by Toni Aleo
“Um, well, I used to know her, and since I’m in town now, I would love to see her again,” Lucas said. Mrs. Adler smiled again as Levi glared at Lucas.
“Well she is throwing a party at the Belle Mead Mansion in March, everyone’s invited from the team. I know it’s a while away but if you asking me for her number I won’t give it to you,” she said with a mischievous smile. “But I will tell her that you were asking.”
“No, don’t do that. I’ll wait or maybe I’ll run into her.”
“Maybe,” she said with a knowing grin.
This was why Lucas didn’t like a woman boss — if Mrs. Adler was a Mr. Adler and Lucas asked about Fallon they would have just let it go, but not Mrs. Adler. She had that look in her eyes, and Lucas knew that look.
Fallon would know about him asking about her as soon as the door to Mrs. Adler’s office closed.
***************************************************
“Mommy, can I be the Marshmallow Man for Halloween?”
Fallon shook her head as she looked up from her computer before looking over at Aiden, who sat on the couch watching Ghostbusters. “Honey, Halloween isn’t for nine months.”
“I know, but I want to get my costume now,” Aiden whined.
“Honey, let’s wait ‘til at least September before we start buying costumes,” Fallon said as Audrey came out the kitchen with a bag of marshmallows in her hand. When she took off running towards the couch, Fallon looked up again.
“Or! We can eat this whole bag of marshmallows and hope we turn into the marshmallow man!!” Audrey exclaimed before she started stuffing marshmallows in her mouth. Aiden started laughing but then he joined in, leaving Fallon to shake her head.
“Y’all are nuts,” she said just as her phone started ringing. It was Elli. “Hey,” Fallon said as she stood up to leave the room because believe it or not, consuming marshmallows to become the marshmallow man was a very loud event.
“Hey girl, talked to my papa, and he wants to set up a meeting next month, the 17th at 10 a.m.,” Elli said. In the background Fallon could hear sweet baby Shelli making sweet baby noise.
“Sounds good, I’ll make sure we are ready for you. You want to do it at the office right?”
“Yeah, I think everyone will be there.”
“Cool school, I’ll be ready.”
“Sounds good. Also you know how I had that meeting today after you left?”
Fallon stopped writing and looked up, “Yeah?”
“Well it was with my newly traded player, Lucas Brooks.”
“Yeah,” Fallon said with dread filling her. She prayed that Elli didn’t tell him about Aiden or that she wasn’t married or anything. She should have told Elli not to tell him anything about her. She knew Lucas would ask questions, especially when he saw that Rocky Top Wines was a sponsor.
“Well, he was asking about you today, and I remember you breaking a bottle of wine at the sound of his name so I thought I would call, give you his number, so maybe y’all could talk,” she said in suggestive voice. Fallon took a deep breath, knowing that Elli hadn’t said anything.
“I’m good. Do me a favor too. Don’t give him anything of mine and don’t tell him anything about me.”
Elli was quiet for a moment; the only noise was the sound of Shelli eating. “Okay, can I ask why?”
“Just an old flame. No big deal.”
“Okay, why do I feel like your hiding something?”
Fallon sat for a minute, listening to Audrey and Aiden as they became marshmallow men, while trying to figure out what she was gonna say to Elli. She had known Elli for a long time, even before the sponsorship. Elli had done a lot of the photo work for Rocky Top Wines. She also had taken all of Fallon’s personal pictures for her. She loved Elli, and she wouldn’t lie to her, but it would be a cold day in hell before she told her the truth.
“Because I am, Elli. I’m asking that you hang with me for a little bit. Everything will come into light sooner than later.”
Elli didn’t say anything right away, but then Elli said what Fallon knew in her heart she would say. “Okay, just let me know if you need anything.”
Chapter 4
How Lucas had done it would always been a mystery to Fallon.
She stood in the middle of her dorm room in complete awe. Every surface of the room was covered in little pink post-it notes with what he said was all the reasons he loved her. There had to be over a hundred of them!
