Playing for Kicks (Play Makers Book 5) (4 page)

“Then
you
wear it. Johnny will marry
you all over again.”

Erica seemed about to argue, then she spun
toward the sound of a door opening. “They’re here. Come on.”

“Huh?”

“Hey, babe?” a deep voice demanded. “Are you
home?”

“We’re coming!” Erica called back, pulling
Tess by the elbow.

“Oh, Lord . . .” Tess was laughing in
spite of herself, knowing Johnny Spurling would be so focused on
his hot bride he wouldn’t even realize he had a guest.

Thank God . . .

Reminding herself to act professionally
despite her costume, she trailed Erica into the living area, where
the reigning Super Bowl quarterback stood, hands on hips, grin on
face, hot to see his woman.

When his woman had a stranger in tow, he
adjusted quickly, giving Tess a reassuring smile. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she murmured, blown away by how much
he looked like his photos. Like his footage. But at the same time,
so
infinitely
better than them. Darker hair, bluer eyes,
sharper cheekbones, mile-wide shoulders, and most of all, an almost
shockingly hot intensity.

“Johnny, this is Tess Colby. The journalist
Murf told us about. Tess, this is my husband, Johnny.”

“Nice to meet you, Tess,” he said, proffering
his hand. “Any friend of Murf’s is a friend of ours.”

“Me too,” she said, feeling stupid and
euphoric in one outlandish moment as their palms met—one powerful,
one trembling with excitement.

The guy was so amazing! Even when his gaze
dipped to her ridiculous cleavage, he radiated respect and
integrity by quickly looking back up at her face, but not like a
guilty man. Just a man in love with his own wife.

What a guy.

“And this is Sean Decker,” Erica announced.
“Sean, this is Tess. Tess? Sean.”

Tearing her gaze away from Johnny, Tess
almost gasped as a bolt of white-hot excitement shot through her,
frying her brain, drenching her panties. Sean Decker—tousled hair,
dark green eyes, outdoorsy glow—was almost too gorgeous for words.
And not just in looks. It was his attitude, too. Three parts
adorable, one part raw sexuality, one hundred percent relaxed. Like
they had all the time in the world to get where they were
going.

And she definitely needed to get there.

Luckily, he didn’t try to shake her hand or
otherwise make physical contact. Instead, he just flashed a smile
and said, “Hey, Tess. Nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” she said, her voice so breathless she
didn’t recognize it. She only prayed he couldn’t hear the
underlying whimper.

“Sean?” Erica asked innocently. “Can you take
Tess outside? I want to give my husband a
real
welcome-home
kiss.”

“Sure thing.” He motioned for Tess to follow
him. “Come on, Tess. I’ll give you the tour.”

• • •

As soon as Tess and Sean disappeared through
the French doors, Erica reached for her husband, hoping to kiss
first, debate later.

But for once, he wasn’t having any of it.
“What was
that?”
he demanded. “You set him up? He’s
engaged,
Erica.”

“It’s not a set-up. Just a reminder there are
other women in the world.” She eyed him hopefully. “Isn’t she
adorable?”

“Geezus, babe.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Stepping up to him
again, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Didn’t you miss
me?”

“Erica . . .” It clearly pained him to
edge her away, but he did so then stared down at her, his vivid
blue eyes troubled. “We’d better get out there.”

“No, Johnny. Please? Give them a couple of
minutes. Let me explain my reasoning.”

“I
know
your reasoning. But this isn’t
the way, babe.”

“Then we just sit by and watch him marry the
wrong woman?
That’s
your solution?”

He stared down at her for a long, long
moment, then said in a reluctant tone, “I’m going to say two
things. So just listen, okay?” When she nodded, he continued.
“First off,
I’m
the one who objected to him and Kerrie from
the start. But you and Rachel made me back off. Now
you
want
to interfere? When they’re
engaged?”

Erica nodded emphatically. “You were right
all along. We should have listened to you. You’re so smart,
Johnny.”

He chuckled. “No flirting. I missed you—a
lot
—so I’m susceptible.”

“Good.” She quirked a playful eyebrow.
“What’s the second thing?”

He hesitated, then brushed his lips across
hers. “Man, you look good. But I actually have a point. Which is,
you need to back off. Because my gut tells me he’s getting there on
his own.”

