The bright sun and a loud thud greeted me as I woke. The sound of a door closing? As I lazily blinked my eyes, the night before came flooding back. Lucia, riding me on the pool steps. Carrying her over my shoulder up to the bedroom, where we made full use of the standup stone shower in my new bathroom before breaking in the bed in the master bedroom. Hell, I didn’t even know whose bed it was, but damn, I had fucked like a king and slept like a baby in it.
Looking over, I puzzled for a moment as I noted that her side of the bed was empty. Not a surprise, really, but I still felt a twinge of disappointment. She had been a bit skittish at first last night, but she had gradually warmed up, and hell… she was quite a woman when she let her hair down. No doubt she’d switched back to being a timid mouse again and had scarpered before dawn. It was refreshing in a way. Normally any women that I allowed to grace my bed would attempt to stay come morning, clinging to me and the sheets, hoping we’d cuddle or that I’d make breakfast. Desperation wafted from them as they dreamed of a future together… yeah, fuck that. They’d be thrown out as quickly as I could get them dressed. But Lucia, leaving without word? Well, that was different.
Stretching, I climbed out of the bed naked and strode to the balcony, watching as the boats sailed the inter-coastal waterway just outside. This was the house I had wanted, and now it was mine, minus furniture. Maybe Lucia could help me in that regard, as well. Now I wouldn’t be able to even look at the pool without picturing her there, bathed in the moonlight.
The grin still on my face, I walked back into the bedroom and ducked into the bathroom for a quick shower. Once done and toweled dry I picked up my only clothing, which was strewn all about the floor. As I pulled up my pants, a thought hit me. I had actually won the bet. That damn silly bet that I couldn’t bed the most untouchable woman in the playbook. “Hot damn,” I muttered, but the smile had slipped from my face. The bet sounded damn ridiculous now. The doc was sweet and beautiful, and I’d enjoyed every moment of her company—so why was I feeling like such an ass?
My antics weren’t any worse than I’d done before… I was a self-proclaimed womanizer, using and then losing them. And yet a sinking feeling of remorse settled low within me. I thought about Lucia and how her face would fall if she ever found out that she’d been part of a stupid bet. Shit.
I would’ve still been attracted to her had we not bumped into each other that night at the stadium, though the bet was a reason for me to press the issue just a tad further. I couldn’t let her find out about it. She would think that was the only reason I had slept with her, and hell, I suddenly realized I wanted a repeat performance with her even though I had won. My body craved her.
Shaking my head, I threw my shirt on and walked out of the bedroom. I had to get to the stadium and get through practice first. Then I would sort it all out.
After dressing I quickly locked up the house and climbed into the car, my thoughts still on Lucia. How was she going to react this morning? Would she be embarrassed to see me, regretting our time together last night? Or would all of the naughty things we had done together run through her mind? Would she would struggle to keep her sanity the rest of the day as I would? Either way, I was about to find out.
I slowed the car as I approached the stadium, frowning slightly as I noted the vast number of reporters crowded around the main gate. What had happened? Surely not another high-profile player grab.
As I rounded the gate and slowed to a crawl, I saw that a large platform had been set up. The owner of my new home team stood behind a podium facing a swarm of reporters. I recognized the PR rep to his right, and there was a tall, striking blonde woman—late forties or early fifties I would’ve guessed—in a tight dress next to him, a winning smile on her face as she looked up at him.
From what I’d heard, David Cortes was a real go-getter who didn’t take any bullshit. He had taken the team and turned it into a very successful franchise. The players respected him, but he didn’t coddle anyone. As I sat in traffic waiting to turn into the gate, I did a double-take as I spotted Lucia on the other side of Mr. Cortes, an apprehensive smile on her face. She looked drop-dead gorgeous, but were those the clothes she was wearing last night? The moment she’d taken off that dress I lost all memory of it, preferring to memorize the curves and sways of her body instead. But the vague recollection of her in yellow, a color that made her skin glow, was starting to come back to me. For hours I had licked and touched her body and watching her stand there, her hair a little bit mussed—far from the sleek bun I’d previously seen her with—she was starting to make my cock twitch. But what on earth was she doing up there? Had she won some award or something? If so, I couldn’t wait to congratulate her in more ways than one.
Rolling down the window, I turned down the radio and listened as Mr. Cortes stepped up to the podium. Besides, traffic was at a standstill.
“Thank you all for coming today. This is a very special day for me and my family as we embark on a new adventure in all of our lives. I have given this very careful thought and feel it is time to put my stamp not only on our professional sports arena, but also on the political one. So, with my wife, Merry, and my daughter, Lucia, by my side, I am formally announcing my run for mayor of the great city of Jupiter.”
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t have heard right. Daughter?! The rest of the world faded away, and I didn’t hear anything past the announcement that Lucia was his daughter. Fuck me, I was going to hell in a hand-basket. My life was not going to be worth living… I had slept with the owner’s daughter? For someone who was trying to make his mark and trying to become the starting quarterback again, that was the absolute shittiest thing I could have done.
