Authors: Donna Gallagher
Talk about nightmare scenarios. The way his ex was dressed was enough to fill the papers with scandal fodder for days. As usual, Lila wore an outfit that didn’t cover much at all. He’d never understood her taste in such revealing clothing. It embarrassed more than impressed him. It was the only area where Lila believed less was better.
The whole place seemed to stand still. Everyone’s attention flicked from Lila to Brodie, as if they were watching a game of tennis. Just as he reached this most unwelcome pair of guests, he heard the music and the gifted singer resume. With the music distracting him momentarily, he almost didn’t see that Lila was closing in. He was sure she was intent on placing a kiss on him.
No way!
He quickly took a step away from her scantily clad body, placing a hand up to separate them. He grabbed the tickets from Edwards’ outstretched hand.
Brodie double-checked the tickets and found them to be genuine. He’d known they would be. He requested bleakly that
Lila and Edwards
follow him. As Brodie turned and headed towards the only table with empty seats—his table—he now understood the reason the two seats had
remained
empty as the dinner began. He guessed he could stop worrying about who had not shown up. What was the world doing to him? He felt a little paranoid about the position he now found himself in. A whole night of having to be sociable with Lila and Edwards was ahead of him. He could only find one upside to this, and that was
seeing
JT’s
reaction.
As Brodie reached his seat he
diplomatically, yet somewhat
grudgingly, assisted Lila to get comfortable.
Maybe with a fork sticking out of her behind
. He finally had the chance to sit down and enjoy the beautiful music, but as he started to sit, his attention drifted towards the stage. The spotlight had been left on and now he could see that there was a singer
, and the voice had not been a recording
. His gaze locked on to a pair of huge, emerald-green
eyes
looking back down at him. He
couldn’t
believe it was possible. His Caitlin was the owner of that beautiful
voice
he had been listening to all along.
There she was, standing not more than a few feet away from him. His heart raced, stopped, raced again, and he realised he was caught suspended somewhere between sitting and standing, staring at the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. She was no girl. He had been wrong. Caitlin was all woman.
Her luscious red hair was spiralling down past her shoulders, which were encased by the sexiest black dress. Showing just enough cleavage and just enough leg, she glittered, as if covered in a thousand
twinkling
stars
.
An angel for him, sent from heaven and with such a
sweet
voice! He just wanted to take her in his arms and hold her. He imagined
peeling
that clingy dress slowly from her body and kissing her, from those creamy-coloured rounded swells that appeared at the top of her dress—his mind instantly transported back to his shower and erotic imaginings—all the way to her toes, lingering in many spots in between.
Brodie had to get a grip.
Either sit or stand
, he told himself forcibly. So he slumped into his chair,
his
engorged
cock
pushing painfully against the zipper of his pants. He squirmed, trying to ease the pressure, mesmerised by her voice, her body. Caitlin. He had to have her
. But he couldn’t use her that way. It wasn’t his style, and since he had made the decision not to form any long-term relationships—not after the last one had ended so disastrously—Brodie now faced one hell of a fucking dilemma
. As that thought pushed its way into his
captivated and equally confused
mind, he felt the hairs rise on the nape of his neck.
Lila looked at him, then back at Caitlin. She knew him. A frown lined her Botoxed face before it was quickly replaced with a sinister smirk. Lila was going to cause trouble.
“Finally joined the dots then, Cap,” said a familiar, gruff voice.
It was coming from JT, his best mate, who had been sitting at the table with a few of the other Jets players and their better halves,
probably
making bets on how long it would take for
him
to recognise her.
“Took you long enough, buddy.”
Caitlin had to
continue
singing, though she wasn’t even sure how the words kept coming from her mouth. She was looking right at him when he noticed her. As his chocolate-brown eyes locked on to hers, they seemed to grow as big as dinner plates. He didn’t sit or stand, but just seemed to be frozen somewhere in between. Caitlin wasn’t sure if he was angry with her or not. She was confused by his reaction, thinking it was probably due to the beauty queen sitting next to him, whose long, blonde hair was so straight and shiny. Brodie was probably worried that Caitlin would embarrass him again. Who could blame him, after the way she had flung herself at him? He didn’t need to worry, though. She knew her place.
As she dragged her
gaze
away from his handsome face, she noticed that his girlfriend had a frown on hers. But immediately she thought she must have misread the woman’s expression. What on earth could the beautiful blonde possibly have to frown about when she was sitting next to Brodie James?
Three more songs. Caitlin could make it. Then she could take a break from his unrelenting gaze. She would duck outside, cool off and get a breath of fresh air. The temperature inside the room had skyrocketed. Caitlin knew Angelo would be frantic over the obvious problem with the air conditioning. She felt as if she was melting. Heat rolled over her in waves, from the soles of her feet through to the top of her head. It was almost torture, a feeling Caitlin had never experienced on stage before. She normally felt so comfortable and relaxed.
Chapter Seven
Brodie had not even noticed the untouched plate of food in front of him until JT punched him playfully
o
n the arm.
“If you’re not going to eat that, send it up this way. It’s too good to waste.”
Brodie saw the amused
expression
on his friend’s face as the big man leaned towards him and spoke quietly, so as to not be overheard.
“That’s the one from the pool, isn’t it, mate? Careful. Looks like you’ve got it bad, and the way you’re undressing her with your eyes…” He winked. “I’m worried you’re about to drool, mate. Cruella over there is lapping it up, and by the way, what the hell is
she
doing here? Watch your back, mate. I think you’ve got trouble ahead.”
Brodie
turned his attention
from JT to Lila, or Cruella, as JT insisted on calling her these days, and realised his teammate was probably right on the money.
