When he discovered she had started up a sports management company, he insisted she give him her card. Then Liz Riley came over. She knew Liz because a couple of her new clients were represented by her. She was a formidable and very savvy sports agent and Mia really liked working with her.
“Are you interested in Mia’s company managing you?” Liz asked.
“Thinking about it.”
“We should totally talk about it,” Liz said. “As much growth as you’re having both as a player and a brand, it’s something you should consider.”
Mia vibrated with excitement, but she knew this wasn’t the time or place.
“I don’t want to talk shop at a party when you should be enjoying yourself,” Mia said. “You have my card, and Liz knows my number. Please give me a call or send me an e-mail whenever it’s convenient for you and we’ll set up a meeting.”
Tyler nodded. “I’ll do that.”
She made her way through the crowd, checking to ensure everyone had a drink and was having a good time. Tara’s staff was handling everything perfectly, and there were plenty of bar stations set up to serve the guests.
She went into the kitchen to see Amelia supervising the crew she’d hired.
“It smells amazing in here.”
Amelia nodded and smiled. “I hope everyone loves what we’ve cooked up tonight.”
“I’m certain they will.”
Soon, dinner was served—buffet style to make it easy on everyone.
There were salads, along with crab cakes and beef tenderloin, and various amazing side dishes. Mia’s stomach rumbled as she breathed in all the delicious smells. She helped Tara and her crew wrangle everyone to the various stations so they could fill up their plates and start eating.
Once everyone had been through the line, Tara made Mia grab a plate.
“Come on,” Tara said. “Now it’s our turn.”
They got food and Tara led them to an unoccupied table in the corner. She signaled to one of her staff, who arrived with two glasses of wine.
“Now, this is perfect,” Tara said after she took a sip of her cabernet.
“Thank you, Tara. I could have gotten my own drink, but I really appreciate you handling it.”
“You’ve been on your feet the entire time talking to people, getting them drinks and chatting up Nathan’s team members and the Riley clan. You know you’re not working this party. I hired staff to take care of that. You’re supposed to be having fun.”
Mia smiled. “I am having fun. I got to meet members of Nathan’s family that I hadn’t met before. He’s spent so much time talking about them that I felt I already knew them.”
“I’m glad you’ve had a chance to meet them. They’re all wonderful and sometimes a pain in the ass.”
Mia laughed. She dug into the food, which was amazing, of course. Everything Amelia created was outstanding.
She looked around, hoping Amelia had stopped to take a break. She smiled when she spotted her at a table with Flynn. She was sipping on a glass of wine and listening to Flynn and some of the guys from the team chatting.
Good.
Her gaze drifted to some of the nearby tables, settling on Nathan, who was deep in conversation with his dad, along with his grandparents and his family. It made her heart squeeze to see him so relaxed. Clearly his family centered him.
“So tell me, Mia, how do you really feel about Nathan?”
Her gaze zipped back to Tara. “I’m sorry. What?”
Tara graced her with an all-knowing smile. “You can be honest with me, and it won’t hurt my feelings if you say you don’t care about him.”
“I adore him, Tara. He’s one of my best friends.”
Tara laid her fork on top of her plate. “But there’s more to it than that, right?”
Oh, God. Was it written all over her face? Had she betrayed herself with some kind of emotion even she wasn’t aware of? “Honestly? I don’t know. We’ve been friends so long, and here and there it’s been more than that. But I’ve tried so hard to keep it strictly platonic, because my friendship with Nathan means so much to me, and I’m scared to death of losing it.”
Tara nodded. “I can understand that. I also see the way he looks at you. I get the idea he wants more.”
“He does.”
“The question is, do you?”
“I . . . don’t know. Yes and no, which is a terrible answer, I know.”
“I know you’re conflicted. But you have to either tell him friendship is all you’re ever going to offer, or you need to fall headlong into some kind of relationship with him. Dancing around it isn’t good for either of you, especially with what’s going on in both your professional lives. You don’t need the additional emotional conflict in your personal lives.”
Tara was right, and Mia realized she’d been teasing the edge of friends, friends with benefits or a full-on relationship for a while now. And that wasn’t fair to Nathan. It was time to make a decision.
“Of course you’re right. I need to decide.”
Tara reached across the table and laid her hand over Mia’s. “I love my son, of course, but I also care about you, Mia. And I don’t want to lose your friendship, either. So I understand your dilemma. I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”
“Thank you, Tara. Neither do I.”
She took a deep breath and let it out, then reached for her glass of wine to take a long swallow, hoping it might give her some clarity. Though she doubted it. She needed more than alcohol to give her the answers she needed.
What she needed was to talk to Nathan, to be with him, to figure out the right answers.
She didn’t have to look far because after Tara left the table to check on her staff, Nathan slid into the chair next to her.
“Where the hell have you been all night?”
She’d had just enough wine to feel relaxed. “I’ve been here the whole time. Are you having fun?”
His lips curved. “I am.” He put his beer on the table and reached under the table to lay his hand on her thigh. “I really want to pull you onto my lap and kiss you for putting this all together. And okay, I want to kiss you because you’re smart and beautiful and because I always want to kiss you.”
She tingled all over as she took in his words. “Thank you. And you’re welcome. Your mom and Amelia did a lot of the work.”
“I’ll bet you did a lot, too. My mom told me this was all your idea.”
“I just suggested it. Everyone else ran with it.”
He looked around. “Dammit. Too crowded in here.”
“Too crowded for what?”
“For me to kiss you.”
“Nathan.” She said his name with a laugh. “Are you drunk?”
“Maybe a little. But you look really nice, and you smell sweet.” He moved closer to her. “And I want to spread your legs and eat your pussy and make you come.”
Mia’s clit quivered and she went instantly damp. She took a swallow of wine. “Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
It was at that moment she knew exactly what she wanted. She stood. “You need to come with me.”
She had seen the room earlier in the week when they’d done the walk-through of the venue. It was a huge coat closet, used in the winter.
But it wasn’t winter and there weren’t any coats in there. So no one would be using the space. She looked around to make sure no one followed them. But just to be sure, she wandered a bit aimlessly for a few seconds along the hallway.
Nathan looked at her. “Where are we going?”
Finally, she took his hand. “In here.”
She opened the door to the coat closet, flipped on the light, then closed and locked the door behind her.
“Oh. A coat closet. Haven’t hidden in one of these since elementary school.”
She pushed him up against the wall. “I’ll want to hear that story sometime. But right now, I have something else in mind.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
She pressed into him and splayed her hands over his spectacularly fine chest. Then she scraped her nails up the crisp cotton of his shirt and over his shoulders, and swept her hand around his neck to draw his head closer to hers.