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

Sinking to the floor, she began to sketch.
Just stick figures really, since those were her specialty. Sean
with hunky shoulders and a huge smile. Z-like darts shooting out of
his eyes, connecting with the wide eyes of stick-figure Tess, who
was staring up at him adoringly, clearly getting the message even
as she balanced a tray of martinis high in the air on one palm, the
ultimate multi-tasker. And just to even things out, she gave the
Sean figure a lance in one hand to signify that he was a
Lancer.

Or maybe to signify something else.

Pleased with the evocative image, she closed
the notebook and shoved it back into her bag. The whole point of
these pencil-and-pad exercises was to
capture
the moment,
not dissect it. That would come later, or as usually happened, not
at all. Wasn’t it enough to memorialize the event?

Why actually figure it out?

Returning to her feet, she considered whether
to bring her other, smaller notebook to the dinner table, but it
seemed gauche to take notes as a guest, so she decided to rely on
her memory for the story of Johnny Spurling’s decision to abandon
all principles and make a beer commercial for the woman he
loved.

• • •

From the time Tess joined the Spurlings on
the lower level of the redwood deck, she felt completely at ease.
Johnny shared stories about the college football camp, never once
mentioning Sean Decker. Erica fussed over Tess, offering her a
drink, then allowing her to do the honors instead at a small but
well-stocked bar built into the side of the house. Johnny wanted a
martini, which was Tess’s specialty. Erica had Tanqueray and tonic.
And Tess had root beer, reminding them this was a working dinner
for her.

Meanwhile, the sound of rushing water from
the nearby river filled the night air, making everything more
relaxing. Tess hadn’t noticed that amazing sound earlier when she
had been out here with the kicker.

Maybe because she had been babbling louder
than any brook?

“So let’s get the preliminaries out of the
way,” Johnny suggested as he served perfectly grilled steaks onto
their plates, then settled down at the table. “Tell us how you
ended up at UH. You’re from Connecticut originally, aren’t
you?”

Tess sighed. The same question Erica had
asked on Tuesday. What
was
it with these people? Plus, the
reporter was supposed to ask the questions. Not the
interviewees.

“Let me guess,” Erica said, arching an
eyebrow. “It was as far away from home as you could get?”

“Hmm?”

The pretty hostess laughed. “You mentioned
your father doesn’t approve of your bartending. So I figured he’s a
bit controlling. Am I wrong?”

Tess sighed again. “He’s not exactly
controlling. More like—well, overly concerned with my happiness, if
that makes sense. He wants me to be the very, very best Tess I can
be. Reach my full potential. Which is cool if you like that sort of
thing, but I don’t. So I ran off to Hawaii for all the wrong
reasons, but it was the best decision of my life. Changed my life
in the most amazing way. Go figure.”

Johnny scooped some salad onto her plate. “So
what does a person major in at UH? Marine biology?”

Tess laughed. “More like surfer-dude biology.
Hawaii has some amazing specimens and I devoted myself to studying
them.”

Erica squeezed her husband’s arm. “She’s
kidding. Her major was philosophy.”

He grinned. “Do you surf?”

“Me? I’m not a fan of the ocean. Luckily, the
surfer dudes like a cold beer after a busy day chasing waves, so I
conducted my research away from shark-infested waters.”

“Cut it out,” Erica warned. “We really want
to know. How did Hawaii change your life?”

Tess speared a hunk of medium-rare steak on
her fork, held it in the air, and asked ominously, “If I tell you,
can I
please
start asking the questions? I’m the journalist,
remember? You’re just the adorable subjects.”

“We’ll be good,” Erica promised.

Johnny surprised them both by saying, “I
think I know the answer. Your father wanted you to be the perfect
Tess. But in Hawaii, you discovered
Island
Tess. The
highest
form of Tess.”

She stared at him, truly amazed. Not that he
was exactly correct. But so, so close.

“How did you know?” she asked softly.

His smile seemed almost boyish. “There’s
something different about you. Like you’re—man, I don’t know .
. .”

“Happy?” She smiled in relief. “I think
that’s what drives my family crazy. They can’t understand why I’m
happy when I never got top grades and I work in a bar. Although
spoiler alert? That
is
my potential. Just because
they
can be class valedictorians and get into Harvard
Medical School doesn’t mean I can.”

