Maid to Fit (11 page)

After positioning the boy behind the girl, Ronnie put the boy’s hands on the girl’s
waist and said, “Pick her up and stand her on your shoulders.”

“I…I can’t,” the boy said after a moment.

Kaitlyn came over and began working with them on using his hands as a step to allow
the girl to get up and around onto his shoulders. Then she helped hold the girl in
place. The girl and boy were both wobbly and Ronnie motioned for the girl to get back
down. They
all
needed balance and strength training.

“Go get a bar with twenty-five pounds on each end and bring it back in here. I want
you to walk the length of that bottom bleacher row in a straight line while doing
curls,” he said to the boy. “Congratulations,
private
, you just made the team.”

The girls began cheering and congratulating the boy and a couple of them even hugged
him. The boy stood stunned for a minute before looking over at his buddies, who seemed
jealous of all the attention the boy was receiving from the girls. Then the boy smiled
at Ronnie and headed out of the gym.

A few of the other boys walked over to the mat now, including Chase and Stevie. Ronnie
watched them for a minute as the girls tried to explain how to do some of the flips
and then demonstrated them. Chase seemed to catch on fairly quickly and was able to
complete part of the flips, though not well.

“You ladies have two weeks to get these boys doing those flips or we move on to the
next group of boys. We don’t have time for
wannabes
. They either cut it or they’re out. Boys, be prepared to work or join the ranks of
your football team and just give up now.”

“Let’s see
you
do these flips,
Sarge
,” Stevie said sarcastically.

For once, being the only boy right in the middle of four girls while growing up would
pay off. When Ronnie was little, the only reason his older sisters let him anywhere
near
them was because he could do these kinds of flips when they could not. He couldn’t
remember what half of the flips were called but knew he could still do a couple of
them, and a lot better than the boys who were left in the gym.

He walked into the middle of the mat and the remaining boys all backed away from him.
When there was enough room, he did the one flip that had made his sisters crazy jealous,
which didn’t even require running. After he landed and watched the boys’ jaws drop
open, he said, “What now, bitches?”

Most of the kids started laughing so he headed over to the bottom bleacher where the
other boy was now standing holding the barbell. Ronnie could feel the eyes of the
entire group of kids on him. He wasn’t the type who would order others to do what
he couldn’t or wouldn’t do himself. That philosophy had earned him respect in the
army and would hopefully do the same in this situation.

Two weeks. He could handle coaching these kids while keeping this whole thing quiet
for two weeks…or at least until they found a new coach.

Chapter Six

“Addie, I’m home!” Kayla yelled as she entered the house.

“Hey, Mom! I’m in here eating and then I have to get ready for the game. Ronnie left
some dinner in the microwave for you. He went to go visit Sergeant Buck and will meet
us at the football field,” Addie yelled from the kitchen.

It felt great to walk into a clean house and find a happy child after having been
gone all week. Though Kayla had told him not to, she could tell Ronnie had been there
doing what he did so well—making her house cozy.

She had stopped off to see her mother before heading home. The camera Ronnie had set
up in her mother’s room had proved to be a priceless stress reliever. Over the past
couple of days she hadn’t seen anything damning but she’d only been watching from
time to time and mostly during the evening. Her mother’s face was still black and
blue and the nurse insisted it would take a little while to heal.

She had been surprised to see Ronnie in her mother’s room the day after he hooked
up the camera. During a break, she had logged into the camera’s website so she could
check on things and had watched as Ronnie placed a vase holding a few fresh-cut flowers
on a small table near her mother’s bed. Her mother had been all smiles and Kayla couldn’t
help but smile, as well. He probably hadn’t realized her mother wouldn’t remember
his visit five minutes after he left, but it was still thoughtful.

“How was your week?” she asked Addie as she entered the kitchen.

“It was good. I got my first quarter report card today. Nothing lower than a B. I
was an angel for Tori and even helped her out a little around the house. She
so
needs a Ronnie. Oh, and I think you will be surprised how much better our cheering
is now,” Addie said excitedly. “How was your week?”

