Playing for Kicks (Play Makers Book 5) (57 page)

“Geezus . . .” He lowered his mouth to
hers.

Before they could meld, a loud pounding on
the front door made them both bolt upright.

“Hey, Deck!” came Bannerman’s powerful roar.
“Open up!”

“What on earth?” Tess whispered.

“God
damn
it.”

Tess giggled at Sean’s irate expression.
“Does he have a key?”

“He doesn’t
need
a key. He’s a fucking
ox.” He grinned malevolently. “I’ll get rid of him. Just don’t make
a sound, okay?”

“Got it.”

He strode over to the door and threw it open.
“Goddammit, Bam.”

The halfback barreled through the opening and
grabbed him into a bone-crushing hug. “Geezus, Deck, I’m so
freaking sorry. If I ruined this for you, I’ll cut my bleeping
tongue out. I swear it.”

“Get
off
me,” Sean growled, pushing
him away. Then his tone softened. “Hey, Erica. You’re here
too?”

“I tried to stop him,” she said with a
wistful sigh. “I’m so sorry, Sean.”

“Don’t blame
her,”
Bam interrupted.
“This is on me. A thousand percent. I can’t believe I blew this for
you.”

“It’s fine,” Sean insisted.

“You’re wrong. So just clobber me, will
you?”

Tess walked over and flashed a sheepish
smile. “Hi, guys. It’s sweet of you to come over, but we’re fine.
Really.”

“Hey, Bammie.” Bam grappled her close, then
told Sean over her head, “She’s conning you, man. Her heart’s
effing
broken
. All because of me.” He actually seemed to
choke on a sob. “She thinks you and Kerrie were Romeo and Juliet.
Like the Shakespeare thing. And you guys are just Romeo and Tess.
Or something like that.”

Tess gave Erica a teasing smile. “Nice job
keeping quiet.”

Bam looked down at her sternly. “She promised
she wouldn’t tell Decker. Or the big dog. But she didn’t promise
not to tell
me
. And you shoulda seen her. Crying her eyes
out in the atrium, all alone.”

“Oh, God.” Tess went to Erica and hugged her
contritely. “I’m so sorry. Who knew you were hormonally
insane?”

“Tell me about it. I won’t survive seven more
months of this.”

“Well, the good news is, I’m
definitely
Sean’s Juliet. So
please
let it go.” She
winced. “Where’s Johnny? And Rachel?”

“Damn, I forgot about the teach,” Bam joked.
“That’s gonna cost me.”

“They’re still at the fundraiser?” Tess
rolled her eyes. “You guys are the worst dates ever.”

“Yeah,” Sean said with a laugh. “Better get
back there right away.”

“Hell, no. We’re celebrating.” Bam grinned.
“I’ll order pizzas while Erica calls the big dog.”

Sean shook his head. “Celebrate somewhere
else. We’re busy.”

Erica stepped up to him and wrapped her arms
around his chest. “It was so awful, Sean. The thought you could
lose her . . .”

He stroked her hair, his gaze locking with
Tess’s. “Was it that bad?”

“It was bad,” Tess admitted. “But only
because I’m so crazy in love with you. Accent on the crazy.”

Erica raised her head and explained. “Tess
isn’t used to being jealous.
Or
competitive. But she loves
you so much . . .” Her voice faltered. “When she heard
how much you loved Kerrie, it broke her heart.”

“Yeah, Deck,” Bam said mournfully. “Go ahead
and clobber me. I deserve it.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

Tess reached for the halfback’s hand. “I’m
glad it happened now, not later. So thanks.”

“We love you, Tess,” he murmured. “You know
that, right?”

She bit her lip, pleased that he had called
her Tess, not Bammie. “I love you too.”

“So? Pizza? Erica’s supposed to eat every two
hours, you know.”

She laughed, then gave Sean a hopeful smile.
“Okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Set it up. And Erica? Get off
your feet. We’ll get dressed and join you.” He glared at Bam. “Try
to remember she’s pregnant, will ya? And do
not
come
upstairs.”

