What would have happened if Kaden hadn’t woken? Would Chris have done more than just brush her lips with his? Would he have kissed her the way she wanted him to? Fully. Deeply.
She hadn’t meant to fall asleep in Kaden’s bed, and was surprised when she woke up to find they were both covered by the blanket she knew had fallen to the floor. Chris. He must have come inside looking for her only to find her asleep and for some reason, that made her feel embarrassed, or shy. Insecure. It had been a while since she’d felt that way around him and it was disconcerting. She didn’t know how to react. How would they be when they saw each other again? It was agonizing enough to think about, she should just go over there and confront the awkwardness, but she wouldn’t. Instead, she stayed in her house fighting the urge to throw up whenever she thought about seeing him next. It was worse than morning sickness.
Finally, it was time for her to go to work, or near enough. Killing an extra forty-five minutes at her parent’s house would be better than stewing in her own.
“Kaden! Let’s go, buddy.” Oakley rushed into the living room. Kaden still sat on the couch with his favorite blanket and a stuffed dinosaur tucked under his arm. “Hey, I thought you were supposed to be getting your shoes on.”
“I can’t find my shoes,” he said, his eyes still glued to the program on the television.
She snatched the remote off the arm of the couch and clicked the thing off. “Come on. Mommy has to get to work.” Not for almost an hour and a half, but he didn’t need to know that.
With a mutinous look, Kaden scrambled from the couch and darted into his bedroom, hopefully, to retrieve his shoes. Oakley checked the bag she always packed for him to take to her Mom’s and decided to stuff his dinosaur and blanket inside. She was only on the schedule until eight, but that could easily turn into nine. It was better to be prepared in case he got sleepy and wanted his security items.
“Kaden! Are you looking for your shoes?” Pausing to listen to his reply, she heard the sound of a thousand Legos being dumped on the floor.
“Kaden!” She was not in the mood for this. Stomping into his room, she did the best she could to ignore the mess he’d just made and snagged him under his arms. Forget the shoes. Her mom had back-ups at her house. He would survive the five minute drive barefoot.
Oakley hauled Kaden onto her hip and grabbed her purse and the diaper bag off the floor. Once she’d locked the door, she carried Kaden to the car, purposely keeping her gaze from straying to the house next door. She knew he was working, had seen him come out of the house several times already that morning, looking all fine and sexy in his dusty work clothes. Who knew drywall dust could be so hot?
Who was she kidding? The man could make anything look hot.
She wasn’t going to think about him. Or their almost kiss. Work. She needed to focus on work. And her son. Kaden was her priority, not some muscly, beefcake who could easily be a model for a men’s fitness magazine. An image of Chris, shirtless, wearing a pair of dusty cargo pants with his arms crossed over his magnificent chest posing on the front of a glossy magazine cover flooded her mind.
Stop!
This was getting ridiculous.
She buckled Kaden into his carseat and thanked Cam’s parents for planting the huge shade tree that covered the driveway and kept her car from getting hot in the sun. She turned to close his door, her gaze involuntarily- oh who was she kidding- she totally looked over, desperate for another hit of her favorite eye candy. And boy did she see him, stalking firmly in her direction, his face set with such determination, she retreated until she was backed against her car.
Chris didn’t stop until he was a breath away, taking her face in his hands. He smelled of wood and aftershave, that was her last coherent thought before his lips took hers in a kiss that rivaled all kisses.
Chapter Eighteen
He’d seen her through the window, had been watching for her. She usually talked to him before she left for work, but he knew she wouldn’t today and that was why he’d been glancing at her driveway all morning and afternoon. He didn’t have a plan when he stepped off his crumbling front porch, he just knew he had to see her. Hold her. Talk to her.
As it turned out, the closer he got, talking was the last thing on his mind. She was beautiful. She tempted him in a way no woman had ever done. She had him thinking things, dreaming of things he thought he’d given up for good.
He wasn’t so sure anymore.
Chris didn’t stop until her face was framed in the palms of his hands, her smooth skin a balm to the rough texture of his own. He should have said something then, but he didn’t. Instead, he captured her lips with his own, hoping his kiss would tell her everything that he was too afraid to acknowledge was in his heart.
He felt her surprise at first. It wasn’t the romantic kiss he might have planned, but in his mind this was perfect, the connection between them as raw as his feelings for her. As much as he’d kept from her about his life before he met her, she knew him better than almost anyone. He’d shared with her things he’d never shared with anyone else. Not tidbits of information, details that didn’t really mean anything, but the stuff that was real. His dreams. His feelings. His beliefs. He’d shared his heart with her, been more vulnerable than he’d ever been in his life as they talked under the stars each night.
He needed this kiss. And he could only hope she did as well.
Oakley quickly got over her surprise. Chris reveled in her arms coming around his waist, her hands inching up his back, clinging to his shoulders. He pressed for more, groaning deep in his throat when she opened to him. Each second they kissed, another piece of his hardened heart softened. For her. For them. Because he knew he loved Kaden, too.
Wait?
Loved?
He gasped, breaking the seal of their lips. Did he love her?
