Game For Love: Devil of the Gridiron (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Melissa Blue

  But her heart knew exactly what she should feel.

  The noise level from the living room hit them before she saw it filled with more kids and a handful of adults. Everyone's gaze went to her and then Adam. It didn't take her long to pick up on the fact they were following his lead. She was Charlotte. No questions as to who she was to him, but everyone was warm when they greeted her.

  By the time they made it outside—sans the mob of kids—she'd forgotten half of the names of the people he'd introduced her to. After a quick sweep of the amount of people in the backyard, Charlotte realized she'd be lucky to retain one quarter of their names.

  He asked, “Are you ready?”

  “If I say no, would you think less of me?”

  “It's overwhelming.” His tone was filled with understanding. “The gala was more refined, with all of my current teammates.”

  “And I was working. Not the same at all.”

  His brows furrowed as he looked at her. “This is my life, Charlotte.”

  She looked out again at the amount of people. Some were making their way over to Adam after having spotted him on the porch steps. “Do you know everyone here?”

  He followed her stare. “Definitely don't know the people about to bombard us.”

  Us. He was talking about them as a unit, though all this attention was focused on him. Even if she wanted to find a safe corner to hide in, it was too late. He held her hand as people fawned over him—both men and women. Before this, if she’d had to guess, she'd have said the women would be worse than the men—nope.

  The men wanted him to be their friend, and they ignored her—even though he hadn't released her hand, not even to autograph whatever was handed to him. The women ignored her, too, and got much too close for comfort.

  Charlotte might have edged an inch or two more into his space and smiled sweetly. And Adam might have grinned at her whenever she did. A blush followed, but there was always someone else vying for his attention.

  After twenty minutes of it, he managed to break away, tugging her with him. “Sorry about that,” he muttered since they weren't completely out of ear shot. “A teammates' family members can be overzealous fans too.”

  Or groupies, she wanted to add sourly. He flicked his gaze to her then the yard. “Do you want to go?”

  “Do you?”

  He shrugged. “I'm used to this.”He smiled down at her after a moment. “Though you did look like you wanted to claw out a few eyes.”

  She whirled to face the yard so he would only get her profile. “I don't know what you mean.”

  His warmth pressed against her side. “FYI, my money would have been on you,” he whispered against her ear. “You should know there's no one I would rather be with right now.”

  She couldn't deny a green-eyed monster had settled into her gut, but his words soothed the beast. The fact he was cuddling with her in open view of his friends and strangers… Yeah. She tilted her head up to meet his gaze. “I'm still waiting to be convinced you're a football god.”

  He rested his palms on her cheeks and kissed her—not quickly or lightly. She balled her hands in his shirt and rode out the passion. When he finally let her breathe, he was smiling.

  “That was fortification. My former teammates are going to love you, but the wives are a bit more of a tough sell. You'll have to be with them while I play.”

  Adam was giving her an out. A week ago, she might have taken it. She was starting to see the kind of women that could survive Adam's lifestyle. Either they were there for the thrills or there for the man. He wanted to share a piece of his world with her, and she wanted that more than a coward's escape.

  “I came with the Devil of the Gridiron. I think I can take them if it comes to that.”

  “I'm so taking you back to my place after this.”

  She chuckled. “Introduce me to them, and you might even have to drag me out of here.”

  “Charlotte,” he muttered and then kissed her as though that said all that needed to be said.

  Maybe the kiss—or he—was going straight to her head, but that was more than enough to get her through the day.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “You're blushing like crazy again,” Mona said from the office door.

  Charlotte put a hand to her face. She'd been thinking about her weekend with Adam. Again. She hadn't only survived the football wives' hazing, but had thrived once she’d started talking about her catering business. More than one woman had used her service, as it turned out, and were willing to use bribery for a recipe. Once they'd moved their party of ten to the kitchen, wine had flowed, followed by laughter then good food.

  By the time they had migrated back out for the pick up game, Adam had looked like a football god. He'd found a rubber band, to hold back his long locks, and black gloves. The afternoon sun had turned his skin golden. After watching him play, his cocky attitude made sense. Even for a fun game, he'd turned serious and focused. His feet and body had moved like lightning. He didn't have to utter a word for her to know football wasn't just a means to an end for him—it had become his religion, his salvation.

  Off the field, he was fun, sensual, and had a devil-may-care attitude. He made so much more sense after watching him play. So when Adam had made good on his promise the moment they’d made it back to his home—by stripping their clothes and taking her right there on the couch—she didn't have a single complaint.

  Monday morning, just hours after leaving his house, a florist had greeted her at the door of her shop with two dozen roses. Her employees kept looking at her. She didn't doubt she was the focus of today's kitchen gossip session.

  “What do you mean, I'm blushing again?” Charlotte asked, doing her best to keep a straight face.

  “According to your employees, you've resembled the color of your hair most of the morning.” Mona gestured to the roses in the chair. There was no other place Charlotte could put them. “Who is the man responsible?”

  She glanced behind her friend. “Close the door.”

  Mona's brows shot up. “It's like that? Huh.” She did then settled on the corner of Charlotte's desk.

