Changing the Rules

by Erin Kern

  “I could have done that,” she told him.

  “Yeah,” he agreed as he replaced the lug nuts and tightened them with little effort. “Except you were doing it wrong.”

  His grin widened at the same time that his gaze dropped to her chest. It took a second of heat flaming Audrey’s cheeks for her to realize that he was checking her out. But because it had been so long since a man of his…caliber had shown any interest in her, Audrey could do nothing more than stare and blink. Yeah, real sexy. No wonder she went a year in between boyfriends.

  Gorgeous Baseball Cap Guy handed over the wrench with that maddening smirk still causing all sorts of flutters in her belly.

  Focus. You’re here for Piper, not to get noticed by hot Good Samaritans.

  She took the wrench from him, and they stood at the same time.

  He braced a hand on the roof of her car and leaned forward. Was he meaning to crowd her? Intimidate her with those wide shoulders and eyes so blue it was like staring at a crystal-clear lake? Except Audrey didn’t feel intimidated. The spark that flamed to life took her off guard because…well, had she ever felt anything like that before? She couldn’t remember.

  “You know, it’s customary to say thanks,” he pointed out.

  “Thanks,” she offered.

  His grin turned to a chuckle as his gaze dropped to her chest once more. He dropped his hand from the car and gave her a mock solute. “Have a good one. Try not to shred any more tires.”

  Then he strolled away, moving with a grace that kept Audrey riveted in her spot for longer than it should have. Did Evan walk like that? Like he owned the ground beneath his feet? Better yet, why did she keep comparing the two men? Evan and Gorgeous Baseball Cap Guy were nothing alike. Evan was shorter and not as…overwhelming? Yes, that was a good word for the man. Overwhelming. Evan made her laugh and held doors open for her. Gorgeous Baseball Cap Guy was bossy and too big.

  Too big?

  Women drooled over men like him, and all Audrey could think about was how he’d taken over and kept looking at her boobs.

  He also helped you out when no one else would stop.

  Audrey blinked and realized she was still standing by the car, and Piper had once again pressed her face to the window. Audrey cleaned her tools up and replaced everything in the back of the SUV. When she was back inside the car, Audrey’s phone kept beeping. Then she remembered she’d received a notification when her tire had blown.

  “Put your seat belt back on,” she instructed Piper as she started the car and pulled out into traffic.

  “Did the car get fixed?” Piper questioned.

  Audrey glanced over her shoulder and changed lanes. “Yep, good as new.”

  “I have to go potty.”

  “We’ll find a place to go at the high school.”

  Piper was silent a moment. “Why are we going to a high school?”

  Audrey picked up her phone as it beeped again. She thumbed the screen while navigating traffic. “We’re meeting your uncle there.”

  Piper fell silent again as Audrey pulled up a text from Evan. She grinned as she thought about his deep brown eyes and silly sense of humor. He probably would have called a tow truck for her and then made sure Piper was taken care of. Evan was a gem of a guy who—

  This relationship isn’t really working out for me.

  Audrey scowled and scrolled through the messages, looking for the It’s not you, it’s me, pushing past the hurt knifing through her chest.

  A second later, her phone buzzed again, and another text came through.

  It’s not you, it’s me. You’re a really sweet girl, Evan wrote. But I can’t be in a relationship right now. I need to focus on me.

  Audrey stopped at another red light and resisted the urge to toss her phone out the window. Dumped via text message. She’d expected better from Evan. Evan was supposed to be the real deal. Guys like him didn’t come along very often, and now she was filing yet another relationship into the Said and Done part of her life.

  She huffed out a breath and leaned her head against the headrest. Of course she was hurt. She’d liked Evan. She could have even grown to love him if he’d given the relationship a chance. Maybe it was her. Maybe she had “damaged goods” stamped across her forehead. Why else couldn’t she pin a guy down longer than it took for the leaves to change color in the fall?

  Audrey’s eyes jerked open when someone honked. The light had turned green, so she pressed forward and turned right toward the high school. It didn’t matter. Evan was just another guy in a long string of men who hadn’t been able to stick. All that mattered now was Piper and easing her transition into her new life with her uncle.

