SPORTS BABY (A Secret Baby Romance)
Page 9
Danny got to her feet and stomped into the kitchen for more wine. Her mom followed quickly, her mouth still running on and on about this being a horrible idea. “Why did he even ask you? He knows you have a daughter, right?”
Danny rolled her eyes, knowing she was repeating herself. “Yeah, he saw me with her, but he doesn’t know she’s his,” she explained as she poured wine into her glass until it reached the rim. “I said he invited us both, didn’t I?”
“Danny, this is not a good idea,” Karen fretted.
“You’ve said that already,” she snapped, gulping her wine. “You know, Mom, he was a good guy—still is, and after the night we spent together, I’m not about to—”
“Wait, did you say night? You slept with him!”
“Jesus, Mom! The neighbors will hear you!”
“What the hell were you thinking? You’re still on the pill, right?”
Danny spat wine from her mouth, wiping it up quickly with her sleeve as she stared wide-eyed at her mom. “I am not having this conversation with you. It’s not happening,” she yelled and shoved past her into the living room. Hattie appeared to be hiding a smirk, Gerald wouldn’t meet her gaze, and Hazel mouthed an apology as Karen stormed out behind Danny. “Just drop it, Mom. Please? This was supposed to be a nice family dinner.”
“Hard to do that when my daughter is about to screw up her life again,” Karen scolded her, arms crossed tightly over her chest.
Danny was usually great at holding back her anger—she had learned over the years with her mother to take a deep breath and ignore it—but tonight, it boiled up. She threw the wine glass against the wall, shattering it, startling them all as she stalked towards her mom.
“Don’t you dare call my daughter a mistake, Mom. I know that’s what you always thought of me, why you tried to shape me and make sure I didn’t turn out like you, and I didn’t. I love my daughter, no matter how she came into this world! Back off, or you’ll never see either of us again,” Danny seethed. “I’m going to Texas to visit Jack, and I’m taking my daughter with me.”
Karen’s eyes brimmed with tears, but Danny refused to apologize, even when her mom excused herself from the room and a door slammed a few seconds later. Gerald followed quickly, still not sparing a glance for Danny.
“Nice going,” Hattie muttered. “You just broke her heart.”
“You think I care? You’re not even her real daughter, so shut up, Hattie.” Danny went to the kitchen to find a rag and dustpan to clean up the mess she’d made. She had crossed the line with her mom, she knew it, but there was no way in hell she was going to apologize.
Hattie and Hazel argued in the living room, and by the time Danny came back in, Hattie left through the front door. “She’s taking a walk to cool off,” Hazel said, biting her lip. “I’m sorry, Danny. I didn’t think she would get that upset about it.”
“It’s fine, really,” she sighed.
“No. I just… I thought she was cool with everything that happened, you know? She was always so supportive of you.”
“That was the brave face she put on for you guys,” Danny grumbled, bending down with a grunt to scoop up the glass. “I got lecture after lecture about turning out like she had. Getting pregnant too early, and… But as she told me back then, at least I’d had the sense to run away.”
Hazel knelt next to her and sopped the wine up with the rag before wiping it off the wall. “I thought your dad loved Karen, though?”
“He did. Still does, actually, despite everything that woman’s done to him.”
After all these years, Danny hoped her dad would’ve moved on, gotten a girlfriend, someone to be there for him, but he hadn’t. He still clung to his love for Karen. Every time Danny brought it up, he simply shrugged and gave her a hug, whispering to her that if it hadn’t been for the love he felt, Danny wouldn’t exist. She couldn’t argue because that was how she felt about Jenna. She had never regretted getting pregnant and having her daughter, and after seeing Jack’s success, she was still convinced that her decision to leave when she did had been the right one.
With the glass and the wine cleaned up, Danny went to the back door to watch Jenna playing with her cousins—tag, from the looks of it. Her red hair flowed out behind her, but when she turned to smile at Danny, her heart clenched. There was so much of Jack in her. They’d never make it a whole week without Jack figuring out who Jenna belonged to.
