First Down (First and Ten #1) (13 page)

“What time should I come over tonight?”

“How about seven?”

“All right, seven, it is. See you soon, sweetie. I can’t wait.”

“Me, either.” She ended the call and stared into space with a big goofy grin on her face. Mr. Jack Ellis wasn’t letting up. She returned to her notes and noticed the hearts that she’d drawn around his name. Laughing, she shook her head and tore out the sheet. This was probably the first time she’d ever done that, and it took a big football player to make her act like a teenager.

Monday Evening

Ana opened her door, and all she could see was a massive chest and a huge bouquet of flowers. Jack lowered the bouquet and gave her the best smile she’d ever seen. “Hi, handsome.” Stepping aside, she let him in and noticed the big bag of food that he had in his hands.

He handed her the flowers, leaned over, captured her mouth, and pressed his lips against her.

She was about to lean into him, but she stopped when the bouquet got crushed between them. “I better go put these in water.”

“You must have gotten home late. You haven’t changed yet.”

“I just got home fifteen minutes ago. I had some good ideas for the study, and I didn’t want to lose any of them.” She walked into the kitchen and felt Jack close on her heels. She slowed down, and he bumped into her. Laughing, she spun around. “Are you going to tackle me?”

“No, I was staring at your ass in that skirt, and I didn’t realize how close I was following.” He ran his big hand over the back of her skirt, cupped her round behind, and spoke in her ear. “I’m having a little trouble keeping myself in check.”

She put the flowers down, took the bag out of his hand, and set it on the table. Turning toward him, she moved her hand up his chest and felt his muscles contract under her fingers. “Maybe you don’t need to check yourself.” She pulled his head down and brought his lips to hers. When their mouths met, she let go of the desire that had built up over the day. He held her firmly against his arousal, and she wondered why eating first had ever been a consideration. Their mouths opened to one another, and their tongues began moving together in sync. His response poured gasoline on the fire of her desire. And she found herself unable to slow down; she wanted to crawl right into him. Any space between their two bodies was simply too much.

Jack pulled his head back and stared. “If you want to eat first, then you need to stop kissing me. What you’re doing with your mouth is lighting me up, and I’m not going to be able to hold back.” Her small hand pulled his head toward hers, and she laid another kiss on him. He lifted her up and carried her out of the kitchen. “This is your fault. I want to go on record that I was willing to wait.”

Ana laughed and enjoyed being in his arms. There was nothing quite like being carried around by a big strong man who smelled like heaven. “I have no self-control, Jack. I take full responsibility for whatever is about to happen.”

“As long as we’re clear on who started it.” He pushed open the door and noticed the queen-size bed with a canopy. Everything in the room was small and delicate. Pretty much the opposite of him. He lowered her to the floor and kept her hand in his. “This is some kind of room.”

Ana wondered what he meant by that comment. “You don’t like it?”

“I just don’t want to break anything. Everything seems so perfect.”

She turned and started undoing his buttons as she spoke. “That’s ridiculous. How would you break anything? Are you planning on having monkey sex and making me swing from the canopy?” She raised his shirt off his enormous shoulders and again admired his massive wall of muscle. “What kind of wild ideas do you have in that head of yours?” She lifted her foot, took off one shoe and then the other, and felt like Jack wasn’t paying attention to her chatter.
Looking
up, she noticed his eyes had grown dark with desire. Never before had a man regarded her that way. It instantly freed something inside of her, and she mentally gave into him and the idea of what was happening between them.

“I haven’t heard a word you’ve said since you started taking my shirt off.” He slipped his hands around her waist, unzipped her skirt, and slipped his hands inside as he moved it down her legs. “Step out of it, sweetie.” He watched her and noticed how pretty her feet were. As he stood, he got a good visual of her panties. “I like these pretty panties that you have on…..let’s get rid of them.” He slid his hands to the lace and whipped them off her body.

She stood before him with just a little silk shirt.

“We’re almost there.”