  “Adam,” Charlotte confessed.

  “Adam who?” her friend asked, her brows furrowing.

  “Carpenter.”

  Mona popped up from the desk. “Noooo.”

  “Yeah.” Even to her own ears, she sounded pleased.

  “Nooooooooooo.”

  Charlotte laughed. “I don't know how many times I can say yes.”

  “I need all the details. Well, not all of them, but enough to hold me over since I've been single for four months. Does his reputation do him justice?”

  Her shoulders went tight at the question. “He's so much more than his reputation.”

  “You sound defensive. Interesting. So it wasn't just…” Mona lifted her brows twice, and the action needed no translation.

  “He's really sweet.” She laughed at Mona's deadpan expression. “And, yes, the sex was great.”

  Mona settled back on the desk. “So what's next?”

  His answer to that same question on his patio had left that an open-ended discussion. His reply wasn't the only thing that left her on the fence about what came next. “I don't know, but…”

  Mona grimaced. “I know where this conversation is headed. His reputation is great for the bedroom antics, but not so great for anything else. What red flags showed up that means you're going to have to break things off?”

  Charlotte swallowed. Her friend knew her well. “Shouldn't I be worried?”

  “I can't say. I've…” Mona pursed her lips, her gaze sweeping over Charlotte. “I've never seen you like this over any man. You look happy. You sound—I don't know. This is the Charlotte I love, the one who isn't afraid of living a little.”

  Mona waved her hands. “Anyway, I came by to tell you the donations have been rolling in like crazy over the weekend. Another few thousand dollars and it won't matter what the board thinks.”

  Charlotte j
umped out of her chair and pulled Mona into a hug. “That is the best news. The best!”

  Mona laughed. “I know. Hence, why I came by to tell you in person. We just have to keep the good buzz going and we'll be in the clear.”

  She bounced, so happy to hear this news. “Maybe this weekend I can put together a bake sale? Something.”

  “I'll run with it and…”

  That was the voice that Charlotte did not like coming from Mona. Her friend had the tendency to be a bit mercenary. “What?” she asked, her voice filled with wariness.

  Her friend grimaced. “Can he come by again?”

  She didn't need a name to figure out the plan. “He already said he'd like to.”

  “And bring some of his football teammates?”

  Charlotte scoffed. “Now that's pushing it.”

  “Use your womanly wiles.”

  “Mona.”

  Her friend just laughed. “Okay. Okay. He should be enough. I'll catch you later.”

  After her friend left, Charlotte still sported a mile-wide grin. Until she thought about Adam again. She was happy, and acting like nothing could touch her, not when she was with him. Even if it was just in her thoughts. In a weekend, he'd cracked open her world and showed her another she craved for that had tough women who knew how to laugh, alpha men, and sports—reckless fun.

  Charlotte had no safety net with him. Fear skittered over her heart. She wasn't—no, she didn't want to think about the future. This moment was more than fine.

  Brave and brazen—two things she really wasn't. Two things that could put her heart into the wrong hands if she wasn't careful. No matter how Adam was with her right now, that didn't change who he'd been in the past. Who he could be in six months when he'd fulfilled his contract's demand.

  Just like that, her the warmth, and the happiness vanished.

  *****

  A shadow fell across her doorstep, and she barely contained the scream when the figure stepped out under the porch light.

  Adam put up his hands. “Didn't mean to scare you.”

  She pressed a fist to her heart. “What are you doing hiding on my porch?”

  “Wanted to see you,” he admitted without hesitation. “Wasn't sure if showing up to your work would be the best thing for you.”

  Her employees would not have kept calm if Adam Carpenter had showed up. “I appreciate that.”

  “I missed seeing you today.”

  His simple words warmed her. She strode up the steps, torn between walking like normal and bounding up to throw herself at him. And that pretty much summed up her day. One moment, she was smiling at the thought of him or a moment they had shared, and the next, she was rubbing a hand over the knot in her stomach. “Thank you for the flowers. I didn't just want to send a text, but work made my day too crazy to call.”

  “It's good that you didn't. It gave me some time to think,” he muttered.

  She stilled. “And?”

  He gestured to his outfit. He wore a suit and tie and had slicked back his hair into a low ponytail that tamed the thick strands. Adam looked as delectable as he did during their first meeting.

  “Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight? Understand that if the press is there, there will be a big story tomorrow about you—us. They'll want to know more about you. They'll dig into your life—hell, maybe your trash.”

  Her heart was rioting at his soft-spoken words. “You want to take me out on a date?”

  He nodded, his expression serious. “Tonight. You can get dressed up and I'll wait. Or I'll change my clothes and we can go somewhere quiet or eat in. Yesterday was nice, but it wasn't a date.”

  She'd worried herself all day wondering about their relationship—where they were headed and if he was even the kind of guy who would want long-term with her.

  “Charlotte, the weekend wasn't enough. Not nearly.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets, a furrow creasing his brows like he was nervous and impatient to hear her answer.

