Playing For Keeps (14 page)

At four on Thursday, Jacelyn, wearing old
shorts and an even older T-shirt, entered Basil Hall and headed
toward the elevators to paint the Outreach Center. Though she was
not looking forward to it—she hated all that preparation and the
painting itself—she was humming softly. The tune was a sixties song
she’d heard on the radio on the way in today, about stealing kisses
in your mama’s kitchen. The words rocketed her back to last night,
to when Mike had kissed her senseless in the laundry room. What had
she been thinking? And they’d almost gotten caught....

Jacelyn’s mind had been muddled, but Mike had
reacted fast. Before she knew it, he’d actually climbed out of the
window, squeezing through the small rectangle. As he made his
getaway, she’d teased him about quick escapes from fathers or
jealous husbands. When he was out of sight, she’d left the laundry
room, and found her son in the kitchen.

“Mom, you okay?”

“Of course.”

“What were you doing down there?” He’d
pointed to the corridor.

“Um, I spilled something on my outfit and was
searching for some stain remover in the laundry room.”

Kyle hadn’t looked totally convinced. “Did
you have a nice time tonight?”

“Yes.” Not with Hal, she remembered thinking,
but those few moments with Mike had been ecstasy.

“Hey.” Mike had appeared at the sliding
doors. Thankfully, Jacelyn noted, the glass was pulled back to
expose the screens.

“Coach? What were you doing outside?” Kyle’s
eyes had narrowed. “And where’s your shirt?”

“I got hot and took it off. I went outside
to get some air.”

“You were asleep on the couch when we went
upstairs.”

Mike intentionally took charge. “Speaking of
that, where’s Ty?”

“Asleep in my room....”

And so they’d gotten away with their mini
assignation.

Jacelyn rode the elevator to the bottom floor
while she reminisced about Mike. When the doors opened, she heard
commotion down the hall. Only classrooms not being used this summer
were on the lower level, along with the Outreach Center, so the
sounds had to be coming from her office. She checked her watch.
Four o’clock. She was meeting Millie here, but who...?

Quickly she walked down the corridor. As she
got closer, she heard some awful rap music coming from the Center.
At the door, she went slack-jawed.

All the furniture had been moved to the
middle of the room and covered with tarp. The newly replaced
windows were open, letting in a warm July breeze. And at every wall
were the biggest guys she’d ever seen—each one with a roller or
paintbrush in hand and wearing old clothes, some of which were
speckled with the deep peach she’d chosen for the walls. The men
were laughing, joking—and painting her office.

She spotted Mike at the top of a ladder. He
wore a black T-shirt that revealed a road map of muscles, and baggy
denim shorts, both sporting globs of paint. “Can’t we get some real
music on that thing, Stormy? My ears are starting to ring.”

“Hey, Coach. We’re doin’ you a big favor at
the end of a tough day.”

“Didn’t know I was gonna lose my hearing in
the process,” he grumbled.

Jacelyn came farther into the room. “What’s
going on here?”

Mike looked over his shoulder, as did the
other guys. “Hey, Dr. Ross.”

The rest of the team greeted her.

“Mike, what are you doing?”

He winked at her, turning her stomach upside
down. “Not cooking a full-course meal, now, are we?”

“I mean, why are you painting our
office?”

Setting his brush in the tray, he climbed off
the ladder and came toward her. Thinking of last night, her heart
beat escalated. Oh, this was not good.

He gave her a killer smile. “Well, bein’ that
we stole your other quarters, we thought we’d help make this place
more livable.”

“How did you know we were doing this
today?”

“You told me at practice the other morning.
And Gage got the details from Millie.” He nodded to the corner,
where the trainer was rolling paint on the east wall.

“Did Millie know you were going to do
this?”

“No,” came a voice from behind. “She
didn’t.”

Turning, Jacelyn saw her friend in the
doorway. “We’ve got helpers,” Jacelyn said.

Millie scanned the area. “Angels, you mean.
It’s almost
done.”

“Needs another coat.” This from Gage.
Millie’s face lit like the sun when she spotted him. Immediately
she crossed to where he stood. There were soft murmurings and he
moved in closer and straightened the collar of her shirt. Then he
grazed her cheek with his knuckles.

“Looks like romance is blossomin’ all over
the place,” Mike said softly to Jacelyn. “I wondered why he was so
hot to do this.”

She turned back to Mike. “It was his
idea?”