Fallon walked around the room, reading each one.
I love you because you are there for me.
I love you because of your laugh.
I love you because you believe in me.
I love you because of your integrity.
I love you because you love my mom.
I love you because just like how you warm my hand when we are sleeping, you warm my heart just with one look.
I love you because you are great in bed…haha.
I love you because you are mine.
I love you because you play goalie for me, even though you are scared shitless of the puck.
Fallon’s smile grew wider with every one she read. Lucas was incredibly sweet. It was their two-year anniversary and he was in New York for a game and still had done all this for her. How did she get so lucky to be with a man that loved her so much?
In the middle of her bed was a big bouquet of white lilies with some kind of red flower she had never seen in her life in the middle. All around the bouquet were little wrapped boxes, so she tore into each one, finding a different shade of her favorite lip gloss in each box. In the last box, there wasn’t a tube of lip gloss but a ring. It wasn’t an engagement ring, but it still took Fallon’s breath away. It was platinum with small pink diamonds lining the whole band. When she looked inside the ring, there was an inscription.
For the woman that takes my breath away – love you, Lucas.
Fallon’s heart warmed as tears rushed down her cheeks. She slid the ring on her finger quickly before she tore open the card, and then the tears came faster as she read.
My Fallon,
I could go on for days telling you the reasons I love you. I love you because I do, because you are my everything. The flower is a Kadupul flower and it’s the rarest flower that I could find. I got it because you are the rarest person I have ever met. You blow my mind with your awesomeness and I just love you Fallon, more than you’ll ever believe.
Happy Anniversary baby, here’s to a hundred more.
Love, Lucas.
Fallon dug her phone out of her pocket and saw that Lucas was probably on the ice, but she had to tell him thank you — she would leave him a voicemail. It only rang twice before someone surprisingly answered. The roar of a crowd filled the phone as the guy yelled into the phone.
“Ms. Parker, just a second, he is finishing up his line. He’ll be off…now.”
“Oh my God,” Fallon said breathlessly as she heard the phone being transferred. He had someone waiting for her call? He was perfect!
“Happy Anniversary, baby girl,” Lucas said and then Fallon heard the guys razzing him.
“Oh my God, Lucas, you’re amazing. I only got you that stick you wanted with my name on it!”
His laughter rang over the phone. “And I loved it. I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier.”
“It's okay, I love you.”
“I love you more, baby girl,” he said with all the love in the world in his voice, “so much more.”
“Go score for me?”
“I’m always scoring for you.”
“I do love you Lucas.”
“And I love you.”
It was sad really, that a post-it note that said ‘You have two messages’ was what triggered that memory. Rob, Fallon’s assistant, always used post-it notes to tell her things and would leave them on her computer screen. It was the first time Rob had done it since Lucas had come to Nashville and when she saw the little pink post-it note, her breath caught as that moment came back to h
er.
It had been a month since Lucas had come home.
A long, looking behind her back, checking corners and not going anywhere month.
She was pathetic.
Fallon knew she should just face Lucas and get it over with, but each day it got harder and harder. Every time Aiden looked at Fallon, she wanted to cry because not only was she keeping the secret from Lucas, she was keeping it from Aiden. Aiden deserved a better mom, one that wasn’t scared of some guy who broke her heart into a billion pieces.
“Why are you just standing there like that?”
Fallon turned quickly, seeing Rob Slater in the doorway with his hands on his waist. His extremely long brown hair came over his shoulders, his tight pink shirt under his blazer jacket had Madonna looking back at her. His pants were, of course, tighter than Fallon’s, and all Fallon could think was how the hell she was gonna take him to this presentation when he looked better than she did.
“Dazed out,” Fallon answered as she fell into her plush pink chair.
