Page 53 of Offsides

“Driven? Obsessive?” she answered with a laugh. “I know you don’t have any great respect for what I do—”

“I have a great respect for you, Theodosia,” he cut her off. She needed to know just what he was feeling here. Okay, maybe not all of what he was feeling, even he couldn’t quite put a name to that yet. But she needed to hear this. “True, I still don’t love reporters. There’s a lot of old hurt there that will probably never go away. But, you’ve proven me wrong. And I’m man enough to admit that. Not all reporters are life-ruining succubi.”

Theo sniffed, her hand flying to her face, eyes welling with tears. Oh shit, he’d said something wrong. He’d thought she would want to hear that. Didn’t every woman love hearing a man admit he was wrong? Apparently not this woman. Now, he just had to figure out what he’d done to make her cry.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I just—”

Theo held up her hand, palm facing him, the same way Dulcie used to when they were kids, telling him to talk to the hand. Great, now he’d really fucked up.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Thank you? But she was crying. Maybe I don’t understand women as well as I thought…

“You’re welcome?”

Theo huffed out a weird noise, half laugh, half scoff, leaving him even more confused.

“You don’t know what it means to hear that from you. I can’t defend everyone in my profession, but I like knowing that I could be the one to change your mind. At least a little bit.” Reaching across the table, she slipped her hand in his, giving him a gentle squeeze. “I have great respect for you too.”

Fireworks exploded inside him, his heart coming to a stop for a second. Her words said one thing, a nice thing at that, but they had a different meaning. A deeper one. She was telling him, in the same roundabout way, what he had been trying to tell her.

Or so he hoped.

* * *

Cowboy was too stuffed for words. Theo had made the joke as she was taking the last bite of their shared dessert that she might need to be rolled out of the Paris and back to their hotel, and he was thinking that feeling might not be far off. Their meal had been incredible. Multiple courses of fine foods, cheese, and bread, paired with wine that went down a little too easily.

More than anything though, the warm fuzzy feeling from spending a beautiful night with an even more beautiful woman was what was making his head swimmy. Their conversation had steered them all over the place, laughter punctuating most of it. He’d met a lot of women over the years, but no one that he wanted to simply hang out with more than Theo. Being with her was more than just the out of this world sex—it was her smile, her laugh, and all her quirks that made her so fucking sexy. And even more irresistible.

“I know we have an early morning,” Theo said, swinging their clasped hands back and forth as they walked through the casino toward the elevator to take them upstairs. “But can we do one thing first?”

“One thing, twenty-six things, whatever you want,” he said, kissing her. Theo moaned into the kiss, pressing her breasts against him. Cowboy’s dick twitched, loving the feel of them against his chest, wishing so much fabric wasn’t in the way.

Theo pulled back from the kiss, her lips swollen, eyes glazed over with lust. A coy smile tugged at her lips though, showing off a mischievous side he hadn’t seen yet. This was going to be good.

Spinning around until she figured out which direction they needed to go in, Theo looped her arm through his, leading the way. She definitely had something up her sleeve, and anticipation built inside him to see what it was.

“Roulette?” he asked, as they stopped in front of the table.

“Yup, just one small bet. Then we can go.”

“We’re not on a timeline, darlin’. If you want to stay and gamble all night, we can.”

Theo shook her head, turning to the attendant behind the table, exchanging some cash for chips. Kissing each one of the chips, she then placed them down on the felt-covered table, all of them on the red box with the number three.

His number.

She was betting on him.

The attendant called out something to the group congregating around the table, but Cowboy didn’t hear what. His brain was too busy processing what just happened. His brain was too slow though, his arms moving much faster, grabbing Theo and yanking her into him, her body colliding against his with a thud. He pressed their foreheads together, crashing his mouth on hers, in a no-holds-barred kiss. A kiss that made it clear that she was his, and his alone.

He was calling her bet.

Chapter Eighteen

The lights from the Vegas strip glittered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating Cowboy’s suite. He didn’t bother turning on the light, walking over to the wall of windows and sucking in a deep breath as he took in the view. His mind was still reeling, having left Theo at her door with nothing more than a goodnight kiss.

Because he had chickened out.