Dreaming Of Your Love (Hollywood Legends #3) (29 page)

“I
came to grips with that reality the first time you knocked me off my feet.”

“Then
kissed you.”

“Best
day of my life. Until now.” Colt unzipped her dress, caressing her warm, silky
back. “I love you, Sable. Attitude and all. If you promise to kiss it and make
it better, you can kick my ass anytime you like.”

“WHO WANTS TO knock the sexiest man alive on his ass?”

“When I said you could do this
anytime you wanted, I meant you and me, in the privacy of our bedroom.” Colt
lowered his voice. “You know. Foreplay? These women mean business.”

Damn straight, they did. This was
Sable’s new business. When a woman signed up for a class, she was taught how to
take care of herself against all comers. When Colt volunteered to help, he knew
what he was getting into.

“Fine.” Sable turned to the class.
“Ladies. Mr. Landis will be starting production of a new movie next week.

There was a squeal of excitement
from several women, followed by a buzz of conversation.

“Ladies.” One word from Sable and
they quieted, but the hum of energy remained. “This is a multi-million-dollar
face.” She took Colt’s chin between her thumb and forefinger, turning his head
for the women to admire. “No damage, please. Besides, I’m rather fond of it. So
for my sake, be careful.”

“I love you, too,” Colt muttered
as he waited to play attacker. But the twinkle in his blue eyes took the edge
off his words.

Sable wasn’t worried about Colt.
He knew how to take a fall. One woman. One demonstration. Then he would leave.
He was meeting his mother for lunch and had stopped by to say hello.
Commandeering his services had been a spur of the moment impulse. And Colt, no
matter what he said, was happy to oblige.

Lord, he was beautiful. And so
sweet with the women in her class. Colt took the time to speak with each
one—drawing them out with his trademark charm. Her heart melted when he shook
the hand of a shy fan, bringing a blush to the woman’s cheeks. If Sable hadn’t
already been in love, that would have done it.

The decision to start teaching
self-defense classes full time had been an easy decision. The response from the
one Jade had organized had been overwhelmingly positive. With some help from
her friends, Sable had put out feelers—to get an idea if there was interest.
She had to turn away applicants. Plans were in place to hire more
instructors—women Sable knew from her Army days. But for now, she was happy to
start small and build a solid reputation.

Colonel Montgomery resigned his
commission. End of story. Sable’s father had kept them up to date. At first,
Montgomery tried to bluster his way through, convinced he was too important—too
well connected. He soon discovered there was no support to be had. He was left
with two choices. Leave with a full pension, or face charges. In the end, there
was no choice. He retired. Scandal averted.

The story died down in Hollywood
because Sable refused to speak out. Requests for her to tell her side stopped
when they realized no meant no. She wasn’t waiting for a better offer. Money
wasn’t the issue. As far as she was concerned, it was over—and she wanted it to
stay that way.

Colt graciously let the volunteer
send him to the mat. Applause followed, and Sable ended the class. Reluctantly,
the women gathered their things, talking excitedly as they exited the room.

“Thank you.” Sable handed Colt a
bottle of water. The small refrigerator was one of the reasons she had chosen
this space to rent. Another plus was the convenient location. Sable liked being
able to walk to work each morning. There was room to expand when she was ready,
and the owner was open to making renovations.

“My pleasure. I got to spend part
of the day with you, and look.” He did an impressive pirouette. “No bruises.”

“Are you sure?” Sable wrapped her
arms around his waist, snuggling close. “Tonight I better check. Just in case.”

“Now that you mention it, there’s
a spot right here.” Colt pointed to his inner thigh. “Want to see?”

“Yes.” Sable laughed when Colt’s
hands went for the waistband of his sweats. “Later. You don’t want to keep your
mother waiting.”

“No. And we’re meeting Alex and
Dani for dinner, right?”

Alex and his wife, Dani, were in
Los Angeles on business. He had taken Sable’s suggestion about hiring more
women to heart and wanted to get her input. The couple used it as an excuse to
visit. Sable looked forward to seeing her friends.

“He’s going to ask you to come
back to work.”

