Lucky Bounce: Game On, Part 2 by Jennifer Lazaris

10

"Ilove the vibe in this place." Eli cut into his steak. "It's hyped but chill at the same time, if that makes sense. Though the atmosphere is probably too romantic and breaks all your ‘keep it professional’ rules. Just so you know, I didn't plan for us to eat somewhere so private."

"I'll give you a pass since it wasn't your idea to sit back here," she told him.

The hostess had seated them in a dark corner of the restaurant, assuring Eli that no one would bother them during dinner. And so far, no one had. Unfortunately, the only light that seemed to exist in this area was the flickering glow from the candle in the middle of the table.

He was right; the atmosphere was incredibly romantic. Still, she wasn't going to complain about it.

"I've never been to the restaurant side of this place before." She took a deep sip of the wine. "This is the best red I've ever had."

"It's one of my favorites," he said, nodding. "I don't normally go for wine, but when I do, that's the one. How's your dinner?"

"Amazing," she admitted. "I was starving. I didn't eat anything at the arena."

"Get caught up in the excitement?"

"Maybe. Congratulations. You played a really great game."

He glowed at her compliment. "Thanks. It's a relief to get a win under our belts for the first game. This series is going to be a total fucking slog though, I can tell. San Jose is an amazing team, but thankfully, we're better."

Holly laughed. "Now that's when your cocky attitude comes in handy. But yes, we are better."

"We, huh?" He gave her a sexy little smile. "Are you adopting us as your team?"

"Hmm. I just might. I only go for the best, after all."

"Is that so?" His eyes shone with pride and unmistakable heat. "You do have good taste, I know that for sure."

Shit, were they flirting? Time to dial it back, pronto.

Fumbling for her purse in the dim light to find her phone, she dropped it on the floor, then banged her head on the edge of the table while picking it up.

Smooth, Holly.

"Damn, are you okay?" The concerned expression on his face was too much for her to handle right now.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She averted her eyes and glanced down at the phone screen. "Just clumsy. I thought I heard my phone buzz with a text."

Their waitress came over to check on them for what felt like the umpteenth time in the past hour. It was obvious the woman was gaga over Eli. When the hostess had promised them that they wouldn't be bothered, she'd neglected to mention that their server wasn't included in that promise.

"How is everything?" The curvy, bubbly brunette's dark green eyes focused solely on Eli. "Can I get you anything else right now?"

"I'm good. Holly?"

"I'm fine." Not that the waitress was concerned about her needs. She wouldn't be surprised if the woman fell in Eli's lap before they were done eating.

"If you need anything at all, you just give me a wave, and I'll be over here in a flash." She pointed to her name tag. "I’m Cherry."

"Cherry?" Eli cocked an eyebrow. "Is that your real name?"

"Sure is." The waitress leaned over, giving him an eyeful of her ample cleavage. "Just like the rest of me, sweetie."

Holly narrowed her eyes. What a little bitch. For all this woman knew, she was Eli's date.

He gave Cherry an easy smile, but kept his gaze focused above her neck. "If we need anything else, I'll let you know."

"You do that." Cherry walked away, her hips swaying seductively as she strutted over to another table.

"Wow." Holly speared a carrot with her fork. "Dinner and a show."

Eli let out a snort of laughter. "Yeah, subtlety really isn't her strong point, is it?"

"Does it even faze you anymore? All these women throwing themselves at you?"

"I'm not interested in anything she or any other woman has to offer." He locked gazes with her. "You know how I feel."

"Eli."

He shrugged. "You asked, and I answered."

"I did, and now we can drop it."

"Yes, ma'am."

Holly took another sip of the wine, then leaned back against her chair. Oddly, her jaws felt tired from chewing. How could that even be a thing?

She speared a small potato on her fork and popped it into her mouth. When she swallowed, it got stuck halfway down. Focusing her gaze on her plate, she tried to relax. She could still breathe, but couldn't seem to get the food to move. It was slowly sliding downward, but panic set in, and she began to sweat.

