Playing For Keeps (20 page)

“Grazie.”

After he left, Jacelyn watched Mike. “You had
him play that for me, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, darlin’, I did.” He kissed her hand,
rubbed his cheek against it. “You make me feel what that pretty
song says.”

And right then, with the moon shining on
them, his hand clasping hers, and the soft clatter of diners in the
background, Jacelyn lost her heart to the man seated across from
her.

“Thank you, Mike.”

He winked at her. “Want dessert?”

“Yes, I want dessert. Get the check.
Quick.”

o0o

“There.”

“Yes, there, Mike, there.”

She lowered her hand. Grasped him fully.

“Jacey.”

His mouth was everywhere.

A bit later...

“Come for me. First.” His thrusts were
hard.

“No, togeth—” The world exploded then, and
she had to close her eyes. Sensation, feeling, heat encompassed
her.

When consciousness returned, she realized
he’d held back.

“Your turn.”

She pushed at his chest and he followed her
lead, lying into the pillows. She straddled him, was impaled by
him—his back bowed off the bed.

“Jacelyn, darlin’, you feel so...oh...oh,
move, just like that.”

She moved. But so slowly he couldn’t stand
it.

His head buzzed, his mouth went dry. “Don’t.
Can’t. Damn it to hell. Jacelyn, please!!”

She quickened the pace.

But not enough.

He withstood it as long as he could, then he
gripped her hips hard and took control. He plunged, plundered and
finally felt his body implode.

When he could think again, with her resting
on top of him, he realized that never in his life had he
experienced such searing, mind-numbing pleasure. But there was more
to it. As he stroked her hair, he stared up at the ceiling.

Mike was afraid he’d fallen in love.

o0o

“You know, I love watching you on the
field.”

“Yeah, how come?”

She was giving him a back rub as he’d hurt
his shoulder again demonstrating moves in practice. “I don’t know.
It’s so primitive.”

“Jocks are like cavemen.”

“You know I don’t think that way
anymore.”

She kneaded his upper deltoids, then trailed
her hands down, loving the play of muscles along his spine. When
she reached his lower back, he moaned.

Jacelyn kissed his shoulder. “I’ve been
studying up on football.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh-huh.” As he was on his side, she was able
to slide her hands around to his chest. Brush his abs. Trail
lower.

“Unless you’re ready for the second half,
baby, I’d watch straying into foul territory like that.”

His phrasing gave her an idea. “Help me with
the football jargon, though. I still don’t know what a lot of the
terms mean.”

“You gotta be kidding. With what you’re doin’
to me?”

She laughed and continued to flirt with his
body. “Come on, you can handle it.”

Mike chuckled. “Well, right now, you’re doin’
some pretty good clipping.”

“Clipping?”

“Uh-huh. It’s an illegal hit from behind
below the waist.”

She ran her hands down his flank, around to
his thigh.

“That’s called encroachment, baby.”

Leaning forward, she breathed into his ear.
“I’m making a pretty good pass, don’t you think?”

“Star quality.” As she teased him, he said,
“Your aim could be a little better, though.”

“Well, practice makes perfect.” Insinuating
her hand between his legs, she bypassed his penis. Instead, she
nudged her knee between his legs from behind.

“You’re killin’ me, that’s what you’re
doing.” He was fully aroused. He grabbed for a condom from the
nightstand.

Her hand shot out, grasped his wrist and took
the latex from him. “This is an interception, in case you don’t
recognize it.” Still from behind, she tore the packet open and
rolled it on him. Then proceeded to take him fully into her hand.
“Is this what they call holding?” she asked sexily.

“Jace...”

She massaged him. Loved the feel of him.
Loved that sex could be fun and not serious all the time.

“I can’t...”

Still she squeezed, played, manipulated. He
growled, “That’s it,” and flipped over. “This,” he said through
gritted teeth, “is a man in motion.” He pressed her into the
mattress.
“This
is called going for it.” He lifted her
hips and thrust into her. Her playfulness had made her ready again,
too. He filled her fully, wonderfully.

“W-what’s this called, Coach?” she asked
breathlessly.