JT had been with Brodie through every step of the messy marriage and subsequent divorce. Brodie liked the fact that JT was one of the few things that Lila hadn’t got, and it wasn’t through
Lila’s
lack of trying, either.
Lila had made it her personal mission to try and entice as many of Brodie’s mates or footy opponents into her bed as possible, before and after the divorce.
JT had a radar for trouble, and Brodie wished he had listened to his friend’s concerns before the wedding. Brodie had thought he’d been in love back then. Lila had played the role of devoted girlfriend, then fiancée perfectly—or at least, she had when Brodie was around.
Brodie had been like a plucky rooster, strutting
about
town with glamour on his arm and feeling the envy of every man in the trendy nightclubs they’d frequented. It hadn’t been long into their marriage that the glamour had stopped hiding Lila’s petty, vindictive and greedy streak.
League players’ lives were actually lonely ones. They were away from home and family regularly. Frequently travelling long distances to games in places like North Queensland, Brisbane, New Zealand and Melbourne was standard. Brodie had also spent many weeks at a time abroad as he played for his country, then captained the national team against Great Britain and France. Not that Brodie was complaining—he loved playing and had done well out of the game, as had JT.
A few good contracts, sponsorship deals and endorsements, with the money wisely invested, had set Brodie up for life. He had purchased property for a song when the market was down and turned a profit. He just had a knack for making money. The income and fame was what had attracted Lila. She had certainly enjoyed his money, but she sure as hell wasn’t getting her claws on any more. Brodie often lamented the
over
generous settlement he had made in order to get a quiet divorce. Now, as he pushed his plate towards his friend, he noticed the genuine look of concern on JT’s face.
“I’m okay, mate,” Brodie said with a grin. “Good to know you’ve still got my back.”
“Always, Brodes, and you know it. It’s a bit of a viper pit in here tonight. Bad organisation on your behalf,” he said jokingly. “Certainly wasn’t expecting that lowlife at our table.” JT nodded towards Jack Edwards
, then continued to
shovel food into his mouth.
After a few forkfuls he stopped eating and added
, “It’s almost enough to put a man off his food. What’s going on there?”
Brodie just shook his head. “Trouble. What else
? Maybe I should have paid a little more attention to the last-minute changes Angelo made to my seating plan,
” he answered. “I’ve got to start the auction. Keep those big paws down, JT. You don’t need any of this stuff, and in fact, half of it was yours, anyway.” Brodie laughed as he got up from the table.
Jon Thomson loved a good cause. He was a sucker for one. And he loved a win and would go to any lengths to get one—legally, of course. His mindset was a dangerous and expensive combination at a charity auction. As a result, he had a garage full of items he had no real use for. It was a bit of a standing joke around town that JT was invited to nearly every event going. Not that anyone else but Brodie would give him a hard time about it to his face. JT stood at a hundred and ninety-eight centimetres—or six foot five—and was a hundred and twenty kilograms of pure muscle. Jon Thomson was fierce on and off the field, never taking a backward step and loyal to the end.
Brodie remembered the first day the two had met. Both big men had eyed each other up and down, stalking like tigers waiting to pounce, each feeling out his opponent for any weakness. They had trained side by side that day, pushing each other to the limit. Neither man had wanted to be the one to break first. After weights, push-ups, pull-ups, tackle bags and finally running, each had almost fallen, exhausted, to the ground. It had taken the coach explaining that he needed two props on the field to end their pointless competition. He’d asked them to try not to kill each other, as he had a whole game plan centred around them and didn’t have time to make another. Having been given a lifeline to end the feud without showing weakness, both men had headed towards the sheds.
They had hardly made it back, swaying and close to collapse, but a mutual respect had been established, laying a foundation for them to be mates for life. Ten years later, Brodie and JT, still leading the Jets, had won their fair share of games and battles. They’d had some lean times too. But one thing had never changed—they had always had each other’s backs.
Brodie didn’t think he’d ever be able to take the field in opposition to this man. Luckily, the Sydney Jets had managed to retain both players, and hopefully that situation would never change until they both retired. The alternative was a chilling prospect not worth thinking about.
Brodie picked up the first item on the ballot—a rugby league ball signed by the Australian team, which had just beaten New Zealand in the recent Anzac Day Test. An annual event held to commemorate the two nations’ victories and losses in wartime, it was always an emotional and hard-fought battle. Watching the New Zealand players perform the cultural haka warrior dance always got the adrenaline pumping.
There were ten similar items on the auction list, a few autographed jerseys and balls donated by mates from other teams in the competition, a holiday to the Gold Coast with tickets for the local Seagulls game. There was even a soccer ball signed by a few of the Socceroos team, who were soon to be heading over to the World Cup. Brodie had been expecting JT to bid on that. He would have himself, if he hadn’t been running the show. All items were quickly snapped up, with JT having done his best to push up the price of every single one.
Brodie had yet to speak with Caitlin. She had disappeared as soon as he’d stood up from the table. He would find her, though. She wasn’t going to leave before he had a chance to talk to her, that was for sure. That was, if he could manage to speak and not just drag her into his arms and kiss that adorable mouth of hers. His angel with her
heavenly
voice was going to talk to him, and soon. In fact, he was going to do more than just talk to her—he was going to have her. It might take patience, but Brodie could do that. He’d use some of that ‘Brodie James charm’ on her.
He would have to make sure she got the message that it wasn’t anything permanent. He was not the relationship type. He figured that they could have some fun, enjoy pleasuring each other, then move on. No harm, no foul. So why did the thought of Caitlin moving on have such an unsettling effect on
him
?
It’s just my empty stomach playing up
, he decided, trying hard to convince himself.