Intercepted by Love: Part One: A Football Romance (Playing the Field Book 1) (10 page)

Chapter Nineteen

C
ade ached all over
, but he skipped taking the muscle relaxers. Now that Andie was gone, there was no reason to lounge around at the ski lodge. He needed to get back to town, get his cell phone replaced, and see about the dog reward.

Besides, he also had to check in with his agent. If he wanted to move from Los Angeles, he had to put out feelers now and see whether he could get out of his contract. The closest pro team was the Buffalo Warthogs in western New York.

After checking out of the lodge and picking up Red, he drove back to Itasca. Traffic was slow, and he passed several news vans parked near the university. After being detoured around the campus, he arrived at his apartment.

“Come on, boy,” he said to Red. “I bet you need a walk.”

Oh boy was he stiff. Getting out of the SUV was more like rolling out, and he hung onto the frame to ease his muscles so he could stand straight.

As soon as he opened the back door, Red leaped out, knocking him back. Cade’s arms windmilled, and he grabbed onto a street sign just in time.

“Red, Red, get back here,” he yelled. “Red.”

Cade tore off after his dog. What had gotten into him? Maybe being penned up at the ski lodge had done a number to his obedience training. He’d remind his dog-walker to take the dog to refresher lessons once he returned to California.

Woof. Woof. Red darted across a two lane highway and barely missed getting hit. Cade loped a little further up the road before cutting across traffic.

A golden red streak charged toward Red, then bounced around wagging her tail. Gollie!

She ran circles around Red and pounced on him playfully with small excited yips.

Cade lunged and grabbed ahold of Red’s collar. “Come on, boy. We got to get Gollie back to her owner.”

Gollie wagged her tail and sniffed Cade, but when he tried to grab her, she shied away. The last thing Cade needed was to lose Andie’s dog. If she was still in heat, maybe Red could mount her and then while they were stuck together, he could get ahold of the female dog.

Good plan.

He ruffled Red’s fur and let him go. “Go get her.”

Sure enough, the dogs pranced around in a mating dance, flirting and wagging their behinds. They trotted up the hill toward the campus, and Cade could do nothing but follow closely.

Their antics got the attention of the students passing by. Several whipped out their cell phones and pointed them at the dogs. There was a lot of laughter and joshing by the guys and squeals from the girls.

Great. Just great. His dog was going to be in a viral video. But he couldn’t afford to lose Gollie at this point and have Andie pissed, so he stood back and waited for nature to take its course.

A
ndie charged
out the library and wound her way through the campus toward College Town. She’d called the ski lodge and they told her Cade had checked out. She’d go to his apartment and wait.

Would he be upset with her for finding out his identity? But then, it wasn’t like she snooped or anything. Margo had hit her over the head with it. In any case, she had to get to Cade and let him know she wasn’t after his money or fame. A pro football player. That explained his awesome physique and tolerance of pain. But athletes were some of the worst types of guys to settle down with. They were always on the road and they had oodles of cash, which meant hordes of easily available women. A guy like that wouldn’t be satisfied to settle down with a small town librarian.

The campus seemed awfully crowded. Students milled outside the student union, and there was a large crowded gathered in the engineering quad near the bridge to College Town.

Guys were holding up cell phones and hooting, and the snow was packed by all the foot traffic. What was going on?

As she walked by, she heard girls squealing.

“Oh my, that’s so nasty.”

“The poor dog. He’s attacking her.”

“Oh yeah? She’s getting the best fuck of her life.”

“Go, boy. Woohoo!” Male voices shouted and laughed.

Typical students. Some dogs having sex, and they go wild.

She skirted around the crowd and cut under an overhanging tree, but her way was blocked by the voyeurs.

This was getting freaking ridiculous. She hopped onto a low wall to get around, when her mouth dropped wide open.

“Gollie. Gollie!” She jumped, slipped on the ice, and fell off the wall. A man picked her up. “You okay?”

“No, I’m not. That’s my dog. Get away from her, you brute, you …”

The male was Red. Cade’s dog. What was he doing here, and where was Cade?

