Free The Girl With Diamonds (Midtown Brotherhood Book 2) by Savannah Blevins

couldn’t smile at her like that. His non-flirting smile as if he had any other kind of smile. One he saved just for her.
    He eyed her for a long moment before finally nodding. “Point taken. I was about to apologize to you for that Saturday when—”
    “Ferocia saw us together, and decided to turn your practical joke into a reality soap opera for her website?”
    Austin clicked his tongue. “You saw the site.”
    It wasn’t a question. He was merely disappointed.
    She held her wine glass up in fake excitement. “One million hits and counting.”
    He growled at the notion, and it eased her annoyance. That website bothered him too. Good. Her future depended on their ability to put this behind them and move on.
    His finger rubbed the bottom on the glass in his hand, his voice low. “She must have noticed us at the game, and then saw the video. We have to be more careful.”
    Magnolia almost laughed. “We? There isn’t a ‘we’ in this scenario.”
    “Of course there is a ‘we.’ You’re part of the Rangers family now. I told you we’re friends with all the reporters.”
    She scoffed, and he turned around in his seat to face her. “What?”
    She moved in closer, challenging him. “Look me in the eye, Austin Blakely, and tell me you had my friendship on your mind when you eyed me up and down like a new play toy that night.”
    Austin bit his lip, that same spark flashing in his eyes that she had seen in him just before the interview. “You’re making this worse.”
    “Answer me.”
    He released a sigh as if giving in to her demand was difficult. “I made a mistake in judgment that night.”
    She held firm, her nose, her lips, all of it mere inches from him. “That isn’t what I asked you.”
    Austin jerked her seat around, pulling the stool between his legs, blocking her in. “What do you want? Do you want me to admit I’m attracted to you? That I saw you that night in the bathroom in the staff hallway before the game?”
    Magnolia’s mouth fell open. “What?”
    His gaze dropped down to her lips. “That I watched you fuss over your make-up and give yourself a pep talk.”
    She jerked back an inch. “What the hell were you doing in the women’s restroom?”
    He ignored her. The tips of his fingers brushed the side of her thighs. “Do you want me to tell you I can’t stop thinking about you? Your legs in that skirt. Those glasses. Because I do. I think about it a lot.”
    She pursed her lips and pushed away from him. She deliberately moved her seat back into position a safe distance away.
    “I’m a guy, Magnolia. I know I appear cocky and overly confident to you, but that’s because if I didn’t tell myself I am those things, I’d never get the nerve to open my mouth in front of a girl like you. I saw you that night in the bathroom. I thought you were cute, and when you showed up at the interview all wide eyed and feisty…well, I went a little overboard. I’m sorry.”
    She was engulfed in him. Even feet away, he was all she could see. The chatter faded around them. A stale backdrop compared to the blazing green eyes staring at her now. She set her chin. “I need this to stop.”
    “This? Why? This is fun.”
    Her lips pressed together. “You’re doing it all over again. You’re toying with me.”
    Austin laughed. “What you don’t realize is that it’s mutual. Right now. That night before the interview. You conned me out of my shirt, for Christ’s sake.”
    Magnolia gritted her teeth. Damn it, he was right. She started it, and now she needed to finish it. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. It wasn’t intentional.”
    “Don’t.”
    “What?”
    “Don’t apologize for that. I won’t accept it.”
    He was so damn frustrating. Irresistible and insufferable combined in one giant pristine wrapper of perfection. “And why not?”
    “Because I liked it. I liked it then, and like it now.”
    She took in a breath and held it for a moment. “This isn’t a game.”
    “But