“And I’ll tell him the same thing
I have every other time. I’m willing to do the occasional freelance job. A day
or two at most. But not full time.” Sable gave Colt a lingering kiss. “I’ll
miss Harper Falls and my friends. But this is my home. With you.”

“Because you love me.” Colt rubbed
his cheek against hers.

“With all my heart.”

Sable looked into his eyes, the
blue deeper than usual. This was home. Right here, in Colt’s arms.

COMING IN JUNE

After the Fire (One Pass Away Book Three)—Gaige’s story

COMING IN JULY

Dreaming Again (Hollywood Legends Book Four)—Wyatt’s story

COMING IN AUGUST

An exciting new series.

Flowers on the Wall (Hart of Rock and Roll Book One)

And in December look for Callie and Caleb’s story

Dreaming of a White Christmas (Hollywood Legends Book Five)

(One Pass Away Book One)

LOGAN. LOGAN. LOGAN.

Logan Price closed his eyes, taking it all in.

“Hear that, kid?” Starting quarterback Gaige Benson slapped
him on the back. “Two games under your belt and you’re a star. Now let’s go out
there and add super to the front of it.”

The announcer for the team set them in motion down the
tunnel with his familiar introduction.

“And now, let’s hear it for your division champion
SEATTLE
KNIGHTS
.”

The roar of the crowd. There was nothing like it. A packed
stadium. Fans chanting his name. Few people would ever experience what it was
like to take the field in a professional football game.

Logan Price had been working for this his entire life. He
could still remember in exact detail the first game he ever saw. Too small to
climb onto the stool in his father’s bar by himself, his old man had lifted him
onto the seat.

Stay and be quiet
.

Not an easy order to follow for an active, inquisitive
little boy. One glance at the game and for once, Logan had no problem following
his father’s command. The old TV transported him to a foreign world filled with
bright lights and shiny helmeted warriors. Logan didn’t know what he was
watching. He did know he wanted to be one of those men.

A Sunday afternoon in rural Oklahoma.
Lefty’s Pub
was
filled with after-church drinkers who figured they had done their duty to God
and family. The rest of the day was their time. A beer. Or two. Or six. Cronies
who understood a man’s need to unwind before the start of another workweek.

And football.

If the Friday night high school game was their true
religion, the Sunday afternoon games were a close second. As Oklahoma boys,
they hated anything Texas. The men of Denville gathered every week to root for
whichever team was playing the Dallas Cowboys.

No matter how the games ended. Whether the crowd was happy
or disgruntled. It meant more drinking. Hours later, husbands, boyfriends, and
sons would stumble out, pile into beat-up trucks, and weave their way home to
frustrated wives, girlfriends, and mothers.

As he grew older, Logan’s view changed. He moved from the
stool to behind the bar. And he promised himself one thing. He would never
become one of those men. He wouldn’t spend the week at a job he hated. His home
wouldn’t be a semi-wide trailer filled with hand-me-down furniture and a wife to
whom he couldn’t face going home.

His Sundays were going to be spent playing football, not
watching it.

“Ready to take down this vaunted Arizona defense?” Gaige
yelled at him, butting helmets.

Vaunted
. Good word, Logan thought. His QB liked to
use what his granny called highfalutin talk. Must have been that Ivy League
education. He knew that Gaige Benson didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in his
mouth. He came from the mean streets of Brooklyn. He had the scars to prove it.

Like Logan, Gaige had vowed to get out of the life into
which he was born. In the process, he polished himself up like a new penny. He
took advantage of his full-ride scholarship to Yale. He didn’t spend all his
time on the football field. Fancy vocabulary. Fancy clothes. Fancy women. They
were all part of the package Gaige purposefully fashioned for himself.

Seventeen years after clawing his way out of the tenement
that he grew up in, very little of that borough-rat remained. Until game time.
No one was tougher than Gaige Benson. Three-time league MVP. Considered one of
the best ever to play the game. No one stood in his way when he was playing the
game. He had the scars to prove it.

“Gather round.”