  She could send him away, believing that sooner, rather than later, he'd hurt her, that his devil-may-care attitude would implode her world. Or she could leap off that cliff, close her eyes, and know he'd jump with her.

  Charlotte's heart was racing. “I would love to go on a date with you, Adam.”

  He grasped her shoulders. “I know I'm being a gentleman right now…”

  She already knew where this was going. Charlotte smiled up at him. “And?”

  “Just remember,” he said, in a modulated tone, “I would love it if you didn't wear panties under your dress.”

  “Adam!” She tried not to laugh but couldn't help it. The man was incorrigible, but for the moment, he was hers. So it felt right to lift her chin and for him to kiss her.

  *****

  Adam checked her fridge since they'd decided to eat in. “For a cook, you don't have a lot of food.”

  “I know. I tend to eat all day at work—taste-testing—so by the time I get home, a snack holds me over.” She plucked out the pins holding her hair and tossed them on her kitchen table. Her place was spacious and had homey touches. The color scheme was cheery and bright. It looked like something she'd have and call home.

  “Okay. So we're ordering food. What are we eating?” he asked.

  “Pizza?” At his raised brows, she added, “There's only so much fine cuisine I can eat in a day before I want something basic and fatty.”

  Pleased to find out this tidbit about her, he chuckled. “Pizza, we can do. Go get comfortable. I'll handle everything.”

  “Anything but anchovies.” She threw over her shoulder as she made her way down the hallway.

  His phone rang after she left the room. Kent. “Hey, man.”

  “You should probably turn on ESPN before you get excited about hearing from me.”

  He strode into the living room, pawed around the couch, and then turned on the TV. With another few button clicks, there was his face. Not good. Not good at all. The adrenaline making his blood roar in his ears died down enough that he finally heard what the announcers were saying.

  “I didn't pay you off,” he said into the phone.

  “I know,” Kent said. “But saying that would be a slow news day.”

  The sportscasters played what looked like a cell phone video of Kent limping off to his car and then Adam walking out, his expression blank.

  Disgust filled Adam's scoff. “I sometimes wonder if they don't want to get it right.”

  “Maybe.” His friend's sigh sounded annoyed. “Just wanted to give you a heads-up about what they are staying. I'm more than happy to set things straight on my end.”

  “Why did they wait two days to run with this?”

  “Like I said, a slow news day.”

  Adam pinched the bridge of his nose, because this headache, he didn't need today—or ever. Charlotte came out from her room, looked at his face and then the television. His hand tightened on his cell. That spelled trouble.

  Adam said into the phone, “I'll contact PR, and we'll go from there. I'm sorry about this. You shouldn't have been dragged into—”

  “I was the one who called you,” Kent pointed out.

  His stomach muscles refused to loosen. “None of this is your fault.”

  “Don't start on that again. Call me when you have the spin. Just know I'm there for you. That will never change.”

  Adam swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. “Thanks.”

  Charlotte crossed her arms over her stomach, her emotions, for the first time, locked down. “He's the college friend you had lunch with?”

  He turned off the TV, dread filling his gut like bile. “Yes.”

  She faced him fully, no light in her blue eyes. “Did you give him hush money?”

  He tossed the remote onto the couch to give himself time. He wouldn't lie, but this truth would do more than stab and poke at him. “His injury isn't news.” He kept his voice level.

  She tucked her arms tighter around her middle like she wante
d to make herself smaller against his words. “But did you give him money?”

  Shit. “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  Adam braced his palms against the back of the couch. “He wants to start a business and needed a loan.”

  She nodded, but still her face was a blank slate. He hated that. He hated that she'd let the media get into her head, even for a moment. But before tonight when had the media ever lied about what he did? He'd given them nothing but fodder for years.

  Finally, an emotion broke through, and her face twisted in understanding. “He's the one. You feel like you stole his place. Why?”

  He didn't want to tell her. He knew how it would paint him. Kent forgiving Adam or not, the guilt still ate at him. “I had sex with a girl. That girl dated someone on the opposing team. He wasn't happy about that, so during the game, he did his best to pound me into the dirt. Kent got hurt protecting me.”

  Her breath hitched. “And that ended his football career?”

  He didn't have to answer for her to get to the truth. She was already looking at him as though he was different person, exactly the man he'd always been. “Yes.”

  “And you still do the same thing?” Disgust dripped from every word. “Party too hard… Pick up any woman you want… You didn't learn a single thing about being reckless and the consequences that go with it. And what am I, really, Adam? Am I just another reckless choice? Did you think, for one second, how I would feel if you got fired from the team over me?”

  He balled his hands into the linen material. He'd talked to his attorney. A relationship was well within Adam's right. The fact he’d had to refer to his attorney was a problem. So what could he say in his defense? She’d found out he was a fraud. The choice he made all those years ago had brought them here, to this moment. If he'd kept it in his pants, Kent would have never been injured. He would have never been traded, and never would have needed to sign a contract with strict conditions regarding his behavior.

  Charlotte wouldn't be looking at him as though she didn't know anything about him.

  There was only one truth. “I'm not being reckless, not with you.” The words came out low and rough.