Lexington and 42nd (The Off Field Series #1)

by Kim Carmody

  I grinned. “Hey there, you manage to clear out your inbox?”

  His eyes shot up to my face before his features relaxed. “Yeah, um totally cleared out, glad I did it.”

  “I’m sure you are.” I nodded slowly, before catching Carrie approach out of the corner of my eye. She smiled, her cheeks slightly flushed and her eyes glowing.

  “Here she is. How’s your head?”

  She sank into the seat next to me. “Ugh, so much better. The sleep did wonders for me.” I looked over to James in time to catch his lips twitching in amusement. It was all so obvious now that I knew and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. This was going to be fun.

  #

  We split the afternoon between the stadium in Arlington, making sure the Warriors were represented properly for the game, and checking out the venue for the post-game party, which was really no more than a sectioned off VIP area of a nightclub. The event would be informal, no working media and only a few clients.

  After listening to me whine throughout the afternoon about the lack of cowboys around town, Carrie and James promised we’d go to a Dallas institution for dinner, a place where I’d get my fix of true southern hospitality.

  It was called Mike Anderson’s BBQ House and it didn’t disappoint. The three of us sat around a bar table drinking beers and munching on ribs and beef brisket.

  “So, Em, I noticed Jensen didn’t take too well to hearing you had a date last week,” James said, grinning through a mouth full of onion rings.

  Oh hell no. After what I now knew about these two, there was no way I was going to be railroaded any longer about my non-existent love affair with Will.

  I shrugged. “Really? He seemed okay to me.”

  “Oh come on, don’t hold out on us. I saw the look on his face—there was no way in hell he was cool with it.”

  I popped a peanut in my mouth. “I’m really not sure why the interest in my so-called romance with Will. I’d rather hear what’s going on with you.”

  He held his hands up in innocence. “Nothing to see here, I’ve got nothing going on.”

  “Huh. And what about you Carrie, didn’t you go on a date last week?” Her eyes narrowed at me, clearly confused by my question. Which she rightly should be, given I had made it up. It had the effect I was after though as James half-choked on a mouthful of beer.

  “What are you talking about? I haven’t been on any dates lately.”

  I took another swig of beer, enjoying playing with them both. “My bad, I must have got my wires crossed.”

  We were all silent for a moment before I spoke again. “Did you get my email on the deal for Buck, James? You didn’t respond earlier today.” Another lie, there was no email about Buck. I just wanted them to squirm a little longer.

  James shook his head, a frown crossing his face. “No, I don’t think so. When did you send it?”

  “On Friday, but don’t worry I’ll send it again. It wasn’t urgent…I just thought you might have got to it this afternoon.” With that, both Carrie and James took a long gulp of beer.

  I let my drink land on the table with a thud. “Okay guys, the jig’s up. I know something’s going on between you two.”

  They both looked at me with wide eyes. “What? How ridiculous! Where on earth did that come from?” James half spat his drink at me.

  “You sure you want to go down that road?”

  Carrie laughed, but the sound was forced. “That’s hilarious, but you’re way off.”

  I sighed, looking pointedly at James. “So you’re going to tell me it wasn’t you groping Carrie at her front door this afternoon?”

  Their jaws dropped simultaneously.

  “Oh.”

  “Yes. Oh indeed. Now spill.”

  They looked at one another, before Carrie’s arm stretched out across the table to grasp mine.

  “Please, please, please don’t say anything, Em. We don’t even know what’s going on ourselves—this is all so totally new.”

  “Of course I won’t. Your secret’s safe with me.” I narrowed my eyes at them. “But I want details.”

  Carrie glanced back at James, a shy smile spreading across her face. “Well, it just sort of happened really. One minute we were laughing our heads off in the back of a cab coming home from the fundraiser, and well, then we kissed and…” she shrugged. “I guess you know how it ended.” She blushed as the words left her mouth, her eyes focusing on her bottle of beer.