“Well, your mother won’t come out of her room,” Gerald said as he stomped back into the kitchen. “Danny, can you please go talk to her?”
“And say what?” she asked hotly. “I’m not sorry for it.”
“Can you lie, then? I think we would all like to enjoy part of our evening together.”
Danny hung her head, knowing she should say sorry for some of what she said, but her dad’s stubbornness reared its ugly head and she shook hers. “No. Sorry, Gerald. Not this time. Hazel, can you catch a ride with Hattie and take Jenna back to the house when you leave?”
“Course I can. You going to be all right?”
“Yeah. Going home to relax. Get some things together for the flight this weekend,” she said. “See you in a few hours. Tell Jenna I had a headache or something.”
Danny found her purse on the couch, dug angrily around for her keys, and marched out the front door. She passed Hattie on her way out, who asked where she was going, but Danny didn’t answer. Her mind was too jumbled with the situation she’d put herself in. Should she have said no when Jack asked her back to his room? Said no when he invited her and Jenna to Texas?
Was her mom right? If Jack found out about Jenna, would he push them both away for good?
By the time she reached home, she was biting her lip so hard it nearly bled. She went straight to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of wine, and plopped down on the couch without a glass. Doubts… Always, the doubts circled back to torture her. Do this or don’t do that. She barely survived leaving Jack the first time, but if he dumped her and Jenna, could she handle it? Could she handle putting her daughter through that?
CHAPTER 8
A week without seeing Danny had been almost too much for Jack to deal with, but practices occupied his mind. He pushed Danny from his thoughts as much as possible, mostly to stop the awkward bulge in his pants anytime his mind wandered to their reunion in the hotel room. Nick didn’t help matters, shooting question after question at him, which Jack pointedly ignored.
Practice ended Saturday afternoon, and Jack hurried into the showers. The flight Danny and Jenna were taking would land in an hour, and he needed to get his ass to the airport. He could’ve sent his driver, but that seemed wrong. He wanted to be there, mostly to be sure that Danny actually followed through on her plan to come to Texas. He wanted to trust her, but when she’d run from him eight years ago, a bit of his faith disappeared with her. Jack turned off the water and towel-dried quickly, then headed to his locker.
“Want to grab some beers? I got a date with some hot twins later,” Nick said, licking his lips. “Yo, man,” he continued when Jack didn’t respond, “I’m talking to you over here.”
“Can’t. Have to meet someone at the airport,” Jack told him.
“Your parents fly in for the first playoff game? It’s not for another week.”
“No, not them,” Jack said excitedly and tossed his towel aside. He dressed in jeans and a tight, black, long-sleeved shirt. It was cool for January in Texas but not so cold that he needed much more than what he had on. “A friend is visiting for the week.”
Nick leaned against his locker, still in his towel, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Friend? Is this the friend from the hotel the media is still clamoring to find?”
Jack shrugged and made sure he had his keys and wallet. “I’ll see you Monday, Nick. Have fun with the twins.”
“It’s be more fun if you were there. You know, you used to be a lot more fun with the ladies! They miss you! Crying for you, actually, if you know what I mean.”
Several of the other players laughed and cat-called as Jack left the locker room, but he didn’t have time to deal with their crap. The flight would land soon, and his body knew that it would be holding Danny.
As he stood at the gate with the other people waiting for their friends and families, he shoved his hands deep into his pockets, a nervous teenager all over again. Danny did that to him. No matter how many girlfriends he had before her and after, the anticipation of seeing her made him bounce on his feet. The door opened, and he watched as every person exited until he saw the red head of hair and a smaller version holding her hand.
“Danny! Over here,” he called out, waving. She waved back and turned in his direction. Her daughter, Jenna, had a bright smile on her face and was bouncing up and down as she walked.
“Jack, hey,” she said, and before he wondered if it would be wrong to hug her, she embraced him tightly. “I wasn’t sure if you’d be here to meet us.”
“Course I would be,” he said. “And this must be Jenna.” He held out his hand to her, crouching down so he was eye level. “Very nice to officially meet you.”
“You’re Jack,” Jenna said and took his hand with a smile. “You’re Mom’s favorite player!”
