by Sybil Bartel
He wasn’t just smiling, he was grinning.
Oh God. “What?”
“Damn, girl, I don’t know what’s funnier. Strom gettin’ schooled by your badass marine boyfriend or that you’re gonna be the one pissing Coach off this week.”
I wanted to cry. I knew how the video clips would look. “You didn’t have to put your arm around me.”
TJ laughed. “You think I was gonna miss out on the opportunity to piss off Strom? He had that coming.” His face sobered. “So, you and him?”
“No.” Resolutely, absolutely no. “There’s nothing between us.” The only thing I’d done right when I’d crawled between Dan Ahlstrom’s sheets was not telling a soul about it.
“Not to mess with a brother’s woman, but that wasn’t nothing. He lost his shit when he saw you with your man.”
“I’m not dating him, Terence. I don’t date the players.” Dan and I had never gone out, not technically. We’d never gotten past his bedroom or mine.
TJ’s hand went to his chest. “Damn, girl. Right where it hurts.”
“You’re not hurt by that, and for the record, Jared isn’t my boyfriend either.” A few miles between me and him was enough for me to come to my senses. I’d worried a football player was a dangerous choice for a boyfriend, but I’d never met a pissed-off marine. I told myself I didn’t care that he was only defending me. I knew Dan was being a jerk, but Jared could’ve ignored him. I glanced at the phone in my hands.
“Come on, who ya talking to?” TJ shook his head.
“Obviously, I’m talking to you because no one else is in the car.” How many women would be in his contacts? Why did I even care?
He chuckled. “You know what I’m sayin’. That brother was straight-up marking his territory.”
I hated how the very idea made my skin tingle and my stomach flutter. “I assure you he was not.” It didn’t matter what Jared had said. We’d had one encounter, and I wasn’t Cinderella. He wasn’t going to give up his life for me. I didn’t even know anything about him. You didn’t base a relationship on a kiss and an orgasm from a male escort. Did you?
TJ shrugged. “Can’t blame him. We all know what you are.”
Oh my God, I was losing my mind. I shouldn’t have been thinking about Jared as anything other than what he was. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You ain’t no bottom bitch, girl.”
“Terence Joyner!” Heat flamed my cheeks at the thought of what I really was.
He held his hands up. “You’re way too good for us, Miss Sienna. That’s all I’m saying.”
He meant it as a compliment, but none of it felt good. I turned toward the window.
TJ nudged my shoulder. “You gonna make that call for your badass marine?”
I looked down at the phone in my hand. I didn’t want to scroll through his contacts. “Do I have to?” I didn’t realize I’d spoken out loud until TJ burst out laughing.
“Shit, girl.” He laughed harder.
“Don’t laugh at me,” I snapped.
“Aw, come on. You know I’m just playin’.” He sobered. “But a word of advice from a brother who’s been there? Make that call. Ain’t no one wants to sit in lockup.”
“Fine,” I huffed, feigning attitude to cover my apprehension.
Inhaling, I pressed the four digit number that was Jared’s address into the lock screen but the phone didn’t unlock. Frowning, I pulled my phone out of my purse to check the address, wondering if I’d gotten it wrong. I hadn’t, but his condo number was also a four-digit number. I pressed that number into the screen. The phone unlocked and a picture from his balcony of a sunrise popped up.
Impulsively, I touched the photo album icon.
The sunrise and the profile picture he’d texted me were the only two photos in his phone. A loneliness I knew deep in my soul bled from those two pictures, and it made me sad, incredibly sad.
I hastily closed the photo album and brought up his contacts. Intending to only look at the N’s, his entire contact list came up. Jared only had six numbers programmed. Alex, André, Con, Dane, Neil and Talon. That was it. No women. Unable to stop myself, I went to the call log. My number was the only number listed. Exhaling, not sure how I was feeling, I dialed the number for Neil Christensen.
One ring and the call was answered.
“Ja?”