His eyes glittered like hot smoke when he
said simply, “Possession.”

o0o

They were driving back the next morning,
feeling sated, happy and something else Mike was afraid to name in
broad daylight. He shook his head.

“What?” Jacelyn asked.

He reached out and grasped her knee. She wore
a pink skirt with a white top. Her legs were bare. “I’m feeling
pretty damn sappy.”

“Me, too.”

His grin matched hers. “Thanks, darlin’, for
a wonderful night.”

“My pleasure.”

“Mmm. Mine, too.” After a few moments of
contented silence, he said, “What time are the guys getting
back?”

“Noon. I need to talk to Kyle before my
meeting with Ed Dickinson.”

“The alumni guy?”

“Yes.”

“They love having the Bulls at Beckett.”

“I’m a little partial to having them on
campus, too, now.”

He chuckled. “What do you need to talk to
Kyle about?”

“Well, first his schedule.” She told him
about the call from the registrar. “There’s another thing, too.”
She sighed.

“What?”

“When I went to leave the message on his
desk, I found something.”

He waited.

“A list I’m not sure I was supposed to see.”
She gave him a sideways glance. “It had
get condoms
on
it.”

“Ah.” He shrugged. “He’s almost twenty,
sweetheart.”

“I know. And he’s serious about Kay. It’s
just that— I don’t know—I’ve tried on numerous occasions to get him
to talk about sex with me. He listens, answers a few questions
politely, but never shares anything.”

Mike felt laughter rumble out of him. “If my
mother ever did that when I was young, my ears would still be
red.”

“I get that, but I bet you talked to your
father about it.”

“Yes, ma’am. And Logan.”

“Your older brother.”

“Yeah. Didn’t Worthington ever talk to
Kyle?”

“Kyle was eleven when Neil left. Plenty of
time before that to do the basics. But he didn’t, of course.” She
sighed. “Then when Kyle started dating, Neil wasn’t around
much.”

Mike put his hand over hers. “Want me to say
something to him? Even though he’s practicing safe sex, that
doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have an adult to kick it around
with.”

She didn’t answer; her eyes were misty blue
when he looked over at her. “What?” he asked.

“That is so sweet of you to volunteer.”

“I like Kyle.”

“I know you do. He knows it, too.”

“We might be close enough to talk about this.
He’s spent a lot of time with me. Shared some things.”

“About his father, about the concert” She was
silent a moment. “No, but thanks for the offer. He’s my son, and
even if he’s a boy and I’m a woman, I’m going to bring it up, one
more time at least.”

“Well, if he doesn’t talk to you, think about
mentioning me.”

“I will.” She was quiet for a moment, then
smiled at him. “You’re a really nice guy, Mike Kingston.”

He didn’t know why he said it. It just
slipped out “Nice enough to be seen in public with?”

There was a very long pause. “Is that what
you want?”

“I’m not sure. I guess I’d need to know a few
things, first.”

“Like what?”

Catching sight of a rest area off the
highway, Mike pulled into it. He put the car in Park and faced her.
Slowly, he ran a hand down her hair. “Are we gonna see each other
after next week? After camp ends?”

She sucked in a breath, as if she didn’t
expect his question. Finally, she asked, “I don’t know, are
we?”

“Do you want to?”

Her chin raised and she met his gaze
unflinchingly. “Yes, I do. Do you?”

“Ah, darlin’, you bet I do.” He rubbed his
knuckles up and down her cheek. “This—us...” he swallowed hard
“...this means something to me.”

Her smile was angel-bright. “To me, too.”

His heart bumped in his chest. He hadn’t
realized how much he wanted to hear her say it aloud.

“We’ll tell the kids first,” she said
matter-of-factly.

“Okay.”

“And I’ll need to talk to Lew again.” Her
brow furrowed. “I’ll, urn, tell him it’s not just a summer fling.”
She bit her lip. “Is that all right?”

He knew what she was asking. Sliding his hand
to her neck, he pulled her as close as he could get given the gear
shift. “It’s not a fling, baby. It’s a whole lot more.”

And so ironic, he thought after he kissed her
soundly and pulled back out on the road. Women had sought after him
all his life. He’d enjoyed them, cared about them, but he’d never
found one he wanted to really pursue. Who would have thought he’d
fall for a PhD? And who would have thought she might just return
his feelings?