Oakley’s head rested in the crook of his arm where it had settled across her back and shoulders. Her beautiful eyes remained closed for several seconds before blinking open.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. More like croaked.
Her eyes clouded and he knew he’d better explain.
“I didn’t mean for our first kiss to happen in your driveway in the middle of the day before you had to leave for work.”
Her face cleared and slowly, the lips he’d just ravaged curved into the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen.
He had to kiss her again. Maybe he did love her, he didn’t know, but right then loving someone, loving her, didn’t seem so scary.
“Mom!” Kaden called through the open car door several moments later.
Oakley smiled, breaking the seal of their lips.
“He’s getting to be a pro at that,” Chris murmured against her mouth.
She pulled back until their eyes met. Hers glowed with happiness and his chest expanded with emotions he’d never experienced before. Was this love?
“I should get going.”
Chris held her tighter making her laugh.
“Chris!”
Good grief. He even loved the sound of his name on her lips. Chris ducked his face into the curve of her neck and breathed deeply. “Are you mad at me?” He didn’t know what he was referring to specifically, he just needed to know they were okay. Maybe he should beg her to call off work, but he knew she needed the money. He hated that almost as much as he hated to let her go.
Oakley laughed a little breathlessly against his ear. “Yeah, I’m really ticked off. What did you have to go and kiss me for? Now, I don’t want to go to work.”
He smiled against her throat. “I don’t want you to.”
“MOM!” Kaden screamed again and Chris finally pulled away from her all the way. He took just a moment to look into her eyes before ducking into the backseat of her beat up Honda. He hated her driving this car. Maybe he would just go and buy her a new one. Would she refuse it if it was a done deal? Probably.
“How’s it going, bud?”
Kaden gave him a funny look. “What are
you doing in my car?”
Chris laughed. “I’m seeing you.” He held out his fist and Kaden punched his knuckles. “Nice one. You ready to go see your grandma?”
Kaden nodded. “And Uncle Rafe.”
Chris hadn’t met Oakley’s family, but he’d heard a lot about Oakleys brother, Rafe and sister, Lucy. “That sounds like fun. I’ll see you later.”
Kaden made a silly face. “See you later.”
Chris backed out of the car. Oakley stood beside the door with her hands pressed to her cheeks. He drew her into his arms again. “Can I see you after work?”
She nodded, her eyes trained on his chest.
He lifted her chin with his knuckle. “We need to talk. I’m meeting some friends for dinner, but I’ll be here when you get home.”
She nodded again and he hated that he had to let her go. He shouldn’t have started anything when she had to leave, but it wasn’t like he’d planned it. Leaning forward he brushed a kiss that ended too soon against her lips and then opened her door.
“I’ll see you later.” Without knowing why, he felt compelled to reassure her.
He stood in the driveway and watched her leave him, knowing somehow he’d have to convince her to never leave him again.
“MVP! MVP!”
“You guys are idiots.” Chris couldn’t stop his smile as he approached the table near the back of the restaurant a few hours later where his friends were already seated.
“It’s good to see you, man!” Terrance stood and pulled Chris into one of his back-breaking bear hugs.
“Jeez, lay off the steroids, would ya.” Chris grunted under the pressure.
Terrance released his powerful hold with a glare. He patted first one, then the other of his biceps with reverence. “These are pure hard work, baby.”
“Yeah, yeah.” It was an old joke between the two men, because no matter how he tried, Chris could never get the kind of bulk Terrance achieved. The man was a tank.
Chris turned to greet the other men at the table. There were five of them. Terrance, Tyler Miller, Rodney Ferris, Danny DeSoto, and Tupu Maiava.
“Hey, man. Long time, no see.” Tyler stood and shook Chris’s hand.
“Looking good, Miller. Putting on some weight?” Tyler played left tackle and weighed over three hundred pounds.
Tyler patted his gut. “They have me on a new diet.”
“What’s that? Eat whatever you want?” Chris teased.
Tyler grinned. “Pretty much. What about you? You look skinny.”
Chris laughed. He’d lost a lot of weight since retiring. Not that he’d carried the weight these guys did, but he’d definitely slimmed down.
“Danny, my man.” Chris greeted the team’s starting safety. “How’re Maria and the kids?” Danny had married his high school sweetheart right after graduation. They had five children who spent almost as much time at the team facilities as their father. Chris used to love it when they stopped by.
“Maria’s good. Kids are growing like weeds. Lani has her Quinceanera in a few weeks and everyone is losing their minds.” Danny shook hands with Chris and sighed.
“Whatever. You love every minute of it. And where’s my invitation to this party?”
“Funny you should ask.” Danny held out a cream colored envelope with a smirk. Chris accepted the invitation and slid it in the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He’d had to stop at Carter’s place on the way to change since he only had work clothes at the house.
Danny pointed a finger at Chris with a look that said he meant business. “You better be there.”
Chris smiled. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
Rodney and Tupu were on the team when Chris played, but he wasn’t as good of friends with them as he was Terrance, Tyler, and Danny. Still, it was good to see them.
“This place is amazing,” Terrance murmured as they all looked over their menus.
“Why haven’t I eaten here before?” He thought he’d been to every good steakhouse in the city.