The accent was thick but not nearly as surprising as the deep timbre of the voice. “Mr. Christensen?”
“Who is this?”
“Um.” Should I give him my name? Shoot. I figured attorneys had to be confidential, so I told him. “My name is Sienna Montclair.”
“Where is Brandt?”
“There’s been an incident, and he asked me to—”
“Are you safe?”
It was such an unexpected question, it took me off guard. “Y-yes,” I stammered.
“Continue.” His deep voice had zero intonation.
Intimidated by his briskness, I cut to the chase. “Jared was arrested at Allero’s.”
“Explain,” Neil demanded.
“There was an altercation between him and the quarterback for Miami’s football team and a linebacker named Sunshine Washington.”
“Are you injured?”
“No. Neither is Jared, but I think he may have broken the other men’s noses.” Or arms, or both.
Silence.
“Mr. Christensen?”
“Where are you?”
TJ pulled into the training complex. “At work.”
“Address?”
“I’m sorry, but with all due respect, I’m not sure that’s any of your business, Mr. Christensen.”
“I am picking you up then I am taking you to the police station.”
Alarm spiked my pulse and stiffened my back. “Jared asked me to call you. My involvement beyond that is not necessary.”
“Did you witness the incident?”
Shoot. “Yes, but—”
“The police will need to question you. I will take you. Address?”
My car. Shoot. “I can arrange my own ride to the station.” I glanced at TJ and he nodded.
“With who?”
“Excuse me?”
“You were involved in an incident with two high-profile football players. If you have the means to handle the legal and media attention you will receive, then do not waste my time. Otherwise, give me the address of your location.”
My stomach bottomed out, and I rattled off the address.
Pause. Then, “That is the training complex.”
“I know. I’m the assistant to the defensive coordinator.”
Silence.
“Hello?”
“Thirteen minutes.” He hung up.
She fucked the quarterback of the Miami Dolphins?
Adrenaline still pumping, I paced the fucking holding cell.
She didn’t just fuck him. I saw the look on her face when he showed up. I didn’t know dick about relationships, but I knew women. And her look had been one hundred percent telling. Motherfucking fuck. What the fuck am I doing?
I wasn’t a fucking football wonder from Kansas or Oklahoma or wherever the fuck he was from, making seven figures. What the hell did I think I was going to do? Offer her my ass on a platter? Vanilla fuck her into a white picket fence life with two kids and a damn minivan? She drove a fucking Mercedes and fucked football players.
Goddamn it.
“Brandt!” The same cop that’d brought me in unlocked the cell. “Let’s go.” He didn’t bother re-cuffing me. We were both vets.
“Thanks.”
He tipped his chin. “Strom and Sunshine will probably press charges.”
I knew they would. “Not surprised.”
He handed me my keys and wallet and had me sign for them. “So.” He smiled. “The redhead?”
I frowned. “She’s here?” What the fuck was Neil doing?
“Oh yeah. Her Viking-sized bodyguard brought her in to give a statement.”
&n
bsp; Damn it. I didn’t want her involved. But I should’ve thought of that before I decided to wipe the table with her boyfriend’s face. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
He walked me through the station and held the door open to the lobby. “They’re waiting for you.”
“Thanks.” One step and I saw her. My heart jumped and the adrenaline already pounding through my veins amped up to mach one. No longer giving a shit about a damn thing except the rigid set to her posture and the look on her face, I walked right up to her. Taking her face in my hands, I bent my knees. “You okay?”
She inhaled. “Fine.”
But she didn’t say fine. No attitude, no posturing, she whispered it, and I wasn’t buying it, not for one second. “Let’s go.” I’d get her talking after I got her out of here. I glanced around. “Where’s Neil?”
She looked over her shoulder. “He stepped outside to take a call.”
“Come on.” I put my arm around her shoulders and started to take a step, but she stiffened. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
I stopped and looked at her, and that’s when I saw it. Her purse clutched to her chest, her eyes too wide, her hands trembling slightly. She had fear written all over her. “I would never hurt you, Sienna.”
