Sweet Spot: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Bad Boys of Summer Book 2) (23 page)

My heart soared but then fizzled into nervous sputters as I realized I had no way of talking to him about what I saw in Denver. It wasn’t like I could just waltz up to him and say, “Hey, I saw you recently, passing something to the new senator in the middle of a dingy hotel lobby. Care to comment?”

My dad’s voice carried to me. “Well, like I said, it’s something to think about.”

“See that you do, Jeff. I’m telling you, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.” He turned to Trey and I caught his profile, confirming my suspicion. He smiled up at Trey and my heart pounded even harder. Whatever he was up to—Trey wouldn’t—couldn’t—be a part of it. He had enough on his plate. Michael stuck out his hand for Trey and the two men exchanged a cordial shake. “Mr. Delgado, if you’re interested, let me know. We could definitely find a place for a man of your worth at the table.”

Worth? What the hell? Was that asshole scamming my daddy and my man?

Trey tipped his chin to the man but didn’t reply.

“I’ll see myself out,” he said, turning away. “I wish you luck with the…
bailing
…was it?”

“Spreading,” my dad corrected, his tone slightly miffed sounding.

Michael shrugged it off and kept walking. He stopped short when he saw me and plastered a smile on his unnaturally tan face. Deep lines etched around his eyes but there were no lines on his forehead or around his mouth as he smiled. The result gave his face a pinched, severe expression even as he smiled my way. What had happened? Botox? Bad plastic surgery? It had been awhile since I’d seen him, and at the hotel, I’d been too concerned with what was happening between the two men to notice his facial features in detail. “Ms. Crawford, nice to see you. You still up in Oklahoma City these days?”

“Sure am,” I replied, offering a thin-lipped smile. “What about you? You live near Denver, right?”

“Denver?” He gave a start, but quickly recovered and flashed a cool smile. “Goodness, no. I haven’t been to Denver in ages. I spend most of my time in Houston, but I still have a couple of developments out this way.”

I arched an eyebrow at him. “Hmm. Is that what you wanted to talk to my dad about? Developments?”

“Yes,” he replied, straightening his lime green tie.
Who the hell wears a lime green tie?
It was too shiny and looked tight around his neck. “As a matter of fact, it was. There’s a new opportunity that’s just fallen into my lap and I thought your father might be interested as well.”

“Aha. Well, I’m sure he’ll make the right decision.”

Michael stared at me for a long beat, then blinked away his confusion and started past me. “You have a good visit, Ms. Crawford. Always a pleasure.” As he walked out, the words ‘strange girl’ echoed back to me.

I balled my hands together but then forced myself to release the tension as both my daddy’s and Trey’s eyes landed on me. I plastered on a smile and sauntered over to them. “What did you promise to this one to get him out here in the barn?” I asked my daddy, grinning over at Trey. To be fair—he made the work shirt look damn good. Far better than the ranch hands my dad usually hired to help out.

Trey and my dad chuckled. “Not a damn thing, Jo. You got yourself a keeper here. Up early and volunteered to help me with the manure spreader.”

“Eww,” I gagged, my nose wrinkling at the idea. “You’re in for a real stinky treat, Trey.”

Trey shrugged. “I figure it won’t smell that much worse than a postgame locker room.”

Daddy roared with laughter and clapped Trey on the shoulder. They were best buddies already. Great. “Told ya, Jo. Keeper.”

“Well, unfortunately, Daddy, he’s just a loaner.”

Trey flashed me a grin. “I don’t know, Jo. I’m kinda digging this place. Your dad took me on a tour of the property this morning. There’s this sweet little creek over that way…” His smile deepened as he jutted his chin in the direction of the creek. “I could probably spend quite a few hours there.”

My cheeks flushed but Daddy had his back turned to us, tinkering with something at his work bench. “What are your plans for the day, Jo?” he asked, turning back around, some multi-geared part in his hands. Likely something for the spreader.

I cut my eyes away from Trey. “Well, I’m working on a story, actually.”

“Oh? What’s it about?”

“Uhm, an embezzling as—jerk,” I caught myself. Even though I was a grown woman, I still kept my mouth clean around my daddy.

My dad’s eyes went wide. “That sounds exciting. You better be careful though, Josie.”