Ed Dickinson had big shoulders, a brawny
chest and a glib smile. He’d been quarterback for the Beckett
football team fifteen years ago, and had been involved in the
Alumni Association since he’d graduated. In some ways, he’d always
intimidated Jacelyn; today, though, he didn’t. She guessed it was
because Mike made her comfortable around athletes.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Ed ran a firm
which supplied paychecks to area businesses. “Never a dull
moment.”

“No problem.” She sat in his plush office, in
his plush chair, sipping coffee.

He dropped down at his desk and adjusted the
sleeves of his suit coat. “There’s no easy way to tell you this
Jacelyn, so I’m just going to spit it out.”

Her heart speeded up. Damn it. She was
feeling wonderful today after her night with Mike. Whatever Ed was
going to tell her was apparently going to spoil her mood.

“For the next school year, the Alumni
Association is only going to provide half the amount of funds for
the Outreach Program that it gave this year.”

Oh my God. She and Millie had been hoping for
an increase. She drew in a heavy breath. “This is unexpected.
Why?”

“First, let me say it wasn’t my decision. I
tried to talk the board out of the cuts. There was strong sentiment
on the other side.”

“Do they realize what we do with the money?
Help kids afford to go to Beckett?”

“Yeah. They want to give the other half of
the money to Beckett students, but for a different purpose.”

“To other students? Where?”

“In the Sports Studies program.”

“Excuse me?”

“Your new program appealed to us for funds
for internships.”

“Sports Studies is completely financed by the
school.”

“They want to increase the summer internships
not provided for in the budget. I met with Jake Lansing and Mike
Kingston about it. And I’m meeting again with the King as soon as I
can corral him.”

She swallowed hard. “Mike knows about
this?”

“Sure. We all got together a few weeks ago.
He’s team liaison and we brainstormed possibilities for summer
internships. They cost money, though, and he asked us to shoulder
some of that.”

Mike had done this behind her back? “I can’t
believe this.”

“Alumni associations come in all shapes and
sizes. Ours happens to favor athletics. I’m sorry, Jacelyn.”

“Is this permanent?”

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Is your donation being cut just this year,
or every year from now on?”

“I don’t know for sure. But I wouldn’t count
on us for more than half.”

“Right.” She stood.

“I know you’re disappointed.”

That didn’t begin to cover what Jacelyn felt.
Stunned, she said her goodbyes and left Ed’s downtown office. The
bright sunshine didn’t feel so warm or comforting this time, as she
drove directly to school.

Mike had known about this and not told her?
That was impossible. Mike had gone after her alumni funds and
deceived her? No, that couldn’t be. She wouldn’t believe it. Not
after what had happened between them this morning, not after what
she’d learned about him the last few weeks.

She’d find him and get to the bottom of
this.

o0o

“Hey, Coach.”

Mike looked up from his desk in the Sports
Studies office to see Kyle standing in the open doorway. He was
dressed in the camp T-shirt and denim shorts, holding a Bulls cap.
“Hey, Kyle.” He looked behind the boy. “Where’s Ty?”

“Kay’s at your house with him. Ty’s taking a
nap.”

“I’ll bet he’s tuckered out.” He nodded to
Jacey’s son. “Come on in.” Kyle crossed into the room. “Did you
have a good time?”

“The best.”

“You don’t look like you did.” Mike frowned;
alarm drove up his spine. “Is everything all right? Is Ty
okay?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. I, um, I need to talk to you
about something personal.”

Mike glanced at his watch. He had an hour
before an afternoon session with the team. “Want to grab something
to eat?”

“I’m not very hungry.”

Remembering Jacelyn’s comments about the
condoms, Mike pointed to a chair. “Well, sit then.” He stood and
crossed the room to close the door. When he came back, he dropped
down beside Kyle. “What’s botherin’ you, son?”

“I...” Kyle glanced out the window. Fiddled
with the brim of the baseball cap. “Hell.” He faced Mike squarely.
“I gotta tell Mom something today, before she finds out any other
way. And I’m afraid.”

Uh-oh. Jeez, Mike hoped Kay wasn’t pregnant.
“What are you afraid of?”