Forward Pass. Desiree Holt
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it enough the gossip hounds aren’t after me anymore? That I’m off the gossip pages,” he’d pointed out. “That alone should make you happy. And I think it’s time to keep my private life just that. Very private. If I can tap into my connections to help people, I’m more than happy to do it. But I won’t use any of them to, as you say, polish up my image. I’d feel cheap doing it.”
“That’s very noble of you,” Scott had told him, “but hiding your good works won’t get people to take you seriously. You cut a pretty wide path through the female population for a long time, sport. Your bosses at Fox Sports One would love to see you settled down.”
“How about if I just promise to keep my social life out of the media? If people want to quietly discuss my other activities, okay, fine. No big publicity campaign, though. I mean it.”
“Wow!” Scott had grinned. “A conscience. My baby boy is growing up.”
This afternoon he would be meeting with the people putting on the fundraiser for athletic scholarships. The past few weeks he’d wrangled major commitments from former teammates and some of the Fox Sports One guys. He had Scott working his current sponsors and he even got commitments from a couple of his former backers. He felt good about not just reaching but surpassing the goal, especially with what he planned to contribute himself.
He gave a brief thought to telling Shay where he was going today but changed his mind immediately. Better to wait for the right moment, when things with the two of them were on a different footing. Between her firmly etched opinion of him and last night’s grope-a-thon, she’d just think he was blowing smoke to make himself look better. If he told her about his meeting today, just dumped all of it on her like that, she probably would. Cleaning up his image with her would take some work.
Instead he’d casually ask her if she was going to be home tonight. Tell her he had some game videos to review for his show—no lie, he actually did—and would she like to watch with him. Yeah, low-key it like that and hope she didn’t have plans.
If she was home when he stopped to change, he’d put on his friendliest face, not mention last night and see if he could at least get them on friendly footing. Yeah, okay. Good plan. Friends first. Then they could ease into the rest of it when she began to trust him. Which she obviously didn’t at the moment. He wanted to tell her how much he’d changed, how different his life was now, but he knew it would take a lot to convince her. He’d just have to set the stage.
On his way home after his meetings, he’d pick up Chinese food for dinner. Then he’d find the place that made those cookies she liked so much. They used to get them from a bakery in Granite Falls, a branch of the one in San Antonio. That should buy him some brownie points. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and looked up the San Antonio address. Right on his way home. Perfect.
Cookies. And maybe ice cream. They could watch the videos together.
He hoped.
He also hoped when Hank found out he didn’t cut off his balls.
As if conjured up by magic, his phone chimed and he saw a text from Hank.
“Settled in? Everything okay?”
Joe blew out a breath.
“Fine. Thx. All good.”
Yeah, right. Everything was just peachy keen.
* * * *
Normally, the day after she returned from one of her New York trips Shay hung around the house in slop clothes, read, and watched sports to decompress before going back to her current project, or starting a new one. A minimalist where makeup was concerned to begin with, on those days she never even swiped a lipstick over her mouth. She’d put her hair, usually still damp from the shower, up in a messy ponytail and pull on a very old Granite Falls Coyotes T-shirt with a faded pair of jeans shorts. Until she got a good read on where this thing with Joe was going, she didn’t want him to think she dressed in any way for him, so she stuck to her routine.
And what exactly was this thing? Maybe it was just once and done for him. Maybe he’d decided to satisfy her craving for him. God, she couldn’t stand it if that’s all it was. Then she really would have to kick him out of the house.
But what if he wanted more? What if he wanted…everything. Full-blown, all-out sex?
She told herself to quit overthinking it. So she’d had almost sex with her childhood hero. They were both adults now. Things were different. Hadn’t she decided she’d just take it for what it was, enjoy the ride while it lasted, and walk away with her pride intact? Anyway, he probably wouldn’t be around all the time. Not Joe the ladies’ man.
Passing the mirror in her bedroom, she got a glimpse of herself. Yeah, she looked like a first-class slob all right. Certainly a far cry from the glamorous females Joe was used to. Besides, he’d probably get back from his run, shower, and head out to hook up with whatever women were waiting for him.
Images from last night kept playing over and over in her mind and she couldn’t quell the little thrill of expectation wriggling through her when she heard his car pull up in the driveway. She did her best to focus instead on the glass of orange juice she’d poured. Maybe its icy coldness would smother the heat building inside her.
“Hey, Shay.”
The gravelly voice made her lady parts stand up and take notice, especially the inner walls of her pussy that contracted at the memory of his touch.
“Um, hey, Joe.” She didn’t need the sound of his footsteps to tell her he’d come into the kitchen. Her body had an uncanny ability to sense his presence. “Have a good run?”
“Yeah. I like the little park near here. Not too crowded. Nice and pleasant. So, uh, listen.”
“Yeah?” Okay, here it came. The excuses. The apology. She wanted to tell him just to keep his thoughts to himself and then run into her room.
“I have a couple of meetings this afternoon….”
Was that a euphemism for hooking up? Okay, she could handle that.
“Have a nice time.” She sipped at the orange juice.
“Anyway, I thought if you didn’t have any plans for tonight, I’ve got some DVDs of games I need to watch before my show starts up again. I know you like football. It isn’t Montana, but I’d like it if you’d watch them with me. Get your opinion on some things. If you want to, that is.”
Did she want to? Hell, yes. She also wanted to get completely naked with him. Too bad what he offered didn’t sound close to an invitation to seduction. She’d shut him down that morning when he wanted to bring up last night, but maybe that was a mistake.
“Um, yeah. Sounds okay.” Right. Couldn’t let him know her hormones were jumping up and down. She could wait and read whatever signals he sent out.
“So how about if I pick up some Chinese on the way home and maybe some dessert?”
Now she turned to look at him. She had to see the expression on his face, but it was carefully blank. But the blatant heat in his eyes nearly ate her alive. Allrighty, then! The muscles in her pussy gave a hopeful flutter and her mouth suddenly went dry. She cleared her throat.
“That would be very nice. Thank you.” Orange juice in hand, she eased out of the kitchen.
“See you around six,” he called after her.
Her nasty voice, the one she’d been listening to for so many years, wanted to ask him if the afternoon would give him enough time. But he was being so nice she pressed her lips tightly together to keep from saying anything. At least until she knew what his game was. Because this Joe Reilly was nothing like the one she’d always known. She wondered just how much of it was an act.
* * * *
“Shay?” He called out her name as he carried his packages into the kitchen. “I brought goodies.”
Silence