When was the last time he’d wanted to smile? He couldn’t remember.
“Lucky me. If you’re not so noble, what are you usually?”
“Usually...I’m a giant pain in the ass.” He could tell her to ask his friends, but he didn’t have too many friends. That sounded pretty damn pathetic even to him. He had an assistant, but the kid was too young to be a friend, and the guys at the gym had pretty much given up on any social time with him. Maybe working himself into the ground wasn’t the best way to live life, but it sure as hell beat thinking about his past.
“I don’t believe you.” Her grin turned her face from pretty to stunning. She didn’t need an ounce of makeup to make a man hard. He still had to get used to her new hair color too. The honey blond softened her features, made her blue eyes sharper and rendered her that much more attractive. At the moment, the thick blond mass was secured in a ponytail and made her look like a co-ed. “Giant pains in the ass very rarely recognize that trait. That’s one of the things that make them giant pains in the ass.” She lifted one arched eyebrow.
He grinned again. Apparently she didn’t need a script to be funny. She’d kept her sense of humor while bleeding out on the red carpet too. That trick alone deserved serious recognition.
“For the record, I’m going out on a limb to say you are anything but a pain, but since I don’t know you very well, I’ll reserve the right to backpedal.” Her eyes sparkled with humor.
“Sounds like a good plan,” he agreed with a nod.
She watched him for a few seconds, and it dawned on him that she’d left the door open wide for an invitation. He had an opportunity to get to know her better. The idea sounded as appealing as it was dangerous. At any other time or under nearly any other circumstances, he might have jumped at the chance, but with his current assignment, there was no way in hell to walk through this door. It was way past time to go back to his room. Stopping here may have been instinctual, but also amazingly stupid. He’d been doing laps around the floor and had been ready to drop by the time he got to her room. He’d had no idea she’d been down the hall the whole time. He pulled his legs up, ready to leave.
“Wait,” she said. “You’re not going are you? You just got here.”
“Yeah...” Troy said. “I don’t want to take up all your time.”
She snorted. “Oh, right. Because I’m so busy, having my pulse taken every twenty minutes.” She rolled her eyes. “Please. Stay. Unless you don’t want to,” she added.
Oh, he definitely wanted to, but he hoped he had more smarts than that.
“So, were you nominated the other night? Or working the event?”
“Nominated?” That suggestion surprised him. At thirty-six he was definitely past the prime of a professional athlete.
She blushed and the color chased away the hospital pallor of her complexion. “It’s possible,” she said a little defensively. “But even the staff wear tuxes so it’s hard to differentiate sometimes.” She waited for his response.
He clearly didn’t possess the smarts he thought he had because he stayed rooted to his spot. “No, I wasn’t nominated.”
She waited, and when he didn’t fill in any blanks, she lifted knowing eyebrows. “The silent type, are you? You’re one of those guys who don’t elaborate. You just answer the question and leave it at that. No extras?”
She wasn’t the first to call him on it. How many girlfriends had given up on him because of his silence, his refusal to open up? Imagine if any of them had known he’d actually gone months without uttering a word when he was a kid. Having learned to give the facts and only the facts starting at a very young age, he lifted the hand not in a sling and let the gesture say it all.
She laughed. “Okay. I can play this game.” She pointed her finger in his general direction. He’d seen the same mannerism on television but always thought it was the character she played. She seemed in the mood to grill him. He saw it coming a mile away. He shouldn’t have looked into the room as he’d walked by. It had been an accident, yes, but one that might get him into a ton of trouble. He couldn’t