Anger flared within me, and I gripped the steering wheel. Why hadn’t she told me? Now all of her hesitations made sense—and here I thought she was just being shy. Hell, even her name in that book the other players kept hidden made a whole lot of sense! I was going to kill them. This was so far from hazing that it wasn’t fucking funny. It was my livelihood, for fuck’s sake… and perhaps hers, too, I considered. No wonder she was the untouchable woman. Hell, a man couldn’t compete with her father, especially not one like me who would be staring his boss in the face when he found out that I had slept with his little girl! Dammit.
A horn blew behind me, and I looked away from the press conference, seeing that I was now the one blocking traffic and causing several people to turn and stare. With a growl, I threw the car into drive and gunned it through the gate, confusion and worry now coursing through my veins. I had slept with the damn owner’s daughter. If I wasn’t sacked by the end of the day I would count myself lucky.
It didn’t take me long to park my car and walk into the training room, where some of the guys were already gathered. I eased up to my locker, slowly forcing myself to unclench my fists.
“Dude! Hey, you sick or something? You look like shit.” I looked up to find Terrence next to me, a concerned look on his face.
“I fucked up.”
“Aw, hell,” Terrence said, leaning in. “If you smoked it, I can get you some clean piss for a nominal fee. Wouldn’t be a problem.”
“No, I didn’t do that. Actually, in truth, you fucked up,” I said angrily, throwing my bag into the locker, mad at myself, Lucia, and Terrence, who’d gotten me into this mess. Not only that, I was mad at life in general. I had just found an amazing woman, and she was the only one I could never ever go near… again. Not if I valued my career. I couldn’t be more pissed about that. “I won the fucking bet, Terrence.”
Terrence took a step backward, his eyes widening. Clearly he knew who Lucia was. “You what?”
“I said,” I growled, doing everything I could not to slam him into the locker, “I won the damn bet. I slept with X last night. Or should I say, Lucia Cortes.”
“Oh shit,” he replied. “I don’t believe it. Seriously? Shit, don’t you know who she is?”
I wanted to say that I couldn’t believe it, either, but not for the same reasons he was probably thinking. “I do now, you asshole! What the hell am I going to do? This is all your fault, Terrence.”
Terrence shook his head, pulling down his cleats from the shelf. “I know, fuck. I’m sorry, dude. We never thought you’d be successful! Damn, I wouldn’t want to be you if Cortes ever finds out. You will be on his shit list forever and never get any playing time. He might even trade you over this. Fathers are protective over their little girls, you know? I hope to hell you gave it to her good so she doesn’t have a reason to complain about you.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” I sighed and leaned against the locker, finding it hard to believe that just a few hours ago everything was going so damn well. “There’s no way I can go to those therapy or performance sessions or whatever they are fucking called now.” I couldn’t face her until I had all of this figured out. I didn’t know what to say to Lucia or how to even approach this news I had just learned. It could potentially mess with my career, and that was the one thing I couldn’t afford to go south.
“Just tell Coach,” Terrence answered as the buzzer sounded, indicating that it was time to go out to the practice field. “He hates all that mumbo jumbo getting in the way, hates that it interferes with his schedule. He doesn’t like his players going. He’ll get you out of it. If you want to skip it, he’s your man.”
I nodded. It was a start. But I promised her: one date in exchange for going to the sessions. She was going to be pissed. But maybe a proper clean break, with no contact ever again was going to be the best way forward and out of this mess.
My lips in a thin line, I grabbed the rest of my stuff and jogged out with Terrence, finding Coach on the sideline. “Hey, Coach, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Sure, Jacob,” he replied, a friendly smile on his face. The man was a pure genius, a coach that I enjoyed working with. I couldn’t wait to run his plays for real and not just in practice. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to catch you, but reception told me they couldn’t get hold of you—apparently you have a shit-load of messages at the desk.”
“Ah, okay. I changed my number, you see.”
He bobbed his head. “Well, just remember I’m not your messenger, so make sure you update the staff.”
“Will do, Coach.”
“So what did you want to talk to me about?”
I swallowed hard, hating that I was going to do this right now, but hell, I didn’t know what else to do. I had to get my shit together and fast, especially now with the hole I’d dug for myself with my actions. “I can’t go to that therapist anymore. She’s messing with my head.” I hoped that would be enough; I truly didn’t want to have to go into detail or lie any more than I already had. That was my business.
“I fucking knew this would happen,” Coach swore, catching me by surprise before clasping me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I will take care of this, Jacob. Thank you for coming to me.”
I nodded and jogged off, my entire existence in turmoil. I’d hoped there would be a wave of relief after telling the coach, and yet there wasn’t even a fucking smidgen. Why did I feel like I had screwed Lucia over, and not in the way that I wanted to?