She sucked in a breath. “You… you just—”
I dropped my arm and schooled my features. “I know what I did.” And I’d do it again. Without hesitation.
“You were arrested.”
“Detained,” I corrected.
Neil walked into the station. “There is media waiting.”
Six foot six and built like a fucking Viking, Neil was ex-Danish Special Forces. I’d met him in Afghanistan after our Humvee was hit. I’d be dead if it weren’t for Vega and him. “How many?”
“Enough.”
Goddamn it. I didn’t want my name or my military record splashed all over the fucking news. Something I should’ve thought of before I kicked the quarterback’s ass. “Take her and get her home. I’ll call Vega to pick me up.”
Red reached in her purse and handed me my cell. “It’s all over the Internet. They’ve already seen me with you.”
I shoved my phone in my pocket and glanced at Neil. Expression impenetrable, he waited for me to make a decision. “All right, take us back to my car, and I’ll drive her home.”
Neil nodded once, and we flanked Sienna as we walked out of the station.
Three paces and the media was on us. I took Red’s arm. “Keep your head down.”
The questions started the second the cameras began flashing.
“Miss Montclair, are you dating Miami’s most eligible bachelor, Dan Ahlstrom?”
“Was Strom arrested for fighting with your boyfriend?”
“Mr. Brandt, are you the same Jared Brandt that received the Purple Heart for being wounded in Afghanistan?”
“Miss Montclair, is Jared Brandt your boyfriend?”
They fired questions the entire way to Neil’s truck. I helped Sienna in then got in the front passenger seat.
I waited till Neil was behind the wheel. “My car’s at Allero’s.”
“So is mine,” Sienna spoke from the back seat.
I didn’t bother telling her that I wasn’t going to let her drive herself home. We were all silent, and a few minutes later, Neil pulled up to Allero’s. “Drop me at the valet. You got a little more time?”
Scanning the street in front of the restaurant, Neil tipped his chin.
I turned to face Sienna. “I’m going to have Neil take your car home. I don’t want you driving alone until this settles down. Wait here until they pull my car up.” I didn’t wait for an answer. I got out of the truck.
The valet’s eyes widened when he saw me and my bloodied shirt.
“The Mustang and the black Mercedes the redhead was driving. Bring them both.” I handed him my valet ticket.
“I’m sorry, sir.” His voice cracked. “I’m not allowed to give you another person’s car.”
I nodded at Neil’s SUV. “She’s waiting in the SUV because I’m not letting her get out until you bring the cars around.”
He looked relieved to have an excuse to get the cars. “Okay.” He grabbed the keys from his lockbox and took off at a run.
I glanced at the patio. The furniture was all put back in place, but there weren’t any customers out front. The valet brought the Mercedes then the Mustang. When he pulled up with my ride, Neil got out of his SUV and gave his keys to the valet.
“You know her address?” I asked.
“Ja.”
“I’ll take my time getting there. Let me know what you find.”
Neil leveled me with a stare. “She should not be one of your clients.”
Guilt at last night hit hard. “She’s not.”
He didn’t say jack shit. He got in the Mercedes and took off.
I opened the passenger door of the SUV and held a hand out.
Without making eye contact, she took my hand. “I could have driven myself.” Her tone sharp, her attitude back, she dropped my hand the second her feet were on the ground and strode to my ride.
The valet opened the door for her, and I shook my head. Even with her hair pinned up and throwing attitude, she was sexy as fuck.
I slid behind the wheel. “Where we going?”
She rattled off an address in Coral Gables.
My eyebrows rose at the expensive zip code. “You gonna tell me what you do?”
Her phone buzzed in her purse, but she didn’t reach for it. She turned toward the window. “What does it matter?”
“You gonna answer that?”
“No.” She didn’t elaborate.
