Dare to Desire (2 page)

But he’d been getting antsy, especially with how close she was to his family, spending the Thanksgiving holiday with them. How stupid was he, fucking where he lived? He had an old man who’d married one woman while keeping another on the side. Was it any wonder Alex had done something so dumb?

The one and only time he’d let a woman close, she’d cut his heart out without thought. He’d sworn never again and thought he’d meant it. Only Madison had broken through those walls he’d erected, fitting in with his life too well, and it scared the shit out of him.

And now? He had no career, no future, and he sure as hell didn’t need to be worrying about a relationship of any kind.

“What are you doing here?” he’d asked her.

“I’m worried about you. I came to see if you’re okay.” Concern filled her big blue eyes, and she started toward him.

He held up a hand to stop her. “I’m fine.”

“Riley said—”

“I don’t care what Riley told you. I’m not your problem, got it?”

She visibly swallowed hard, the delicate muscles in her neck working up and down. “I thought you might need me.”

He managed a harsh laugh. “I’ve got my family. I don’t need you.”

“So we’re—”

“There is no we, sweetheart. It was fun. Now it’s over.”

Moisture filled her eyes, and in that moment, he hated himself.

“I forgot,” she said. “Alex Dare doesn’t do relationships.”

“Damned right,” he muttered.

She straightened her shoulders, backbone he’d sensed in her from the beginning taking over. “I was foolish for thinking I found someone human and real beneath the façade. You’re every bit the man whore the Internet and your reputation say you are.”

She started for the door, then turned back to face him. “You’re a cold-hearted selfish bastard too.” She stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

His head pounded at the noise, and he cursed out loud.

He could admit now that he deserved every word. There was no getting around the fact that until six months ago, he’d been exactly the man whore Madison had accused him of being. He hadn’t seen anything wrong with it either. All the women in his life up to that point had known what they were getting into.

Hell, he thought Madison had too, but that’s what he got for assuming. But he should have known better. She was different, and he’d always sensed it. Which must explain why he couldn’t get her out of his head, all these months later.

No other woman who’d graced his bed ever lingered in his mind. Except for the blonde-haired vixen he never should have fucked. At this point he was sure that concussion had scrambled his brains even worse than he’d thought. But he couldn’t deny that the memory of what he’d said to her shamed him, and it’d been a long time since he could remember feeling that particular emotion.

He slid out of bed and took a long, hot shower. He’d just stepped out when his phone rang.

He grabbed his cell from the counter. “What’s up?” he asked, answering at the same time he wrapped a towel around his waist.

“Good morning, Alex,” a familiar voice said.

“Ian, good to hear your voice.” Alex clenched his jaw, still not comfortable with any kind of relationship with his half brother.

For Riley, he reminded himself. Alex and Ian’s wife were best friends, childhood friends. He’d do anything for her, including deal with Ian. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Got a job proposition for you,” the other man said.

Alex blinked. “Are you seriously asking me to work for the opposition?” Until his injury, Alex had been the quarterback for the Tampa Breakers. Ian was the president of the Miami Thunder.

Half brothers. Rivals. In more ways than one.

“Not to rub it in, but you’re a free agent,” Ian said.

At least he hadn’t used the word
unemployed
. Because with his recent head injury, that’s exactly what he was, with no job prospects in sight. “Yeah,” Alex muttered.

“Are you available this morning? Your name came up, and Riley thinks you’d be perfect for what we need.”

Now Alex was intrigued. “You’ve got my attention. What time?”

“Eleven at the stadium,” Ian said.

“See you then.” It wasn’t like Alex had anything better to do.

*     *     *

Madison paced the confines of her boss’s office in the Miami Thunder Stadium. Ian Dare was intimidating on a good day. A day that would be defined as one where everyone agreed with Ian. Today wasn’t one of those days.

She’d been working with the Thunder for the past month, having given up social work for a hospital in exchange for starting up an exciting, groundbreaking program with the hometown football team.