Moving out of his reach, Ana got her hands on the zipper of his shorts and released it. She tugged them down and discovered that Jack had gone commando. As soon as the shorts cleared his hips, his enthusiasm for what was about to happen was evident. She stared down and moved her hand to learn what he felt like. She had never really had the chance before this, because their couplings had been so fast and furious. “Wow.”

Jack let out a strangled breath as Ana’s hand moved against him. “What did you say?”

“Nothing, just admiring you.”

Gritting his teeth, he took a step back out of her reach. “I don’t think that I can let you get your hands on me just yet.” He took her shirt over her head then released her bra and was rewarded with a beautiful, perfectly naked Ana James. Unable to catch his breath from the weight of the desire that bore down upon him like a freight train, he moved his hand slowly over her shoulder and down her arm as his need pulsed between them. He didn’t just want her body; he wanted her soul.

She pushed on his chest, and he fell backward onto the bed. Taking a minute to admire the man who lay naked, she took a deep breath in, so she could hold this picture in her heart. “Now, Jack, I understand that you don’t want me to have my hands on you...but.” Crawling up on the bed, she straddled him and then moved into position. “How about my mouth? I want you to lie back and tell me when it feels good.”

Jack lifted his head and watched Ana take him into her mouth, and when her lips moved against him, a rocket went off in his brain.

Ana smiled to herself as Jack fell completely under her control.

********

They sat together at the kitchen table and devoured the food that Jack had brought.

“This is the best Chinese food that I’ve ever eaten,” Ana sighed.

Jack took a napkin and wiped her chin. Leaning forward, he kissed her and gave her a happy, dopey smile. It had been there since her mouth had touched his body. That was a couple of hours ago, and he had a feeling it was going to be there for days. What happened between them when they were naked was freaking amazing.  If they held on to a tenth of the chemistry that they had now, they were going to be more than fine for the next fifty years.

She put down her chop sticks, took a sip of wine, and smiled. “Thank you for the flowers and dinner. This is a great date, because I get to wear a T-shirt to dinner and nothing else.”

He ran his hand up her leg, moved it under the bottom hem, and felt her panties. “You’re wearing more than just a t-shirt.”

“I have to. We’re in the kitchen.”

“You have to wear underpants in the kitchen?”

“Of course, everyone knows that.”

“Huh. I had no idea.”

“Kitchen rules.”

“I guess that rules out one of the ideas that I wanted to try.”

“That’s okay. I’m sure you have a hundred more.”

Laughing, he held her hand and knew that the big goofy grin was still on his face. “It’s going to take us a while to make it through the list. Good thing we have the rest of our lives to do it.” He watched her eyes fly up to his as a look of panic crossed her face.
Shit, I should’ve kept that to myself.

“You’re funny, Jack. I almost thought you were serious for a moment.” She picked up her chopsticks again and started eating.

He was serious, but she didn’t need to know how sincere he was.

CHAPTER TEN

Wednesday

Ella and Ana sat in Ronnie’s office and enjoyed the lunch that she had delivered. “So how do you like being the queen of your own ship?” Ella asked.

Ronnie put down her fork and wiped her mouth before answering. “My initial vision was too small. I thought I just wanted to have my own financial management business, but now I think it can be so much more. My clients are asking me for PR advice, legal advice, and anything else they can think of. I’m the surrogate mama for over one hundred and fifty athletes. I need to add some people, so that I can do what I’m actually good at.”

Ana gazed out the window and considered what her friend was saying. “I think you should become a complete sports management agency. Be a one-stop shop for your clients. I don’t think they have the time to look around for someone with each of those specialties. You could become the IMG of the south.”

Ella nodded in agreement. “I think that idea has a lot of merit. It would sure make your mama proud to know that you were building an empire. Nothing would make her happier.”

Ronnie put her hand on her friend’s shoulder and squeezed. “Ella, your family is proud of you, even if they can’t seem to show it.”

Ella laughed, and unfortunately, it sounded more bitter than she intended. “If only that were true. My family would be happy if I had a nice job at a bank, married some poor fool, and started popping out babies. I’m not following the path that was set before me, and they are not giving up their dream.”