Gosh, she loved this chair. It was so pink and fluffy. Since the company’s color was orange, Fallon made sure that her office was bright pink, and it was just plain gorgeous. Every surface was either pink or white, with glitter here and there. Pictures of her, Audrey and Aiden filled the office. She loved it, and it made her happy inside. The best part was her dad hated it, and that made Fallon happy all in itself.
“You’ve been weird the last couple weeks,” Rob said as he sat down, crossing his legs. It made Fallon sick how great Rob’s legs looked. Her legs didn’t even look that good.
“Lots of stuff going on.”
“Like? Come on, you tell me everything.”
Not everything, she thought as she started gathering her notes for the presentation.
“Don’t worry about it; are you almost ready to go?”
“Yuppers, everything is packed in your car,” Rob said before standing and heading for the door. That was the great thing about Rob, he always knew when Fallon needed to be alone.
“Thank you,” she said as the door shut. She looked up at her screen and tore the post-it note down and threw it away.
That memory really messed with Fallon’s head and her hands shook from the images that played through her mind. Fallon hadn’t thought of that day in years, okay, maybe on the anniversary of the day every year, but not all the time. At that moment though, it was like the whole night was replaying in her head.
Lucas had come home early the next morning. They made love, slow and sweet, before lying in each other’s arms until sunrise. He told her he couldn’t live without her and that he loved just her and she told him the same, that her life wasn’t complete without him. Then just a short week later, he broke her heart.
A stray tear ran down her cheek, and Fallon quickly wiped it away. How was she still so raw after seven years? Just with one image of the day he broke her heart and she was in a puddle of tears.
Why?
Why did he have to come to Nashville?
There was a knock at the door and Fallon quickly wiped her tears as the door opened. Aiden came running into the room with a big white Gerber Daisy in one hand and a grin on his face. “Mommy! AA brought me over to wish you luck and to give you a flower and a kiss before school!”
Audrey came in behind him, and bless her, with a large Starbucks cup in hand.
“A kiss! Oh my goodness! Just want I needed! Come here and give me that sugar!” Fallon exclaimed as Aiden threw himself into her lap, wrapping his arms around her neck before he covered her with sticky kisses. Fallon giggled along with Aiden and Audrey and couldn’t have felt more loved.
“Goodness me, did AA give you a sticky bun this morning?”
Both Audrey and Aiden had guilty looks on their faces before Aiden stuffed the flower in her face, trying to distract her. “I got you a flower Momma!”
“And I got you coffee!” Audrey joined in.
Fallon laughed as she took her sweet gifts from her two favorite people. “Well thank you very much, but y’all are still in trouble! No sticky buns Audrey! You know that!” she scolded jokingly. She wasn’t really mad, she couldn’t be. They had brought her gifts and kisses!
“But Mom…” Aiden complained.
“Yeah Mom, he was hungry. I don’t do well when he puts his sad eyes on. They get me every time.”
Fallon shook her head before she kissed Aiden loudly on the cheek. “No more sad eyes for your AA, she forgets that she is 27 years old and needs to keep your teeth clean,” Fallon said as she cut Audrey a look. Audrey looked away as Aiden nodded.
“Yes ma’am.”
“Okay good, now y’all gotta go before you’re late for school!” Fallon said before covering Aiden in kisses. “Have a great day?”
“Duh, I’m awesome!”
Fallon and Audrey laughed as Aiden gave them a cocky grin. “I’ve been saying that since you were born, come on kid. Let’s roll!” Audrey said as Aiden jumped off Fallon’s lap. “Good luck today, sissy.”
“Thanks, I love you both.”
“We love you,” they both said. Then they looked at each other before breaking out in a fit of giggles as they left.
“Crazy kids,” Fallon said with the biggest grin ever on her face. “Well that sure did make my day,” she said out loud as she went back to preparing for the meeting.
The morning was going quickly and it was almost time for her to go when her phone dinged from Rob calling her.
“Yeah?” she asked as she slid her shoes on.
“Um, some guy is on line one. He said his name is Lucas Brooks and that you know who he is?”