“You could,” Johnny argued. “But you don’t
want to.”

“Actually, I can’t.” She touched his cheek.
“You’re so close to getting it. But sadly, you’re an overachiever
like the rest of my family. Driven. Goal-oriented. And I
love
that. You’re my favorite kind of person. But for me
personally? I couldn’t care less about goals and ambition.”

Noting that Erica seemed lost, she told her
gently, “You’re an overachiever too. One huge project after
another. It’s more complicated with you because you’re an artist.
But let’s face it, you know exactly what you want to accomplish
tomorrow—and next week—to reach some amazing goal you’ve set for
yourself. I respect that to death. And again, you’re my favorite
kind of person because I grew up with them. So . . .” She
raised her fork higher. “Cheers to us.”

“Stop it,” Erica complained. “You have goals
too. You want to be a sports journalist. You want to write an
article about product promo. Those are goals.”

“True,” Tess murmured. “I’d love to
accomplish those things. But at this moment? I couldn’t care less.
Because we have
this.
This amazing moment.
That’s
what Hawaii taught me. Or rather, that’s what Hawaii gave me
permission to understand. This camaraderie, even if it’s temporary,
is better than anything I could have planned for tonight.”

They stared at her and she didn’t blame them.
Whenever she revved up this way, she was like a zealot, even though
converting others was the last thing on her mind. Because this
philosophy just didn’t work for everyone, or even for most people,
so why try to sell it? Erica got off on being the best, creating
glorious ad campaigns, and making the world a better place. Johnny?
He was a gorgeous blend of leadership, ambition and athleticism.
How could he
not
be the reigning Super Bowl quarterback?

It was time to drop it, but Erica demanded
plaintively, “Why don’t you think our friendship will last?”

Johnny stepped in like a champ. “It will,
babe. But that’s not the point. Tess is saying it’s awesome even if
it only lasts a few hours. Right, Tess?”

“Right.”

Erica smiled slyly at her husband. “Like you
and me?”

“Huh?”

“
We
weren’t supposed to last. But we
did. It’s the same with us and Tess.”

Johnny turned to Tess and told her, “I did
what I could.”

“You’re a trouper,” she agreed with a laugh.
“Now it’s time for
my
questions. First up, your dad is a
famous coach with two talented football sons. And he always swore
Spurlings would never touch commercial advertising. So what was
your thought process with Lager Storm? That it was an exception?
Because let’s face it, you did a lot for the image of NFL players
when you showed us how a real man treats a vulnerable, grieving
woman. With respect, not predation. We all loved that, Johnny.”

“Yeah, that was the idea,” he admitted. “I
was motivated by Erica as a person, actually—the hottest babe I
ever met—but she also sold me on the character-building aspects. So
yeah, I knew my pop would be pissed. But I also knew he’d come
around. Because it’s a message we need to send to young fans. Boys
and
girls. And Erica’s concept nailed it.”

Tess’s heart flip-flopped. The perfect answer
from the perfect guy. If she went back to Seattle right now she
could probably write a decent article without further details.
Because this was the core concept, wasn’t it?

Johnny gave her a curious look. “Shouldn’t
you be taking notes?”

“At the dinner table?” she asked with a
teasing smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll remember the gist of it.”

“Now that you’ve asked your questions, can I
ask one?” Erica interrupted.

Tess gave her a warning look but said, “Go
ahead.”

“Be honest, okay? It doesn’t mean anything, I
just really want to know.” She exhaled softly. “What did you think
of Sean?”

“The truth? He’s the hottest guy I ever
met.”

Erica’s eyes popped out of her head. “Oh, my
God, really?”

“
No
, Erica. I’m
kidding.”
Tess
grinned. “You really think he’s that hot? And you really think I’d
tell you if
I
thought he was?”

Johnny chuckled. “She got you good,
babe.”

Tess winked at him. “You know what I think?
She wants Golden Boy for herself. That’s why she invited me here in
the first place. And once again, I’m totally on board.”

“Me too.”

Erica laughed. “You’re both obnoxious. And
I’m sure Tess has a boyfriend. Right, Tess?”

“You’d think. But I spend most of my time at
work, and I don’t date guys I meet at the bar except in
emergencies. So actually, no.”

