As I drive to the stadium for my meeting at noon, my thoughts linger on Danika. She’s the most sensual woman I’ve ever experienced. It’s harder than I thought to leave her at my house and come to work. I convinced her to stay until this morning, assuring her she’d have plenty of time to write yesterday because I wouldn’t be home until at least eight. Knowing I have a full day ahead of me, and I’ll pay for my time off this morning later this evening, I wouldn’t have traded a second with Dani.
By the time I get to the office, it’s nearly eleven. If Harlow had been at her desk as I whisked into my office, I know her eyebrows would have been at her hairline. I’m always here by seven, and I’ve already worked out. I’m predictable as the tide, and I chuckle aloud at the thought of changing my schedule on Harlow. She’d have a heyday.
Normally, I’ve responded to my emails by now, so when I boot up my laptop, I’m inundated with unopened messages. Harlow typically filters through some to answer anything pressing, so her absence and my tardiness is more than noticed.
Before I unbury myself from the mound of impending emails, I pull up the Hilton to make a reservation for my weekend in Seattle. I spare no expense and reserve a suite for our weekend away. I also reach out to the ticket office and reserve two tickets to have available at Will Call for Dani and Damien. The poor woman who took my call, nearly swallowed her tongue when she realized she was speaking to me directly. It’s unprecedented for me to call, and she let me know this. After getting the tickets taken care of, she politely thanks me and offers to help anytime I’m in need. I make a mental note of her name and remind myself to have Harlow reach out and thank her when she returns.
By the time I arrive at our coaches meeting just before noon, I feel unprepared. I’ve never stepped foot into a meeting without watching through the game tape at least once. Fuck. I need to figure out how to balance everything, since I’m obviously not walking away from Dani anytime soon. The timing might suck, but since I’ve never felt the way I do toward her, I know it’s not something that comes around often. Why couldn’t we have met during the off season?
“Hey, Luke,” Tyrell Yates, the defensive coordinator, greets. He holds the door open for me, and we walk through together. “Great game yesterday, wasn’t it?”
“Absolutely.” I nod in agreement. “What’d you think of Reynolds’ performance?” Brandon Reynolds is our kicker. He’s returning from an injury and did one hell of a job in yesterday’s game, but that’s not what special teams’ coaches are consistently saying in practice. “Have you heard from Mendoza?”
“He’s on fire. I’ve spoken with him before the game in Dallas, so if we want to make the offer, we need to do it now. Time’s a tickin’.” No shit, we have until midnight to make a trade offer. My gut says we should get both on the roster, but I’m not sure. If Reynolds returns like I hope he will, it will be a costly choice, should we keep them both.
“Let’s talk with everyone else, then make the decision before leaving the room.” He nods in agreement as I take a seat at the table in the conference room.
As soon as everyone arrives, I stand to congratulate us on our second win. We discuss the players on the bubble, the game yesterday, and how we want to run practice this afternoon. We’re an efficient group, so we’re done with our team meeting with plenty of time to spare.
By the time I get home that evening, it’s nearly eight. Entering my bedroom, I’m assaulted by Dani’s perfume. I take in a deep breath and relive the memories from last night and this morning. Damn, I miss her. We’ve texted a few times today, but nothing compares to having her here in person. She had to meet her grandparents to help them find something they’d left in the garage this afternoon, or I might have convinced her to stay a bit longer. Though it seems selfish to have her stay here all day, when I can’t spend any time with her.
My phone buzzes, and my face lights up when I see a text notification from Dani. Without even bothering to respond, I immediately hit dial.
“Hey, Luke.” Her breathless words make me wonder what she’s doing.
“Did you find what your grandparents wanted?”
“Yeah. I’m just rearranging a few things in the garage now.”
“We can talk when you’re finished,” I offer, not wanting to put her out.
Her giggle makes my lips quirk. “I just finished. They left about an hour ago, so I’m good. Who knew they’d be busier now that they’re officially retired. They want to get to my parents’ tonight, so they didn’t stay like I expected.”
