octaves as she said, “I love to bowl! How did you know?”
Her exuberant reaction made me happy I didn’t tell her my plan. “Lucky guess.”
I grabbed her gift from the backseat and gave it to her. She looked down at the package and then back to me. “This isn’t more cookies, is it? Because I’m going to look like a bowling ball if you keep this up.”
“Nope, just open it.”
Her shoulders rose and fell as she let out an excited squeak. She pulled off the cover and gasped. “Oh my God! You got me a bowling shirt?” Margo held up the black shirt trimmed with white piping in front of her. I had the name of my company embroidered on the left side with her first name underneath . . . well, it was sort of hers.
She snorted and then abruptly covered her mouth with her hand before tracing the white stitching. “Sally?”
I couldn’t contain my grin. “Do you like it?”
“No, I love it.” She shrugged off her coat, put on the bowling shirt over her long sleeve top, buttoned it up, and turned to face me. “What do you think?”
“It’s perfect.” And it was. The embroidered detail rested perfectly on her left breast. “Let me grab my ball and we can head in.” Margo’s eyes went wide. “What?”
“Nothing, I just never pegged you for a bowler.”
“The shirt wasn’t a giveaway?” I pulled my jacket open to show her that we matched, except my real name was displayed. “Margo, there’s a lot you don’t know about me. Not everything on Page Six is the truth.” On her nod, I got out of the car before she did, and like a gentleman, helped her out of my BMW.
Pins crashed as balls scattered them against the alley walls. The aroma of beer and wings filled the air. I’d been in this bowling league since I started working at Carris. It was a club I had joined and it just stuck, but tonight we were down a player, and Margo, I mean, Sally, was filling in.
I gently grasped her elbow, halting her in her tracks. “There’s one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“We’re playing against Cade tonight.”
Her eyes grew as round as the balls we were getting ready to heave down the lanes. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Why would you bring me if you knew he was going to be here?” Margo’s face paled, and her trembling fingers grazed the embroidered name on her shirt. Maybe she thought it’d be like a shield or a cloak that would make her invisible. Whatever the case may be, it didn’t work that way. Although, that would be kind of cool.
“Although, if we’re just friends, this shouldn’t be a big deal.” I waited for her usual wit to come up with a retort. But she had nothing—no sarcasm, just silence. “Since I’ve rendered you speechless, I’ll assume I’m right.”
“No, you’re not.”
“It’ll be fine.” I placed my hand on the center of her back. “Come on, Sally, let’s do this.”
My teammates’ eyes went wide when they saw her. “Sally, this is Bryce, he works in my accounting department.” I shot her a quick wink. “And this is Hank, my advertising guru. Guys, this is Sally; she’ll be filling in for Jan, who can’t be here tonight.” Yes, my assistant is my ringer, but that wasn’t because she was good, it was because she wasn’t, and her high handicap gave us the pins we needed to beat some other teams, but she had to babysit her grandson tonight. Granted, using her handicap might have been the smarter move, but spending time with Margo was more important than winning.
The guys stood and appraised our new teammate a bit longer than necessary. “Great to meet you. So, what’s your handicap?” Bryce asked.
Margo didn’t say a word. Instead, she looked to me for help.
“She’ll be using Jan’s. They have the same average.”
Hank nodded. “Good deal. We should be able to easily handle these clowns.”
I walked over to the rack that housed used balls and grabbed a few for Margo. She hurried toward me. “It’s been a long time since I’ve bowled, but do they have a twelve or fourteen pounder in here?” She pushed balls around, and I was still trying to comprehend that she wanted a heavy one. I set the eight pounder I chose for her down in shame.
“You know, if you disclosed where we were going, I could have brought my own ball.” I stared at her. “What? I said I loved to bowl. If you would have paid attention to me when I was younger, you would’ve known I lettered in bowling.”
“Wait, bowling was a varsity sport at our school?”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re unbelievable.” With her ball and rental shoes in hand, we headed toward the team.
