Taming Mad Max

by Theresa Ragan

  “Those are his sisters, Mom.”

  Kari looked closer, frowned, then flipped to another page, tapping again when she found him next to a ridiculously gorgeous woman decked out in Armani.

  Lindsay leaned closer for a better look. “That’s Max’s boss, the same woman Cole was with a few weeks ago. She and her brother own the Condors.”

  Kari tossed the tabloid to the table and grabbed another one. She flipped through the first few pages until she found another picture of Max. This time he was on the beach sitting next to a woman in a bathing suit. “Look at this,” she said.

  “That’s you at the lake,” Molly said, laughing.

  Kari squinted. “How did they do that?”

  “The paparazzi sit and wait on their boats with their telescopic lenses and shoot away,” Lindsay told her.

  “Yuck,” Kari said, snapping the magazine shut. “That’s a horrible picture.”

  “At least you don’t look like a tiger with mad cow disease like you did in the picture of you and Max at the grocery store,” Lindsay said.

  “Thanks for reminding me.”

  Lindsay snorted. “You should see the one they got of me.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  “No. It’s great. I’ve been trying to get in touch with the editor all week to see if I can get the negative.”

  Kari didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when she realized Lindsay was serious.

  “Why can’t you give Max a chance?” Lindsay asked.

  “Because he doesn’t love me.”

  Four-year-old Becky tugged on the bottom of Kari’s shirt. “What is it, honey?”

  Becky pulled her thumb from her mouth and said, “I love you, Kari.”

  Kari leaned over and picked Becky up, cuddling her tight. Becky smelled like baby powder and apple juice just the way Molly used to smell when she was small. “Oh, Becky, sweetie. You are the cutest thing. I love you, too.”

  “So what about you and Cole. What’s your excuse?” Kari asked Lindsay.

  “Cole isn’t ready to settle down. I refuse to date a man who will turn me in for a newer model the moment I let my guard down.”

  “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Yeah,” Molly said. “You’re both lame. Time for me to go read a book.”

  A piece of bread hit the side of Molly’s face. “You two are going to get it now,” Molly said, making the twins squeal as they slid from opposite sides of the bench and ran across the lawn toward the house.

  Molly followed the boys. She stopped halfway inside the door leading into the house. “Don’t forget about the game this weekend. Amanda’s mom called earlier and she wants to talk to you about it.”

  Darn. Kari had forgotten all about the game.

  “You didn’t forget, did you?”

  “Of course not.”

  Molly shook her head as if nobody in the world could possibly have a lamer mother than she did.

  “You forgot, didn’t you?” Lindsay asked after the door slid shut.

  “Completely.”

  Lindsay sipped her iced tea. “I really do think Max loves you.”

  “Key word is think,” Kari said. “Max keeps using the same word. He thinks he’s falling in love with me. He thinks we should spend the rest of our lives together. I want him to know.”

  Molly poked her head out the sliding door. “Mom. Somebody is on the phone for you. It’s a man.”

  Kari headed for the house. “It’s probably Richard,” she told Lindsay. But it wasn’t Richard at all. It was Joey, the last person on earth she would have guessed.

  “I need your help,” he said.

  The poor guy sounded like he had the flu. Breanne still hadn’t moved back in with him. And after their therapy session, Breanne had refused to talk to Joey at all. “You know I would love to see you and Breanne get back together,” Kari began, “but I don’t know how I could possibly be of any help. Breanne’s feeling vulnerable right now. Being pregnant does crazy things to a woman’s emotions. She doesn’t think you trust her...”

  “I blew it,” he said. “I do trust her and I know I’m going to have to prove it to her, but I just don’t know how.”

  “What about the baby? You made it clear you weren’t ready for kids. No woman in their right mind would live with a man who wanted nothing to do with his own child.”

  “I admit it. I was scared in the beginning. Freaked out. But I’ve done a lot of soul searching. I even read a couple of baby books. I’m ready. I know I am.”

  Kari’s heart went out to him. He sounded sincere. “Did you tell Breanne all of this?”

  “Yes. She doesn’t believe me.”

  “I’ll talk to her,” Kari said, wishing she had the magic words to make everything better between the two of them.

  #

  The smell of hotdogs, garlic fries and beer drifted up from the stands of the Los Angeles Coliseum. Kari’s stomach grumbled. The Steelers were the favorites heading into the contest. At first it appeared that the odds-makers were right, since the Condors seemed to have a serious case of first game jitters in the first half, committing false start penalties and misfiring in the passing game. Cole was definitely tight, completing only one of his first five pass attempts and throwing an interception that ended the Condors’ first drive of the second quarter. But Mad Max kept the Steelers in check by keeping their number one running back from going anywhere.

  “Oooh. Ouch!” Kari looked away from the field and covered her eyes.

  “Dad’s getting up,” Molly said. “He’s okay.”

  Kari peeked between her fingers. Molly was right. He was okay. With his great size, strength, and quickness he’d just rushed the Steelers’ quarterback, bringing his opponent to the ground right before a three hundred pound lineman landed on Max’s head.