Fury exploded from Andie’s chest, and she charged forward, her hands in fists. “Leave my dog alone. Leave her alone.”

She launched herself at Gollie and grabbed her collar. “You can’t keep doing this. You’re going to get pregnant.”

Gollie licked her face, seemingly oblivious to the male dog rutting at her tail end.

“You sweet, sweet girl. What are we going to do with you? And where the hell is Cade?” She held onto her dog and looked around.

OMG. Cell phones were trained on her and the dogs. The guys were leering, and the girls had their mouths covered, giggling. In a few short minutes, these videos would be uploaded to clouds worldwide.

No wonder Cade was no where to be seen. That chicken shit was probably hiding while his lech of a dog was doing the dirty work.

Sure enough, Red was done, but stuck. He had the gall to lick her hand. Ewww … and act like he was her friend, wagging his tail as he panted with satisfaction and the biggest doggie smirk she’d ever seen.

Now that the action was over, the students dispersed to go to their classes. Now came the twenty to forty minute wait.

Andie knelt on the ground and hugged her dog. No matter what, she was glad to have her back, even if she had several doggie biscuits in the oven.

“Hey, looks like you found your dog,” Cade said, appearing at her right side. “You happy?”

“Where were you this whole time?” She lifted herself from the snowy ground. “Were you standing back watching?”

“I’m thinking I owe you a latte with white chocolate and peppermint candy canes.” His mouth curved with a lazy grin.

It was his eyes, however, that caught her heart. They were clear blue, the brightest blue she’d ever seen. His true color. She touched his face and stared into them, mesmerized.

“Your eyes, Cade. They’re blue.”

He blinked and turned away. “I’ll get the lattes.”

“No, don’t go.” Her hands snaked around his waist. “I know who you are. Margo showed me the magazine you defaced.”

His shoulders sagged and his face drooped. “I don’t know what to say. You’re not mad, are you?”

“No, why should I be? I shocked, and I don’t know what to think, but you’re still you under the fake name and colored contacts.”

“Did you read what they wrote about me?” His voice was guarded.

“Margo read some of it to me, but Cade, I don’t believe everything I read in the press. It’s just like all the things they said about King David. A historian’s job is to figure out the truth by analyzing the actions of all the players, and not just what was told about them.”

“I wish everyone thought like you.”

She tipped on her toes and drew his head down for a kiss. “Everyone’s not as smart as me.”

“Oh, Andie, you’ve just made me the happiest man in the world.” He bent toward her and captured her lips.

Chapter Twenty


T
here he is
,” a female voice announced, causing Cade to lift his lips from Andie.

It was Margo, leading the charge as a camera crew descended on him and Andie. The remaining students lingering from the doggie burlesque show gawked and pointed.

Crap. He’d been found. He should never have destroyed that magazine, leading him to be caught by that boss of Andie’s. Why, oh why, hadn’t he controlled himself better?

A reporter stuck a microphone in front of him. “Cade Prescott, tell us what you’re doing hiding out in Itasca.”

Cade pushed the mic and took Andie by the arm. “Let’s get out of here.”

“But the dogs are still stuck. Shall we pick them up?”

“Yes, you get yours and I’ll get mine.”

The reporters circled around. “You sure don’t waste time finding female companionship. Does your agent know about her?”

Cade ignored the reporter. He bent over and lifted Red at the same time Andie picked up Gollie.

“Cade Prescott, it looks as if your dog’s stuck to hers. Are you stuck to this little redhead, too?”

“Don’t say anything, Andie. Don’t react,” Cade whispered under his breath.

“Care to comment on the rumors the Flash are letting you go? You disobeyed the coach’s call,” another reporter shouted over the din.

“Are you here for rehab? Is that why you fled the scene?”

Carefully, step by step, Cade and Andie crossed the quad with their dogs in their arms, but a horde of students blocked them, their cell phones in a row.

“Look at those dogs. They’re still stuck together,” yelled a man’s voice.

“Oh, wow, I wish my boyfriend could keep it up that long,” a woman said.

The reporters and camera crew took opportunity and pressed them from behind.