Cade was facing away from us when we made it back to our lane. He stood and turned, his eyes roamed Margo’s body from head to ugly bowling shoes, to the name on her shirt—which meant he was looking at her tits. I should have had it embroidered on the sleeve of her shirt.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Noah’s friend, Sally.” He smirked and held his hand out to her. “I’m Cade.”
Margo placed her hand in his. “Yes, I know.”
Shit. What was she doing?
“You do, do you? Does my reputation precede me?”
She quipped, “No, your name is on your shirt.”
I couldn’t stifle my laugh. Then I noticed he hadn’t let go of her hand yet. When I glared at him, he released it.
“You look familiar to me.” Cade’s brows lowered.
“Enough with the small talk, are we going to play or what?”
“Geez.” Cade scowled. “Relax. All I said was she looked familiar.”
Thankful to the bowling gods, our names appeared on the overhead screen and all attention was now on the ten pins waiting to get knocked down.
Margo positioned herself at the line with perfect form. From the way her hair hung in loose waves down the middle of her back, to her denim-clad ass, had me transfixed on her.
“Dude, she’s smokin’ hot, but I’m telling you, I know her from somewhere. It’s her eyes.”
There was no way he wasn’t going to figure out who she was. Margo took five steps and launched the ball down the smooth wood. It veered right just before it careened left and into the pocket. Strike.
With her head held high, she pivoted and strutted, yes, strutted to the settee area. Bryce and Hank high-fived her and right before she sat down, Margo glanced at her nails. For a minute I thought she was going to rub them on her shirt, but she didn’t.
It was my turn and when I threw the ball, all I pictured was Margo’s ass in jeans that looked as though they were made for her. After I picked my spare, I saw Cade joking around with her.
Cade clapped me on the back as he got up for his turn. He leaned in with an all-knowing look and whispered, “Wow, Adam’s little sister? You’ve got balls of steel, but she is a knock-out. You can explain why you call her Sally later.”
Or not.
Margo bowled as if she was a pro. We were in the tenth frame, and she killed it.
Strike.
Strike.
Strike.
Holy shit! Margo ended up with a 259 for the last game and averaged a 225 for all three games. She kicked all of our asses even before we added in Jan’s handicap. Thanks to her, we were the big winners for the night.
After we collected on our bets, returned our shoes and her ball, we started to head out.
“That was so much fun!” Margo beamed. “If you ever need a substitute again, let me know.”
Before I could answer, Cade barreled in between us. He tossed his arms around both our shoulders. “Do you kids want to go out for a drink?”
“Sorry, but I need to get home. I have work in the morning.” Margo smiled at him and the green-eyed monster hit me hard.
“Is it safe to assume that your brother doesn’t know about you two?”
Margo calmly replied, “There isn’t anything to know. We’re just friends.”
“That so?” Cade’s lips twisted into a snarky grin. “So, maybe you and I could go see a movie or have dinner this weekend?”
Now it was my turn to speak up. “It’s late.” Fucker. He did that to get a rise out of me and it worked. “Talk to you in the morning, man.”
He let out a chuckle. “Thought that’s what you’d say. Catch you at the gym, buddy.” He turned to Margo and pulled her in for a hug. “Great to see you again. You look great.” He released her just as I opened the door to my car.
She smiled sweetly—a bit too sweet if you asked me. “Good seeing you, too. Maybe when Adam gets back we can all get together. I haven’t seen him in a long time.”
Cade nodded. “Count me in. I wouldn’t want to miss that reunion.”
“Let’s go, Margo.” I practically ordered her into my car, and Cade laughed. Visions of me kicking Cade’s ass played in my head. Maybe the next time we went to the gym, rather than lifting weights, I’d do a little kickboxing, and Cade would be the recipient of my blows.
She slid in and waved to him once more through the window.
His fingers waggled toward her then he looked at me as if he had just found the Holy Grail.
“You’re a dick.”
He chuckled. “Sally?”
“It’s an inside joke, dumbass.”
“Yeah, I bet it is.”