“Well, it’s a darn good thing.” Ana huffed. She always seemed to get the angriest when they discussed Ella’s family’s lack of support. “You are going to end up working for the World Bank someday and making a huge difference. You can’t do that if you are stuck in Dallas, making potato salad for the church social. No disrespect intended. I do love your potato salad, by the way.”

They all laughed, because this was a discussion that they’d been having since they were seventeen and freshman in college. Ella got a happy grin on her face. “I could bring Clark home for Thanksgiving and make them all happy. A southern boy who plays football would make all of their dreams come true. They wouldn’t have to know that it was nothing more than a physical relationship.”

“I heard you use the word relationship and Clark in the same sentence. Has something changed?” Ronnie asked.

“No. I told him we could date, so he’s agreed to sleep with me. He doesn’t need know that I’m not taking this seriously. He thinks he’s getting what he wants, and I know I’m getting what I want.”

“You have tricked that poor man into sleeping with you?” Ana asked.

“I think tricked is such an ugly word. I like to think of it as letting everyone believe what they want to believe. I’m not going to feel sorry for him, because his attention is going to waiver on this next road trip. Do you know how many women throw themselves at him during any given week?”

Ronnie stared at her bowl of voodoo dolls. “I have some personal experience with that, and I know it’s possible. Road trips are a dark road of temptation, and very few men come out of it unscathed. Even men who profess they love you and swear they would never do anything to break your trust in their good intentions.” She looked at Ana and instantly felt bad. “Oh, honey. I wasn’t talking about Jack. He’s one of the good ones. If he says he won’t stray, then he won’t.”

“Says you, Ronnie DuMond. How am I supposed to believe anything he says if Brian couldn’t do what he promised?”

“They are very two different men. Brian always had a wild streak. He showed me who he was before our first date, and I chose to ignore it. Somehow, my big brain failed me in the situation completely. If I look back on the whole thing, I realize that all the signs were there, and I chose to disregard them. I’m tired of feeling hurt and betrayed by what he did. So what? He was an asshole. He was one before I met him, and he’s one to this day. I just have to appreciate the lessons that the experience has afforded me.”

Ana and Ella stared at their friend in disbelief.

“What has gotten into you, Ronnie? I’ve not heard you speak so calmly about Brian in over a year,” Ella said.

“I’m tired of myself, and being hurt and angry. Gerald and I blessed the office the other day with the stuff that Mama had sent down from Madam Leju. I have a new business and a new life, so being pissed at Brian is pointless. I have released him and wish him well.”

“Really?” they both chimed.

“I’ve gotten rid of all the dolls with his face. Gerald burned them for me, and I’m officially released from one of the more unfortunate periods in my life. By the way…I have a date this weekend with a very nice attorney that’s been pursuing me. I’m going to give him a chance and, in turn, give myself a chance to move on. Brian shiman…who cares.”

“Do you have some alcohol, because I feel like this needs a toast of some sort?” Ana laughed.

“Amanda…we need some champagne in here,” Ronnie yelled.

They heard her respond, and they sat back and laughed.

Ana looked at her friends and tried to bury her feelings of doubt about Jack. He probably had a thousand women throwing themselves his way. How in the world would he resist? She was just a regular girl with an extraordinary brain. That wasn’t something that usually kept men from keeping their pants zipped. She tried to dismiss her misgivings, and it wasn’t working very well. Amanda walked in with a bottle of champagne and three glasses. What an excellent thing to concentrate on, instead of worrying where Jack Ellis was going to be putting his business.

Amanda popped the cork, poured the champagne, and left the three of them to celebrate.

Ronnie offered a toast. “To our new lives, may we be blessed with everything we hope for.”

They clinked glasses and smiled at one another. Whatever happened, they had one another, and in the end, that meant more than anything. Including football players and their promises.

Wednesday Evening

They walked hand in hand down the sidewalk, and Jack had a feeling that something was bothering Ana. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something wasn’t quite right. “How was your lunch with the girls today?”