  James rested his arm behind her chair back, smoothing his hand over the back of her neck. I was surprised. One week after a drunken night together and they seemed completely at ease. Where was the post hook-up awkwardness?

  “Well, I think it’s great. And you should take all the time you need figuring it out. There’s no reason you need to tell everyone in a hurry….just be more careful about your secret getaways next time.” I smiled and they visibly relaxed.

  “Now, I’m not about to blackmail you, but—”

  James slapped his hand on the table. “Oh boy, there’s a sentence you never want to hear.”

  “Well, now that I know your secret, I need you guys to help getting people to back off with all the Will stuff, or at the very least, don’t encourage it.”

  Carrie laughed. “You can’t blame people for being curious.”

  “I know that, but it makes me uncomfortable. I hate the thought of being the topic of conversation.”

  James popped another onion ring in his mouth. “So nothing’s happening then?”

  I rolled my eyes. “That’s the kind of question I was hoping you’d stop asking, but no, nothing’s happened…the man can be very persistent though.”

  I crammed an onion ring into my mouth to avoid any more interrogations.

  #

  Game Day.

  My first and I was excited, even if it was only an exhibition match. Given the Texans’ love for football, the stadium was a sell-out and I was in for the full-blown NFL experience.

  We split up, Carrie and I going to the stadium while James went to prepare the after party.

  “Well blow me down with a feather, if it isn’t my two favourite girls!”

  Buck scooped both of us up, spinning round before we even had time to react.

  “Jesus, Buck, you scared me!”

  “Now Em, you know I love you, but please don’t take the Lord’s name in vain on the field, especially not on game day.” I yelped as he whacked my butt before running off.

  Laughing, I yelled after him. “Sorry Bucky Boy!”

  At that moment Will walked onto the field, ball under his arm. His head was down, his wrinkled brow a hint as to how focused he was. When he looked up and caught me staring, his face momentarily lit up in surprise as he registered seeing me. He nodded in my direction before he turned away, running over to Buck.

  Carrie bumped my arm. “Don’t look too disappointed. It’s a miracle he even noticed you. Once that man hits the field he’s focused on one thing, and trust me, that thing is not usually a pretty brunette.”

  Placing my hands on my hips I faced her properly. “Who said I was disappointed?”

  Carrie gave me a pointed stare.

  “Hey, I thought we agreed you guys would drop this talk.”

  She only shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t say a thing.”

  “Yeah, you didn’t have to.”

  #

  My palms were sweaty, my hands shaking and I couldn’t slow my breathing. The Warriors had just beaten the Knights in a nail-biting finish, maintaining their unbeaten record at the stadium. All around me, loyal Warriors fans who’d made the trek were going crazy, and I was partially deaf thanks to both James and Carrie’s constant screaming in the last quarter. I had watched, enthralled, still not completely certain of the intricacies of the game, yet able to appreciate the beauty of it none-the-less.

  I kept my eyes on the field, watching as the team celebrated, unable to look away. I thought back to Dana’s words from last week, about how i
mpressive Will was in the heat of the action. She hadn’t been embellishing and I had barely taken my eyes off him the entire time. It was cliché, but he really did own the game. He owned the field, the ball, his team and most importantly, his opposition. I had no idea what was going on in his head, but outwardly, he was pure confidence. If he played a thousand games, I’d back his team each and every time.

  I kept my eyes on him as the team slowly made their way to the sideline, my heart rate only increasing the closer he got. We were standing right next to the ramp leading off the field and I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from calling out to him, wanting so much for him to see that I’d enjoyed the game, enjoyed his game. I didn’t need to though. Almost as if hearing my thoughts, he looked up, only a few feet from me. His eyes were shinning with pure elation from the win. When we locked eyes, his smile only grew wider and then he winked, covering his mouth with his hand to blow a kiss.

  I watched all this happen as if it were in slow motion, his simple, honest gesture making me grin while at the same time sending a flood of panic through me at such a public show of affection.