“Not unless you take too long. But knowing
you, you’ll be quick.”

Tess giggled. “You can watch the Dodgers game
on the DVR.”

“Oh, man, the no-hitter! Good call, Bammie.
Come on, beautiful.” He hoisted Erica up in his strong arms. “I’m
in charge. Deck’s orders.”

Sean glared a final time, then wrapped his
arm around Tess’s waist and walked her up the stairs. As soon as
they were in the bedroom, he closed the door and backed her against
it, suggesting amorously, “Let’s not go back. Deal?”

“Deal.”

His hand slipped inside the robe to fondle
her breasts. “Man, you feel good.”

“Oh, God, so do you. Does this door have a
lock?”

“I’ll install one tomorrow.
And
change
the gate code.” His voice grew husky. “You’re so beautiful, Tess.
When I got back from snagging the tarp, and you were standing on
the balcony in the moonlight, naked and awesome, all I could think
was—how’d I get so lucky?”

Her heart pounded. “Tomorrow we’ll reenact
the balcony scene from
Romeo and Juliet
. Clothing
optional.”

“Don’t you mean Romeo and Tess? I like that
ten times better.”

She stared in disbelief, then wrapped a bare
leg around him and admitted breathlessly, “When you put it that
way, I like it better, too.”

Epilogue

During his years as a college coach, Daniel
Riga had avoided socializing with his players unless absolutely
necessary. They perceived him as an iron-fisted tyrant and that was
fine by him. Still, he had always known if he ever coached in the
NFL he’d need to temper his hard edge with respect for age and
experience.

And he had done so these past few weeks,
grabbing a beer with QB Johnny Spurling from time to time, then
including Decker and Bannerman; then making the unprecedented move
of meeting their wives and girlfriends.

Now as he sat in a hotel suite in Arizona
having pancakes with the Triple Threat and Colbee on the morning of
their first exhibition game, he realized things had gotten out of
hand. His cardinal rule—no women on game day—had zero exceptions.
If one of his players had an itch, he’d better get it scratched the
night before, or wait till after the game.

Unfortunately, Decker’s girlfriend Colbee had
sent a personal invitation that included a charcoal-pencil sketch
of a bar scene with three central characters: a huge, bearded
lumberjack with a giant axe; a tall, skinny woman in a slinky black
dress with a long cigarette holder who was clearly screaming at the
lumberjack; and behind the bar, a cute, ponytailed bartender
entertaining him through his misery.

All in stick figures. All hilarious.

Her note had been simple—
This is my first
time having game-day pancakes with Sean. Please join us. Love,
Colbee

Riga had folded on the spot.

Determined to reassert his authority, he
pushed back his chair and patted his stomach. “I’m not much for
superstition, but I’m glad we did this. Just this once.”

Tess beamed at him. “It’s good luck for
everyone
now.”

“Well, don’t get used to it.” He swept his
gaze over the three Lancers. “When I said no women on game day, I
meant it. And starting next week,” he added in Tess’s direction,
“it applies to
you
too.”

“We’ll see,” she said cheerfully.

All three players chuckled, but Riga didn’t
crack a smile. Instead he gestured toward the QB and Bannerman,
saying, “You two are with me. Deck? Take a minute with your
girlfriend. Then I want your head in the game.”

“Sure thing, Coach.”

To Tess he added dryly, “Don’t test me,
Colbee. I guarantee you’ll lose.”

“I love you too, handsome.”

Frustrated, he glared at Decker. “Get her
under control, will you?” Then before his kicker could give some
smart-ass reply, he strode out of the suite, ignoring the fact that
his QB and halfback lagged behind—despite his express command—to
kiss their playful hostess good-bye.

• • •

When she was alone with Sean, Tess smiled
into his laughing eyes. “Did I get you in trouble?”

He pulled her close. “The poor slob can’t
resist you. Neither can I.”

“Mmm . . .” She enjoyed his amorous
kiss, then fished the horse charm out of her cleavage and said,
“New tradition. You have to kiss this too.”