“Get any writing in today?” I ask as I settle onto my couch. Having eaten at the cafeteria this evening, my only plans for tonight include talking to her and watching our next opponents’ game from this weekend.
“I hit two thousand words. I wrote while waiting for the ferry and a bit before my grandparents arrived. I’ll write more tonight.” I can’t even imagine writing that much in a week, let alone a few hours.
“You’re a rockstar. I made our hotel reservations and got your seats for the game in two weeks. I’ll text you the information.”
“I can’t wait,” she says with excitement but then sighs, setting my senses go on alert.
“What’s up?” My attempt at nonchalance is reached, though I feel anything but.
“With you traveling for the next two weeks to Philly, then Atlanta, I’ll miss you.”
Her words make my heart soar, but my stomach sinks at the reality of my life as a coach. “I know… I wish I could make it out to the island to visit you, but my schedule’s pretty tight.” A thought hits me. She knows she’s welcome, right? Fuck. Have I ever actually said the words? I haven’t ever wanted to before. So maybe I haven’t. Shit. “You know, you’re welcome here anytime. But… I have to warn you, I’m not home much.”
“Luke,” she chides. “You don’t have to entertain me.”
“I have to watch film in the evening and prep for the next day… but God, it was incredible waking up with you in my bed.” Just the thought of her lingering perfume makes me miss her more. Christ. How does she have this effect on me?
Wait. That sounds like I just want a booty call. Shit.
Before she can reply, I rectify the situation immediately. “You know…” How do I put this? “I love hanging out with you.”
Love? Did I really go there?
“I love hanging out with you.” She sighs.
“You did say you could write from anywhere…” I point out, and a smile forms on my face. Fuck. I don’t want to wait three weeks to see her. “We don’t leave until Saturday… What would it take to convince you to spend a few days here?”
“Luke, I just left today. Are you sure you want me back so soon?” Of course, I want her back. I wish she’d never left.
“If you didn’t need to meet your grandparents this afternoon, I would’ve asked you to stay earlier,” I admit.
“Okay…” she hesitates. Not wanting to pressure her, I wait impatiently for her response.
Just when I think she’s never going to respond, she makes my entire fucking week.
“Is tomorrow too soon?”
Waking up with Dani has its advantages. Let’s just say I may have skipped my morning workout a couple of times this week because getting out of bed was the last thing I wanted to do. But I managed to make it into my office by eight each morning. Knowing she’d be there when I returned, left a lingering smile on my face. People may have noticed, but they were smart enough to not say anything.
Thursday morning, I run into Campbell Beck in the players’ parking lot. “Hey, Beck, how’s married life treating you?”
Beck’s massive grin makes his thoughts evident. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”
I can’t help but chuckle. The man’s been light on his feet all week and ever since his press conference, nothing seems to touch him. “I’m glad everything worked out for you and Hillary.”
“No kidding. I never thought the fans would be so crazy. Now that Hillary’s completely in the spotlight, people have come out of the woodwork to comment on everything she does. If I didn’t know she loved me so much, I’d worry she’d hightail it out of here.”
“She obviously loves you,” I point out. “Why else would she have stayed with you for all these years?”
Campbell shakes his head as he holds the door to the training facility for me. “That’s one of the reasons we kept things on the downlow for so long before deciding enough was enough and just getting married.”
“Well, you certainly know how to jump into things head first.”
“Don’t I know it.” He shakes his head, but his goofy grin tells me he doesn’t have any regrets. “Just wait ‘till it happens to you.”
Until I met Dani, I’d be denying this until the ends of the earth. But… maybe he has some merit. But it’s not like I’m the star player or anything. “No one cares about the coach, Beck. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Beck stops walking and eyes me suspiciously. Just when I think he’s about to say something, he shakes his head and continues walking. What was that all about?
Before I can say anything, Tanner Reid, our defensive end, joins us. He’s a senior member of the team, playing for Rainier longer than I’ve been around. He’s a practical jokester and smacks Beck on the back in greeting. “Mornin’, fellas. What’s shakin’?” His deep Southern drawl comes out. I’m not sure what it is about the guy, but he always seems genuinely happy.
