Love on the Highlight Reel (Connecticut Kings Book 2) (28 page)

I hoped that wouldn’t ever fade.

“What can I do for the Kings’ front office?” he asked, following the physical therapist’s directive for him to sit up. It was after practice, in the recovery room. I’d interrupted his session.

“Well,” I started, walking up. “It’s more about what the Kings can do for you.” I sat down on an empty table as the perky blonde therapist started massaging Jordan’s legs. “Can we have a moment, please?”

She turned around, giving me a look so hostile it caught me off guard. “We’re trying to work here. Can it wait?”

I felt my lip curling up when Jordan intervened. “Yo, I was just about to tell you I needed a little break anyway Rebecca. It’s cool.”

“Are you sure, JJ? Your recovery is important to me, and we can’t skimp.”

Is that a vein twitching at the side of my head?

“Yeah. I’m gonna holler at Cole for a minute, and then we can finish.”

“Okay. Don’t try to sneak off without letting me finish your massage.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Rebecca
shot me another scowl, then sashayed off, ponytail bouncing as she went.

I looked at Jordan. “Did she just…”

Jordan chuckled. “Yeah. She sure damn did.”

“I’m gonna just pretend that didn’t happen.” I pushed out a sigh, then straightened up. “So… how’s the shoulder?”

Jordan lifted an eyebrow as he leaned back on his elbows, looking me over like he was thinking about snatching my clothes off. “It’s good. But you’ve already talked to the team doctor about that.”

“Busted,” I grinned. “They say you’re good as new, but I wanted to hear it from you. How are you feeling now that Trent is back? Are you happier?”

“I’m good.”

I huffed. “Is that going to be your answer for everything? “Good”?”

“That’s all I have for Cole from the front office, beautiful.”

“I see. So… no chance that I could get a little hint on if you still intend to leave the team if rings don’t happen this year?”

“Nope.”

“No chance that I can drop a bug in your ear about what we’ll offer to keep you?”

He grinned, shaking his head. “Nope. Talk to Margo.”

I looked around, making sure nobody’s attention was on us before I gave him a playful pout. “What fun is being your girlfriend if you wanting to get inside of me isn’t incentive to answer my questions?”

Jordan laughed, then pulled his lip between his teeth, a move that made me clench my thighs. It was easy to see why Rebecca was eager get back to touching on him. He was in nothing but compression shorts and a matching tee – the fabric of both molded to his body, leaving nothing to the imagination.

“There’s no fun in it,” he answered. “We keep it separate so we don’t get the two twisted, Ms. Richardson. Remember?”

“Uh huh. Tell Rebecca
I’m
finishing your massage.”

“She’ll beat you up,” Jordan teased.

“I will sling her around by that perky little ponytail,” I whispered, noticing that she had her nosy face aimed right at us. “Anyway,” I said as I stood, stepping so that my back was to her, and blocking Jordan. “Point taken. I’ll talk to Margo.”

“Aiight.” My face heated as Jordan’s eyes landed on my breasts, then drifted lower, to the juncture of my thighs. “I like your pants.
They make your pussy look fat
,” he whispered, then grinned.

“
Look
?” I asked, then winked. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Johnson.”

“You’re welcome, Ms. Richardson. Hey, you know what’s coming up next week, right?”

I nodded. “The game against Seattle.”

Jordan sucked his teeth. “
And
?”

“
And
… your birthday.”

He bit his lip again. “Yeah. So what are you getting me?”

“Whatever you want,” I shot back.

A wicked grin spread over his face, and he sat all the way up. “
Whatever
?”

I shrugged, then gave him an affirmative nod before I turned and walked away. “Whatever.”

Thank God this is almost over.

I fidgeted in my seat, waiting for the server to hurry and bring the check. I was at the end of yet another seemingly end
less
lunch meeting with other team execs. While I could respect what my father was trying to do – foster relationships across all subsections of the team’s corporate structure – these meetings were… boring. And they cut into time I could actually be working. I couldn’t wait until he sent out the feedback survey for
this
particular venture, so I could tell him exactly that.

I sighed.

At least I got a free lunch though.

That was reason enough to smile as the server finally returned, and the meal went onto the corporate dime. I spent another long ten minutes on drawn out goodbyes, then excused myself to the ladies room, insisting I could find my own midday transportation back to the office.

Hell no
I didn’t want to share a cab.

I was stepping out of the ladies room, on my way to call my own car when a familiar voice called my name. I stopped in my tracks, hoping I was imagining it, but a second later, there he was, right in front of me.
Cedrick Michael Rochester,
the third.

All I wanted to do was melt through the floor.

“Nicole, how are you?” he asked, in that accent I used to find inexplicably sexy, but now just grated on my nerves.