He raised a brow, straightening. “Is that right?”
“Yep. She always watches your games. Records most of them, too.”
“Jenna, that’s enough now. Remember what we talked about on the plane?” Danny admonished. She returned her gaze to Jack. “Sorry, she’s really excited about this week. We’ve never been to Texas.”
Jack held out his arm for Danny and grinned. “Then you both are in for a treat. I don’t have a game tomorrow, but I do have practices during the week. I nabbed passes for you to come watch if you want.”
“Really? Do I get to meet the whole team?” Jenna asked, wide-eyed.
“They’ll even autograph a football for you,” he said. “How’s that sound?”
Jenna’s grin widened, and she skipped as they walked together towards baggage claim. It didn’t take long for the small, plum suitcase to come around for Jenna and Danny’s bright red one to follow. He grabbed both and guided them out of the airport.
“Thanks, Jack, that’s really sweet of you,” Danny said when she could get a word in edgewise. Jenna hadn’t stopped listing the names of all the players she wanted to meet. “I’m afraid Jenna is just as big a football fan as I am.”
“That’s never a bad thing,” he smirked. He walked them to his black pickup parked alongside the curb and loaded their bags in the bed. “My place is close, so the drive won’t be long.”
“Do you live in a mansion?” Jenna asked as Danny helped her into the backseat.
Jack shook his head. “No, but my penthouse is almost as nice as one.”
During the ride through Dallas, Jenna didn’t stop talking, asking endless questions, which Jack answered with patience, waving off Danny’s whispered apology. “I swear, she didn’t have any sugar on the flight over.”
“Really, it’s not as bad as the reporters I have to deal with all the time. It’s fine. Ask as many questions as you want, Sparky.”
“Sparky?” Jenna’s lip curled into a smile, and Jack’s face fell when he saw it in the rearview mirror.
“Yeah,” he said, clearing his throat. “Sparky… I used to call your mom that when we lived back home.” That look on Jenna’s face… His gaze slid to Danny, but she was smiling, staring out the window, oblivious to what he’d seen. “Just a nickname.”
“Sparky,” Jenna repeated. “I like it.”
Jack’s smiled remained on his face, but the longer he stared at Jenna, the more a nagging voice in the back of his mind wondered why this little girl made him feel like he’d missed something in his life. When he pulled into the parking structure beneath his building, he tried not to dwell on it. He grabbed their bags from the bed of the truck as Danny helped Jenna down.
They were in the elevator, going up to the main lobby, when Jack asked Jenna how old she was.
“Six,” Danny answered for her. “She’s six, isn’t that right, hon?”
Jenna’s brow furrowed, but she nodded stiffly. “Yep, that’s right. I’m six. Just six years old.”
Jack glanced between mother and daughter, his lip curling before he nodded with a grin. “Well, for a six-year-old, you know a hell of a lot about football. But how much do you know about cooking?”
Jenna giggled. “Not much. Mom sucks at it.”
“Jenna!”
Jack laughed as he bent to her level and whispered, “Well, don’t worry. I’ll do the cooking this whole week, and I’m great at it.”
“You don’t burn anything, do you?”
“Haven’t yet,” he said. The door dinged open and they filed out. Jack nodded to the man sitting at the main desk in the lobby. “Evening, Marcus.”
“Jack, ladies,” Marcus, a tall wiry tanned man said. “Pleasure to meet you.”
Danny and Jenna waved. “No reporters outside, right?” Jack asked. He’d been worried that someone might see him at the airport, but he’d been lucky so far. The last thing he wanted was for Danny and Jenna to have to deal with a media swarm.
“Don’t worry,” Marcus assured him, “I’ll keep them out of your hair.”
“I’ll make sure you get a bonus for it,” Jack said and told Jenna to go ahead and push the up button. The ride was filled with more questions from the girl, drilling him on the plays he ran through with the team. Her questions were so detailed that she made some of the reporters who hounded him look bad. “Here we are,” he said when they finally reached his door. “I have the whole top floor.”
The door swung inward, and Jenna squealed with excitement, rushing inside.