“I have no idea. I discovered it about a year ago.” Terrance shot him a look. “You always pick the same place.”
Chris laughed because his friend was right. Once he knew he liked something it was hard to convince him to try something new.
They had just taken their seats again when a server approached to take their drink orders. She was a cute girl wearing black slacks and a white button down shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a bun…
Suddenly, Chris’s tie felt too tight. His eyes darted around the dining room.
“Hi, my name is Tinsley and I’ll be your server for the evening. What can I get you to drink?”
Chris could have used a stiff drink just then, but he stuck with water. What was the name of the restaurant where Oakley worked? Had she ever told him? Had he ever asked?
He was tempted to ask the girl taking their order if a woman named Oakley worked here, but not in front of the guys. Not that he was ashamed of her! Or didn’t want introduce her to his friends, he did. He just didn’t want to do it before he’d had a chance to talk to her, explain why he hadn’t told her who he was, and he might need to mention his billionaire status. This had the potential to be a disaster.
Terrance leaned toward him. “Hey, man, what’s your problem? You look like you just broke your mother’s favorite vase.”
An apt comparison. “I’m fine. I just thought I saw someone I know.”
Terrance glanced around. “Who?”
“No one.” Chris cringed. Oakley wasn’t a no one. She was everything. “I was mistaken.”
Terrance shrugged. “Whatever you say, man.”
Tinley, or whatever the girl’s name was, took their orders and walked away, leaving them to talk about their favorite subject, football. Just because he wasn’t playing anymore, Chris still loved the game. He enjoyed breaking things down, talking strategy, changes to the game, and discussing different players. If he wasn’t so anxious about the possibility of running into Oakley before having a chance to talk to her, he’d really be enjoying himself. But as it was, he could hardly focus on the conversation going on around him let alone participate. Although, he did have the presence of mind to talk to them about helping him work on the house for a day.
“What? We come help you fix your house, for what?” Danny was giving him a hard time. Chris knew each of them would find the time once he explained his plans for the place. Actually, maybe they could help him with that, too.
“I want to give it away, not keep it. Anybody know of any programs that need a free house?” He was halfway joking, but mostly not.
Tyler eyed him thoughtfully, then nodded. “I might.” He crossed his arms on the table in front of him and leaned forward. Tyler Miller was a big man. If Chris didn’t personally know the guy was as soft as they came on the inside, he might be intimidated. And it took a lot to intimidate him.
“Well, don’t leave me hanging. What have you got?” Chris asked.
Everyone turned to Tyler. He took a second to clear his throat before continuing. “Well, I got roped into this charity last year with Harley Stone. Have you heard of her?”
Chris sat back in his chair. “Are you kidding me? Who hasn’t heard of Harley Stone?” Harley was the new up and coming female actor in Hollywood. She’d just finished filming the last movie in a kick-butt action franchise. Chris had received an invitation to the premier of the last film but he’d had to decline. He offered the ticket to Carter instead.
Tyler smiled. “Yeah. No kidding. Well, I knew Harley before she got famous. We went to high school together. Her brother is an ex-Army Ranger. Nick was injured in Afghanistan.”
“Oh, man,” Tupu said. Each man around the table was riveted, listening to what Tyler was saying.
Tyler nodded. “Yeah. I guess it’s been really rough. Nick is married and has three kids. He lost the bottom half of his left leg and uses a prosthetic now. He’s doing good. But it’s been hard. Anyway, Harley started a foundation for veterans. She wanted to
help disabled vets get housing with the accommodations they need for their disabilities and on the flip side, help surviving families find housing. A lot of families who live in Army housing when they lose their soldier have to move out with no where to go. It’s really an amazing program.”
Chris was floored. He’d never heard of programs like that, but he knew immediately what he wanted to do with Uncle Ray’s house. “Can you get me in touch with her? Give her my number?” A plan was forming in Chris’s mind and he wanted to talk to Harley himself. It might even be something he could get Carter involved with and working on a project like this with his brother had Chris feeling more excited about his future than he had in a long time.
“Yeah, man. I’ll send her your information as soon as I can,” Tyler agreed.
“Thanks.”
“And we’ll be there for your work day,” Terrance added. “Just let us know when.”
Chris nodded, suddenly feeling grateful for where he was in his life, doing something he enjoyed that just might turn into helping people who really needed it. Add to all that his growing feelings for a certain gorgeous neighbor, and he couldn’t imagine things being any better.
They were about halfway through their dinner before Chris finally began to breathe easier about the possibility of running into Oakley. He’d been searching the dining room for the better part of an hour without a glimpse of anyone who looked remotely like Oakley. Besides, black pants and white button downs were fairly common uniforms for servers. It was probably the bun in the girl’s hair that had him sweating, but lots of women wore their hair like that, didn’t they?
But then, of course, the bottom fell out. All because of Terrance and his big mouth.
Their waitress, whose name was Tinsley and not Tinley, had just stopped by their table to check on them and refresh their water glasses when he asked her, “Hey, is Miss Annie Oakley working tonight? She was our waitress last time we came in. I thought for sure she’d stop by and say hello.”
Marrying the Football Billionaire Page 11