  Except she was reasonably attractive, right? Yeah, Audrey was pretty sure she could hold her own. Guys liked blondes, and five-six was a decent height. She stayed in shape by jogging every morning. Audrey gave herself a once-over, glancing from her jeans to her button-down and giving herself a nod of approval. Then she did a double take as she pulled into the high school parking lot.

  “Shit,” she whispered to herself.

  Maybe dressing in the dark hadn’t been such a good idea after all. The gaping hole her missed button had created had afforded Gorgeous Baseball Cap Guy a straight shot to her hot pink bra.

  She only hoped Cameron Shaw wasn’t anything like him.

  Two

  There’s a woman with a kid here looking for you. Why didn’t you tell me you had a baby mama?

  Cameron Shaw sat on the edge of his destroyed bed as he thumbed through Blake’s text messages, ignoring the baby mama thing. He didn’t have one, that he knew of. Yeah, pretty sure.

  His phone had started vibrating about twenty minutes ago, then turned to beeping when he’d been too preoccupied to answer. Blake was a needy bastard sometimes.

  Cam thumbed his reply.

  What the hell? Who are you talking about?

  And why had she gone to the high school instead of his house?

  Although, considering what he’d been doing twenty minutes ago, Cameron was glad the mystery woman hadn’t come knocking on his door. He’d been too busy digging his fingers into Tessa Monroe’s hips as she rode him.

  Cam slid a glance at Tessa as she shimmied into a pair of black leggings, then snatched her bra off the floor.

  “I have to go out of town next week,” she informed him.

  Cameron’s phone buzzed again as Tessa continued dressing.

  How the hell should I know? Some woman with a kid. Just get down here, practice is about to start anyway.

  Yeah, practice. He knew he needed to get his ass moving. He’d gone out to run errands, then swing by home to pick up a few things. He’d been on his way home when he’d spotted the woman with blond hair struggling with her shredded tire. His first instinct had been to press harder on the gas and go about his day. But something about her caught his attention. Maybe it was the sight of her struggling with the wrench. Maybe it had been the way those jeans had fit over her very fine ass. Either way, he’d found himself stopping.

  Christ, she’d been something else. First she’d pinned him with a pair of brown eyes that had dared him to tell her what to do; then she’d opened her mouth, and Cameron couldn’t decide if he wanted to strangle her or kiss her. She probably would have clocked him good.

  But he’d seen the way the pulse at the base of her neck had fluttered when he’d grinned at her. Then the way her cheeks had flamed when he’d gotten an eyeful of a pink bra cupping a generous breast. She probably didn’t even know she’d missed a button.

  Highlight of his day. Hell, his whole week.

  Then Tessa had shown up and hadn’t wasted any time shoving him into the bedroom and stripping his clothes off along the way.

  “Cameron, are you listening?” Tessa lowered herself to the bed and pulled her boots on.

  Cam sent his reply to Blake.

  On my way.

  Tessa stood from the bed and jammed her hands on her slim hips. “Cameron?”
r />   He tossed his phone on the dresser. “What?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You haven’t heard a word I said, have you?”

  He stood also and pulled his Blanco Valley Football shirt from the dresser. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?” He’d been too busy thinking about a woman with a pink bra. He should feel like a bastard for thinking about the tire girl when his sheets still smelled like sex and Tessa. But he couldn’t muster any guilt. It’s not like Tessa was his girlfriend. She’d made it clear in the beginning that she wasn’t looking for anything serious or even exclusive, and she knew full well he didn’t want anything more either. She was just someone who occasionally scratched an itch whenever she happened to be in town.

  Tessa ran her gaze over him. “I said I’m going out of town for a little while. My sister had a baby, and I’m going to visit her for a few weeks. So I won’t be around.”

  Cameron tugged his shirt on, then swiped his cell off the dresser. “All right.” He grabbed his wallet and keys and pocketed them as well.

