Page 7 of Tempting Miles
I grit my teeth.
“I thought you were a grown man, Miles,” she says, swinging her bag onto her shoulder and knocking into my arm on her way past. “Guess I was wrong.”
Wait—she’s leaving?
I follow her out before I can stop myself, completely incapable of doing a single thing to save my ass from my mouth.
“Ms. Levine, do you have a minute?” Christian, one of the employees, calls out.
I stop a few feet away, suddenly unable to let her walk away just yet.
“Yes, of course,” Penny says easily as she bends slightly at the knees to meet a little girl I hadn’t noticed before at eye level.
Penny gives her a small wave, and the girl shyly waves back.
“Ms. Levine, this is my daughter, Madison.” Christian pauses, clearly nervous about whatever he’s going to say next. He takes a deep breath before continuing. “She’s smart as a whip, and last summer, after Mr. González mentioned the hockey rink opening here in town, she became obsessed with hockey. And by obsessed, I meanobsessed.”
He chuckles while Madison groans beside him.
“That’s great, Madison. I hope you get to sign up for the summer program,” Penny says without missing a beat.
“Well…” Madison shifts awkwardly. “Daddy said I could sign up if we can afford the equipment, which isn’t cheap, let’s be real.”
The girl sounds about fifteen, even though she can’t be older than ten.
“I’m a businesswoman,” Penny says in the calm, confident boss voice of hers that revs me up, “so I’m guessing that’s why you came to talk to me.”
Madison nods, her expression full of wonder and hope.
“Okay, I’ll make you a deal,” Penny says, smiling softly. “You keep your grades up—As and Bs for the rest of the school year—and you convince enough girls to form a team. If summer comes around and everybody’s still doing well in school, I’ll sponsor an all-girls team.”
Madison launches herself at Penny before she can even finish speaking.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she repeats breathlessly.
Penny laughs and awkwardly pats the girl’s shoulder. “You have spunk, Madison. We need more of that in this world.”
After Christian thanks her about fifty times, and Penny reassures him she’s genuinely happy to help, she starts walking toward her car again.
“I expect a detailed list of materials for the next three weeks on my desk by eight Monday morning,” she throws over her shoulder. Have a good weekend, baby boy.”
A shiver runs through me as a memory from that night crashes into the front of my brain.
“That was good, baby boy. Maybe you’ll get lucky again sometime.”
She flashes me a too-sweet smile, and my body reacts without my permission.
I shouldn’t enjoy going at it with her this much, but no one’s ever pushed me like she does. It was supposed to be a one-night thing.
My dick didn’t get the memo.
“Baby boy?” I mutter, already moving.
Fuck, is she trying to kill me?
I reach her BMW in a few long strides and rap my knuckles against the window. When she lowers it, I lean in just enough.
“I might be a lot of things,” I say quietly, “but I’m no baby boy.”
