by Shania Tyler
“How would you like to be the new coach for the Houston Buckskins?” I asked the question even though I loathed having to ask it. I still cursed Bill for putting me in this situation, even more so with the new guy I found myself faced with. He was my last hope. Otherwise, I would have the hounds of hell baying for my blood at my office door. I could only imagine what the fans would think if I didn’t manage to find a replacement, let alone what the team would say.
“I guess I will have to check my diary and see whether I have any better offers.” Major shrugged, and I struggled not to scold him right then and there. He had just told me he didn’t plan on giving me any crap yet there was a load of bull shit flying out of his mouth right there.
I scowled at him and showed my disapproval. When the corner of his mouth began to twitch, I knew he had caught on to my feeling.
“Don’t look at me like that, sweetheart.” He chuckled as he shook his head. “I might start to get ideas on what you are really after.”
“I assure you that this is strictly professional.” I straightened my back a little, determined not to allow him to intimidate me. I’d handled much worse.
“Well, then, in that case, I’m a little disappointed,” Major sighed, and I felt my heart do a backflip at his words. “But I will also take you up on your offer.”
I barely managed to stop myself from jumping out of my seat with excitement. Instead, I simply smiled and pushed myself to my feet slowly to offer him my hand. “Then welcome to the team. I shall have the contract ready for you to sign first thing Monday morning.”
“I hope your boys are ready to be put through their paces because I don’t go easy.” Major pushed himself to his feet and placed his hand in my own. I couldn’t help but notice his strong grip and the way my own hand fit neatly into his, our fingers entwining perfectly as though they were made to be interlaced.
Stop thinking like that, goddamn it. I pulled my hand back from his. “I’m counting on it.”
* * *
The smell of Major’s cologne still hung in my office when someone rapped on the door. My heart jumped and for a moment I wondered whether he had forgotten something and come back to get it. Scanning the room, I couldn’t see anything that might belong to him and so I pushed myself to my feet and headed for the door. “Mister Lawson, back so soon?” I couldn’t help but smile as I spoke the words but as soon as I saw the man on the other side of the threshold, my heart dropped. My stomach flipped, and I barely managed to hold my tongue. “Scotty, what the hell are you doing here?”
I looked him up and down in all his suited glory and instantly knew why he was there.
“Hello to you, too, Ruby.” Scotty pulled his hand out from behind his back and revealed a bouquet of red roses. “I believe you owe me a date.”
I groaned inwardly. The last thing I wanted to do was go out on a date with Scotty, but a promise was a promise, even if I would have rather had Major come back to grill me some more. That was saying something because I detested the man.
“I’m a little busy right now, and I don’t remember us setting a date and time.” I crossed my arms over my chest and took a defensive pose against the man who was so obviously looking me up and down. Instantly, I regretted it, knowing it gave him an excellent view of my cleavage. And yet, part of me was pleased knowing that he would never get to see me naked again.
That is revenge in and of itself.
“Come on, Ru,” Scotty sighed. “Surely, you can give me an hour of your time. I’m sure you can’t be that busy.”
Plucking up all the courage I had left, I shook my head and finally gave in. “Fine, but don’t call me that again. One hour is all you have. Let me grab my keys so I can lock up.”
As I grabbed my keys from the desk and returned to Scotty to lock up the office, I instantly regretted not wearing a jacket that morning. It had been too warm to even consider wearing a cardigan but the way I could feel Scotty’s eyes all over me and my coral dress made me wish I’d done it anyway. I’d rather sweat my breasts off than give him a good thing to look at for the next hour.
“You look beautiful today, Ruby,” he told me as he offered me the roses.
“You should know by now that I hate roses.” It wasn’t true, but I wanted him to know that I wasn’t at all in the mood for his games. Whatever his reasons for wanting a date, I did not want to know what they were, and I definitely was not going to accept any gift from him. Hell, I wasn’t even going to let him pay for my dinner.
“I… I thought you loved roses.” Scotty looked more than a little disheveled, and I almost felt sorry for him.
“Well, you thought wrong,” I shrugged and, seeing the hurt that flashed through his eyes, I began to feel more than a little guilty. “So, where are we going?” I asked in an attempt to change the subject.
“I thought we could go to the quiet little bistro around the corner,” Scotty suggested. A part of me wanted to protest and make life a living hell for him but the truth was I just didn’t have it in me to be that mean.
“That sounds nice.” I smiled, and his hurt seemed to ease off a little.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he said as we passed the reception and the woman behind the desk looked up, startled. “How would you like these roses?”
Mary, who had been a receptionist here since before I’d even begun my first role, looked at me in shock. When I nodded, she smiled and accepted the flowers, “They are beautiful. Thank you.”
“Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman,” Scotty insisted, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at him. He was always one for being a real charmer, even in front of his dates. That was one thing I’d always hated about him. Come to think of it, I was beginning to wonder why I’d ever dated him in the first place. I suppose I would have to chalk it up to a lesson learned. It was the only explanation. Either that or I was just young and stupid at the time.
