Game for Trouble

by Karen Erickson

  She’d watched him play in awe, forgetting all about the job she needed to do.

  Like, you know, set up her business. Organize her entire future.

  “It’s going to be so amazing. Have you thought of opening up the storefront as a venue on the weekends or maybe after hours? You can make it a small space for people to reserve for parties featuring your specialty cocktails. Maybe you can work with another catering company and have them bring horse d’oeuvres and stuff.” Sheridan clapped her hands together. “We need to schedule another girls night out at my studio! You can provide the cocktails, pass out business cards with the new address. Oh, that would be a great way for you to get new people over here.”

  Sheridan ran classes and parties in her art studio, teaching people of all ages how to paint. Her class schedules had turned into an anticipated event when she announced them every month. She tried to hold a monthly girls night out, and Willow always provided her cotton candy signature cocktail.

  Willow had thought about offering to work another girls night, but never felt right in out and out asking her friend. She knew Sheridan had a lot on her plate, especially lately, what with being newly married to a high profile football star.

  She could almost relate, though her relationship with Nick was a little tricky. As in, they really didn’t have a relationship beyond seven more dates, the potential for a lot of arguing, and the delicious possibility of orgasms.

  “I’d love to know what’s running through your mind at this very moment. You have a dreamy sort of look on your face,” Sheridan said, knocking Willow from her thoughts.

  “Please.” Willow waved her hand, dismissing her friend’s statement. “Nothing special.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. Looked like something special to me. Or someone.” Sheridan went to the big window that faced the parking lot of the shopping center, her back to Willow. “Have you seen Nick lately?”

  Yes, I had him pinned against my door, kissing him before I kicked him, out and he left me a shaky, out-of-breath mess. Why do you ask?

  “Beyond our first date, no,” Willow said carefully. “He’s been sort of busy, what with that game he just played earlier today.” It was late Sunday afternoon and they were playing out of town. How in the world could she have seen Nick lately?

  “You never did tell me how that went. Did he take you to Jared’s favorite pizza place?”

  “Um, he did.” She’d wondered if that had been a crock of shit but looked like Nick had been telling the truth.

  Why did she always doubt him?

  “I love that restaurant. It’s so quaint and intimate.” Sheridan turned to face her. “Have you two fallen back into bed yet?”

  “What? Sheridan, of course not.” If her friend kept drilling her, she would confess that no, they hadn’t but wow, she really wished they had. And making that sort of confession was a bad thing. Then she would have to face the barrage of questions, and she wasn’t sure if she was up to it. If she’d ever be up to it.

  “Come on, you can tell me. You seem pretty relaxed today. Last time I saw you, you were wound up tight.” Sheridan flashed her a knowing smile.

  Willow clenched her teeth. Why did everyone think she was such a tense wreck? She’d been busy, yes, but nothing out of the ordinary. “I’m good. Really. Everything’s much better now that I have this place, and I know I can move forward with my plans. So much of my tension has been wrapped up in the unknown fate of my business, you know?”

  “Sure.” Sheridan nodded. She didn’t look like she believed Willow whatsoever. “I bet some good sex helped too, right?”

  “We didn’t have sex.” Willow hissed the last word. And she wasn’t lying. They didn’t have sex. “Stop, okay?”

  “Whoa, defensive.” Sheridan held her hands up in front of her. “Don’t need to take all your aggression out on me.”

  Willow parted her lips, ready to dump everything that had happened on her friend so she could shut her up, when her cell rang. Racing for it over on one of the side tables, she answered, not recognizing the phone number. “Hello.”

  “Is this Sweet Treats?”

  Crap. It was Sunday—she didn’t expect a business call. First thing on her list tomorrow: get a business phone line.

  “Yes, this is Sweet Treats. How may I help you?” She put on her best professional voice, earning a big smile from her friend for her efforts.

  “My daughter is having a bachelorette party in December in Las Vegas,” the man started. “And I was wondering if you were available.”

