She should be mad. She should yell at him “Eyes up here, asshole” or something. But no. She stood there and let him look his fill, secretly enjoying his hot gaze on her.
Yeah. She had major issues, all of them dealing with Flynn.
Finally he lifted his gaze to meet hers, no doubt noticing her pink-with-embarrassment cheeks, but he never said a word. “So we should make the best of it.”
“Make the best of what?” Wow, he was handsome. Staring at him made her forget her troubles, which was ridiculous. But he looked tired. His cheeks were covered in stubble, and his hair was a bit of a mess. As if he’d run his fingers through it again and again.
He smiled, momentarily dazzling her with that quick flash of straight white teeth. “Our situation. We may as well enjoy it…”
Oh. Was he serious? She could make the best of anything if she had to. It was a criteria of her job, after all. “What are you suggesting?” she asked carefully.
Don’t listen to him. There will be no “enjoying it” involved.
“Maybe we should try to date for real,” he said with a slight shrug. “I like you and you like me, right?”
“Right.” She blinked, hating how she’d automatically agreed with him.
“So let’s try this thing out…for real. And if we can’t stand each other, then at least we tried. He smiled, and the sight of it was dazzling.
Okay, maybe he would make this easy on her. She needed easy. Difficult would screw with her mind. She thought she’d have to be the one to ask him out, and instead, he’d done it for her.
But what would happen once the play-offs were over? Would they go their separate ways? As Harvey so kindly had reminded her, employees dating was against the rules at the Hawks organization. She’d signed the form in the back of the employee handbook, stating she knew the rules and wouldn’t break them.
Here she was, breaking them. Publicly. With her boss’s permission and threats of losing her job if she didn’t follow through. Insane.
“You don’t have to say anything. I don’t need an answer right now. It’s awkward enough between us.” He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up further. God, he looked cute. “I gotta tell you this, though, Aub. I’m not sorry for what happened the other night. And I meant to call you, I swear, but—”
“Don’t say it,” she interrupted, silencing him. “Don’t explain yourself. Don’t make up some lame excuse. What happened happened. Let’s leave it at that.”
They stared at each other, Flynn’s intense gaze sending goose bumps scattering all over her skin. She reacted to him so easily, and it scared her. When she got near Flynn, she simply…felt. Everything.
Not smart. Reckless wasn’t her style, but that’s exactly how he made her feel.
“You keep looking at me like that, and I’m going to believe you forgive me,” he murmured, his hot gaze locked directly on her.
A shiver moved through her. “There’s nothing to forgive.” Really, there wasn’t. At least, when it came to Flynn. He was now the innocent party in all of this. She was mad at Harvey for putting her in this position. And okay, maybe her pride had been hurt, too. But they had other things to worry about now. Like the media believing they were a real couple. That she’d taken his virginity as though it had been some sort of prize for her to claim.
God. What a mess.
He reached out and circled his fingers around her wrist. “We should have a press conference, announce that we’re seeing each other.”
She slowly shook her head. Maybe if she convinced Flynn to think like her, he’d convince Harvey to cancel the press conference. “It would distract from the team during a critical time. I don’t want to do that. Let’s keep it low key.”
“I’ve tried the low-key route. It doesn’t work. They’re like vultures picking at my flesh until they hit bone. They want a story. We can give them one.”
“I don’t know…”
“Trust me.” He stood, never letting go of her wrist, and she liked it. Liked having him so close, his presence nearly overwhelming, his hand still on her. She could get used to this.
And that was a scary feeling.
“I know you’re the public relations expert, but I know what the media wants from me,” he continued, smiling down at her. “And right now, what they want more than anything is us.”
Us. She could get used to the sound of that. Despite the very temporary feeling of it all, despite the proverbial gun held to her head, she was curious. What was it like to be a very popular “us”? She’d seen it in earnest with Jared and Sheridan Quinn and lately with Willow and Nick. Now they could be a Flynn and Aubrey.
Despite it all, she wanted that, even just for a little while, which was dumb, but she couldn’t help it. Maybe they could mix their names like all the celebrities do. “Brangelina” was still hot, after all. Maybe they could be “Aubrynn”? “Flybrey”?
Clearly she’d lost her mind.