  “It could be worse,” Lindsay told her after Molly went back to talking to Grant. “We could be in Las Vegas watching a boxing match.”

  “I know it’s part of the game, but somebody could get seriously hurt,” Kari told her. “Did you know that Merril Hoge hung up his cleats after doctors told him he risked death if he got one more concussion?”

  Lindsay wrinkled her nose. “Whose Merril Hoge?”

  “He was Steelers Iron Man of the Year two years in a row. Then he played for the Chicago Bears as a free agent until he was forced to retire early due to post-concussion.”

  Lindsay lifted a brow. “Somebody has been doing some serious research on the NFL.”

  “Max is Molly’s father. It’s perfectly normal that I would worry about him and do some research now that he’s involved in Molly’s life.”

  “Oh, puhleaz. You’ve had the hots for the guy since high school and nothing has changed in all these years.”

  “A lot has changed. I’m no longer a pushover for one thing. It takes more than a hot bod and a killer smile to catch my attention.” Too bad she was a big fat liar. Deep down Kari knew she’d done the right thing by turning Max down. For starters, if Max truly loved her, he wouldn’t give up that easily. He’d caught her completely off guard when they were at the lake. She’d been stunned by his proposal. At first she’d thought he was joking, but once she realized he was serious, it was clear he was proposing for all the wrong reasons.

  “Maybe you should do a little research on destiny?” Lindsay said.

  Kari kept her gaze on the field. “A predetermined course of events beyond human control. What about it?”

  Lindsay shook her head in dismay. “You can be such a smart ass.”

  Kari laughed.

  “My point is,” Lindsay went on, “what are the odds of a big healthy football player like Mad Max needing a nutritionist? A zillion to one,” Lindsay quickly answered. “Destiny at work I tell you.”

  “Look, there’s Cole,” Kari said, changing the subject. She didn’t want to be here, not really, not when things were so painfully raw between her and Max. Not thinking about Max was proving to be difficult
, even when she wasn’t watching him play football. Every time he came to pick up Molly, she watched him from her bedroom window and wondered what she could have done differently to make him love her the way she needed to be loved.

  Lindsay handed Kari the binoculars. “Cole Fletcher really does stand out, doesn’t he?”

  “Yeah, he does,” Kari agreed. “Cole called again last night.”

  “Again?” Lindsay asked. “Why can’t he understand that no means no?”

  Kari shrugged. “Talk about stubborn.”

  “Tomorrow I go for my first insemination.”

  “Does Cole know?”

  Lindsay lifted her chin. “It’s none of his business. In case you weren’t listening the other day, it’s over between us.”

  “I know. I guess I’ll never understand why and I don’t think Cole understands either.”

  “What do you expect me to do? Wait a few more years to see if Cole sticks? And if he does, hope that he wants the same things I want out of life? Look at him. Does he look like the sort of guy who wants to settle down and have lots of babies crawling around?”

  Kari lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Anything’s possible.”

  “You should have seen the look on Cole’s face when I teased him about helping me out as a donor. He looked like he was going to have a heart attack.”

  “You two had only just met,” Kari said in his defense.

  “Yeah...well, I’m going to be inseminated. I’m going to have a baby soon. I don’t have time for a man right now.”

  “I think he’s fallen for you and he’s fallen hard, but it’s your life,” Kari said. “Just don’t whine about it later. No regrets, you know what I mean?”

  Relief enveloped Kari when Max came in from the field. As she watched him, longing filled her, and she realized she had no business giving Lindsay advice.

  The Condors’ offense ran out onto the field next. Cole made a long pass that was caught near the fifteen yard line. Lindsay jumped to her feet. “Go get ‘em Cole!”

  She was so gone, Kari thought. The woman had been glowing ever since she met Cole Fletcher.

  Lindsay sat back down. “Truthfully, I don’t think the whole family dynamic thing could ever work for me,” Lindsay said.

  Kari followed Lindsay’s gaze, which was directed at Cole as he stood straight and tall, legs apart, reading signals from the sidelines. “And why is that?”

  “Marriage equals commitment and compromise,” Lindsay said. “Most men can’t handle commitment and I can’t handle compromise.” She lifted her shoulders. “It’s a no-win situation no matter how I look at it.”

  Two hours later, the game ended and Kari stood outside the Condors’ locker room with Molly, Amanda, and Grant as they waited for Lindsay to reappear. She and Molly had talked and although Molly had admitted to enjoying her first kiss, she also admitted she wasn’t ready for a boyfriend. Kari and Molly agreed there would be no more cutting class or kissing boys. The only thing Kari could do, she figured, was keep an open-line of communication between her and Molly. The rest was up to Molly. The kids talked while Kari kept an eye on the locker room door, hoping Lindsay would hurry up and come through those doors before any of the players did.

  “How was it in there?” Amanda asked Grant.

  “Cool. Those guys are huge, especially Cole Fletcher. He’s got to be over seven feet tall.” Grant lifted a jersey. “The Terminator gave me this shirt. My little brother is going to freak out when I show him.”

  “What happened to Lindsay?” Kari asked him.

  “She was talking to The Terminator when I left.”