“You can run, but you can’t hide, Mr. Prescott. There’s a certain female who was once stuck to you.”

“What’s he saying?” Andie asked Cade.

“Nothing, ignore it. He’s trying to get a reaction from you.”

“Looks like your dog isn’t the only one pregnant,” a female reporter stuck a mike in Andie’s face.

Andie pushed the mike and gawked at Cade, her eyes wide and accusing.

Crap. He’d forgotten to wear a condom. But how could the reporter know? Had Andie been spilling everything to a girlfriend? Dang.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “We’ll talk about this later.”

One thing he couldn’t abide was a woman with loose lips. Brag and compare. Somehow, he’d thought Andie was above that kind of juvenile behavior.

A hush fell on the crowd, and a chill prickled the hairs on the back of his scalp. A tall woman wearing a creamy mink coat with silver fox trim parted the crowd.

Cade’s face fell to the ground. It was his agent’s sister, Roxanne.

“I’m pregnant, Cade.”

~
T
o Be
Continued ~

Watch for the sequel,
Intercepted by Love: Part 2

A
ndie Wales is devastated
to learn that the man she fell in love with is a professional athlete who plays on and off the field.

When Cade’s past mistakes catch up with him, Andie urges him to go back to California to do the right thing.

Meanwhile, Andie’s father’s medical bills are mounting, and she needs to take on a second job. A lucrative offer to do research for a scriptwriter lands in her inbox.

Andie flies to Los Angeles to take up the job and finds Cade at the airport. Andie needs to send every penny she makes home to her family, so she agrees to stay at Cade’s to save money, as long as he promises their relationship is friends only.

Can she negotiate a benefits package that’ll keep her heart intact?

Playing Without Rules (Excerpt)

A baseball romance from bestselling romance author, Rachelle Ayala.

Playing Without Rules – Excerpt

Copyright 2015 © Rachelle Ayala

Description

A
ballplayer’s
girlfriend hides his daughter from him because she fears he’s like his abusive father.

Marcia Powers wants nothing to do with ballplayer Brock Carter, especially after she told him to go away and pursue his dreams. She has more than she can handle with an elderly father, a business to run, and a four-year-old daughter posing as her baby sister.

Brock Carter’s back in town to rekindle his romance with Marcia, and this time, he’s not letting her run him out of town. Marcia is unable to resist Brock, but determined to keep her secret.

Brock’s already lost his heart to Marcia once. Will he lose every dream, including baseball, when he discovers the real reason Marcia sent him away?

Chapter One (Excerpt)

“The thing about ballplayers is they’re players.” Marcia Powers twisted the stem of a maraschino cherry around the tip of her tongue and eyed the swaggering baseball players descending on her bar, The Hot Corner, in metropolitan Phoenix.

“You should be thankful for spring training.” Her business partner and best girlfriend, Jeanine Jewell, adjusted her stance at the counter to best position her bounteous breasts. “Keeps the tab rolling and the money flowing.”

“Not to mention the groupie traffic.” Marcia sniffed, but cleared her face in time to smile and take orders from the men in business suits idling at the bar. Their attention was split between the ballplayers and the women. Probably scouts sizing up players for pre-season trades.

The traffic was definitely good for business and made up for the dry times. Phoenix was the spring training home to fifteen off-season baseball teams. It hadn’t always been this way, but the dry spring weather and lower real estate costs than California made Arizona attractive enough to draw the franchises as well as provide affordable games for locals and tourists alike.

Marcia passed a tray of girlie cocktails to Jeanine who sashayed past the businessmen to the booth bubbling over with blondes and booze. Jeanine, ever the flirt, bent low in front of the players’ roving eyes. Leers from the men and sneers from the babes followed in her wake.

Jeanine would have her fill until the ballplayers moved back to their major league cities, collecting one-night stands like baseball cards. Somehow, she was impervious to being hurt. From the moment the umpire yelled, “Play Ball!” in the opening game to the closing fireworks show signifying the end of spring training, Jeanine played: infielders, outfielders, pitch and catch with an occasional trainer or coach thrown in for good measure.