Leaning forward, she forced herself to concentrate on cutting the food on her plate, waiting as the potato made what seemed to be an endless trek down her throat.

Eli pulled out his phone and tapped at the screen before putting it to his ear, and she felt a sense of relief he hadn't noticed her discomfort.

Finally, the food no longer felt stuck. She wiped her hands on her napkin, then took a sip of wine. After clearing her throat, she glanced up at Eli, who was still on the phone.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

Funny question, considering she almost had to flag someone down to do the Heimlich maneuver. With her luck, it would have been Cherry, who would have probably been more than happy to let her choke.

"Yeah, one sec." He rubbed his forehead and held up a finger. A few moments later, he let out a sigh and pocketed his phone.

"That was a voicemail from my mom's nurse. Apparently, my mom wandered out of the house. They found her a block away in her nightgown, sitting on someone else's porch."

"Oh, no," Holly murmured. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, but I'm going to have to get door alarms for the house now, so the nurses know if she tries to leave without supervision."

"But I thought—"

Eli waved a hand, interrupting her. "Do you want to head down and listen to some music soon?”

"Okay. If that's what you want."

"It is. I can't fix anything now, so there's no sense in focusing on it."

His voice sounded strangely calm, which set off alarm bells in her head.

"Are you finished with your dinner?"

"Yes." She wasn't going to chance eating anymore tonight, not after what had happened.

"Okay," he said, flagging down the waitress. "I'll pay, and then we can head down."

* * *

Holly sat in the corner of Regal's VIP section on a plush velvet couch, silently fuming while Eli hung out at the bar. She sipped a cola and watched as people hovered around him, stopping to chat and congratulate him on the win.

She narrowed her eyes as she glanced around the club. So much for him wanting to celebrate the win with her. He'd spent five minutes with her when they'd first come down here, then he'd gone to the bar for a drink and forgotten all about her.

For two fucking hours.

Shifting her gaze away from the ongoing spectacle, she tried to relax and focus on the music until a woman wearing a fitted black dress and a Regal name tag approached her.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave. Your clothes violate our dress code."

"I'm here with Eli Donnelley," Holly muttered, gesturing in his direction. "He knows the owner."

"Unfortunately, it doesn't matter who you're with. We have a strict dress code, and your jeans violate that code. I assure you that you'll be welcome back here if you change into something suitable."

Holly glanced in Eli's direction, but he wasn't anywhere to be found.

Son of a bitch. Where had he gone off to now? If he'd left her here...

"You know what? Whatever," she muttered. "I'm leaving anyway."

She stood and headed for the side exit, too pissed off to even feel humiliated at being kicked out of the club.

Once he was surrounded by his fans, he'd dropped her faster than a hot potato. It was just another reason not to believe a word he'd said at the hotel. No matter how much he might have meant it at the time, Eli Donnelley was incapable of change.

Right now, she felt like nothing to him, and it hurt.

It hurt a lot.

Once outside in the thick, hot Vegas night air, she called an Uber and waited for it to pick her up and take her back to the penthouse.

It's not like he'd notice she was gone, anyway.

* * *

Holly lounged on her bed and flipped through the page of her fashion magazine while her cell phone vibrated with yet another text. Miss snoozed comfortably at her side, oblivious to the world.

Judging by the way her phone had been blowing up the past fifteen minutes, Eli must have finally figured out she was gone.

While he'd been socializing with his public, she'd come back to his condo, showered, changed into her tank top and sleep shorts, and taken out her contacts. And in a little while, she'd be heading to bed.

The sound of keys in the door alerted her to his arrival home.

"Holly!" His voice boomed through the penthouse. "Are you here? Holly!"

Sighing, she climbed from the bed. Closing the door behind her so not to disturb Miss, she wandered down the hall and out into the kitchen.

"Yes?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

He stood near the front door, his brown eyes blazing with anger. "What the fuck was that, huh? You just get up and leave and don't even tell me?”