  “Think you can get by while I’m gone?” she teased.

  “I think I’ll manage,” he told her.

  One of her brows arched. “Because you have a list of women you can call up, right?”

  Was that jealousy he heard? “No questions, Tess. That was your rule, remember?”

  She rolled one of her shoulders as though it didn’t matter either way. “Yeah, I know.” She dropped a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll call you when I’m back in town.”

  Then she was gone, and Cameron stared after her. He hoped she wasn’t developing feelings for him. This arrangement between them was supposed to be casual. No expectations, no questions, and no attachments. Just sex.

  Because that was the only thing Cameron had to offer a woman. He’d learned the hard way not to jump headfirst into anything. He’d been there, done that, bought the whole damn T-shirt factory, and it had bit him in the ass big-time. Since then he’d kept his relationships strictly casual. He didn’t take women on dates, and he definitely didn’t fall in love. He gave orgasms. That was it. And he was damn good at it, if he did say so himself. If he wasn’t, Tessa wouldn’t come knocking on his door every time she came into town to show a house to a potential buyer.

  He was sure Tessa understood that, but if she had other plans, he’d have to set her straight.

  Cameron turned to yank some socks out of his dresser drawer, and his gaze fell on the offer letter from Denver. A position as head coach for a 5A school. He’d received the letter a few weeks ago after interviewing with them over the summer. Their current coach had one year left on his contract; then he was retiring.

  The letter had been set aside when the Bobcats’ season started a month ago, but the issue had been in the back of his mind. Every time he set foot on the field, every time he lectured, reamed, or pep-talked a player. He’d see their sweat-drenched faces and feel their frustration during a difficult game, and the nagging doubt would start.

  Don’t abandon them, it would say. Those kids need you.

  But Cameron wasn’t built to be an assistant, even if it was for his best friend. He wanted to go back to running his own team.

  But at what cost?

  Leaving his home? His friends?

  Those questions had been keeping him up at night and pushing aside the initial need to strike out on his own.

  Cameron folded the letter back up and headed out the door for practice.

  Audrey had never liked football. Not only did she not like the grunting or the head-smashing, but she also didn’t understand anything other than get the ball to the end zone. She didn’t understand flags, or penalties, or gaining yards. Rushing was another foreign concept. If the team’s objective was to outrun the other team to the end zone, shouldn’t they be rushing anyway?

  Give her a Jimmy Choo sale any day over this.

  Watching a high school football practice for the past twenty minutes and waiting for Cameron Shaw to show himself hadn’t made her love the game any more. When she’d arrived, she’d approached a coach she’d immediately recognized as Blake Carpenter, the former NFL quarterback, and almost swallowed her tongue. She’d remembered hearing about his retirement, that he had accepted a job as a high school coach, but she hadn’t realized it was for this high school.

  When she’d inquired about Piper’s uncle, Blake’s eyes had briefly narrowed, then flicked to Piper. For a moment Audrey had thought maybe Blake assumed Piper was Cameron’s kid. She’d resisted the urge to correct him, and then her frustration grew when he’d replied with a gruff, “He’s not here yet.”

  Audrey had grabbed his arm when he turned back to his team. “Well, how will I know which one is him?”

  Blake had chuckled. “Just look for the big surly guy.”

  Um…okay?

  So she’d been sitting on the bleachers for the past twenty minutes and looking for anyone who could be Piper’s uncle. Then ten minutes ago, the bleacher had tilted under her rear end when Gorgeous Baseball Cap Guy had come strolling onto the field with the same confident, loose-limbed grace he’d had earlier. He’d exchanged his worn blue jeans and sweatshirt for athletic pants and a black Bobcat Football T-shirt. A whistle hung around his neck, and the same ball cap was pulled low over his blue eyes.

  Shit, there was no way that was Cameron Shaw. Just. No.

  But Audrey’s gaze kept flickering back to him, alternating with annoyance and…well, something close to damn.