Those thoughts went through my head as we made the short walk to the bistro around the corner. I kept myself steeled against his charm, knowing him well enough that he would try just about anything to get back into my good books again.
Inside the bistro was quiet, and I was relieved about that. I didn’t want every man and his dog knowing that I was out with my ex having lunch. I could imagine it being spread all over the football magazines as soon as somebody got wind of it. I kept finding myself glancing around to check for cameras or any sign that somebody was watching or, worse, listening to us.
“So, when I arrived you thought it was Major Lawson? Does that mean you met with him?” Scotty asked as we sat down in a corner booth away from the window.
“Yes, I met with him.” I nodded, and my mind was instantly taken back to having Major Lawson in my office. I could still picture him sitting before me in all his tattooed, muscled glory and I couldn’t help but shiver.
“And? What happened? Did you hire him? Did he take the job?” Scotty questioned, and I groaned inwardly. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about work with him.
“I guess you will have to wait and see about all that, won’t you?” I told him, giving nothing away.
“So, that’s a yes to every question then.” Scotty looked closely at me as though he was trying to gauge from my response something that I wouldn’t say out loud and I simply shook my head.
“With all due respect, Scotty, I shouldn’t even be talking about work with you so either you change the subject, or I leave right now.” I shrugged my shoulders and made a slow move to pull myself up out of the booth. Scotty reached across the table and gripped hold of my wrist, pulling me back down.
“Please don’t leave.” He looked hurt that I would even want to, but all I wanted to do since I’d sat down was get back up and leave. I snapped my wrist away from his grip and turned my attention to the laminated menu.
“Another rule – please don’t touch me,” I told him over the top of my menu and out of the corner of my eye, I saw his expression darken.
“Ruby, I know I hurt you
and I messed everything up, but I thought that after all this time you might have forgiven me, at least a little.” Scotty sighed. “I was kind of hoping we could get back on good terms.”
“What for?” I dropped the menu back down onto the table. “Why would I want us back on good terms? We aren’t friends. We aren’t getting back together. We don’t work together. So, what need would I have for us to be on good terms?”
“Maybe we could be friends.” Scotty shrugged and gazed at me as though he was hoping for a pleasant reaction. “Maybe even more than friends.”
I couldn’t help but scoff at him. I’d never heard something so funny in my life. I threw my hand over my mouth in an attempt to lower the volume of my laughter, noticing several people in the bistro turning to look at us.
“Scotty, you always did know how to make me laugh.” I smirked at him and the corner of his lips twitched up in the beginnings of a sad smile. “But you know that is never going to happen, right?”
“What if I could change your mind?” Scotty suggested.
“There is nothing on this planet that could ever change my mind,” I assured him.
“I like a challenge.” Scotty’s eyes blazed with fierce determination, and I had to give him credit for that. He never did give up when he wanted something. Lucky for me, it didn’t take long for his interest to wane on things like that. He’d change his mind again in a few weeks once he saw the next super skinny supermodel he wanted to date.
“We both know you are just here because you are bored, and you couldn’t find some other sucker to go out with,” I told him.
The waitress who had been about to come and take our orders suddenly stopped midstride and turned her attention to another table as though she had overheard our awkward conversation.
“That’s not true.” Scotty reached over the table and looked as though he was going to grip hold of my hand. I was just about to pull my hand out of his reach when he seemed to think better of it and placed his hand back on the table. “Ruby, I miss you. I miss us, and I miss everything we used to do together. I want to get that back.”
“You destroyed all that the minute you jumped into bed with somebody else,” I reminded him and the sour feeling in my stomach returned. The bile rose in the back of my throat, and I felt the tears begin to burn my eyes. Oh, how I hated Scotty for making me feel this way. Looking at him now, I could honestly say that I did not have feelings for him, but I did miss the companionship – the cuddles late at night and then waking up next to somebody in the morning. I did not miss him – I missed the things we used to do together. I knew as well as anyone that I could find that with somebody else. I didn’t need all the other crap that came along with Scotty, like the cheating, gambling, and drinking.
“I know, and I know I don’t deserve for you to forgive me, but I was hoping we could start fresh, from the beginning.” Scotty was almost begging me, and I began to feel as though he was one minute away from getting down on his hands and knees and groveling at my feet. I had never seen Scotty in this light before. He must have been desperate.
“What are you after, Scotty?” I raised an eyebrow at him. There must have been something he wasn’t telling me, some underlying reason why he wanted to get me back. I wasn’t good enough for him the first time and I sure as hell wouldn’t be good enough for him this time, even more so because I didn’t want to be.
“I want you back, Ruby. I miss you.” The sad tone of Scotty’s voice almost had me believing him, but I knew him well enough to understand there was more to the story.
“Well, you can feel free to continue missing me because I am not going to fall into that trap again.” With that, I pushed myself to my feet and made ready to leave.
