#
Knowing when she was beaten, Candice had relented quickly and Will had escaped relatively unharmed.
Back in the car, I buckled my belt and looked up to find him staring at me intently. “So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?”
I shrugged. “Not much until tonight.”
“Great. I’m starving, you want to get some lunch?” Before I even had a chance to respond, Will had leaned forward to direct the driver. “You can just drop us at the corner of Thomson and Spring.”
“Ahhh, Will? I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I mean, I should probably let you get on with your day. I’m sure you’re busy! You must have better things to do than grab a bite with me…don’t you?”
Will smiled. “Of course it’s a good idea. We’ve both got nowhere to be. I’m starving and its lunch time. Consider it a working lunch to get to know one another.” He leaned closer to me. “Besides, everyone has to eat, right Bambi?”
I squirmed in my seat, unsure of how to handle him. “Why do I get the feeling you always get your way, Quarterback?”
He watched me carefully, his gaze dropping down to my lips briefly before lifting to meet my eyes again. “Because I always do.”
We pulled up outside a restaurant a few blocks away and I got to witness first-hand the quarterback effect as the host greeted Will by name before escorting us to a booth at the back of the packed dining room. When we were seated, he reached his long arms across the table, palms flat on the wood as he stared at me intently.
“Do Aussie girls like burgers?”
“If by Aussie girls you’re referring to me, then absolutely. Who doesn’t?”
“Great answer, I knew there was a reason I liked you. And for the record, I could list a dozen women who’ve never had the pleasure of eating a burger. You have to try the one they serve here—it’s life changing.”
I looked down at my menu. “Isn’t this a French restaurant though? Surely having a burger is a waste.”
“Not at all, and besides, they come with fries on the side so it’s technically still French.” Sliding down in his seat a little his knee found mine, bumping it playfully. “Trust me, you’ll have menu envy when my delicious burger arrives and you’re stuck with some shitty salad.”
I laughed, being careful to shift my legs away from his. “Well when you put it like that…tell me something though, is there any meal that doesn’t come with a side of fries? I’ve been here two weeks and I don’t think I’ve gone a day without them.”
Will considered this for a second. “Fries are pretty much a food group in America. You’d be hard pressed to find a meal without them. That is, unless you’re ordering the other major food group. Pizza.”
“Oh
God
I love pizza.”
When Will stilled and his gaze dropped again to my mouth, I realized how breathy I’d sounded in my attempt to be melodramatic. He blinked a few times, pulling himself back up in his seat. “So they don’t serve fries with breakfast back home?”
“Nope, we know how to do breakfast and it doesn’t involve fries.”
The waiter came to take our order then and after handing him my menu, I looked back over at Will to find him still watching me.
“So if the breakfasts are so good, what made you pack up and come here?”
I shrugged. “I guess it was an opportunity too good to pass up. I came over with a job already secured and in twelve months, I’ll be able to go back home to it. It’s not every day things line up like that.”
Will nodded. “Can’t argue with that. So what happened to the poor guy you left behind?”
Shocked by his forwardness, I looked down into my water glass. “Um, there’s no guy, just me.”
Danger zone Emma, change the subject.
“What about you? I mean…I don’t want to know about the women, just…well, where did you grow up?”
I finally looked up when he didn’t answer to find an amused look on his face. He was clearly enjoying playing with me. “I’m a born and bred New Yorker. I went to college on the West Coast but other than that, I’ve always lived here.”
“Really? I can’t imagine growing up in a city like this. I mean, it’s one thing to live here as an adult, but to be a kid in New York? I can’t even comprehend that.”
He laughed. “Well, technically we had two homes. One in Connecticut and another in the city. We moved out to Connecticut to go to school but spent most of our holidays here. My family is all back on Manhattan now.”
“Huh. Do you have brothers and sisters?”
His eyes lit up. “Yeah, I have two brothers and one sister. I’m the youngest.”
“Wow, big family. Must have kept your parents busy.”
