Dex Sterling drove through the streets of Manhattan, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel of his new Benz G-Wagon. U2’s haunting lyrics blasted, taking him back to his go-to playlist and how he’d get pumped up to receive the first snap of the game every Sunday for the Miami Thunder.
Did he miss football since retiring this past season? Yes. How could he not miss a sport that had been part of his life for decades? Along with the locker room comradery and everything that went along with success. But unlike many other trophy-winning players who dragged out retirement, Dex was content going out uninjured and with a winning record.
He’d invested well and saved both his salary and bonuses, along with the money his birth parents had left in trust when they died in a car accident when Dex was seven years old. He’d then gone to live with new guardians, his next-door neighbors, Alex and Gloria Sterling, the parents of his best friend, Remy.
When Dex turned ten, they’d offered to adopt him, and as he’d always felt like one of the family and wanted the relationships to be real, he’d agreed. He’d been too young then to know about trust funds but today, as a Sterling, he now had even more money to his name. Which meant Dex had his choice of next steps.
He’d recently accepted the position of lead analyst at FSN (Football Sports Network), the top football sports channel, and was headed to meet Wes Johnson, a former teammate, also retired, who wanted to talk about investing in a new clothing brand.
Dex turned into the circular drive of the Meridian NYC where Wes was staying. Sunbeams streamed between two buildings, immediately hitting his eyes and all but blinding him for precious seconds. As soon as he could see again, a woman in a cloud of white material surrounding her stepped in front of his vehicle and he slammed on the brakes.
She spun too fast and fell to the ground, disappearing from sight.
“Shit!” But he hadn’t hit her. He hoped. After jamming the vehicle in park, he flung open the door and climbed out, rushing to where she’d gone down.
The doorman was already fussing over her, insisting he call an ambulance.
“I wasn’t hit,” she argued. “Just startled.”
Dex stepped closer. “Are you really okay?” he asked, as familiar indigo blue eyes looked up at him and recognition dawned. “Samantha?”
He was surprised to realize he’d almost hit Ian Dare’s youngest sister. Ian, the Thunder team owner and Dex’s former boss. And the man who’d blocked any shot Dex could have had with Samantha years before. Just recently, he’d heard from Ian, who was now a good friend, that his sister was getting married, but Dex hadn’t known where, when, or to whom. Truth be told, he’d tried to block the entire thing from his mind.
“Dex! Small world,” she said, as he helped her to her feet, wincing as she stood. “I twisted my ankle,” she muttered, leaning down, lifting her skirt and pulling off her heels.
She was as beautiful as he remembered, her blonde hair falling to her shoulders, clipped behind her head with a white bow. Her skin was a gleaming porcelain, with a hint of blush, and a smoky look to her eyes.
She was stunning. And marrying another man.
“Shouldn’t you be inside… I don’t know, getting married or something?” His voice sounded unnecessarily harsh.
She flinched, his words causing her eyes to open wide. As if remembering where she was and why. “No, that’s the last thing I want to do.” She glanced back over her shoulder then met his gaze. “Get me out of here, Dex? Please?” She blinked and a tear dropped down her face.
“Samantha!” A man in a tuxedo stepped out of the revolving hotel entrance.
She grabbed Dex’s hand and a jolt of something powerful ran up his arm. “Please,” she said, desperation in her tone. “Let’s just go.”
He groaned, knowing what he was going to do even before he’d consciously made the decision, aware it could possibly bring the wrath of Ian Dare down on his head.
Dex opened his car door. “Get in.”
“Samantha, you misunderstood everything. Let me explain,” the other man, obviously her groom, called out just as Dex slammed the door, catching her gown in the process. The snick of the lock sounded.
Given that she’d immediately shut her fiancé out, he doubted she cared about anything but escaping.
“Is that bag hers?” he asked the doorman, pointing to the luggage laying on its side.
“Yes.”
Dex popped the trunk with the key fob. Then, he looked at the valet. “Put that in the trunk.” He slid his hand into the other pocket, retrieving the five-dollar bill he’d stashed earlier. Once the luggage was in the back, Dex slapped the money into his hand.
“What are you doing?” her groom shouted furiously. “You can’t take my fiancée anywhere!”
“Move away from the car.” Dex glared at the man whose frustrated expression had morphed into anger.
“Who the hell are you?” he asked.
Dex rolled his eyes at the man’s stupidity and didn’t give him the answer he wanted. “She obviously doesn’t want to see you, genius.” He strode to his side of the vehicle, unlocking the door and sliding in.
The asshole banged on the passenger side window and Samantha jerked in her seat. “Go!”
Dex put the car in drive and took off, leaving the man yelling at his taillights.
Samantha breathed heavily and twisted the lace on her gown between her hands.
“So, where to?” he asked the distraught woman in the passenger seat.
“I don’t know,” she said, barely loud enough for him to hear.
He shook his head. “Your apartment?”
“No!” She sucked in a breath. “I mean, that’ll be the first place Jeremy will look.”
Her phone buzzed in her lap and she clicked off the notification.
He turned a corner and decided driving in large circles until she made a decision was his best bet. “Would you care to tell me what happened to make you run from your wedding?”
She exhaled a deep breath, but her expression was pained. “I just discovered my fiancé was sleeping with his personal assistant. Not to mention he planned to stay married only long enough for things to look real so he could get half my money. Luckily, I overheard that conversation minutes before walking down the aisle.”