  Willow ran to her desk and sat behind it, flipping through her schedule book until she came to December. “What date did you have in mind? I’m pretty booked through the month, what with the holidays and all.”

  “The twenty-first, but we’ll need you there the entire weekend, if we can get you. It’s going to be a big party.” He paused. “Huge.”

  Her mind racing, she saw she had a birthday party already scheduled on the afternoon of the twenty-first and a holiday open house that evening. Not to mention the corporate event on the twentieth and another party on the twenty-second. But she could have her two new employees help handle it. By then, she could also hire more employees to help cover everything. “Um, how big are we talking?” She wanted to make sure it would be worth her while.

  “Five hundred people, give or take?”

  She swallowed hard. “Wow, you weren’t lying when you said huge.”

  He chuckled. “My daughter knows a lot of people. So do I.”

  “Well, that sounds amazing. Would you like to come to my office and meet sometime this week so we could discuss the matter further?” She smiled when Sheridan gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

  “Absolutely. That sounds perfect,” the man said warmly.

  “Your name, sir?” She grabbed a pen. “And what day would you like to meet?”

  “Are you open tomorrow morning?”

  “Uhh…” She glanced around the room. It may have looked a thousand times better than it did a few days ago, but it was still somewhat of a mess.

  “I’m going out of the country on Tuesday and I’ll be gone for two weeks,” he added.

  “Tomorrow sounds perfect but if we could make it for the afternoon?” She could scramble and straighten this place up more for her appointment between now and tomorrow morning. She might collapse from exhaustion but she could do it.

  Never mind her date with Nick tomorrow night. Maybe he could take her to a movie and she could nap through the whole thing…

  “Absolutely. Oh, and my name is Phil Whitmore.”

  Oh. Shit.

  She knew Phillip Whitmore. Well, more like she knew of him. She’d gone to high school with his daughter, though the girl was two years younger. A spoiled little princess who got whatever she wanted, Amanda Whitmore was a real piece of work.

  The Whitmores were a big deal in the community. As in, they had a tremendous amount of money and were big philanthropists. Doing a party for the Whitmore family could make a difference in her business for the next year. The access to contacts and referrals alone could be nothing short of amazing.

  “Does two o’clock sound good to you, Mr. Whitmore?” She gave him the address to her new location, and he said he’d use GPS to find it.

  “Sounds perfect. I look forward to meeting you tomorrow, Willow.”

  It wasn’t until at least fifteen minutes later she realized he knew her name—and she’d never said it once. Was he a friend of her dad’s? Or did he just know who she was? The town was pretty small, after all…

  Could her father have directed Phil Whitmore to her business out of some sort of sympathy deal? She liked how he stayed out of her business beyond the occasional, “let me give you lots of money so you never have to worry again” offer. She didn’t know whether to be pleased or angry. Her father wanted the best for her but sometimes, he tried to manage her life a little too closely.

  And she didn’t like it.

  …


  “You were outrageous on the field today.” Jared clapped Nick on the back as he walked by.

  “Right back at ya,” Nick tossed over his shoulder, slamming his locker extra hard. The rattling sound did nothing to soothe his agitated nerves. Not that he thought it would. He’d been stomping around the entire weekend, amped up over his night with Willow. Taking all of his sexual frustration out on the field. On the ball, on other players, on the fans…everyone.

  He’d even yelled at his mama when she called first thing this morning to wish him good luck at the game. After giving him a good scolding, she’d hung up on him and he’d promptly received a call from his dad about good manners and how he should always treat a lady—specifically his mother—like a queen.

  Nick called her right back and apologized. Then continued to ponder for a good part of the morning, reimagining his night with Willow. Instead of him walking out on her, in his imagination, he took it much further.

  Dragging her back to her bedroom and pushing her onto the bed. She’d lie in the middle of the mattress, watching him with those hot dark eyes as he quickly undressed. Then he would climb on top of her, kiss her everywhere, and proceed to drive her out of her ever lovin’ mind with lust until finally, finally he would…

  “Are you all right? You’ve been acting all day like your ass is on fire and someone is chasing it.”