“Yeah, you could say that. I think Mom was pretty relieved when Dad came home from work each night.”
“I can imagine.” I paused, wondering how comfortable he was with all the personal questions. “What does your dad do for work?”
“He works on Wall Street, he’s a banker.”
“How very New York of him.”
In the privacy of the booth away from public eyes, I was surprised by how easy it was to speak to him. He didn’t seem to be a closed book when out in public, but there was certainly a difference between that Will and the man sitting in front of me now. Particularly as his less than subtle flirtatious one-liners seemed to have died off a little. It made him appear younger than before and the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
“How old are you?”
His eyes widened in surprise and I felt my cheeks flush. “Sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ask that, I just realized I had no idea.”
“You know you could have just Googled my age, right?” he said.
I smiled. “You’re right, and it’s not lost on me that Google probably would have saved me the embarrassment of our first meeting.”
Will’s lip twitched as he studied me, like he was sizing me up. “You first.”
“I’m twenty-five.”
“Spring chicken.” He grinned. “I’m thirty. Wikipedia can vouch for my age.”
Wow, I wouldn’t have guessed that.
“So does that mean you’re coming to the end of your playing career?”
He looked at me strangely again. “You really don’t know much about football, do you?”
“Um, no. Or at least not your kind of football. Why?”
Will laughed. “Quarterbacks are normally in their prime around my age. Most play until their late thirties.”
My jaw dropped. “You’re kidding, how does your body survive?”
He shrugged. “We train well and we have the best doctors available. I’ve been pretty fortunate with injuries over the years.”
Our burgers arrived, looking and smelling amazing. I laughed as I stared at the loaded plate the waiter placed in front of me. “You were right, I would have had total menu envy if I’d gone with a salad.” Although how I was going to get through even half of the gigantic burger was beyond me.
“So what
do
you know about football, if you don’t mind me asking?” I looked up mid-bite to see the smirk on his face.
I swallowed, gulping down a glass of water. “Unsurprisingly not a lot. I had every intention of studying up before I started work last week, but I kind of got distracted by the whole sightseeing thing.” I popped some fries in my mouth before going on. “I think you owe me some lessons for leading me on the other night, Quarterback.”
Will nodded as he swallowed a mouthful. He was already two-thirds of the way through his meal. “You’re right, what do you want to know?”
I considered where to start. “Right, umm, how many players on a team?”
He rolled his eyes, unamused by my ignorance. “Fifty-three on the roster but only forty-five on the game-day roster. There’s only eleven on the field at a time.”
“How long does the game go for?”
“An hour, two thirty-minute halves with a twelve-minute break in between, and a two-minute break at the end of each fifteen-minute quarter. But the game tends to go for a few hours with all the time-outs.”
“How many points do you score if you get a goal?”
“You get three for a field goal and six for a touchdown.”
I laughed. “Touchdowns I’ve heard of. What about teams, how many are there in the league?”
Mouth full, he responded, “Thirty-two.”
“Do you always speak when you’re eating?”
He swallowed. “I can be quiet, if that’s how you like it.”
I sucked in a breath at the innuendo in his words. With one line, he’d changed the mood from light and friendly to something totally more sinister…and as much as I wanted to pretend it hadn’t affected me, it had. His eyes darkened as he continued staring at me and I had absolutely no idea how to respond, feeling both mortified and turned on at the same time. His ability to completely overwhelm me with just a few words was daunting, and it wasn’t lost on me that making women melt in a puddle of neediness was most likely a weekly hobby for him.
He finally blinked a few times and placed a hand over my forearm, his touch doing nothing to calm me. “Hey, Bambi, relax. I was just messing with you. Chill out.”
I let out a breath and eventually managed a small smile. “You’re dangerous, Will Jensen. And you can stop with the flirty eyes and one-liners—we work together, remember?”
He held up his hands with a look of mock horror. “I’m offended you’d think I’d even consider it.”
“I’m serious! I’ve been warned about you and your charms.” I narrowed my eyes. “They won’t work on me.”