“The boyfriend?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend, you included.” The phone stopped vibrating.
“I’ll never be your boyfriend, Red.” I wasn’t fucking twelve years old. The second I claimed her, I’d be a hell of a lot more than her boyfriend.
Incredulous, she turned to me. “So everything you said in the restaurant was a lie?” She scoffed. “I should have known.”
“None of it was a lie.”
She called me on my bullshit. “You’re talking out of both sides of your mouth.” Her phone started buzzing again.
“Answer your phone.” I wanted her taking that prick’s call in front of me.
She yanked her purse open, grabbed the phone and started to turn it off. “I’m not answering it.”
I snatched the phone out of her hand and answered. “Talk,” I demanded.
“Who the hell is this?” an angry male voice barked.
“You first.” Asshole.
“Ken DeMarco. Put Sienna on the phone, now.”
The Ken DeMarco? The fucking coach of Miami’s football team? “Tell me what this is about, then I’ll decide if you can speak with her.”
“Jared!” Sienna reached for the phone, but I switched it to my other hand.
“Jared, huh? Listen, you little shit, you put my assistant on the goddamn phone right now and I won’t fucking crucify you in the press.”
His assistant? I glanced at Red. Jesus. “Give it your best shot.” I didn’t give two fucks what the press said about me, but Jesus Christ, she worked with that asshole quarterback?
He played his hand. “You want that coming back on her, you asshole?”
Fuck. “What do you want?”
“You the one from the restaurant who busted up my players?”
“You should train them better.” Fucking pussies.
“This isn’t the Marines. They’re not soldiers. They’re highly paid, highly protected assets of the league.”
“The Army has soldiers,” I corrected.
“Do you know who the fuck you’re talking to, son?” he snapped.
Did I fucking care was a better question. “Again, what do you want?”
“Give me the phone,” Sienna hissed.
“You bring her to my office in the next fifteen minutes, and I won’t fire her.” He hu
ng up.
I held her phone out.
She snatched it back. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Taking you to your boss.”
Jared walked me into work like he owned the place. At least he’d changed his shirt in the car. But the workout shirt he’d grabbed from his back seat was almost worse than his bloodied T-shirt. Formfitting and stretching across his huge biceps, the moisture-wicking material showed every muscle in his washboard abs, not to mention the tribal tattoo on his right arm.
Everyone stared as we passed front reception. Jared either didn’t care or didn’t notice. His hand on the small of back, he led me through the lobby as if he’d been here a thousand times before. I used my badge to get us past a second security checkpoint, then we were alone in the corridor.
“You okay?” His hand moved to the back of my neck.
I hated how much I wanted him here with me, but at the same time, I didn’t need him witnessing my humiliation. I’d heard what Coach had said to him. “You don’t need to come with me.” I could get fired all on my own. “I’ll get a ride home from someone.”
Grabbing my waist, he stopped walking and pushed me to the wall. His hands landed on either side of my head and he lowered his voice. “Do you know what happened the second I laid eyes on you?”
My heart skipped, my stomach fluttered, and despite seeing how easily he could have killed two men, I remembered every second of his hands and lips on me. “This isn’t the time for this.”
“Do you love him?”
I didn’t have to ask who he meant. I didn’t hesitate. “No.”
“Then this is exactly the time. I’m not here because I have to be. I’m not here because some asshole coach told me to bring you. I’m here because five and a half feet of fire walked into my life, and I want to know every damn thing about her.” The backs of his fingers glanced across my cheek. “I want to taste her desire and her tears. I want to know why she’s so fucking polite. I want to know what she looks like when she wakes up in the morning, and I want to know why the fuck she’s running from any kind of attachment. Because she’s running….” His thumb brushed across my lips, then he whispered, “You’re running. But I’m gonna catch you, Red.”
Soft and so incredibly sweet it made me want to cry, he kissed me. No tongue, no aggression, his lips brushed against mine, and for two heartbeats, he held it.