She glanced at Ian, not happy with his most recent proclamation. “When I took this position, we agreed this program would change lives, right?” Madison asked.

Ian straightened his tie and met her gaze with those steely gray eyes. “It is. We’ll be the first football team to institute mandatory post-career education. The Thunder will make sure its players are capable of a successful physical, psychological, and social transition into the real world when their careers end. I don’t care if it’s one year into their contract or ten.”

She nodded. She would be in charge of getting the program up and running, her schooling and work history in social work and psychology providing the perfect background. She’d also thought she’d have a say in whomever came on board to work with her.

Apparently not.

She folded her arms across her chest. “So tell me how bringing the playboy athlete on board gels with those goals?” Then, realizing she spoke of his half brother, she cleared her throat. “No insult intended.”

“None taken.” The corner of Ian’s mouth lifted in a wry grin.

Dark-haired, buttoned-up men weren’t her type, but she’d have to be dead not to notice that Ian was one very sexy man and Riley was one very lucky woman.

“I’m aware you and Alex have … history,” Ian said.

“That’s a delicate way of expressing it.” Ian already knew she and Alex had history.

Madison wouldn’t be surprised if Riley had filled him in on the ugly ending. They shared everything.

Madison had met Riley in her former position as a social worker for domestic abuse victims at the hospital. She’d briefly been Riley’s therapist and had ended up being her closest friend. She knew why Riley never kept Ian in the dark and respected it.

“You’re a professional. If you set your mind to something, I have no doubt you can handle working with Alex,” Ian said.

Madison raised her eyebrows. “Do not try and win me over with platitudes and compliments.”

“Are you saying you can’t work with him?” Ian asked.

Madison laughed. “You must really be used to people you can bullshit. Now you’re trying to challenge me into accepting him.”

He grinned, stunning her. “Is it working?”

“What do you think?” Madison let out a heavy sigh.

She was a pro at protecting herself from hurt and abandonment, and as a result, she chose the men she let into her life carefully. They couldn’t get to her on any level except sexually. No chance of being hurt when things ended. From the second she’d laid eyes on Alex standing by Riley’s hospital bed, she’d pegged his type. Cocky and full of himself. She’d bruised his ego when she hadn’t let on that she’d recognized the infamous womanizing quarterback. Why should she? The battered female in the bed had been her only concern despite his sexy good looks.

But months later, when they’d begun their fling—she refused to call it a relationship now—Madison had warned herself that all she was to him was
a game
. And yet she’d allowed her hormones, his charm, and their mutual chemistry to override common sense.

She’d let her heart betray her. And she’d paid for that in spades, she thought, remembering the days of hurt and pain after he’d callously tossed her out of his hospital room, never to be heard from again.

“Who better to co-chair this program than someone whose career has been sidelined by unexpected injury?” Ian’s deep voice broke into her thoughts.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe someone who takes life seriously?” she spat.

But his injury
had
been serious, she knew. She could still hear the crack of his helmet against the ground in the instant replay.

Ian cleared his throat. “He’s lost without football. He needs direction. And he’s in a unique position to bring perspective to the players you’ll be trying to reach. He’d be the perfect person to talk to the league when we’re ready to try to convince them to make this type of program mandatory for all teams.”

Madison studied Ian closely. His jaw was set tight, his eyes narrowed. Being close to Riley gave her insight into the man. And she knew that before meeting Riley, Ian had wanted nothing to do with his half sibling. He’d resented his father’s
other
family, especially Alex.

“Who are you trying to convince this is the right move? Me? Or yourself?” Madison asked.

Ian stiffened, and she knew she was right. “This is Riley’s idea, isn’t it? She’s worried about Alex, and she asked you to offer him this opportunity.” Disappointment settled heavily in her heart.

“Every time you speak, you convince me you’re the right woman to spearhead this effort. You’re intuitive. And you’re correct.”

“Nice. So Riley threw me under the bus for him.”