“You can’t leave yet,” Scotty protested. “I still have half an hour of your time and you haven’t eaten yet.”
“I’m suddenly not so hungry and perhaps you could take the next half an hour to think of all the things you did wrong for me not to take you back.” Then I turned and began to make my way out of the bistro.
“I won’t give up on you!” Scotty called after me, but I was already halfway across the room. I waved at him over my shoulder, not even glancing back as I pulled open the door and headed out onto the street. I had a new life now, a new job and a new me. I wasn’t going to start taking steps backward. Scotty was the last of my worries. What I did have to worry about was Major Lawson becoming my coach on Monday morning.
* * *
4
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CHAPTER FOUR
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Major
Monday morning came around slowly. I was eager to get started working with a new team and even more eager to prove to Ruby that she hadn’t made a mistake in hiring me. Although I would never admit it to her or anybody else, she really had saved my bacon, and I would do whatever it took to repay her for that. Those boys wouldn’t know what hit them once I got my hands on them.
I was all smiles as I headed to Ruby’s office to sign my contract, but my face fell as soon as I saw hers. For such a beautiful woman, she could pull off a stormy expression. Her eyes were dark, framed by her dark lashes, and her mouth was pursed as she looked at something on the desk in front of her.
“Is everything all right, boss?” I asked in an attempt to keep things light and airy between us.
“Have you spoken to anyone about your job offer?” she asked sternly, and something about her tone told me I was in deep shit.
“What would make you ask a question like that?” I stood in the doorway and crossed my arms over my chest. I’d come to sign my contract, not get attacked first thing in the morning. “I’m not an idiot. I know that no deal is done until my name is signed on the dotted line.”
“Then how the hell did the press get a hold of this?” Ruby picked up the newspaper that she had been reading. I gaped for a moment as I saw a picture of myself at the last Super Bowl with an angry expression on my face and my fist in the air. Next to it was a smaller picture of her and the rest of her team and the headline was Houston Buckskins hire Major Lawson.
“I swear I haven’t spoken to anybody,” I insisted as I shook my head and wandered over to take the newspaper from her. I read the small article and picked out the relevant information. “They knew about our meeting on Friday and the fact that you hired me. Hell, the only thing missing is what underwear you were wearing.” Just the thought of it already had my cock standing at attention inside my jeans.
A flash of a thought suddenly whipped across Ruby’s face, and she grabbed hold of her cell phone. “That little weasel. I’ll make him wish he’d never met me!”
“Who?” I was lost but from the look on Ruby’s face as she dialed a number, I could see she had just realized exactly who the culprit was.
“Scotty, when you get this message you better damn well give me a callback or I will hunt you down and make you wish you were never born!” She spoke into the phone without answering me and damn, she was even hotter when she was angry.
When she put the phone down and turned back to me, her face softened, and she smoothed her hands over the front of her navy dress. “Sorry about that. I’ll handle it.”
“Scotty? I’ve heard that name before.” I couldn’t help but try to put a face to the name, but I couldn’t quite seem to be able to do it.
“Oh, he’s nobody important. Just somebody whose neck I am going to wring when I get hold of him.” The way she said the words told me that they were both a threat and a promise.
“I have every faith that you will.” I couldn’t help but smirk at her, but she didn’t look impressed.
“Shall we get on with signing your contract so that we can go out and meet the team? They are ready and raring to go to practice,” Ruby announced, and I felt a thrill of excitement run through me.
“Hell, yes.” I nodded. “Let’s do this.”
Ruby pulled a large wa
d of paper from a folder with my name on it and pushed it across the desk to me. “Sign your life away on the dotted line.”
She clasped her hands on the desk in front of her as she watched me bend over and sign the contract. It took all of two seconds for me to do what she had asked and sign my life away. I was now the head coach of the Houston Buckskins.
“Great.” Ruby picked up the contract and turned it around so that she could sign the witness line and the contract was locked and loaded. “Let’s go and introduce you to the team.”
I watched as she pushed herself to her feet and walked around the desk. The sound of her stiletto heels clicking on the hardwood floor was enough to make me shiver, and I couldn’t help but glance down at her glossy smooth legs and the stylish cream and gold shoes she was wearing. Damn, this woman had style. Her navy dress hugged her in all the right places just like the coral dress had done a few days before. I had no idea how she stopped herself from getting eaten alive in a place filled with horny, rampant, overly aggressive men.
I followed her from the office, unable to stop my eyes from wandering down to her backside and the way her dress was pulled tightly around it. For a moment, I imagined reaching out and caressing her ass cheeks, giving them a good squeeze and pulling her back against me until I could feel my cock bounce against her flesh. Then, just as quickly, I pushed the thought away, remembering where I was and who she was. For all purposes, she was my boss and nothing more.
We wandered through the building until we came to the football field where the players were already running drills and warming up. I was pleased to see that they didn’t give up and take a break whenever their coach wasn’t around. They actually seemed as though they wanted to be the best, wanted to win. That was the kind of potential I needed to see in my team.