“Jenna! Don’t touch anything!”
Jack told Danny to relax as they entered after her. “Nothing here is that important to me. Or it wasn’t, but now that you’re in here, that’s changed,” he whispered.
Danny’s cheeks flushed. “Jack, I still can’t thank you enough for this. I… I’m really happy to be here, even if it’s just for a week.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” he told her, setting the bags down. He itched to scoop her up into his arms and march to his room so he could have his way with her, but Jenna’s pattering footsteps running around reminded him that was out of the question. For the moment.
He contented himself with reaching for her hand and squeezing it, pulling her close to him. His lips brushed lightly against hers, and every cell in his body felt the need to possess her.
“Soon,” he promised when he stepped back, tucking a strand of that red hair behind her ear. When her body shivered and her eyes darkened, Jack smirked. He said he’d get them settled into their rooms and then start dinner.
“You don’t have anyone to do it for you?” Danny asked, surprised as she hefted up her own bag, waving away Jack’s protests.
“No, I don’t want anyone hovering,” he said.
“So instead, you’ll have me and a hyped-up six-year-old fluttering around you?”
“That, I don’t mind so much,” he replied with his typical smirk. “I meant it when I said I wanted you both here, Danny. Jenna is a part of you, and I want to get to know her while we remember who we were with each other.”
Danny’s steps slowed. “Jack… What if it doesn’t work out?”
“That’s why we take it one day at a time,” he shrugged. “Relax, Danny. It’s not like I’m asking you to marry me on the spot.” Though that idea did cross my mind last night, if only to stop you from disappearing on me.
“Mom! Come see my room!”
Danny laughed, and they continued down the hall. “One day at a time or not, you’re about to learn what it’s like having a kid driving you nuts.”
Jack’s arm wrapped around her waist and pressed her body against his. “Both of you driving me nuts, you mean.” His lips slanted over hers as his tongue demanded entrance when a high-pitched giggle interrupted them.
r /> “That’s gross! You guys are kissing. Ew,” Jenna squealed, and she smirked as her eyes sparkled like Danny’s. “I’m going to tell Aunt Hazel!”
Danny sighed and hurried after her daughter, muttering threats about grounding Jenna if she didn’t behave. Jack followed, that nagging voice echoing in his mind again about what was really going on and whether there was more to the story with Jenna than Danny had let on.
***
Jenna flopped down on the large bed in her room as Danny unpacked her suitcase, laying out her things in the dresser. The few touches she and Jack had shared lingered on her skin, and she didn’t hear anything Jenna said. Her body ached to go to him, but it had to wait until Jenna was asleep—very sound asleep.
“Mom?”
“Yeah, kid?”
“You never said how you knew Jack.”
Danny’s hands stopped their tucking and folding. “Well, we knew each other from back home, where Grandpa lives.”
“So you went to school together?”
“Pretty much.”
“But you kissed him, like a lot,” she noted, sitting up on the bed. “Did you two date or something?”
Danny was really going to have to talk to Hazel about how much she told Jenna. “Something like that, but it was a long time ago. That kiss was just… Well…”
Jenna jumped down from the bed and hugged Danny tightly around her middle. “Aunt Hazel said you needed some fun in your life—and a guy. If Jack’s that guy, I think he’s okay so far.”
“Do you now?” The fact that she was lying to both Jenna and Jack tore at her, but there was still a chance the truth could ruin everything they might have. She kissed her daughter’s head and tried not to cry. “Well, I guess we should get back out there and see if he needs help with dinner.”
Jenna took off out the door, leaving Danny to ponder the outcome of the week. With Jenna’s things tucked away, she had no more reason to keep hiding and meandered down the short hall into the open living area of the penthouse. The floors were a dark hardwood, warm against her feet, and the walls were all shades of blues and grays. Jack’s choice of furniture was completely different from the leather couches and chair she remembered from his house. The pieces were fluff and plush, black and super-soft to the touch. A grin tugged at her lips when she thought about sinking into that overstuffed couch with him, and her grin only grew when she heard him talking with Jenna in the kitchen.