  Because wouldn’t that be a perfect cap to a shitty day? Flat tire. Dumped via text. Then the man whose gaze had flickered to the gaping hole in her shirt while he argued over how to change a tire turns out to be Piper’s uncle.

  The universe could not be so cruel.

  Audrey turned around to the two women seated behind her. “Excuse me?” When they ceased their conversation to look at her, Audrey continued. “Can you tell me which coach is Cameron Shaw?”

  The woman with teased auburn hair pointed toward the field. “That one standing on the forty-yard line.”

  “The one with the ass like cement,” her friend quipped.

  Yeah, as she feared. Gorgeous Baseball Cap Guy. Audrey laughed and turned back to the women. “That can’t be him.”

  The brown-haired woman leaned forward. “Honey, I would know that backside anywhere.”

  Meaning what?

  The other woman nudged her friend’s shoulder. “My cousin Becky says he has the stamina of a porn star.”

  Audrey resisted the urge to cover Piper’s ears, even though the child was too busy playing with Jellybean to pay attention to anything else. Or maybe Audrey should just cover her own ears.

  Of course someone who looked like Cameron Shaw would be a god in bed. Did she expect someone who looked like an underwear model to be anything less?

  Practice eventually ended, and she and Piper exited the bleachers, with Piper dragging Jellybean along with her.

  Piper gazed up at Audrey with eyes so green, like her mother’s, that Audrey felt the familiar pain in her chest. “Are we going to meet my uncle now?” the little girl asked.

  “Yes, and he’s going to love you,” Audrey assured her.

  Piper bit her lip and hugged Jellybean tighter. “I’m scared.”

  Audrey forced the lump out of her throat and tried not to think about having to leave Piper. She loved that little girl as she would her own, and the idea of being away from her tore her guts up. There would be no more makeovers, no more whimsical stories, and no more sticky kisses. She took a deep breath, dropped to her knees, and forced herself to be brave—for Piper’s sake.

  “I want you to listen to me for a minute,” she told Piper. “You have nothing to be afraid of. I’m sure your uncle Cameron is a good guy, and your mom trusted him, so that means we can trust him, right?” At Piper’s hesitant nod, Audrey continued. “I know you’re worried, sweetie, but I promise I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Okay?” Audrey stroked Piper’s soft cheek and had to remind herself t
hat Piper was just a little girl who didn’t know where she was or who she was going to live with. Just another reason to get those lustful thoughts of Cameron Shaw out of her head.

  “’Kay,” Piper answered. “But what if he doesn’t like me? What if he doesn’t want me to live with him?”

  Audrey shook her head. “That’s not possible. I know he’ll love you.” Audrey moved herself and Piper out of the way of people who were leaving the bleachers. “Do you remember when we went to the zoo last year and you didn’t want to feed the giraffes because you were too scared? Then you put your brave face on and walked up to the giraffe, and he took a leaf right out of your hand?”

  Piper smiled, then giggled. “Yeah. He licked my hand with his tongue.”

  Audrey grinned with her. “That’s right, he did. And you had nothing to be afraid of, right?”

  Piper hesitated, then nodded.

  “I need you to be that brave girl again,” Audrey told her. “Can you do that for me?”

  Piper glanced at her feet, then at Audrey. “’Kay.”

  Audrey stroked Piper’s hair, loving how soft and fragile the curls were. Then she pulled the child into a tight hug, reminding herself of how small and vulnerable Piper was, how much she depended on Audrey to keep her safe because Audrey was the only person in the world Piper knew anymore. Dianna hadn’t been close to any of her extended family, and her mother had died several years ago. Piper’s grandfather had been too old to care for a child, and hadn’t been that close to Piper anyway. Audrey was it, and she’d be damned if she’d let the kid down. She’d made a promise to Dianna, and she’d see it through to the end.

  She let go of Piper and led the girl onto the field. Now wasn’t the time to think about wide shoulders or sexy voices or how Cameron Shaw awakened things inside her that had been dead for years. She was here for Piper, and it needed to stay that way.

  When Cameron turned around and pinned her with those dark blue eyes, her stern talking-to evaporated.