  Kari glanced at her watch. “Pretty exciting game, huh?”

  “If it wasn’t for your Dad stuffing that hole at the end there,” Grant told Molly, “the Condors wouldn’t have won today.”

  Molly beamed.

  #

  Lindsay tried to get past Cole unnoticed.

  “Hey,” Cole said. “All the other kids left the locker room a while ago.”

  She pretended not to hear him, easy to do with all the laughing and joking and loud music.

  It took two steps for him to catch up to her though. Cole grabbed hold of Lindsay’s forearm. “Hey,” he said. “I don’t bite. But you already know that.”

  She looked at his hand.

  He let go, but not until after he pulled her closer to the bench in front of his locker. “Why haven’t you been returning my calls?” he asked.

  She stepped closer to avoid being knocked over by two half-naked men. Cole still hadn’t taken a shower. He was dirty and sweaty and his uniform didn’t leave much to the imagination. Her throat tightened. She looked to the ground and wriggled her toes.

  “You can’t even look at me? What the hell did I do to deserve this?”

  “Nothing,” she said, forcing her gaze to meet his caramel-colored eyes. “It’s me. Not you. I never should have gone out with you in the first place. You know I didn’t want to, but you kept pressing. You just wouldn’t leave it alone. I have plans, Cole. My future is mapped out in ink, not pencil.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I have my first appointment with DLS tomorrow.”

  “DLS? Ahhh, yes. The sperm bank?”

  She nodded.

  “So I really was just a one-night stand for you, is that it?”

  “Yes.”

  He put a hand on his chest. “Man, you sure know how to hurt a guy.”

  She flipped her hair back. “I do my best.”

  His wide grin made her heart skip a beat.

  “Where’s Kari?” he asked.

  “Waiting outside. She couldn’t handle seeing all these big naked men in one room.”

  “But you could?”

  She rolled her shoulders. “You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”

  He laughed, and she knew it shouldn’t have surprised her that he could act so cool and calm after being so cleanly dumped, but he hardly seemed ruffled.

  “I thought after you set eyes on this lean machine,” he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes, “you’d beg to differ.”

  “Yeah, well—” She took a long hard look at his body, hoped he was still wearing a cup under that uniform because if he wasn’t... “I don’t know,” she drawled. “I really did enjoy myself last weekend, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that after all the hype, I really thought you’d have more to offer.”

  “Give me one more chance to rock your world, sweetheart. Let me take you out tonight and we’ll clear this whole thing up once and for all.”

  “I don’t think so. I have to get up early...you know...my appointment with destiny.”

  “Then let me take you to dinner. No strings attached.”

  “Sorry, can’t do. I already have a date with the running back—Condors’ MVP.”

  His eyes darkened. “You’re going out with The Terminator?”

  “Is that his nickname?” She looked over at the big curly-haired man who had thighs as thick as telephone poles.

  “You’ve only been in the locker room for ten minutes. When the hell did he ask you out?”

  She gave The Terminator a little wave then feigned a shiver when The Terminator pulled off his shirt, revealing a beefy middle. “Two minutes ago.”

  “Is that why you wore that shirt?”

  She glanced down at her plain white cotton tank and chuckled. “Yeah, that’s why I wore this cotton tee. It works every time.”

  Cole pulled off his shirt, his corded muscles flexing with every movement he made. She looked back at The Terminator and tried to collect herself, tried to breathe. No man had a right to look like Cole Fletcher. She coughed as she looked about, nearly choking on air when he slid off his pants.

  He had to know she was uncomfortable. She quickly lifted her gaze to his.

  He smiled and that riled her. It riled her further to know he knew that he riled her. “I better go,” she said, “before The Terminator takes off his pants and makes me all wobbly in
the knees.”

  “I thought you said ‘you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all’?”

  “Maybe I spoke too soon. We both know there are exceptions to every rule. And The Terminator is definitely an exception.”

  He laughed so hard the noise bounced off the walls, causing her to grit her teeth, especially after he whipped his towel, smacking her backside as she headed off.

  #

  That night, after dropping Grant at his home and then taking Molly to Amanda’s house for a sleepover, Kari found herself sitting at a bar called Reflections, a popular nightclub where football players liked to hang out after the game. She inwardly scolded herself for letting Lindsay talk her into coming.

  Max sat across the room with a couple of his teammates. She tried not to look his way, didn’t want him to know how much she missed him. Ever since their weekend at the lake, she’d been at war with herself when it came to Max. On one hand, she was annoyed with him for putting her on the spot in front of Molly and the others, but on the other hand, a part of her wished she’d thrown all doubt to the wind and given him a chance. Lindsay was right. She loved Max. Always had, and probably always would. She sipped an Appletini and watched Lindsay on the dance floor doing a combination of the Hand Jive and the Hustle while The Terminator circled her like a hawk, entertaining the crowd with a few moves of his own. Kari figured she’d wait thirty minutes and then make excuses before heading home. She had a meeting with her newest client tomorrow morning. She wanted to get a good night’s sleep. She only came because Lindsay had poured on the guilt, reminding Kari that this was her last night out before becoming a single mother.