“I wowed the client, of course. They aren’t going
anywhere
. I think it was simply a demand for undivided attention, which I gave them plenty
of, and all is well again. I certainly missed you, though,” Kayla replied, kissing
the top of Addie’s head. It felt so good to have her life back in control again and
all of it was thanks to Ronnie. She paid him to do all of this, but still… It was
wonderful and she was grateful to him for it.

“Maybe Ronnie can come over after the game and we can do popcorn and a movie, just
the three of us. I missed you, Mom, but I have
got
to go get ready and you need to eat up,” Addie said cheerfully, and then headed out
of the kitchen. A moment later Kayla heard Addie racing up the stairs.

Ronnie thankfully hadn’t mentioned their upcoming
date
to Addie. After heating her dinner, Kayla sat down to eat and sift through the pile
of mail from the past week. Taking Ronnie’s suggestion, she kept those bills she needed
to pay or information she needed to do something with and threw everything else out.
She finished eating, put the bills she needed to enter on her desk and headed out
to the car to grab her bags and carry them into the laundry room.

Just as she finished up, Addie came back down the stairs. Kayla couldn’t help but
think that Addie actually looked more like a typical cheerleader than she had before.
Maybe it was her stance or some new confidence?

“Mom, hurry up and change—we have to go. We have to do warm-ups before the game starts,”
Addie said.

A short time later, they pulled into the parking lot near the football field. Kayla
was surprised to see Ronnie’s truck there. She parked beside him and Addie got out
of the car and took off at run to meet up with a couple of other girls from the team
who were talking to a group of boys. Kayla made her way over to the bleachers and
sat down before she noticed Ronnie near the sidelines talking to the football coach.

Ronnie didn’t appear too pleased with the conversation and after a minute he simply
gave the other man a dirty look and turned and walked away. As he headed back across
the field toward the sidelines, a few girls on the team ran out to meet him and began
talking to him as they walked back together. When he got near enough to notice Kayla,
he stopped walking and grinned.

Kayla wasn’t sure if it was possible but somehow he’d become even better-looking during
her absence. He was even more incredible in his jeans than when he wore his tough-guy
camouflage pants.

After shaking off the girls, he headed up the steps of the bleachers to where she
sat. Stopping in front of her, he simply put his hands on his hips and smiled at her.
She actually heard her own sharp intake of breath. He was stunning up close, and warmth
spread from her belly down to her knees and up to her breasts until she had to look
away from his sinful grin.

Was this enhanced reaction to his nearness because of their upcoming date, or had
she really just missed him that much?

“We should move down closer to the front row,” he recommended.

“Okay,” she said hesitantly.

“One for offense, two for defense. Remember?” He gave her another delicious smirk
that only brought back memories of how that mouth of his felt on hers.

“Oh, yeah. I almost forgot.” She smiled back.

She followed him down to the front row, near the middle. They would be directly in
front of the cheerleaders. Addie and the other girls on the team were doing some warm-up
stretches with a couple of the boys they had been talking to earlier. Ronnie sat down
next to her—so close she could smell the aftershave he wore, which again filled her
stomach with a tingly ball of sensations.

Leaning down close to her he whispered, “Addie wasn’t the only one who missed you
this week. Did you miss me, too, Kayla?”

He stared at her. With each passing second her reasons for not getting involved with
him were put to the test. Technically, he worked for her, and it was wrong to get
involved with an employee. But he initiated most of the flirting, even if she’d been
the one who’d kissed him last week. She was a single mother and shouldn’t have meaningless
flings with men. It was a bad example for Addie. But Addie was the one who’d invited
him over for popcorn and a movie. He probably only wanted Kayla for sex. But she had
to admit that “only sex” wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“I guess you didn’t miss me,” he said, still smiling. “Here I was hoping you would
tackle me to the ground and kiss the cute off of me.”

“I shouldn’t have done that.” She blushed even as she felt the grin spreading across
her face.