“What
kind
of emergencies?” Erica
demanded. “Rich? Hot? Adorable like Sean?”

Tess rolled her eyes. “Hardly. It has to be
more than that. So for example, this amazing stud showed up out of
nowhere last month. I called him Gator Guy because he told us
stories about wrestling alligators at theme parks. Although
he
called it
wrassling
. But it was still hot. He
explained how he rubbed their bellies and caressed their throats,
soothing them into a coma. And you could see he was built for it.
Plus he wore a string of gator teeth around his neck. Hence: Gator
Guy.”

“So you went out with him?” Erica asked
breathlessly.

“Who wouldn’t? We went out a couple of times,
then finally ended up at his place and things got pretty hot.
And
heavy. And then . . .” She gave an amorous sigh.
“He was touching me everywhere with those big, strong hands. But
mostly he was stroking my throat. My stomach. And suddenly I
realized
I
was the freaking gator.”

Johnny howled as Erica giggled and asked, “Is
that really true?”

“On my honor.”

The QB grinned. “You need to tell Bam
Bannerman that story. He’ll go crazy.”

“The Bam-Man?” Tess nodded. “Yum. Why didn’t
you guys set me up with
him?”

“He’s engaged,” Erica explained.

“Since when does
that
stop you?”

Erica rolled her eyes. “Tell us the truth. Is
there really a Gator Guy?”

“He’s actually pretty nice. Just a little
hands-y. And of course, scaly.”

The Spurlings laughed again, then Johnny
said, “Murf tells us your bar is in Seattle. What’s it called? I’ve
been to a lot of places there.”

Tess coughed lightly. She really didn’t want
these two showing up at work, so she explained, “I’m a different
person when I’m there. They even call me by a made-up name. So to
be honest, I discourage real-life people from visiting me there. No
offense.”

Erica’s gray eyes narrowed. “What do they
call you? Something sexy? Like Roxy?”

“You think Roxy is sexier than Tess?
Or
Erica? Why?”

“She’s right, babe,” Johnny said with a
seductive smile, like he had just done a mental check down of Roxy,
Tess, and Erica, and had made his choice for the night.

So Tess pretended to yawn. “I should be
going. Thanks for the great material. I’ll give you guys a chance
to comment before I finalize the article.”

Panic filled Erica’s eyes. “You can’t go.
We’ve barely scratched the surface. And I’m supposed to tell you
Sean’s details too. Purely for professional reasons, right? Johnny,
make her stay.”

The QB surveyed the field and quickly made
his move. “Come back tomorrow, Tess. We’ll make a day of it.”

“No, no,” Erica murmured. “We’ve got that
Lager Storm party. Helmut is sending his jet.”

“Damn, I forgot.”

His bride sighed. “I’d cancel, but we ditched
them last time . . .”

“It’s not a problem. Tess? How about
Sunday?”

“I’m working Sunday and Monday,” she
explained. “But I could drive back down on Tuesday for a few
hours.”

Erica jumped in again. “Have lunch with me
Tuesday. Then you can interview Johnny over here in the afternoon
while I go back to work. Perfect, right?”

When Tess hesitated, Johnny seemed to read
her mind. “Do you need a place to stay? You’re welcome here for
sure. But we thought you had Murf’s suite.”

“Until Sunday,” she agreed. “But no worries.
I can drive down, spend the day, and head home that evening.”

“Give me a second,” he insisted. Then he
walked out of the room without further explanation.

Erica gave an exaggerated sigh. “My husband
the problem solver. Do you wonder why I love him?”

“Who are you trying to kid? I know
exactly
why you love him. Me too. Yum.”

“You’re awful,” Erica assured her. Then she
scooted her chair closer. “I was just trying to be a problem solver
too. With that business with Sean and Kerrie. I was wrong, but my
heart was in the right place. Please tell me you understand.”

“I get it,” she admitted. “Except for the
part where he kissed you on the mouth. I’m gonna have nightmares
about
that.”

“It’s not just me. He kisses my friend Rachel
too. She’s Bam’s fiancée. And he kisses Murf’s new agent Darcie,
who’s gorgeous but also taken. It’s fun for all of us, believe me,
but it doesn’t mean anything. He’s just
the
most romantic
guy you’ll ever meet.”