Erica drew back, not sure what he meant. Sean
was getting there? Getting
where?

Scanning his expression, she murmured, “Did
he say something? About breaking up with her? Oh, my God .
. .”

“I didn’t say that. Because
he
didn’t
say it. It’s just a sense I got. That he’s reevaluating things. I’m
not making any promises—”

“Oh, my God, of course I’ll back off.” She
clasped her hands behind his head again and pulled it down for a
long, luxurious kiss. Then she released him enough to make eye
contact. To make sure she hadn’t imagined the good news.

Johnny arched a QB-style eyebrow. “I’m not
promising anything. But let’s be smart. Kerrie’s big complaint is
that we’re the enemy. So if you confirm it by coming between
them—”

“You’re right, you’re right. I’ve just been
so worried about him.”

“Yeah, I know,” he grumbled. “You always
hated fix-ups, but here you are, fixing him up with a—well, how old
is
she? I mean, she’s pretty. But young, right?”

“Tess? She’s practically the same age as
him.”

“Using art-major math?” he asked with a
laugh.

“She’s closer to his age than Kerrie is,
that’s
for sure.”

“Erica—”

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop, I promise. Oh, my God
. . .” She pulled his mouth down again, telling him amorously,
“Thanks for the great news, handsome. I can’t wait to give you your
reward.”

• • •

Out on the deck, Tess had barely managed to
keep her cool. Not with Sean Decker in the same universe. Luckily,
he had positioned himself against the railing, so she had staked
out the middle of the deck, then had waited for him to say
something. When he didn’t, she filled the vacuum with a stream of
breathless babble that had been going on nonstop now for at least
five minutes, during which she had covered her first meeting with
Ed the editor; her resulting bartending books; their plan for her
to become a sports journalist; Ed’s conversation with Patrick
Murphy about using his clients and resources; and finally, Tess’s
pre-interview with Erica.

If Sean understood a word of it, he didn’t
show it, although he listened attentively and only glanced a couple
of times at her pumped-up cleavage. She couldn’t really blame him
for
that,
could she?

She only hoped he didn’t notice how excited
her nipples were. Or the rest of her. Not that arousal was her only
response at this point, since good old-fashioned embarrassment was
also taking its toll.

Finally she paused for a breath, and he
surprised her by saying cheerfully, “So you’re a writer?”

It seemed so simple. So normal. And she
wasn’t about to second-guess it, so she smiled and walked up to
him, stopping a few feet away. “Exactly. I’m a writer. And I’m
writing about professional athletes and product endorsement. So Mr.
Murphy hooked me up with Erica, and Erica told me about you.”

“Because of the shoes?”

She gulped for air. “Is that the product? She
didn’t give me details in case you weren’t interested.”

“I’m interested,” he assured her as he
stepped even closer.

Her insides lurched. “Me too.”

Me too?

She wanted to take the words back but wasn’t
even sure he had heard them. Something else was going on. Something
about the way he was looking at her. Like he was curious,
maybe?

And since she too was curious, she didn’t
look away. Instead, she allowed the warmth from his amazing eyes to
radiate into her. Gentle. Non-threatening. Their respiration ebbing
then rising in perfect sync as the soft, shallow sounds
blended.

All the time in the world
. . .

His focus stayed locked with hers, sending
steady streams of pulsating heat into her brain, her breasts, her
nipples, her insides, until it found paradise between her legs and
she almost moaned aloud. Was this actually happening? Did he
know
it was happening?

“Hey, you two,” Erica’s cheery voice
interrupted from the doorway. “Did we miss anything?”

Tess jumped back, totally mortified, but the
kicker remained calm, saying, “Tess was just telling me about her
article. I’m in.”

“Oh, good! She can interview all three of us
over dinner. Johnny can grill steaks.”

“Actually,” Sean said, moving toward the
French doors, “I need to check on the new skylight. In case the
flashing came loose in that storm last night.” To Tess he
explained, “I’ve been working on the roof during the
off-season.”

“Nice,” she said from her semi-stupor.

“Erica knows everything about me, so she can
fill you in. And Murf handles my PR, so just shoot him a draft when
you’re done, okay?”

“That’s perfect. Thanks, Sean.”

