Playing for Keeps (27 page)

“Lager Storm, football and banging?” she teased.

“Let’s call it Lager Storm, football and love.”

She glanced up at him. “I’m not sure we should be throwing that word around.”

“Because I pimped you out to Decker? Fine, let’s deal with that one too.”

“No, Johnny. You promised.” She pulled his head down for a provocative kiss. “Didn’t you miss me?”

“Yeah.” He returned the kiss, deepening it. “I thought I lost you. Don’t scare me like that again.”

“I won’t.”

He gave her a pained smile. “Let’s just get the talking over with, shall we?”

“You’re so stubborn.” Marching back into the house, she headed for the table and found her cell phone, then pulled up his message about the pimping and replayed it, but only reluctantly, given how deeply the harassment video had bothered him.

To her surprise, the voice mail didn’t have the same effect. “Yeah, I could have phrased it better,” he admitted. “But I don’t see where you got sex from this. I apologize,” he added with an obligatory smile, “but it seems pretty innocent to me.”

“You’re telling us spend the weekend together. And to use Murf’s suite of all places. Doesn’t that ring any sex bells for you?”

“I told
you
to use the suite. Deck has his own house.”

“What does full-service mean?”

“You’ve got a dirty mind.” He grinned. “I meant give him the full Erica treatment. Make him feel great, describe your vision, then make it
his
vision. That’s where you excel. Like you did to me that first day. Like you do to Helmut. And the way you brought the league on board with saying ‘douche’ on the air even though it’s all kinds of wrong. Full service. It’s your gift.”

She rolled her eyes. “Let’s just drop it and go to bed before I change my mind about that too.”

His expression sobered. “You know what I think? You’re pissed about that message. Which is fair because it was a dick move.”

“Johnny . . .”

“Wait.” He flashed a cocky smile. “You’re pissed, so you’re punishing me. Which is also well-deserved. But I’m going to make it up to you, so don’t go global on me.”

Global?

She almost smiled at that. As if they had the entire world as their playground?

So she sighed and admitted, “I was angry, obviously. But like I said, it all worked out. So I’m not mad anymore. I’m actually
glad
you did it.”

“Why?”

“Well, for one thing, I fixed Sean and Bannerman.” She smiled teasingly. “And you were right. Those guys would never have spilled their guts in front of you. Sean craves your approval, and Bam considers you the big dog. On
and
off the field. So I had to be alone with them.”

“We’ll get back to that,” he assured her. “What’s the other reason? You said ‘for one thing.’ What’s the other thing?”

She hesitated, searching for the perfect words. The last thing they needed was another fight. Or hurt feelings. Or another misunderstanding.

He arched an eyebrow. “It might help if you told me where you guys were all night. Not at Murf’s place. And not Deck’s or Bannerman’s. You didn’t go to the coast with them, did you?” Chuckling, he added, “Turns out I’m not good at sharing.”

“My aunt has a condo with a view of Puget Sound. It’s nothing fancy but I spent a couple of weeks there every summer when I was a kid. It’s cozy and fun and has a nice fireplace. And she’s traveling with my parents, so I arranged for us to use it. You and me, I mean.”

“And I screwed it up.”

“I’m glad you did,” she repeated as brightly as she could. “I had such unrealistic plans. It would have been a disaster.” When he waited for her to continue, she explained, “I thought we could have a heart-to-heart talk. Which is exactly the opposite of what we needed.” She bit her lip, then decided to go for it. “Deep inside I always knew that. Every time I imagined what we’d say to each other up there, it fell apart in my head. Because it was unworkable.”

He took her hands in his own. “I disagree. It’s exactly what we need. So let’s try again. I can build a fire here and we’ll talk. Heart to heart, like you said. I need that,” he added in a husky tone.

She raised his right hand to her lips and kissed the roughened knuckles. “I know. Because you’re still back where I was. Thinking this has become more than just a fling. But the odd part is, even if we started dating seriously, it would never be as much fun—as perfect—as the old days.” Gripping his hand tightly, she assured him, “We were perfect for each other that first afternoon in the bar. Remember? I wanted to let you kiss me, but I couldn’t until after the Super Bowl because my career would be affected. And even though you wanted
me
too, you couldn’t put it off for long because you had plans. Life-changing plans that meant a lot to you and your family. And those limits—as inconvenient as they seemed—actually freed us up. We had to keep it quiet, keep it under the radar. And we knew it wouldn’t last. It was just for fun, and it really, really
was
fun. And now, it’s not.”