“So, who’s in your field of dreams?” A deep, throaty voice drawled so close to Marcia’s ear she almost dropped the whiskey tumbler she was polishing.

Her breath hitched as she jerked around in time to see Brock Carter’s leer dissolve into a grin. “What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me?”

“Ordering a drink, and it’s good to see you again.”

It definitely wasn’t good seeing him—a troublemaker and heartbreaker—especially since the heart he’d trampled on was, at this moment, beating to break out of her ribcage like an excited puppy leaping for a doggie treat.

“I thought you were traded to the minors, what was that team again?” Marcia hoped her voice wouldn’t give away the urge she had to leap over the bar counter and either punch him in the balls or sock him one in the kisser—ruin his action for any other female stupid enough to be sucked in by those misty green bedroom eyes and smooth downhome Southern drawl.

“Minor setback.” He cracked his knuckles and licked his lips. “But I’m back in a big way, and somehow I knew I’d catch you right here, where it all started.”

Arrogant dick. As if he’d known she’d never leave town, never live the dreams she had years ago before her father’s retirement required her to take over the bar, never have the ideal family she’d pictured with a husband manning the BBQ and children playing in the pool.

“Order your drink and get it over with.” She didn’t want to be rude to customers, but Brock Carter was in a different league altogether. He’d certainly filled in since he left town years ago. Sandy-colored hair poked from under his baseball cap. His freckled face was more rugged, sporting a manly cleft while his muscles strained solid under his practice jersey.

Brock shifted his weight, still leaning over the counter, his forearms flexing. “Buy you a screaming orgasm.”

Marcia swallowed as unbidden images of just how hard she and Brock had strained over and under and around the sheets threatened to undermine her outward calm.

She desperately scanned the tables for Jeanine. Her friend would put Brock in his place—give him a polite nod before shooing him off. She knew what damage Brock had done and why Marcia could not ever let him know her secret.

“I take that as a ‘yes.’” Brock pinched her elbow.

Marcia jerked away from the counter as if she’d touched an electric fence. “Take your screaming whatever and drink it yourself. I’m working.”

His bushy eyebrows lowered, Brock’s chin took that stubborn set she knew only too well. “What’s with you, Marsh? I would have thought five years was enough for you to get over whatever snit you had against me.”

“I’ve nothing against you.” Marcia sidled around the counter to the beer taps. She wasn’t the type to hold a guy from his dreams. Since they didn’t involve her and the situation she found herself in, good riddance. She’d do it all herself, and she had.

Marcia made eye contact with the businessmen, who obliged by ordering another round of drinks, especially since a couple of groupies had moved from the players to the suits.

All the while, Brock remained a large, hulking shadow looming under the restroom signs. Out of the corner of her eye, Marcia saw Jeanine serve him a longneck. Minutes ticked by, but he stayed in his spot, solitary, unresponsive to any female or male brave enough to invade his territory.

Jeanine swung behind the counter and nudged her. “What’s he doing here?”

“Can’t you get rid of him?”

“Tried already.” Jeanine tugged at her bra strap. “He looks pissed. Do you think?”

A shot of panic pumped up Marcia’s pulse. Could he have found out her secret?

“He can’t know,” Marcia said.

“Why not?” Jeanine’s eyebrow quirked, and she put a hand on her hip. “Isn’t it about time you let him in on it?”

“He’ll only hurt her.”

“Maybe not. A girl needs a daddy, and your father’s too old to be a real one for her.”

Marcia closed her eyes, breathing in and out, all too aware of the heated gaze burning into her back. “Just so you remember: Bianca is my little sister. My father is her father. I’m her aunt.”

“So you say.” Jeanine glanced at Brock who lifted his empty bottle. “Looks like he’s not leaving until closing time. Let me find out what he’s been up to.”

“Go ahead and play him.” Marcia huffed. “I don’t mind.”

Jeanine primped her hair and tucked a pencil over her ear. “Game’s wide open. I’m onto it.”

[end of excerpt]

For more on Rachelle and Playing Without Rules, please visit:

http://rachelleayala.me/books/played-novellas/

Join Rachelle’s mailing list at
http://bit.ly/RachAyala

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