  Nick glanced to his right to find his coach standing there, a grim expression on his face. Just great. “Isn’t that what you want? Me running like my ass is on fire?”

  “Hey, I’m not complaining. You were working the Hamilton ball-handling magic hardcore on the field today. But you’re also acting all down and out off the field and that’s not like you. You’re our go-to guy. The cheerful one,” Walsh explained.

  “Sometimes even the cheerful one has a bad day, right?” He had no idea these high expectations were piled on top of him. He’d just always…been himself. Now he was feeling out of sorts and everyone freaking noticed.

  “Not you, Nick. Never you.” Walsh shook his head. “Even when you’re having a shit day, you’re always pretty damn cheerful. So I’m wondering if something is going on. Your family doing okay? Got some personal problems that are messing with your head?”

  “Christ, no.” Like he’d tell Walsh. Like he’d tell anyone his “trouble” with Willow. How would he explain it without the entire scenario sounding sleazy?

  I bribed my ex to go on pretend dates with me and I’m not pretending. I want her. I need her…

  One freaking date and he was in too deep. She was driving him nuts.

  He remembered Sheridan’s speech, how she told him the way he was treating Willow was exactly what she needed.

  Not so sure about that right now…

  “So nothing bothering you?” Walsh peered at him, his bushy brows drawn together, checking Nick out like he was a puzzle he couldn’t quite solve.

  “Leave him alone, Walsh.” Jared appeared out of nowhere, an easy smile on his face. “Maybe he’s just having an off day. We’re all allowed to have them on occasion, right?”

  “Right, right.” Walsh nodded, looking from Nick to Jared and back to Nick again. “We need you on your toes, Hamilton. The season’s down to the wire and the last thing I want to see is you spiraling out of control over some girl or whatever else has got you twisted into knots.”

  Nick frowned. How the hell did Walsh figure he had girl problems?

  Jared remained silent until Walsh walked away, then gave Nick the side eye. “What the hell is your problem anyway? I know you’re all wound up over Willow, but it’s putting a serious damper on your mood. You’re stalking around here like an agitated bear, growling at everyone who gets in your way. And if you’re not growling, you look like a sad sack who just found out your best girl just stomped all over your pitiful heart.”

  His friend was cutting way too close to the truth. “Am I really that obvious?” Nick scrubbed his face with his hand. Women. They would be the absolute death of him.

  “I knew it had something to do with a certain dark-haired pretty lady with a penchant for sarcasm.” Jared laughed when he caught sight of Nick’s murderous glare. “Am I right or what?”

  “Damn it, I don’t want to talk about her.” The locker room was emptying out but the guys still loved nothing more than to listen in on other people’s conversations. He didn’t want anyone to hear what went down between him and Willow. Not only was it nobody’s business, but hell. He’d already said enough to his best friend about what happened. And he definitely didn’t want to relive the embarrassing and fucked-up scenario yet again.

  He still couldn’t believe how aroused Willow became when he treated her like crap. Giving her a taste of her own medicine seemed to do it for her. Which was weird.

  And sorta hot.

  “When do you plan on seeing her next?” Jared asked, his face a perfect mask of innocence.

  Which was utter crap, considering his friend knew the dirty details regarding his and Willow’s dates. “Tomorrow night.”

  “You finally going to get her naked or what? I bet that’ll ease your grouchiness. Damn, the both of you now need to get laid.” Jared cocked a brow.

  “Shut the fuck up.” Nick started for the door but Jared grabbed him before he could leave.

  “Listen, I know you like Willow, and I get it. She’s hot, she’s smart, and she acts like she doesn’t give a shit half the time. I know a lot of men like that sort of thing. But if this is how you’re going to act the entire time you’re going on these dates with her? Dude, you need to break it off and quick. She’s not good for you.” The look on Jared’s face practically dared him to argue.