I extended a hand toward him. “I’m wonderful, Cedrick. You?”

“The same. But I don’t know why you’re offering me your hand. We were engaged, Nicole. Surely you can a spare a hug?”

Ugh.

Did he have to bring that up? We’d pulled the plug on that years ago, after I realized how completely mortified I was at the prospect of marrying this man. The only reason I’d said yes was because he wouldn’t stop hounding me about it, and even then, we hadn’t even made an announcement before I called it off.

“Uh… sure,” I said, allowing him to pull me into a hug that was way too tight, with his hands way too low, and lasted way too long – a whole four seconds, cause I was counting, waiting for him to let me go. I squirmed away from him, giving a tight smile.

“So how have you been,” he asked, looking me over. “I haven’t heard from you in a while. I uh… thought we had an arrangement?”

Ugh.

To his credit – and maybe mine – Cedrick
was
a handsome man. Golden skin, chiseled features, nice teeth, all of that. But keeping with what seemed to be my theme for the day, he was
boring.
The sex was decent though, hence our continued arrangement, even after the engagement thing failed.

But then…

“Well, we
did
Cedrick, but you know how protective I am over my team.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re still pissed off about that segment on my show?”

“Oh, you know me,” I grinned. “I’ve always been
very
good at holding a grudge.”

Cedrick was the host of
Zone Report
, a sports-centered news show that catered to an international audience, but was based here on the east coast. Cedrick was open about his preference for soccer over American football, but usually kept it pretty neutral… until a few months ago.

For whatever reason – perhaps my waning interest in mediocre dick – he’d decided to direct his ire at the Kings. We’d immediately not done very well in preseason, but not badly enough for him to go on air, blasting the whole team, with specific vitriol towards Jordan.

I didn’t take it well.

“You know I have to present a well-rounded view. Can’t show any bias.”

“Is that what you’ve told yourself?” I asked, tipping my head to the side. “Because you’ve been conspicuously silent about the current winning streak. But you know, don’t answer that. The point is, you said what you said, I didn’t like it, so here we are.”

A smirk unfolded on his face. “Here we are. And now that I’ve run into you, looking gorgeous as ever… I’m hoping we can find ourselves somewhere else. Somewhere private.”

“You can’t be serious,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “You think I’m going to just jump in bed with you after months… just like that?”

He shrugged. “I can guarantee some positive coverage of your team. As a matter of fact,” – he produced a cell phone from his pocket, contained in some strange, techy looking case that made me think about Naima and Margo calling him James Bond – “You can give me a sound bite now, and then we’ll see what could happen from there.”

I wasn’t even shocked by the arrogance or delusion – it had always been there, and I didn’t care. He had a purpose, I used him for it, and kept it moving – which is what I was about to do now.

“You ready?” I asked, smiling right up into his face. He nodded, then held the phone out to me, and I could see the recording animation on the screen. “Have a nice life, Cedrick.”

I turned on my heels and walked away, leaving him standing there looking as stupid as I hoped he felt.

“SO WAIT!! Is this man like… a ghost? WTF do you have me reading Cole? – Naima.”

I chuckled at my phone, then typed back:
“It’s paranormal romance. Expand your horizons bitch. He’s not a ghost, he’s just… Aram. He’s strong and sexy and can fuck you without being in the room. Basically, he’s everything.”

“This shit is weird. But I can’t stop reading it. – Naima.”

“I’ve never steered you wrong with a book, now have I?”

I looked up from messaging back and forth with Naima when my doorbell rang, and glanced at the clock. It was just after seven in the evening – not exactly late, but I wasn’t expecting company. I’d eaten, showered, and dressed for bed before snuggling under a blanket on my couch with a glass of wine. Somebody was disturbing my damned peace.

I kept my phone in my hand in case something went sideways, and crept to the door to check the peephole. A smile spread over my face as soon as I recognized the hoodie-wearing figure on the other side.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, as soon as the door opened. “You have a game tomorrow. You’re supposed to be on a plane.”

Jordan shrugged, flashing those dimples at me as he eased past me and into my apartment. “I needed one more kiss first,” he said, pushing the door closed. “And I’m glad I did, so I could see
this
.” He tugged at my top, then met my gaze with a smile. “You got something to tell me?”

“Absolutely not,” I countered, crossing my arms in a futile attempt to hide the
J. Johnson
jersey I was wearing, with nothing else except my panties. “Don’t you judge me for what I wear when I’m home alone.”

He shook his head, then wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close. “No judgement. I’m flattered.”

I melted into him as he lowered his mouth to mine, shamelessly savoring the minty, manly taste of his lips and tongue. I whimpered as he lowered his hands, grabbing my ass to pull my hips into him, against a growing erection I knew we probably didn’t have time to do anything about.