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A serious, then?"

"No" Mia took a sip of her water to cool down her ard emotions "We’re just friends"

How many times had she said that to so to her friends and her family about her relationship with Nathan

Why? Who was she protecting? Was she doing the right thing?

She didn’t know the answers to any of those questions anymore and it made her feel even more out of sorts

It was clear that Nathan wasn’t happy about her not sitting next to him Frankly, she wasn’t happy about it, either And what difference would it have ht be in a relationship, but first and fore to annoy her And it pissed her off that she was beco annoyed with it

"Seems to me it’s more than friends, Mia," Alass surrounding her hands to ward off the heat boiling inside of her

"Honestly, I don’t knohat it is any the hell out of ure it all out soon

THIRTY

NATHAN HAD PUT ALL HIS FRUSTRATIONS AND ANXIETIES into the gaainst Taaht to seven, which meant they were tins up in the preseason, and his confidence level was rising In that departood

He’d played a littlemore reps was iah, he was glad to be ho he wanted to do was see Mia She’d dashed out of the restaurant after dinner last weekend, and she’d claimed she amped ork after that, so he hadn’t been able to talk to her or see her Her text replies had been pretty much one-line answers and he realized she was busy so he didn’t want to bother her

But he also knew she was avoiding hie, then took the elevator to her floor

He’d purposely waited until close to the end of the workday That way, maybe most of her business would be finished, the office would be virtually e out for a drink so they could talk

The elevator doors opened and there was a sla back and forth past the front desk

What the hell were all these people doing at four thirty on a Monday? Didn’t they ever wind down? Didn’t anyone cut out early? Christ

"Hi, can I help you?"

He noticed the young, sharply dressed woman at the front desk had directed the question at him, so he walked forward

"I’m here to see Mia Cassidy"

She smiled at him "Do you have an appointment?"

"No, I don’t Can you tell her Nathan Riley is here to see her?"

The woman blinked "You’re the Nathan Riley? The quarterback?"

His lips curved That was the first time he’d heard that one, since the "the" part was usually reserved for his dad "Just Nathan Riley"

She picked up her phone "I’ll ring Ms Cassidy and let her know you’re here Please, take a seat"

"Okay, thanks"

He grabbed a chair and took out his phone to answer a few textto drink, Mr Riley?" the receptionist asked

He looked up fro gorgeous in a purple dress that hugged her body The dress had tiny white buttons down the front and all he could think about was undoing those buttons one by one and unveiling what she wore underneath

Yeah, probably not a good thing to think about Or the fact that she wore sky-high heels that accentuated her beautiful legs

He stood and cleared his throat

"Nathan What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood Thought I’d drop by and see your office But if you’re busy, I can coive you a tour"

He followed her as she turned right