“Just telling Coach about the finer points of married life.”
Reid’s mouth drops in surprise. “Dude. I’ve never seen him date. Why ya pushing that on him? Aren’t you jumpin’ the gun?”
“Just encouraging him to find happiness, like me.” Beck pats his chest and although he’s clearly joking, it’s obvious there’s truth in his words.
Reid coughs into his fist. “More like joining the circus. You keep the press focused on you. I’m happy over here in my quiet life.”
“Whatever, man.” Beck brushes Reid off. “You’re jealous you haven’t found someone worth laying it all down for.”
We reach the end of the hall, and the guys turn toward the locker room. They continue their conversation, and I make my way to my office. I can’t help but smile at the way Beck wants his happiness to spread to his friends. His teammates love to give him shit about it, but ever since he’s held his press conference, things have died down for him and Hillary.
When I reach my office, the intern Harlow trained to take over in her absence is at her desk. He has the phone in one hand and hastily takes notes with the other. He appears to have things under control, so I make my way to my desk and start up my computer for the day. I’d checked emails earlier from home, while Dani was still sleeping, so I shouldn’t be too far behind.
Just the thought of getting ready while Dani slept brings a smile to my face. Though glancing at the curve of her back as she sprawled out on the bed made me want to rejoin her, I couldn’t be more thankful for her visit again this week.
We’ve fallen into a bit of a routine. I try to be home early enough so we can eat dinner together. She’s typically deep into her manuscript when I arrive, so I either cook or pick up something on my way home. We eat, then each go back to work in one form or another. She with her laptop, me watching film or responding to emails on the couch. It may not be romantic, but it works for us. After another hour or two of work, we find ourselves somehow distracted by one another in the most glorious of ways, and those distractions lead us to making love into the wee hours of the morning. Rinse and Repeat. I may not be living on much sleep, but I sure as fuck am happy.
Tonight, as I settle into the comforts of my couch, laptop in hand, I glance to Dani. To my surprise, her face is scrunched up, and serious confusion crosses her features as she taps something out on her laptop. “Dani?” I ask in an attempt to get her attention.
No response. Just frantic typing and pure concentration. What the hell is she writing that has her looking like that?
“Danika,” I say a bit louder, but it does the trick.
She glances up in surprise at my breaking her absolute concentration. “What?”
“Everything okay? You seem confused…” I trail off, not knowing what to say.
She shrugs and tries to brush it off, but the sudden heat in her cheeks makes me realize this isn’t something I’m willing to let go. Calling her on her BS, I raise an eyebrow. “What’s going on?” Obviously, my BS meter’s on high alert, so she’d better not try to slide something past me.
Her eyes dart everywhere but at me. What the hell is going on?
I attempt to be patient, but the longer I wait, the longer my mind reels out of control. She won’t look at me. Is her blush actually going deeper? Finally, after what feels like a billion years, she clears her throat and swallows before finally looking me in the eye. Her curly hair bobs around her face in a barely controlled bun, and a smile lights up her face.
“I’m trying to write a scene.”
“That’s a given…” I deadpan.
“Maybe you can help? I don’t know. It seems weird… You have your own work to finish tonight. I don’t want to bother you.”
“You can talk to me about anything.”
“Even if it involves a sexy scene in my book?”
My interest piques. “Really?” I waggle my eyebrows. “I’m sure I can be of help. What do you need?”
“Well, I need to know if what’s going on in my head can actually happen in real life. I have a hot and sexy build up, but now that I think of the practicalities, I’m sure she’d end up with a concussion or worse, fall and actually break something…” Before she can continue, she bursts out laughing.
If I thought my interest was piqued before, now I can’t wait to find out what’s going on in that beautiful and sexy mind of hers. “You know… he’s not doing it right, if concussions are an option.”
She shakes her head as if I’ve lost all my marbles. “I know…” comes out in a laugh. “I want it to be a realistic scene, but my imagination might be getting ahead of practicality.”
“Okay… so lay it on me. What are you imagining that might cause bodily harm?”