“Things change.”

“Not really. I still work in New York, you’re here. You still have sudden-death games, I have mega-important meetings. You need me with you but I can’t be there. We’ve been fighting, right? About
that
.”

“Yeah, that’s on me. I’ve been pressuring you—”

“Because you want a girlfriend. Someone who can be at your side when you need her. Someone who will put you first. That’s understandable. It just can’t be me.” She draped her arms around his neck. “Remember when I was just some anonymous babe in a raincoat? And you were a sexy stud in a football uniform? We had so much fun fantasizing about mindless sex. We didn’t think we could have it, remember? Especially when I met you at Murf’s suite to call off our plans. And we
did
call them off. And then we had our best ever sex. Doesn’t that tell you something?”

He scowled. “It wasn’t our best. Not to me. Yeah, it was amazing, but it gets better every time.”

“Like when I flew in from Mykonos and wore the elf costume?”

“Exactly.”

“I loved that too, Johnny. But five minutes later we were fighting about my career. That was the day it all went downhill.” She brushed her lips across his, her voice warming. “Don’t you want that old feeling back? We just need to go back to fundamentals. I can’t afford to have anything serious with a Lager Storm spokesman. And you have a blind date five weeks from tomorrow. So we just need to make these last few weekends count.”

“Don’t do this, Erica,” he warned, pulling away. “Don’t manipulate me again. It’s too important this time.”

She didn’t understand the accusation, but still it stung. “When have I ever manipulated you?”

“Spurlings don’t do product endorsement,” he reminded her. “Especially not for beer. But you painted such an amazing picture, I couldn’t say no. Plus, I knew if I said no, you wouldn’t date me.” He took a deep breath, then insisted, “Now you’re doing it again. Making me want to have mindless sex with the most beautiful girl I ever met. And warning me that if I don’t agree to your terms, I can’t have you at all.”

She stared, bizarrely touched by his words. In his own way he had given her the ultimate compliment for an aspiring ad exec. She could sell her vision even to someone who was dead set against it.

His stern glare softened. “It’s ironic, you know. This crazy talent is why I pimped you out in the first place. I knew you could sell Deck on himself. Get him past the mental block. And it’s cool that you did it. But don’t do it to
me
. At least not until we get this settled.”

“It’s already settled. We can have the best fling ever for four more weeks. Or we can end it today. But the fighting has to stop. It’s breaking my heart, Johnny. And ruining all our wonderful memories.”

But he was stubborn. “I need more time with you.”

“How much? A week? A month?”

He winced. “Can’t we just let it play out naturally?”

“Well,” she said with a sniff, “as flattering as that sounds, I’d rather stick with the original plan.”

When he scowled, she touched his jaw. “It would just make things worse. For me at least.”

She could see he was ready to up his game, but at that moment his phone played a melodramatic four-note dirge at the same moment hers buzzed in her pocket. Intrigued, she checked to see who her texter was, then smiled. “It’s Sean.”

“Yeah, and that’s Bannerman for me.”

Opening the message, she smiled again. “They’re coming over. With Chinese food.”

“I’ll put a stop to that.”

“Maybe they’re ready to tell you about the breakthrough,” she said, trying to coax him from his angry mood. “Or just hang out now that the Triple Threat is reunited. You’ve missed that, haven’t you?”

“You’re doing it again,” he muttered. “Haven’t you had enough of them for one day? Breakfast
and
dinner?”

“Be nice. Don’t let them know we’re fighting.”

He gave a reluctant chuckle. “Next you’ll tell me we’re staying together for the sake of the kids.”

She laughed in relief. “Something like that.”

His eyes twinkled. “We’ve got a few minutes before they get here.” He stood and pulled her into his arms. “I can be persuasive too, you know.”

“Trust me, I know.” She sighed as he lowered his mouth to hers, determined to enjoy this to the fullest without losing sight of her goal.