“You know Riley better than that,” Ian said, his tone sharp as he defended his wife. “She gives her loyalty and love to few people, and you’re one of them.”

Madison blinked. “So why isn’t she here telling me herself?” She couldn’t help being hurt and blindsided.

“She’s home sick or she would be.”

Madison swallowed hard. “Do I get a say in this, or is it a done deal?” she asked Ian.

He met her gaze. “You’re in charge. You decide who to hire. Ultimately, it’s between you and Alex to decide.”

But it was clear to her that both Ian and Riley wanted her to give Alex a chance. “I need to think about this.”

Ian glanced at his watch. Then he cleared his throat. “You’ve got fifteen minutes. Alex will be in the conference room at eleven.”

“Keep him busy till 11:15,” she muttered.

Madison headed back to her office, frustration, anxiety, and more than a hint of jitters in her stomach over the prospect of seeing Alex again. But this meeting was the least of her problems, and she paced the carpeted floor, pondering the real issue at hand. Could she work side by side with Alex, day after day, remembering what it felt like to have him deep inside her body?

She shivered at the reminder, her nerve endings alive and tingling at the prospect of seeing him again.

Despite how badly he’d hurt her, she still wanted him. And wasn’t that the worst part? She, who’d trained herself at an early age not to want or need anyone or anything, still responded to the mere thought of Alex Dare.

*     *     *

Alex liked the Thunder Dome. The new stadium was a hell of a lot nicer than the Breakers’ home in Tampa, not that he’d be caught dead admitting such a thing out loud. Still, he couldn’t help the disappointment clouding him, being in a stadium and knowing he was unable to play. It was one thing to make the decision with his rational mind, protecting himself from bodily injury that would affect his entire life. Quite another to emotionally accept that he’d lost the thing he loved most in the world. The game had defined him from the time he’d picked up a football as a kid and had carried him through losing what he’d thought was his first love. And he had stupidly thought he’d leave the game on his own terms.

Apparently not.

Alex followed the directions left for him at the guardhouse and ended up at Ian’s office. It was the first time he’d come to his half brother’s place of business, and his skin itched with the feeling that something big was about to take place, even if he didn’t know what
it
was.

He walked in to find the office as imposing as the man himself. Alex and Ian couldn’t be more different in personality—Ian stiff and uptight, Alex easygoing and relaxed.

“Thanks for coming,” Ian said, extending his hand.

Alex shook it hard. Man to man, he thought wryly and settled into a chair, making himself comfortable. Sitting across from Ian, Alex acknowledged how far their relationship had progressed. They were in the same room and having a conversation. It was huge.

“Before we go into the conference room, I wanted to fill you in on the proposition I have for you.”

“I’m listening.”

Ian inclined his head. “You must realize that your injury brought to light the deficit in the league as far as preparing our players for life after the game.”

Alex stiffened, as he always did when talk of his career-ending concussion arose.

Ian ignored his reaction and went on. “The fact is, you could have continued to play, taken the risk, and down the road, you’d have been dealing with severe head trauma and mental deficits. You were smart enough to step back. Not a lot of guys are.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “You’re complimenting me?”

Ian rolled his eyes. “But now that you’re retired at the age of twenty-six, what do you plan to do with your life?” He held up a hand before Alex could answer. “Hang on. That question is part of why I asked you here. It’s also a question the league should want all players to consider
before
they’re injured and forced out of the game.”

“Where are you going with this?” Alex asked, warning himself not to get defensive.

Ian cleared his throat. “I plan to institute a training program that teaches the players to think about the future, do smart things with their money, and take informational classes that will prepare them for later on.”

Interested, Alex merely studied the other man and waited.

“Did you know seventy-eight percent of retired athletes are broke within two to five years?” Ian asked. Without waiting for an answer, he continued. “Statistics show fifty percent of ex-pro football player marriages end in divorce because couples aren’t ready for the pressures of life after the game. So I want spouses involved in preparation and education.”