“I know, Daddy.” I sighed.

Trey laughed under his breath.

I shoved my hands into my back pockets and turned my attention back to my dad. “What was Mr. Arlington doing here?”

My dad shrugged. “Talkin’ shop. Nothing too important. He’s got some new development deal coming up and wanted to give me an early in.”

“Are you going to take it?”

“I don’t know, baby girl. Why?” He gave me a strange look. I never asked him about work or business. Daddy was too private a man for that. My sudden interest was going to start setting off red flags. I needed to tread carefully.

“No reason. Just curious.” I backed up a step, making to go back to the house. “You two have fun with the poop!”

My dad shooed me away as Trey laughed. “Hey, Josie!”

I turned back at Trey calling my name. “Yeah, cowboy?”

“Great boots!” He called out.

“Thank you!” I answered as cool as I could, trying to keep my face from turning beet red in front of my daddy. “Y’all have fun!”

I left the barn, but paused at the entrance to look back. My daddy and Trey were bent over the work table, discussing something with serious expressions. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about the two of them being BFFs, but I supposed it was better than my daddy lecturing me about bad boys.

Although the fact that he wasn’t concerned was an entirely different kind of problem. I didn’t need him getting attached to Trey before I’d figured out what to do with him for myself.

* * * *

“No, no, no. Not one foot in my door!” I waved my hands at Trey as I leapt off my bed. He’d knocked on the door a minute before and was trying to get into my room. “You stink.”

Trey chuckled. “Nice to see you too, baby.”

He was covered in dust—shit dust—from the afternoon spent working the spreader with my dad. They’d been gone for hours while my mama and I had gone into town for some shopping. After we returned, we stopped at the fence for one of the back pastures and watched the two men work side by side. Something about it was both heartwarming and sexy and unnerving all at once. Watching Trey get his hands—and everything else—dirty with my dad, working the land of the family ranch, was unexpected and left me even more mixed up and confused. Why couldn’t he just be a lazy jerk that my parent’s didn’t like? It’d make my life a whole lot easier.

“I’m hitting the shower in a minute. I just thought I’d let you know I was back and that the door to my room will be
un
locked…your parents are going out for the night, and in less than five minutes, I’ll have all this shit scrubbed off.”

A grin tugged at my lips. “Oh really? Is that an invitation?”

He shrugged but the dark look in his eyes didn’t leave it open to any other interpretation. “Your call, baby. Missed you today.”

Warmth spread over me at his sweet words. “Thanks for helping my dad. I’m sure you surprised him with the offer.”

Trey chuckled. “Well, I was up. Figured I might as well be useful while I’m bumming around out here.”

I nodded and then dropped my gaze to my interlocked hands in my lap. My computer was propped open on the bed before me, articles of Mr. Arlington’s company open in the background and a few impatient emails from Mr. Jones wondering where the hell I went and demanding to know the date that my story would be turned in. “Well, thank you.”

He tilted his head down and then pushed off the door frame to saunter back across the hall to the guest room. Minutes later, my parents appeared in my doorway, dressed up, and announced they were going out. I wished them well and listened as their voices carried down the hall. When the house was quiet again, I pushed off my bed and tiptoed to my window just in time to see their bulky SUV pulling down the long driveway. When the headlights faded down the road, I turned toward the open door. Trey and I had the house to ourselves. I knew I wanted that man. Desperately. But…something was holding me back.

“Jo?” his voice flitted into my room.

“Yeah…?” I licked my suddenly dry lips.

“Get your ass in here,” he replied, his voice thick and husky.

I tugged the elastic band from my ponytail and let my hair fall around my shoulders, licked my fingertip and ran it under each eye to clear away any makeup smudges from my nap earlier in the day, and then licked my lips again. I went out into the hallway and found Trey leaning against his door frame, wearing nothing but a thick, towel around his waist. His sculpted muscles were still slick with moisture from his shower, the pebbles of water glistening as he stared at me. I followed the lines and strong curves of his firm pecs, down his sectioned abs, and got lost somewhere between the v-lines at his hips and the smattering of dark hair where the towel dipped dangerously low.