“If I had more time, I’d kiss something you’d
really
like.”

She giggled. “Settle down, Romeo.”

“Yeah, I’d better get going.”

“Remember it’s a pre-season game. So don’t
kick the ball too far.”

“Yeah, I won’t.” He kissed her again, told
her he loved her, then ambled out of the suite.

Since the game wouldn’t begin for hours, she
checked on the latest text from Erica, confirming that she and
Rachel would meet her in the lobby for the limo ride to the
stadium. And since Darcie’s boyfriend had played the day before,
she
was joining them too.

It all felt like a dream—new life, new
friends, new love.
True
love. And free seats to NFL
games.

Whenever Sean left her alone these days, she
searched for the diamond engagement ring he always kept nearby.
Usually it was in his top dresser drawer, but if they went on a
romantic date, he had it in his pocket.

Just in case the moment presented itself.

Sigh . . .

Road games were a new challenge, but she
checked the obvious place first—the inside pocket of his gym bag.
And there it was, the top-secret black-velvet box from the same
jeweler who had designed the horse charm.

“You’re a genius,” she assured the jeweler as
she opened the box and slipped the dazzling ring on her finger.
Then she sank onto the bed, held up her hand to admire the gorgeous
diamond, and sighed aloud.

“Do you do this often?” a teasing voice asked
from the doorway.

“Oh!” She smiled sheepishly. “Busted.”

Sean walked over to her, his gaze filled with
questions.

“I hope I didn’t ruin your surprise,” she
murmured. “I just love visiting it.”

“It’s yours whenever you want it. You know
that, right?”

She bit her lip. “We love dating so much. But
someday, we won’t be able to stop ourselves.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I figured you were waiting for a sign,” she
teased. “Like the big kick.”

“Yeah. I’ll be so full of myself I won’t be
able to resist,” he agreed with a laugh. “But we like taking things
slow, right?”

“Always.” She gave him a long, lingering
kiss. “Knock ’em dead, Romeo. Your harem will be rooting for you.
Always.”

Excerpt from Play by Play

In case you missed it,

here’s an excerpt from

the first book in the series,

Play by Play
.

Former college football star Jake Dublin’s
wildly popular sports blog also details his personal life. And
lately it’s all about Sophie, the pretty young woman who just moved
into his apartment building. His readers know her only as “Elevator
Girl,” and they’re all rooting for Jake to score.

The blog posts and banter with his followers
is all in good fun, and he fully intends to come clean with the
woman he’s wooing and wowing. That is, until she confides that she
grew up in a house full of jocks and even dated a few. Her verdict?
Never again!

Jake knows he needs to confess. But
somewhere along the line he fell in love with Sophie and can’t
stand the thought of losing her. So he procrastinates, and blogs,
and digs himself deeper into a hole, until it all leads to a
showdown that’s so nail-biting, not even the best play-by-play guy
could ever have seen it coming.

Jake Dublin: THE OPINIONATED SPORTS GUY

July 14, a.k.a. three weeks before the
official NFL preseason begins

Yep, we’re getting close, folks. For my
preseason predictions, scroll down a few paragraphs, because today
I’m opening with an ode to women. If you visit this blog often, you
know that’s not something I normally do. Sure, I have opinions on
(nearly) everything and I’m not afraid to embarrass myself by
expressing them publicly. Dogs on the couch? Smoking in bars?
Hybrid vehicles? Check, check and check, and the list goes on.

But
girls/women/humans-of-the-female-persuasion? I try to avoid that
topic. For one thing, my experience is limited since I married my
junior high girlfriend. I never did the traditional dating thing
before marriage, and truth be told, we got married
way
too
young, stayed married way too long, and broke up way too painfully.
Oh, and I didn’t cheat during the marriage, so no dating there
either. After the divorce, I wasn’t interested in another committed
relationship (to put it mildly), and I had the good fortune to meet
a nice assortment of open-minded women who weren’t looking for
romance, just a good time.