“Really? They’re not working even a little?” he teased.
“Nope. Not even a little.”
It was actually working a lot, but there was no way I was telling him that. As if he didn’t already know. He could probably make a woman’s panties fall off with nothing more than a look.
He sighed. “Fine. But I’m disappointed.”
“And stop calling me Bambi, it’s offensive.”
Will laughed. “Too late, you’ll forever be my Bambi. Besides, you’re Disney Bambi, not Stripper Bambi.” He pinched a handful of fries from my plate and winked. “You haven’t taken your clothes off for me…yet.”
“Ha! Nice one buddy, never gonna happen.”
He shrugged. “A guy can dream.” Pointing at my plate, he said, “Are you going to finish that?”
I slid the remaining quarter of my burger over to him, focusing on quelling the entirely inappropriate warm and fuzzy feeling running through my blood stream at his flirting. “All yours, but I’m keeping the fries.”
“I’m impressed, you almost got through it.” I watched him demolish the rest of the burger.
“It looks like you were counting on me not finishing it…part of your strategy for obtaining free food.”
He nodded. “You got me.”
When we were done and the bill arrived, I was quick to snatch it up. No way was I letting him pay for this so-called
work
lunch.
“Here, Emma, hand it over.” He wiggled his fingers, motioning for the bill. “I’ll get it.”
“Uh-uh, this one’s on me.” I pulled it close to my chest as he reached out again.
“Don’t be stupid, give me the bill.”
“Nope, not happening.”
“C’mon, this is ridiculous. I don’t want to sound like a dick, but do you have any idea how much I earn?”
I deadpanned him. “What do you think?”
He rolled his eyes. “Right, of course you don’t.”
“Will, the fact that you probably earn squillions more than me doesn’t matter. As you said, this was a work lunch so we could get to know each other. I’ll pay. I’ll probably be able to get reimbursed for the expense anyway.”
I passed the bill with my credit card back to the waiter, laughing as he frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. I leaned into him. “Geeze, you really are used to getting your way.” I shrugged, squinting as I bit my lip. “Well tough luck, Quarterback. Things are gonna change while I’m around.”
And when he looked at me with bewilderment, I couldn’t help it. I winked.
#
Out on the street, I turned to him. “Thanks for lunch.” I nodded to the waiting driver. “It’s a beautiful day, I might walk home.”
He leaned into me, his mouth unnervingly close to mine and for a split second, I thought he might kiss me.
“What?”
“You have freckles.” It was unsettling in the most comfortable way—watching his eyes roam across my face. “Along your nose and cheeks. I didn’t notice them before.”
“Oh, yeah.” My fingers went up to my face, self-conscious.
Will smiled, pulling my wrist back down. “What I meant to say was I like your freckles.” He let go of my wrist. “Where’s your place?”
“I’m in Chelsea, just off West 17th.”
“I’ll join you, we’re only a few blocks apart.”
I wanted to find a reason to say no. I was uncomfortable being out in the open with him where any number of people could see us. What would it look like if it got back to Mark that I’d had lunch and a stroll through downtown Manhattan with Will? As it was, there were paparazzi snapping a few shots from across the street.
Will seemed to sense my anxiety. “Relax, it’s no big deal. They’ve been taking photos since we arrived at the store. If you’re going to be managing all the team’s appearances, you’ll be photographed a lot. No one is going to think it’s any more than you doing your job.”
He leaned into the car to speak to the driver while I contemplated my options. Aside from trying to outrun him—which would be stupid, him being an elite athlete and all—I couldn’t see that I had many choices, and I had to admit that what Will said made sense.
We talked comfortably as we made our way back towards Chelsea, me telling him about my life in Sydney and him doing his best to fill the very large gaps in my knowledge of the NFL. He would occasionally point out a restaurant or cafe I should try out, and I told him about all the touristy things I’d done since I’d arrived.
When we reached his place, he gestured to the front door. “This is me, top floor.” I guessed it was six stories high. I also guessed that unlike my apartment, it included a lift.