Page 88 of Worth the Try
He shakes his head. “Definitely not. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve my team as interim coach, but I have a lot more to give on the pitch.”
The reporter gives a nod and wraps up the interview, and Ansel leads me away.
As we round the corner and begin the short walk to the ballroom, he stops and pulls me to the side, looking down at me with such love and concern that my stomach pitches. “How are you?”
I give him a lopsided smile. “I think I’m okay.”
“Really?”
“Really. I’m not shaking anymore.” I hold up my hand for his inspection.
He grabs it and presses it to his lips. “One word from you and we leave.”
I nod, but he keeps me in place.
“I mean it, Elodie. I love you. None of this matters.”
“Well, considering it’s a benefit for an organization that helps struggling families, I’d say it matters a great deal.”
His eyes soften. “Your heart is amazing, you know that?”
With a shrug, I say, “Any organization that’s feeding children is worthy. That’s not my heart; that’s just humanity.”
With another kiss to my cheek, he straightens and leads us in, his hand warm and steady on my back. And thank goodness, because I nearly trip over my own two feet at the glamor we walk into. It’s beyond excessive, the attendees dripping in jewels and custom-made clothing, servers darting here and there with trays of champagne and appetizers. The athletes are larger than life, and the people by their side are stunning.
“There’s Jake and Carter,” Ansel says, nodding toward an area near one of the four bars in the room. “Let’s go say hello, and I’ll grab you a drink.”
“Just one,” I murmur as we go. I’m not interested in anything but sobriety when I get in places like this. I think it’s all the old pageant training that kicks in, that need to beon, to always know what’s going on around me and be ready to pivot based on whoever I’m talking to. Probably not the healthiest approach, but there you have it.
We approach the small circle, and Allyson smiles knowingly as she takes me in. “You look beautiful. A little flushed, perhaps?”
I narrow my eyes playfully at her. “Something like that. You must be Jake,” I say, turning to her fiancé.
He’s a massive man, easily one and a half of Ansel. His long black hair is slicked into a low ponytail, and he looks extremely uncomfortable in his tux. But he gives me a friendly grin as he shakes my hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Wanna tell me where I’m going?”
Allyson whacks his arm playfully. “She’ll do no such thing.”
Kari appears with Sam, the two of them having declared they’d be each other’s dates for the evening, and Lennox shows up with a date as well. After my glass of champagne is empty, Ansel holds his hand out. “Dance with me.”
With a smile, I let him lead me to the dance floor, and we wrap our arms around each other, swaying to the music. “Have I told you how stunning you look this evening?” he asks, his expression heated as I meet his eyes.
I smile. “You have. But you can say it again.”
His hand is warm and sure on my waist, the other holding mine in a light grip as he moves me across the floor. “It’s true. This dress…I’d like to rip it off and sink into you right now.”
My cheeks heat. “Mr. Miles, that’s quite the mouth you have on you.”
“I’d rather it be on you,” he growls softly in return.
“You’re a great dancer.” I follow his lead easily, his steps sure and natural. And he smells utterly delicious, a hint of woodsy cologne this evening on top of his usual masculine scent.
“Changing the subject on me?” he teases.
“I have to, or I’ll drag you into a darkened room and let you have your way with me,” I counter.
His eyebrows rise, the scar slashing through one of them serving only to make him look like a nineteenth century rake. “And this is a bad thing…why?”
I swat at his chest, and he captures it, pulling it up to press a kiss to my hand. With his eyes trained on mine, his tongue licks at the seam between my first and second fingers, a reminder of his considerable talents. My core heats as my mouth opens in a gasp.
