Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Cosmos

W omen didn’t get flustered around him. They played many games to get his attention–seduction, temptation, even hard-to-get. None of them ever used being flustered as a technique, and he quickly realized that this wasn’t an act.

At least I didn’t touch her.

He leaned closer to her ear and whispered, “I would have preferred to ‘get rid of him’ by ‘taking him out’, but that wouldn’t be good for business.”

He watched her silver-eyed gaze judge his seriousness.

“Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Just realized I basically did the same thing as the tool did earlier by paying for your drink, whispering in your ear, and possibly giving you unwanted attention.”

“It’s ok,” she waved him off. “Coming from you it’s–”

He watched her blush deeper when she almost admitted she liked his attention, and he couldn’t avoid the small tip up at the corner of his mouth. “Did you enjoy the game?” He took a drink of his beer, his eyes never leaving hers .

“It was infinitely better after the fourth inning,” she commented.

Feisty and cheeky. I like it.

“I assume you’re happy with the results?” The comment could have meant both the removal of Mr. Rockstar and the Brewers rally in the ninth to win the game.

She took the game route. “What other result could there have been?” she replied. “I mean, you guys stole yesterday’s game on a bad balls and strikes call. We had no choice but to steal it back today.”

He barked out a sardonic laugh. “There’s always tomorrow.”

“Are you a baseball fan?” she asked. “Or just there because of your… friend?”

He swallowed another drink of his beer. “Not a friend. Client. But yes, I am a Cubs fan. And you are clearly a Milwaukee fan. Anyone other than Ashford give you a hard time?”

“Surprisingly, Chicago fans ignored me. I was prepared to have a duel of wits with unarmed opponents, but alas!”—she shrugged her shoulders, her arms raised with the palms up—“no one saw fit to challenge me.”

Her sense of humor was coming out as she got more comfortable talking to him. He liked her witty jabs. It was definitely worth the time to see where things went.

He held out his hand to her. “My friends call me Cosmos.”

“Abby,” she said with a smile as she placed her hand in his. “Are you planning to be my unarmed opponent?”

Throwing back his head, he heard a laugh come out of him he hadn’t heard in a long time. It felt good. “Challenge accepted, Miss Abby.”

Abigail

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

I’d love to devour you .

Instead, she answered, “I could eat.”

Cosmos made a hand gesture to Friday, which she returned with a nod and a shout over the bar noise. “I’ll let Ron know you need a table. In or up?”

“Up.”

Friday made a clicking noise with her mouth, pointed at him, winked at Abby, and headed down the bar lane to talk to her manager.

“So what do you do, exactly?” she asked.

She watched him finish his beer and then slide himself into the space between her and the man sitting on the stool next to her. “I run a protection service company. We train security staff for bars and clubs. We also provide security details for events or individuals. Say you’re a politician who comes to town and you bring a wife who wants to run around the city while you’re doing business, but she’s unfamiliar with the area. You hire one of us to escort her around.”

“Babysitting for wealthy adults?”

“Sometimes, yes.”

“And then sometimes you get people like Mr. Mouth?”

He laughed. “Mr. Mouth?”

“It’s what I called him in my head. He seemed like he was being a handful.”

“I don’t know about a handful, but he was definitely being a tool.”

“I won’t argue with you there.” Abby grabbed her soda to take another sip. “So what kind of client allows their agent to manhandle them out of a sold-out stadium?”

“One that spends a lot of time in public but doesn’t know how to behave when in it.”

She nodded her head knowingly. “A celebrity.”

He pointed a finger at her and winked.

“Hmm.” She pursed her lips and furrowed her brow, looking off into the distance. “I didn’t recognize him. Should I have?”

“Not creaming your jeans, sweet thing? His ego will never recover. ”

Abby laughed. “Yuck! Gawd, no. Should I have recognized him?”

Cosmos gave her his assessment. “Depends. Do you like hard rock music?”

She shrugged. “I can take it or leave it.”

“Then probably not.”

“Good. I’d feel stupid if he was like some mega-star. Clueless on movie stars and musicians. I can’t even remember the last time I watched a show that wasn’t a local sports show, ESPN, or MLB Network. Unless he’s a baseball player, and one of mine to boot, I’d likely have no clue.”

“One of yours?”

“I’m a PA for a few of the Brewer players. The younger ones who’ve just come up from the minors, or the ones who go up and down with injuries, whatever.”

“So, this is a work trip?”

“No. I usually take a weekend and go to watch a series somewhere. I’m back in my cubicle on Monday.”

“Well, today’s Saturday, so we’re short on time.”

Abby understood what he was saying without saying it. Did she want this? A weekend fling with a hot man she met just hours ago?

Duh! What a stupid question!