“Like hell,” Marcus Stormweather, who’d
walked by them, put in. “Coach here blackmailed us into it.”

Mike had a speck of paint on his cheek.
Jacelyn smoothed it off with her fingertips, then swiped them over
his shirt. “Blackmail?”

Grasping her hand before she could take it
away, he squeezed it tightly...and leaned in almost imperceptibly.
“I told ‘em we’d have a double practice today unless they consented
to do a good deed instead.”

“What’s a double practice?”

“Hell on earth, pardon my language, ma’am.”
This from another huge man on the north wall.

“Don’t listen to Titus. He’s the team wuss.
In my day, double practices were routine. Tim Mason just gave ‘em
up a year ago.” He raised his voice. “‘Course, players were tougher
then.”

There were appropriately sarcastic comments
from the guys. Jacelyn scanned the area; she didn’t know what to
say. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone did something so
sweet for her.

Millie and Gage crossed to them. “How much
longer, do you think, Coach?” Millie asked Mike. She was smiling
idiotically.

“About a half hour. Maybe a mite longer.”

“Just enough time. Let’s go, Jacelyn.”

“Where?”

“Grocery shopping. We’re gonna make these
guys a home-cooked meal.”

Gage’s eyes danced. “Bless you,
honeybunch.”

“Hallelujah.” This from Marcus.

Another player chimed in. “Right on, Dr.
Smith.”

Titus gave her the thumbs-up sign.

Looking fierce, Mike thrust his hands on his
hips. “We got a team meeting at six, guys.”

“Aw, Coach.”

“Come on, man, a home-cooked meal?”

Mike shook his head. “You only been here a
week, so that don’t hold no water.”

Gage leaned into Millie and said in a stage
whisper, “Meeting’s only an hour, Millicent.”

She grinned. “We can make spaghetti sauce in
that time.”

Raucous cheers all around. Jacelyn felt
caught in a trap. A nice, cushy, feel-good trap.

“What do you think, Dr. Ross?” Mike grasped a
strand of hair that had come loose from her braid and tucked it
behind her ear. “I’m free after the meeting. Tyler and Kyle have a
special campfire thing tonight with his day camp, then Ty’s staying
overnight at your house since I’ve got that early radio interview.”
His brow furrowed. “Unless you’re busy.” This time he leaned in
obviously close. “You got another date with Professor Hal?”

“No dates with him anymore, Coach.”

“Hmm. That’s good to hear.”

“So, what do you say, Jacelyn?” Millie
asked.

“I say yes—” she glanced over at her friend
“—
Millicent.”

When they reached the door, she heard Mike
call out, “We’ll stop and get the dessert.”

o0o

“This is so good, it makes me want to cry.”
Mike twirled his fork in the cheesy fettuccine sauce which even
smelled downright sinful. “Where’d you learn how to cook like this,
darlin’?”

“From Eric’s wife. She’s Italian.”

One of the receivers, Nick Santini, lifted
his wineglass. Mike knew the players drank some, as he had in his
pro days, but mostly they stayed away from the booze during
training camp and the season.
“Salut,
Dr. Ross, Dr.
Smith.”

Millie lifted her glass and Gage clinked it.
Those two had been peas in a pod tonight. They’d all carpooled over
here after the team meeting, and Mike had ridden with Garrison,
who’d said he was sweet on Millie and that they were
dating.
Mike wished like hell Jacey would—was able to—date
him. He understood her reasoning, but he didn’t have to like it.
Though for two people who
weren’t
dating, they were sure
spending a lot of time together. Like tonight.

And like last night which he couldn’t think
about too much or he’d go nuts. Still, he noticed how sexy she
looked even in old white shorts and the pink sleeveless top.

After Marcus made some comment about never
having had pepperoni in marinara sauce the way Millie had cooked
it, Jacey said, “Pass me the bowl, I haven’t had any.”

Mike stuck his fork into a spicy piece that
was on his plate. “Here, I’ve had too much already. They’ll have to
roll me out onto the field.” He extended the fork, but instead of
putting the meat onto her plate, he held it to her mouth. Watching
her sink even white teeth into the juicy pepperoni made his whole
body tighten. He hoped the meal didn’t end any time soon.

It didn’t. Everybody was in a good mood and
lingered—joking, complimenting the cooks, trading insults. When the
conversation died down, Millie stood. “Why don’t you fellas go sit
out back while we clean up. You can take the dessert you brought to
the picnic table on the patio.”