“No, you probably shouldn’t have. It left me a mess this whole week. It is really
hard to focus when all I can think about are your arms around my neck and the passion
in your kiss. I realize you’re technically my boss and I shouldn’t be having the wicked
fantasies about you that I have had, but…even though you probably shouldn’t have kissed
me, I can’t
wait
for you to do it again.”

“What if I
don’t
kiss you again?” she asked breathlessly.

Glancing out to the field where Addie and her friends were still stretching and talking—and
paying no attention to them—he leaned in and captured Kayla’s lips in a hungry kiss
that had her raising her arms to wrap them around his neck. Before she could touch
him, though, he grabbed her wrists and halted her movement.

Pulling back, he said, “Do you want to kiss me now, Kayla?”

“Yes,” she replied. Her whole body wanted to kiss him.

“You had your chance. Now you have to wait until our date tomorrow because your daughter
and her friends will be heading this way any minute,” he whispered against her lips.
He captured them one last time and just as quickly released them, along with her wrists,
and sat back.

It was only a few seconds later when Addie and her friends turned and headed toward
the bleachers. Ronnie moved slightly, giving Kayla a little more room on the bench.
Somehow, Ronnie sneaking kisses from her when Addie wasn’t paying attention made the
excitement harder to handle.

“How was your trip?” he asked.

“You kiss me like that and then in the next breath ask about my trip?” She paused
to collect herself. “Um, it was good,” she managed.

“The trip or my kiss?” he asked.

“Both. But honestly? The kiss was better than the trip.”

“Keep moving those sexy lips of yours, saying things like that, and we’ll end up under
the bleachers before halftime.” He looked over at her to judge her reaction. If he
kept talking and grinning like that she’d
drag
him under the bleachers….

In the first half of the game the football team got their butts handed to them, but
the girls cheered correctly. Much like the previous week, they would look to Ronnie
before starting a new cheer. Addie’s friend Kaitlyn would occasionally hold up one
or two fingers and Ronnie would nod and smile at her. Whatever their coach was doing
was working. It was hard to believe only a week had passed because the difference
in the group was amazing.

When halftime hit, the girls headed out to the middle of the field along with the
boys who had been hanging around them earlier. A song played and all the kids began
doing dance moves and then broke out to run and do flips. They looked incredible,
and the crowd expressed appreciation of the team’s efforts. The football game might
be a lost cause, but the girls and boys on the field cheering were having fun and
looked great doing it. At the end of the song, they did a small stunt that included
Addie being tossed up in the air and caught by two of the boys while another boy stood
behind her in case she fell.

“That was awesome! Their coach must have decided to actually coach them, huh?” she
asked Ronnie.

He smiled and said, “Something like that.”

The second half of the game would have been positively torturous if not for the cheerleaders
who kept the crowd rooting for the team up until the buzzer signaled the game was
over. As the bleachers began to empty out, Kayla was surprised at how many parents
and students said something to Ronnie or at least waved and smiled. Unlike her, Ronnie
obviously made friends easily. After a while, he headed toward the sideline and was
stopped by several students.

Addie and Kaitlyn ran over to where Kayla stood. “Can Addie spend the weekend with
me? My parents will be home the whole time. We’re going to finalize all the stunts
and dance moves for the competition,” Kaitlyn said.

“I know you’ve been gone all week. I miss you! But I will be home by noon on Sunday
and we’ll spend the rest of the day together. Please, Mom?” Addie begged. “I got a
good report card.”

Knowing the kind of trouble she’d been in at their ages, Kayla said, “Let me talk
to your parents, Kaitlyn, so I can be sure they don’t mind two giggling girls for
the
entire
weekend.”

When Kaitlyn called her mother over she approved of the girls’ plans. Addie hugged
Kayla goodbye and the two girls followed Kaitlyn’s parents out of the gate leading
to the parking lot. Looking around for Ronnie, Kayla noticed him talking to the group
of boys who had done the dance and stunts with the girls during halftime. A few other
boys walked over and shook Ronnie’s hand, joining the conversation, before they all
finally took off and Ronnie turned and headed back to Kayla.