Knights head coach Harry Coleman gathered the team close. He
had to yell over the crowd, but he had the voice to do it. Booming was putting
it mildly. The first time Logan heard it, he stood right beside the man. The
ringing in his ears didn’t go away for three days.

“Divisional game. If I have to say any more than that, you
shouldn’t be out here. Go kick some ass.”

The defense took the field to start the game. Arizona had a
rookie quarterback drafted in the second round from a small college in the Midwest.
The only reason he was out there was because the regular starter suffered a
concussion in last week’s game and the regular backup had food poisoning.
Thrown into action at the last minute, Logan swore he could see the guy’s hands
shaking before he took the first snap. When the ball went sailing between his
legs, Logan shook his head.

The moment was too big for some people. For Logan, it wasn’t
big enough. He aimed for the biggest stage of all. The Super Bowl. It wasn’t a
matter of
if
he would get there, but when.

“Three and out.” Gaige grinned, pulling on his helmet. “Come
on, kid. Let’s go show them how it’s done.”

Logan ran onto the field.
Kid
. He shook his head,
grinning. From the first day of training camp, Gaige had hung that moniker on
him. Ironic since he was almost twenty-five, a good two years older than most
of the other rookies. However, he supposed when someone had been in the league
as long as Gaige, all the new guys seemed like kids.

“We’re starting on the ground,” Gaige instructed them in the
huddle. “Sweep out left. Basic. Got it?”

Lining up as he had a thousand other times, Logan checked
the defense. He knew he was fast. One of the fastest in the game. What set him
apart was his anticipation. He had the uncanny ability to read the guy covering
him. He knew when to fake left or when to fake right. Stutter step or flat out,
in your face, catch me if you can.

His speed got him out of Denville, Oklahoma. His brains and
determination got him to the NFL.

The sounds of the game were as familiar to Logan as the back
of his own hand. The call from scrimmage. Each quarterback had his own unique
cadence. Gaige was a master of mixing his up. Study him all you want. Good luck
figuring it out. His teammates knew. A signal just before they broke the
huddle.

Pay attention, you were golden. Slack off even once? Gaige could
ream a guy out with the best of them. And he had no problem doing it in the
middle of the game.

An entire YouTube channel had been devoted to Gaige and his
rants. They were as legendary as the man himself. With a ball in his hand, he
was cool as ice. The rest of the time, watch out.

No one would ever accuse Logan of lacking focus. Today was
no exception. They were driving down the field. First and ten from the Arizona
twenty-yard line. He already had three carries for at least thirty-five yards
each. It was going to be a good day.

“Ready to take it in?” Gaige asked.

“Always.”

“Then show them what you’ve got.”

A quick snap later, Gaige handed the ball to Logan. The
offensive line created a seam. Not a big one. Just big enough. Using the push
of his powerful legs, Logan surged through. One more step. They wouldn’t catch
him. No one could.

Like everything connected with the game, Logan heard the
snap of the bone with total clarity. The agony that surged through his body was
so intense he almost passed out. In the next few minutes, he was going to wish
he had.

“Get back.” Logan heard Gaige through the haze of pain. “Goddamn
it. Move the hell off.”

The three-hundred-and-fifty-pound linebacker didn’t get off
by standing. He rolled. Crushing Logan’s broken leg as he went. He would never
know if the move had been deliberate. Now, it was the last thing on his mind.
He only cared about two things. How bad was the injury and when would he be
able to play again.

“Hold on, kid.” Gaige took his hand. “They’re bringing the
stretcher.”

The team doctor checked his eyes. Logan knew he was asked
some questions. What they were and how he answered, he would never remember. By
the time they carted him off the field, Logan knew the break was bad.

“Gaige.” Logan reached for him.

“I’m here, kid.”

“Is it over?”

“The game?” Gaige walked with him, his head bent toward
Logan. “No. But I promise we’re going to win the bastard.”

They loaded him onto the open cart. They had him secured and
the vehicle rolled away before Logan had his answer. He wasn’t wondering about
the game. It was his career.

To no one in particular, he whispered the question again.

“Is it over?”

AFTER THE RAIN—NOW AVAILABLE