He gripped the wheel tighter, wishing he’d throttled the man back at the hotel. What kind of ass set up and cheated on any woman, let alone one as beautiful and smart as Samantha?
“Your brothers are going to kill him,” Dex said.
“And then they’ll come for me,” she muttered.
He raised an eyebrow. “Doubtful. Your family loves you. Speaking of your brothers, does everyone know you left?”
She nodded. “My mom and the bridal party do. Mom told Ian. And I escaped before I had to face him.”
Ian was intimidating on a good day but being the oldest brother, he was the de facto patriarch of the family and he’d want to be aware of where his sister went. Ian loved his sisters and he was overprotective of them, so Dex couldn’t understand why she thought he would be upset with her. Clearly there was more to this story but asking about it seemed insensitive right now.
Dex glanced toward the passenger seat where Samantha nibbled on her plump bottom lip. He did his best not to groan at the sexy sight. “Look, I get that you’re upset, but you need to figure out a plan.”
“And I think I have one.” She picked up her phone and began to type, finished, and then stared at the screen. Once her phone buzzed again, she smiled.
The same enchanting smile that had caught his attention all those years ago at a New Year’s Eve party for the Miami Thunder.
“Yes!” she said with an adorable fist pump. “Take me to Teterboro, if you don’t mind,” she said of the private airport. “Otherwise, I can call for an Uber. I know you must have come to the hotel for a reason and I hijacked you and your car.”
Shit! One look at the gorgeous woman in a wedding dress and he’d forgotten about his meeting with Wes. “Thanks for the reminder.” He drove until he saw an empty spot and pulled in, putting the vehicle into park.
“I need to send a message to the friend I was going to meet.” He picked up his cell and texted Wes, informing him he wouldn’t be there and would explain later, so his pal wouldn’t wait any longer than he already had. Then he turned to Samantha. “Why do you want to go to Teterboro?”
“Well, Ian’s jet is fueled and ready to go to Turks for my…” She coughed. “Honeymoon.” She said the word with great distaste and a scowl. “But I couldn’t ask him if I could still use his plane because I know he’d want to have a conversation first.”
“And you’re not ready to deal with your brother,” Dex repeated her earlier words.
“Right. But my cousin, Asher, has a jet and a place in the Bahamas and I just asked him if I could spend a couple of days there to regroup.” She picked up her phone as if to reaffirm she’d texted him. “And he said of course. So… I need to go to Teterboro.”
“Your mom and family will worry.”
She shook her head. “I already texted Mom and told her I ran into you, that I was safe and to tell the others. I said I’d let her know where I ended up, so I’ll text her from the air.”
In other words, she didn’t want anyone to stop her.
Dex did his best not to bang his head on his steering wheel as it was only a matter of time before Ian started blowing up his phone and asking what the fuck Dex was doing with his sister. It wouldn’t be the first time, either.
Dex met Samantha at a New Year’s Eve team and family party. He recalled mistletoe and the hottest kiss he’d ever experienced. One that had been so explosive, he’d almost forgotten where they were and why.
And when he’d come up for air, Ian was glaring at him. With one shake of his head, Samantha’s oldest brother and Dex’s boss at the time had cut off any possibility of him pursuing the sexy, smart woman he’d been talking to all night. The first female to ever intrigue him with her intelligence and amuse him with her wit. He’d never felt an attraction like it before or since.
But he also knew Samantha wasn’t the kind of girl you picked up for a one-night stand, and not just because if he went near her Ian Dare could make his life miserable and his career difficult. Dex hadn’t been at the point in his life where a relationship was feasible. He’d been football-focused and hadn’t wanted any distractions. He’d had goals and dreams and looking back, he’d accomplished them.
In truth, he wasn’t sure how he even thought about the institution of marriage. While Alex and Gloria, his adoptive parents, had a wonderful marriage until her murder—not something he wanted to think about now—his birth parents had spent their lives arguing. Which was why the Sterling house had been his escape.
“Dex? Can you take me to the airport?” she asked again, interrupting his trip into the past and focusing him squarely in the here and now.
He ran a hand through his hair. Could he take her to Teterboro and drop her off to spend however many days alone on an island after such a traumatic experience? Yes to the former… no the latter.
“Want company?” he asked. “Because I’m not dropping you off to be on your own when you’re so upset,” he said, knowing Samantha was somehow going to change the course of his life.
She looked up at him, through thick lashes and tear-stained makeup. “You’d do that? Fly to the Bahamas at the last minute? We barely know each other. Of course, there was that kiss…” Her cheeks turned pink at the mention of their shared memory.
“There was,” he said, wanting her to know he recalled it as well. “But to answer your question, yes, I’d do that for you.”
“Then I’d really appreciate it… but can I ask why?”
He let out a pained sigh. “I have a sister and if my friend found Fallon in the same position I discovered you in, I’d hope they’d do the same thing and make sure she was okay.”
And keep their hands off his vulnerable sister. Dex would also punch his well-meaning friend once he saw him again just in case he’d had the same wayward thoughts Dex now had about Samantha. And he expected no less of Ian Dare.
But even though Dex would never take advantage of a vulnerable woman, he couldn’t deny he’d always wanted a chance with Samantha. That chance just wouldn’t be now.