Playing to Win

because Savannah poked him.
    “What are you doing?”
    He looked up at her. “Drinking a beer.”
    “You need to go inside and get ready.”
    She had changed into a dress. A pretty sexy one. It was blue. Simple. Sleeveless. Clung to her. She looked hot.
    “What time is it?”
    “Six. Party starts at seven.”
    His lips lifted. “It doesn’t take me an hour to get ready.”
    “No, but some people might arrive early. Go.”
    This was her deal, not his, so he might as well not add to her stress since she already looked like she might start pulling her well-put-together hair out any second. He got up. “Yes, ma’am.”
    He showered, shaved, and changed clothes, then came back into the living room. Savannah was arranging cups of nuts or something on a table.
    It didn’t even look like his house anymore. They’d rearranged the furniture, which, according to Savannah, would make for more mingling space and had made room for the caterers to bring in tables to lay out the food. The bar was set up. Everything looked ready to him.
    Whatever stress Savannah had seemed to have disappeared. She was relaxed and smiling as she came over to him and tilted her head back.
    “You look nice.”
    “So do you.” He took a step forward. She took one back, obviously trying to maintain professional distance. He grasped her wrist, felt the fast thump of her pulse as he rubbed his thumb over her skin.
    “Nervous about the party?”
    Her gaze met his. “A little. I want it to go well for you.”
    “It’s just the guys from the team, Peaches. Don’t sweat it.”
    “But you don’t like entertaining here and I know I forced you into this. I don’t want you to be stressed over it.”
    He laughed. “I’m not the one who’s stressed. You’re flitting around here like freakin’ Tinker Bell. Maybe you need a drink to calm down.”
    “I’m fine. Not worried at all. This is what I do.”
    He ran his hand up her arm. “Then maybe it’s something else that has your pulse racing.”
    Her eyes widened and she pulled her arm away. “No, it’s nothing else.”
    “You can’t keep running away from me. From us.”
    The doorbell rang and she offered up a smile. “Yes, I can.”
    Two of his offensive linemen were at the door along with a girlfriend and a wife. They made a beeline for the snacks, claiming that, after today’s workout, they were starving. Savannah played hostess and greeted everyone while Cole held down bartender duties.
    Within an hour his place was crowded with people. He was actually surprised that nearly his entire offense showed up. So did the coach, though he assumed Coach showed up to make sure his guys didn’t get wasted, since they had practice tomorrow and a game this weekend. The only people drinking hard liquor or mixed drinks were some of the women. A few of the guys had a beer or two, but mostly stuck to water or soda. They all knew what practicing with a hangover was like—it was unpleasant, especially if the coaches knew you were hung over. They’d make your day a living hell.
    Cole found himself huddled with Lon and Jamarcus. Kenny had made friends with a couple other rookies, so he hung out with them.
    “Your assistant do all this?” Lon asked.
    Cole searched the room and found Savannah talking to a few of the women, encouraging them to come to the food table to get something to eat.
    “She did.”
    Savannah caught his gaze and blushed, then smiled.
    Jamarcus’s girlfriend, Tanya, came up and slid her arm around him. “This is very nice of you, Cole. Thank you for inviting us.”
    “Thanks for coming.”
    “And Savannah is so sweet. We’re both from Georgia, so we’ve been catching up. Makes me miss home.” She looked at Jamarcus. “We need to go to my mama’s house for Christmas.”
    Jamarcus laughed. “Whatever you want, baby.”
    Savannah saw them looking her way, so she came over. “How is it going? Can I get you anything?”
    “We’re great, honey. You should take a break and enjoy some time with your man,” Tanya said.
    Cole fought a smirk as Savannah cast a worried look in his direction. “Oh, we’re not together. I just work for him.”
    He loved when she blushed like that. He loved seeing her entire body cast in that pretty pink shade when he made her come.
    His dick twitched just thinking about getting her naked and making her squirm under his tongue.
    When she met his gaze, he knew she knew what he was thinking about. She cast him a warning gaze, then turned to