Chapter 13

“Oh, my God, that was so amazing.”

He smiled smugly. “I
told
you. It just gets better.”

“No campaigning, please? Let me savor this yummy afterglow until the barbarians reach the gate.”

His scowl returned. “They both have access, and apparently no boundaries, so you should get dressed. Unless they’ve seen you naked already.”

“I’m not really sure,” she said with a teasing laugh. “I fell asleep on the couch and God knows what happened after that. I woke up in the bedroom alone, fully clothed, but how I got there is a mystery.”

He studied her, then repeated, “Get dressed,” as he stood and pulled on his jeans. “I’ll hold them back as long as I can.”

She watched as he ambled out of the room, shirt in hand. His powerful back and shoulders entranced her, and she warned herself not to fall into his trap. He was accustomed to giving orders and getting his way, and even though he had been temporarily cowed by her profanity-laced voice mail, his confidence had returned in full force, especially now that he had taken her physically—reclaimed her—in advance of his friends’ arrival.

So she cleaned up quickly and rummaged in her suitcase for a fresh outfit. She had packed sexy clothes for the aborted rendezvous, including lightweight pink sweatpants and a tight white tee, and she decided it would be fun to look good for the barbarians, so she opted for those. Then she headed out to the living room, where voices were already raised in lively discussion about a report that Wyatt Bourne had twisted his ankle.

“With the Surgeon out of commission, and Deck back in the saddle, it’s all good,” Bannerman was insisting as he poured himself a Lager Storm.

“That ankle won’t stop him,” Johnny told him. Then he turned to Decker and said quietly, “So? You’re really cured?”

The kicker nodded. “Thanks to you. I can’t believe you let me have Erica, but she did the trick.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, she was a great motivator.
Mentally
. Not physically.”

“She motivated
me
physically,” Bannerman interrupted with a grin. But when he saw that his QB wasn’t smiling, he was quick to add, “Just kidding.”

Johnny eyed him sternly. “How did she get from the couch to the bed?”

The halfback groaned. “She ratted us out? Geez, do you know how hard it is to carry a hot babe without touching something juicy? But I did it. Because she’s all yours.” He noticed Erica in the doorway and grinned. “See what I mean? That bod’s a minefield.”

“Yeah,” Decker said with a laugh. “Are we allowed to say hi to her?”

She walked over and hugged him, then gave Bannerman the same treatment. If it bothered Johnny he didn’t show it. Instead, he settled into his recliner chair like a king surveying his subjects, leaving the sofa for Erica and his teammates.

After that, Decker and Bannerman really did defer to their QB, almost more like he was their big brother. Bannerman was taller and brawnier than Johnny, but from the way he acted, he clearly believed the guy could kick his ass. Still, he was an animal at heart and couldn’t resist flirting with Erica and harassing Decker about being madly in love with her, all of which Johnny took with benevolent grace, stepping in only when the halfback’s language grew too colorful.

With the food spread across the coffee table, they feasted while continuing to talk about the Surgeon as well as their upcoming game against the Lions. The guests never mentioned the real reason for their month-long feud, and Johnny didn’t ask. He just used some sort of primal dominance to put that pressure on them, and Decker for one seemed about to buckle under.

Except it’s not Sean’s secret to share,
she reminded herself, touched by his loyalty to Bannerman.

Finally, Bannerman cleared his throat and said, “Hey, John. We need to ask you a favor.”

“Another one?”

“Hey, you didn’t pimp her out to
me
,” the halfback reminded him.

Johnny glared. “What’s the favor?”

“Me and Deck think I should start holding the ball for him again. Now that he’s cured and all. But Coach won’t go for it unless you agree.”

The QB shook his head. “No way.”

The two guests exchanged frustrated looks, but apparently wouldn’t dare argue.

So Erica piped up on their behalf. “Why not, Johnny? It was a one-in-a-million accident. Look at all the other games where it worked perfectly. It’s Sean’s routine. We don’t want to disrupt that, do we?”

He gave her a patient smile. “I get what you’re saying, but no. Not gonna happen.”

“It’s okay, Erica,” Decker murmured. “You guys shouldn’t argue on our account.”

Bannerman surprised her by agreeing. “Yeah, babe. Just drop it.”