Holly padded over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. "I didn't even think you'd notice I was gone."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He yanked off his suit jacket and threw it on a nearby chair. "You came with me. I'm going to notice if you aren't in the fucking car on the way home! And what's with not answering your goddamn phone? Jesus, I didn't know what happened to you! I wandered around the club looking for you. I sent you like twenty texts!"

"Yeah, well, too bad. I didn't want to talk to you," she shot back.

Eli yanked at his tie, loosening it. "Do you mind telling me why you're so pissed off? Because the way I see it, I should be pissed at you for disappearing into thin air without so much as a word."

She stared at him, then let out a harsh laugh. "You really don't know, do you? You truly have no idea."

"Why don't you enlighten me? Because I thought we were having a good time. We had a few drinks, and we were enjoying the music. Then you vanished."

"I vanished?" she sputtered. "Me? You're fucking delusional!"

To her complete surprise, her eyes filled with tears, and she blinked them back before turning on her heel toward her bedroom. "Just forget it, okay? I'm going to bed."

He reached out and gently caught her wrist. "No. Holly—"

"How can you possibly think that I was having a good time?" She whirled back around. "You're the one who vanished!" She poked him in the chest with her finger. "You didn't speak to me for over two hours. I sat on that couch by myself while you rubbed elbows with half of Vegas. I didn't exist to you in that club."

"Wait, what?" he asked, releasing her. "What are you—"

"You asked me to come out with you tonight, Eli. You told me you wanted to celebrate the win with me. You went on about how we were friends now. Newsflash: friends don't leave friends behind like they're dead weight the second they're surrounded by adoring fans."

He stared down at her, an unreadable expression on his handsome face. "Holly..."

"No. I've been humiliated enough for one night, Donnelley. I'm going to bed."

She tried to push past him, but he slid in front of her again.

"Please Holly, wait. I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. You're right. I completely fucked up. I didn't think. I wasn't thinking."

She crossed her arms and looked down at the floor.

"Look, this isn't an excuse, but I just get into this zone after a game, and it's like automatic pilot. I guess I like to be surrounded by people after a win."

She grew still, letting his words wash over her.

Of course he liked to be surrounded by people. He'd never had any family come to watch his games. He needed the attention and admiration, even if it was from strangers.

"It's a habit for me to get sucked into all of that, and I..." He paused, then raked a hand through his hair. "You have to know, the last thing I ever want to do is hurt you, Holly. I swear to God, I wouldn't do that on purpose."

"I believe you, but..." She kept her eyes on the floor, too afraid that if she looked up at him, she'd cry.

Ugh, this was so stupid. And completely unprofessional. She'd gone on and on about maintaining boundaries—yet here she was, hurt as hell because he'd ignored her. Why had she ever thought she'd be able to keep her emotions in check around him?

"I don't want to be the guy who constantly lets you down. I don't ever want to be that guy again."

"Just forget it."

"No. I can't."

He gently tipped her chin up with his finger, bringing her gaze back up to his, and the intimate nature of the gesture had her fighting back a shiver. And the gentle way he was looking at her?

"I should go to bed," she said, backing away from him and crossing her arms. "It's late, and I'm sure you have practice tomorrow."

"Okay, but Wilkes, are we good?" He studied her intently. "Don't tell me we are if we're not."

Even now, under the unflattering fluorescent light in the kitchen, he looked better than any man should, with his sleeves rolled up and his hair in disarray. The scent of his cologne had mostly faded, but she could still smell him, and even as upset as she was, she wanted to press her cheek against the soft fabric of his dress shirt, just to inhale the comforting scent of him.

Just to be close to him.

As angry as she was, she still wanted him. But angry sex wasn't exactly professional, either. And if she didn't get out of there, she was going to jump his bones and fuck his brains out.

Angrily, of course.

"We will be," she said honestly. "Goodnight, Eli."

He shoved his hands into his pockets and gave a short nod. "Night."

Holly slipped back down the hall into her room and climbed back into bed.

She didn't want to dwell on her feelings for him or the humiliation he'd caused. Instead, she grabbed her iPad and pressed the icon for Netflix.

A distraction was necessary tonight. And the sooner, the better so she didn't end up on the other side of his door.