Dani cocks her head to the side and bites on her bottom lip for a moment. I reach out and pull it free as she quietly asks, “You sure you wanna hear this?”
I sigh in frustration. “Obviously I do, or I wouldn’t offer. Out with it already. The suspense is killing me.”
Dani sets her laptop on the coffee table and turns to face me. “Okay… So… the couple I’m writing about, met recently. They’ve had combustible chemistry from the start, but every time something’s about to happen, they get interrupted. When they finally get together, they end up in her apartment alone for the first time. She’s in the kitchen cooking breakfast in just one of his t-shirts and a pair of underwear, thinking she’s alone. He comes up behind her and as she finishes making her breakfast, he stands there watching her from the entry to the kitchen, until she notices him. He’s fresh from the shower and wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts. There’s some conversation, and they work their way around to the other side of the bar. Since he knows they’re alone, he closes the distance between them and kisses her. She’s much shorter than he, so he sets her on the counter of the bar to make up for the height difference. Eventually, he skims her underwear down her legs and decides he wants to kiss her there. The height difference makes it too high for him to kneel and too low for him to simply lean over. He reaches under her ass and lifts her to his shoulders and pivots to have her lean against the wall as he perfectly positions himself to ravage her.”
Dani takes a deep breath, then looks to me, still focused on her thoughts. “So… do you think it’s possible to move from the counter to the wall without dropping her? Would it even be physically possible to experience oral from that position?”
Being a man of action, I simply stand and say, “Get up.”
“What?” she asks in disbelief, her eyes wide, and her mouth gaping.
“Get up. The only way you’ll know is if we try it.” I reach for her hand and pull her to her feet. I briskly tug her to the kitchen and hoist her up on the counter.
As soon as I have her on the counter, I bend to get her into position. She giggles and bats at my shoulders. “Luke… You don’t need to do this. We could have just talked it through logistically.”
“I’m more of a method actor,” I tease, causing her to full belly laugh. I reach under her ass and hoist her in the air to my full height. I pivot to step toward the wall, and Dani wobbles. Fuck, I almost drop her. When I get her to the wall, there’s no fucking way I’d have any access in this position. “Uh… you’ll need to move back a bit.”
I lean her back against the wall and go to take a step back to give myself space. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, Dani shifts on her own accord, and I hear a loud smack against the wall as her body suddenly drops between my chest and the wall. Her legs are still over my shoulders from the knees down, and her face is suddenly eye level with mine. Laughter pours from her, and her body begins to shake.
“Um… that didn’t go quite as planned.” I chuckle.
“You think?” she pants between fits of laughter, as I try to figure out how to get out of this position without dropping her.
Not being one to give up, I suggest, “Wanna try that again? I’m sure we can get it right next time.” I hold onto her shoulders as she lets her legs fall off my shoulders.
As Dani rubs the back of her head, she contemplates my suggestion.
“Okay, Leighton. Let’s do this.” She stands in front of the countertop, and I reach to lift her. She gets her legs into position, and I stand to pivot.
Fuck. Once again, there’s no room to maneuver any which way. Sure, my face is in direct contact with what would be her pussy, but as she’s fully dressed, this doesn’t have the same effect. Just as I’m about to lean her against the wall, Dani smacks her head against it. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Oof.” I instantly try to step back away from the wall. Her body slides between myself and the wall, and she’s once again at eye level. The expression on her face has me bursting into laughter, and she quickly follows suit.
“Epic… Fail!” she spits out between gasps of air, and all I can do is nod my head in agreement.
She reaches up to rub her head, and guilt spreads through me. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll live. But let’s chalk that up to a position I never want to be put into again. Either I’m not limber enough, or it’s entirely impossible. Either way, it loses its sexiness, don’t ya think?”
“Kind of does take the spontaneity out of it, doesn’t it? You might want to consider rewriting that scene in your book.” I release her legs and help her slide her body down mine.
“No kidding.” But her eyes suddenly darken with desire. “What do you say to helping me figure out another position instead?” She traces her finger down my chest and pulls at my belt buckle.
“I think I could happily oblige, Miss Charlotte Ann. Anything for the sake of research.”