It was like her legs had come out from underneath her and she fell back into her chair. How the hell did he get this number? It isn’t that hard Fallon, Yellow Pages? Duh! She thought as she sat with her mouth hanging open.
“Fallon?”
Fallon took a deep breath, she had to tell him to leave her alone or she was going to lose her mind.
“Yeah, sorry, um. Don’t transfer him, ever. I want you to repeat exactly what I say okay?”
Rob sounded worried as he said, “Um…okay?”
*****************************************
Lucas sat in his car outside the practice rink, waiting for Fallon to answer. Levi had come through and gotten him Fallon’s work number. It took 20 minutes to figure out which number was Fallon’s but he finally got it and some guy claiming to be her assistant answered. Another five minutes passed before the guy came back on the line.
“Um, I’m sorry Mr. Brooks, but I’ve been told to tell you,” the guys took a deep breath and Lucas swore he heard him praying for forgiveness, “She said to tell you to fuck off and never call this number again.”
Lucas laughed out loud while the poor guy sat there in complete confusion. So Fallon could still be feisty as hell.
Awesome.
“What was your name?” Lucas asked.
“Rob?”
“Rob, do me a favor, tell your angry boss that I will see her and that when I do, I will be cleaning that mouth out and if she’s lucky it’ll be with my tongue.”
Lucas hung up without saying bye and just laughed. He loved Fallon’s angry side; it made him hard for days because she hardly got mad. When she did, he tried so hard to make her happy again just to get her in bed. Just one cuss word out that pretty mouth of hers and he was ready. Hell, she still turned him on and she hadn’t even said it — Rob did — but just the thought of her saying it did it for him.
His phone rang and Levi’s picture came up, interrupting his fantasy of Fallon saying very dirty things to him in bed. He let out a frustrated breath and answered the phone. “Hey bro.”
“Hey, did you talk to her?”
“Nope, she told her assistant to tell me to fuck off.”
“Hmm, so new Fallon is angry. I like it,” Levi laughed.
“She’s always had a little angry side. I love it.”
“I bet you do. Anyway, you need t
o get home and get your crap. The bus is leaving in an hour.”
“I’m on my way.”
Lucas hung up the phone and was grateful with how no one had really said anything about Levi always being with him. No one minded that Levi rode on the bus with the guys or that he was always in the locker room. He was just there, and no one said anything. It was awesome.
Lucas put the car in drive and started for the house. He was still on fire from just being so close to hearing Fallon’s beautiful sweet voice. He couldn’t wait until he did, and he stood by his word. When he saw her, he would clean that mouth out.
With his tongue, he hoped.
**************************************************
I will see you and when I do, I will be cleaning that mouth out and if you’re lucky it’ll be with my tongue.
Fallon’s body had been burning from the inside out ever since the words left Rob’s mouth. How did her angry rant turn into Lucas flirting with her? How did he know what to say, after all these years, to make it where she couldn’t even concentrate on giving a proper presentation! He drove her straight crazy! It was all her fault she was letting him affect her! If she would just ignore what he said then she wouldn’t even be affected! Yes! All she had to do was ignore it, not think about his mouth on hers. His tongue in her mouth or in other places…..
Oh Lord, she wasn’t gonna make it through this meeting.
Sweat dripped down the middle of her back as Fallon tried to get through the meeting. Elli sat beside her uncle while the rest of the executives sat around the large table. Fallon was never nervous when it came to public speaking, but today she was convinced that every person at that table knew she was thinking of Lucas between her legs.
“Lordy me! Are y’all hot?” Fallon asked, fanning her face. Rob shot her a warning look while Elli looked at her confused.
“Sure are, honey,” Mr. Fisher said. “Mr. Slater, can you please open them doors, let some air in here. That’s alright, right darlin’?”
“Yes sir,” Fallon said as Rob got up to open the doors. The air didn’t help at all though, so Fallon pushed past her unwanted fantasy and went on with the rest of the presentation.