“No way,” Mike said. “My mama would skin me
alive if I let the cooks clean up. Us guys are fixin’ to do
it.”

Jacey stood and reached for his plate. “You
don’t have to.”

“Let us,” Gage told Millie.
“You
two
go have coffee on the patio.”

With only weak protests, the women got mugs
of coffee and headed outside.

Like a well-oiled machine, the six men
attacked the kitchen, though Mike’s gaze kept straying to the
patio.

Jacey and Millie were both stretched out on
chaises, chatting amiably. He wondered what they were talking
about.

o0o

Millie sipped her coffee and nodded to the
house. “Those guys are really something, aren’t they? I can’t
believe they painted the Center and now they’re cleaning up.”

“They’re something all right.” Jacelyn stared
out into the pretty tree-lined backyard. The summer night was warm,
and a sultry breeze wafted around them. “It wouldn’t have occurred
to Hal and Craig to help out let alone take the initiative to paint
the Outreach office.”

Millie watched her. “What’s going on with you
and Mike, Jacelyn?”

“We’ve gotten to be friends. I’m glad, since
Kyle and Tyler spend so much time together.” Still Millie watched
her. “What?”

“Well, for one thing, at the office I saw you
wipe a smudge of paint off his face like a woman does to a man
she’s involved with. And he tucked your hair behind your ear. Then
at dinner he fed you the pepperoni the same way, without even
thinking about how intimate that seemed.”

“The joys of having a psychologist for a best
friend.” When Millie continued to stare at her, she shrugged. “I’ve
only known him two weeks.” But Jacelyn thought back to other
things. Like the very sensual back rub. “I guess we’ve gotten
close.”

“There’s something else. I overheard Hal
telling Craig that Mike was at your house Monday night Hal wasn’t
happy about it.”

“I told Hal yesterday I didn’t want to see
him anymore socially.”

“I’ll bet that went over well.”

It hadn’t, of course.

You’re kidding, right...? I hope this
doesn’t have anything to do with Mike Kingston...
You’re a
little old to be turning into a groupie....

She sipped her coffee. “Who cares if Hal’s
happy or not? He was mean and insulting to Mike.”

“I guess you don’t care. Not about Hal,
anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s obvious you care about Mike.”

“Did I hear my name mentioned?” He stood in
the doorway, looking great in clean khaki shorts and a Bulls
T-shirt, wearing a team cap.

Gage was behind him, similarly dressed. “We
got the goods.” He held up huge brown sacks.

The men crossed to the picnic table and set
out the dessert.

“What is it?” Millie asked Gage. As he
approached her, she scooted her legs over so he could sit on the
edge of her chaise.

Gage sat. And touched her knee. “Cannolis,
cream puffs and half-moon cookies.”

Holding a bag, Mike stood by the table. “Want
something, Jacelyn? You’d better get it now before those baboons
come out and devour everything.”

“A cannoli.” Mike brought her one and dropped
down on the end of her chaise, chowing down on a cheesy confection
himself. Jacelyn watched his teeth close over it, watched him
swallow and refrained from wiping a bit of sugar from his full,
sensuous lips. Instead, she bit into her own dessert. “What are the
guys doing in there?”

“Checking out Millie’s CDs.” Jacelyn cocked
her head. Mike elaborated. “They saw the stereo in the living
room.” Suddenly, a sixties song came blasting out. “Do You Wanna
Dance?” filled the air. “Oh, Lord, now it’ll start.” He pointed to
the doorway. “Watch.”

Out came Marcus, Nick, and the two other
receivers moving and gyrating to the beat of the music. They were
doing a combination of steps, and a couple of them were pretending
to hold a mike and sing along, though they didn’t know all the
words.

Gage sprang to his feet “This is my era,
babe. Let’s dance.”

Suddenly the big stone patio became a dance
floor. The guys moved the umbrella table and chairs out of the way
as if they were weightless. Gage and Millie began to swing
dance.

Millie, like Jacelyn, was good at the moves.
So was Gage. So, apparently, was Marcus. In seconds, he had Jacelyn
out of the chaise and on the floor. She fell easily into step with
the big guy, who knew as many moves on the dance floor as she
presumed he did on the football field. As a matter of fact all the
guys were good. Jacelyn remembered Eric saying that football
players were known to take dance lessons to improve their
agility.