  And his best friend’s opinion about the situation with Willow was way different than Sheridan’s.

  “You’re just saying that because you don’t like her. You’ve never liked her.” Damn, was she fucking with his head so much she made him behave like a completely different person? If so, that sucked. He’d always stayed true to himself. When he went back home—wasn’t often but he tried as best as he could—all of his old friends and the people he’d known growing up said the same thing.

  He’d hardly changed, was still the same friendly, charming good ol’ boy Nick Hamilton.

  One date with Willow Cavanaugh and he’d become a sad jackass? Why the hell did everyone think he was so cheerful and happy and charming with the exception of Willow? She infuriated him. She was the only one who brought out the jackass in him.

  Damn it, he wanted to dazzle and impress her. Make her fall for him all over again, and instead she brought out Nick the Caveman—the one who should bang his head against the cave wall for being such a complete asshole.

  She challenged the hell out of him. Would it be wrong to admit he sort of liked it? In a sick, twisted way?

  Yeah. Weird. Fucked up. Crazy. All of the above.

  “Hey, she was the one who didn’t like me when Sheridan and I first got married. She’s still wary of me and you know what? I can’t blame her.” Jared shook his head. “So I understand where she’s coming from. What I don’t understand is after pining for her for months, you get one date in and now you’re acting like someone came along and killed your new pet puppy.”

  Nick glanced around. The locker room was almost empty, only a few guys still in there, and he took a deep breath. Decided to tell his friend what was really going on. “Fine. You nailed it on the head. So did Walsh. I’m frustrated as hell and I don’t know how to deal with it. Deal with her. It’s like she wants the fight.”

  Jared nodded, his expression easing. “Now we’re talking. So she’s frustrating the hell out of you; why am I not surprised? Let me ask you this—I’m guessing you always get what you want when it comes to women, correct?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “And for once in your life, you’ve actually met up with a challenge.”

  “Willow is by far the most challenging person I’ve ever dealt with,” Nick agreed wholeheartedly—though he
was the one who walked away last time. He had no one to blame but himself for that one.

  “Have you ever thought maybe it’s because you’re chasing too hard?”

  Nick frowned. “Come again?”

  “Hey, we don’t have to chase, you know what I mean? They usually come to us.”

  “Uh…”

  “Just agree with me,” Jared urged.

  “All right.” Where the hell was he going with this?

  “She knows you want her, right?” Jared asked.

  “Yeah, she knows.” She beyond knew. He’d made his intentions more than clear. Hell, he’d stated them outright…

  And now Jared was telling him he probably made a crucial mistake. Great.

  “Now she has the upper hand. You gave it to her on a silver platter. She knows no matter what, you’re going to keep on chasing. Am I right?”

  “I…” Hell. He hated to admit it, but yes. He wanted to chase her. Wanted to keep on chasing her until he wore the woman out and she caved in because she had nowhere else to go.

  Now that he thought about it, he realized that was all sorts of fucked up.

  “You need to stop chasing. Let her come to you,” Jared suggested. His advice was pretty much the complete opposite of his wife’s.

  Talk about confusing.

  Nick snorted. “You know, I did throw down a bit of a challenge last night, and it seemed to work.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Jared asked expectantly.

  “Yeah, I had to get all mean on her before she turned me into a complete pussy,” Nick muttered, scrubbing his palm along his jaw.

  “Perfect. See? You need to switch it up. Make her work for it, my friend. Make her work for you. If this woman is really worth it, she’ll come chasing after you no matter what.” Jared said this with absolute authority.

  Nick wished he felt as confident as Jared sounded. “What if she doesn’t come chasing me?”

  “Then she wasn’t worth it, was she?”

  Well, didn’t Jared make it sound so easy? “Easier said than done,” Nick said. That was his biggest fear, that they’d come to realize neither of them was worth it to the other. What they shared could end up as a whole lot of nothing. “I’d have to be a dead man to stop chasing her, Jared.”