“No problem.” He gave Johnny a nod. “Thanks
for the ride, buddy. And you,” he said to Erica, catching her
gently by the waist and drawing her close to plant a quick kiss on
her mouth. “See you soon, right?” Before she could answer, he said
over his shoulder, “Nice meeting you, Tess,” and ambled out of
sight.

Wow . . .

She had no idea what had just happened,
although a few details were reemerging. For one thing, she had
practically climaxed with a stranger. Hands-free.

And the same guy had just kissed their
beautiful hostess—his best friend’s bride—
on the mouth.

Oblivious, or at least pretending to be so,
Erica murmured, “Well now I feel awful.”

Tess glared. “Awful? Try
dead.”

“Hmm?”

“She’s on to you, babe,” Johnny said with a
grin. “Sorry, Tess. Must be a full moon, right?”

Reluctantly charmed, she assured him, “It’s
fine. Although I was told this
wasn’t
a set-up. Because he
supposedly has a girlfriend already.”

“A fiancée,” Johnny confirmed.

“Oh, Lordy.”

Erica shook her head. “It’s more complicated
than that. And they aren’t actually engaged. At least not
officially.”

“Oh, well, as long as it’s not official,”
Tess drawled.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. Forgive me?”

“I only have one question,” she told her with
a half-joking smile. “Was I hallucinating? Or did that kicker just
kiss you on the mouth?”

“What? Oh.” She blushed. “They all do that.
It’s a tradition.”

Shocked, Tess looked at Johnny, who arched a
frustrated eyebrow and advised her, “Don’t ask.”

“Don’t worry, the less I know, the
better.”

“Good instincts.”

Erica re-entered the fray, saying in a
too-casual tone, “So, Tess? What did you and Sean talk about?”

“You mean, besides my breasts?”

To her delight, Johnny threw back his head
and roared with laughter.

Tess grinned. “Your wife forced me to wear
this, you know. So you might want to get her some professional
help.”

“Will do.”

It seemed like the perfect ending note, so
she said, “I’ll just slink away, then. I can interview Mr. Murphy
about your Lager Storm campaign when I’m in Dallas.”

“You can’t go!” Erica wailed. “Please
stay.”

“Let me guess. It didn’t work out with the
kicker so you’re setting me up with your own husband?” Glancing at
Johnny she added teasingly, “Just to be clear, I’m not saying
‘no.’”

“Yeah, I’m not saying ‘no’ either,” he
replied with perfect dead-pan delivery.

“Okay, you two,” Erica scolded them
sheepishly. “I get the point. I shouldn’t have done this.”

“Which part?” Tess asked.

“Just go change your shirt so we can have a
nice, normal dinner.”

Johnny touched her shoulder. “We want you to
stay, Tess. So we can make it up to you. You can ask us anything
you want.”

“Well, then . . .” She sighed in relief.
“I’ll go put some clothes on.”

• • •

Back in the guest room, Tess took a moment to
laugh at herself. What a circus! No wonder Sean Decker hadn’t known
how to act.

And thank God he left when he did.

She was tempted to sink right down on the
plush bedroom carpet, pull out her pencils and sketchbook, and
figure out exactly what had happened between them. How much of it
was her imagination? Probably all of it. As for the kicker’s
involvement, she honestly wasn’t sure he even knew it had
happened.

Adding to her confusion was the way her
Colbee persona had abandoned her. Where was that flirty bravado
when she needed it? Instead she had been completely flustered. Like
she’d never met a nice-looking man before.

The simple answer was she had been overloaded
with hunky stimuli, first from Johnny, then from Decker. And the
Decker buzz was even stronger because it was so unexpected. Because
who knew the guy was such a doll?

Stripping off the X-rated shirt, she replaced
it with the pink UH one then smiled at the effect. Pure Tess Colby.
She even pulled her hair into a ponytail to seal the deal. Now if
she could just interview her host and hostess in a professional
manner, order would be restored to the universe.

On impulse, she grabbed her canvas tote and
rummaged for her sketchbook after all. It would only take thirty
seconds, since her art skills were laughably basic, but if she
could capture that Sean Decker moment on paper, maybe she could
study it later. Figure out what had triggered such a bizarre
reaction.