Without words, we crashed together and tumbled through the door of the guest room. Within seconds, Trey’s towel was abandoned on the floor and my own clothing quickly followed.

Trey

While Josie slept, I got out of the bed, dressed, grabbed my phone, and made my way through the massive house to the lower level. The house was dark and quiet. Her parents were still out for the night. With a sigh of relief, I went to the front of the house and flicked on a light. I wandered through the large, formal living room, looking at the pictures along the walls. Most of them were of Josie and her three older brothers at various ages. A wide grin tugged at my lips as I wandered through the memories of her childhood, captured in still life pictures, but somehow coming alive as I moved down the wall, pausing to take each one in. Josie was clearly a tomboy. Most of the pictures were taken outdoors. The Crawford family didn’t seem to be the indoor type. From the array of pictures, it would appear that they were constantly alternating between horseback riding, hiking, camping, fishing, and swimming at the lake. A little farther down the line was a display of trophies and ribbons on narrow shelving. Football mostly, adorned with her brothers’ names. Then there was a section for Josie. Tennis, cheerleading, and barrel racing.

One thing was clear, Josie wasn’t the type of girl who liked to sit around. I wondered how she liked living in the city. She was clearly a country girl. The city was nice, and provided its own sources of entertainment, but it was hard to top the beauty and wildness of her parents’ ranch. Acres of trees, fields, and that creek we’d gone to the night before.

Damn, that had to be the hottest fuck of my life.

It was more than that though. Being out in the middle of nowhere with Josie was more than just hot sex, fresh air, hearty home cooked meals, and sweaty work on the farm. Something about it was changing me—or finding me—from the inside out. I wasn’t ready to go home yet. Because once we were back in the city, things would go back to the way they were before. Josie had her life, her work, her friends. I had baseball and the fuckin’ circus that constantly was my life.

The time in Texas was almost like a dream—and I wasn’t ready to wake up.

I reached the end of the gallery-style wall and turned to go take a spot on the longer of the two couches in the room. Once I got settled, I grabbed my phone from my pocket and started scanning through the bullshit that had poured in in the last two days since the scuffle with Kimberly. My email was loaded with unopened messages, I had two dozen voicemail messages, a hundred texts, and even more missed calls. Anytime something like this happened, my number got out, and I’d have to change phones and numbers when it all died down. I waded through the shit and found the important messages, most of them from Mason. I hadn’t told him where I’d be staying, just that I was going off the grid. At the time, he’d agreed it was a good idea, but he probably hadn’t anticipated that I’d fall off the grid and stop taking his calls. Then again, maybe he did.

Despite the darkness outside, it was only a little after eight o’clock. I flicked a glance up at the ceiling, thinking of Josie, snuggled under the covers, her bare skin warm and still smelling of sex. I wanted to get back to her as soon as possible, but I needed to find out what was happening back in Oklahoma City. Besides, I didn’t want Mason shitting his pants or quitting on me.

I dialed him back, without bothering to listen to any of his voicemails or read his texts. He answered right away. “Trey? Where the
hell
have you been?”

“Evening to you too, Mase.”

“Don’t get cutesy with me, Delgado,” he growled.

I groaned and flopped back against the couch. “All right, fine. You’re right. I’m in Texas, with Josie. She’s visiting her fam and I’m tagging along.”

“Texas? And, who is Josie?”

“Josie’s my…” I paused, glancing back at the ceiling again. What was she? We hadn’t talked about it. “She’s my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” I could hear Mason’s jaw hitting the ground. “Since when do you have a fucking girlfriend? Any why does that name sound so familiar to me?”

“She’s the reporter I was making out with at the post game in Denver.”

“Oh, Trey…” I heard the sound of Mason’s hand slapping his face. “This is not a good idea. I can only deal with one scandal at a time.”

I arched an eyebrow. “How is me dating a reporter going to be a scandal?”

“Because as soon as you decimate her heart, she’ll blast your ass all over the media.”

I laughed. “Okay, well first of all, I’m not planning to
decimate
her heart or anything else. Secondly, she’s not like that, all right? Trust me, if she wanted to give me hell in the press, she would have by now.”

“Why doesn’t that comfort me?”

I grinned. “Listen, Mase, just be happy for me, all right? She’s a good girl and I really care about her.”