  As if sensing my fear, Carrie leaned in. “Don’t worry, no one knows that was directed at you. I’m sure every woman here has thrown it right back to him.”

  Relaxing a little, I laughed. “Well I guess one more won’t make any difference then.” I blew him a kiss back and watched as he fist pumped the air, grinning like an idiot.

  “Wow, you’ve certainly changed your tune.” Carrie laughed along with me. I could only shrug, unable to stop myself from being caught up in the moment. “Maybe you two have inspired me.”

  She pulled me away as the team left the field. “Come on, let’s get stuff wrapped up so we can get ready for the party.”

  #

  After coming back from the stadium, Carrie and I had agreed to meet in the lobby at nine, giving us enough time to freshen up. I was popping my earrings in when there was a knock at the door.

  “It’s me, let me in.”

  I pulled open the door to find Carrie on the other side.

  “You know, if you’re planning on keeping this thing with James a secret, you might want to reconsider that outfit—he’ll never be able to keep his hands off you.”

  She grinned, pushing past me. “I know, I’m terrible aren’t I?”

  Carrie turned, sizing me up. “You look great.” She held up a tiny red dress. “Now strip…you need to wear this instead.”

  “I’m not wearing that!”

  “Yes you are, You have to. It’ll look less obvious if we both wear something sexy.” She was already turning me around and unzipping my perfectly good skirt.

  “Carrie, that dress will barely reach mid-thigh on me. I’m not wearing it.”

  The skirt was yanked down my legs, leaving me partially naked. “Just try it. If you don’t like it, I’ll let you put your skirt and top back on.”

  I groaned, knowing that would never happen. Carrie shuffled the dress up and over my hips, zipping me up as I slipped the thin straps over my shoulders.

  “Perfect. You look hot, but classy hot, not stripper hot.” She gave a satisfied nod as if the deal was done.

  “Oh great,” I said, rolling my eyes. “So glad I won’t be confused with a stripper.”

  I marched into the bathroom, determined to not like the dress on principle alone. Carrie stood behind me, daring me to challenge her. I opened my mouth to disagree but I couldn’t. The dress was seriously hot and she was right, still classy—borderline work function appropriate but given it was an after party at a nightclub, it would pass. “Fine. You win, I’ll wear the dress.”

  Carrie smiled. “Will’s going to be throwing way more than air kisses when he sees you in that.”

  #

  We walked the three blocks to the club, already feeling buzzed thanks to the quick glass of wine at the hotel bar. It was getting late and the club was packed. Weaving through the sweaty bodies on the dance floor, we finally reached the after party entrance and a very surprised James, whose eyes were popping out of his head at the sight of Carrie.

  He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and leaned in to me to do the same. “She’s genuinely trying to kill me, isn’t she?”

  I gave him a sympathetic shrug. “Afraid so.”

  “At least I’m replaceable. You know there’ll be a huge uproar when you kill the quarterback looking like that.”

  I laughed, for once not concerned with how I should feel or behave around Will. I, like the rest of the crew here, was on the ultimate high after the team’s win. We were out of town and I only had Carrie and James here to take any notice of whatever might happen between Will and me—and Lord knew they had enough of their own stuff going on to keep them occupied. Tonight I was having fun, and if that included Will in some way, shape or form, then so be it.

  James pulled us both to him so we could hear over the noise. “I’m nearly done here. You guys should go in and enjoy yourselves. I’ll be in soon.”

  Carrie beamed at him. “We’ll meet you at the bar!”

  Leaving James to finish managing the player arrivals, we walked into the ever-so-slightly less crowded private area, pushing our way through the suits and beautiful people of Dallas to the bar.

  “Two margaritas please!”

  The bartender grinned at Carrie. “Anything for you, sweetheart.”

  I turned to survey the crowd. Buck and a few of the guys had made themselves comfortable in a booth with some pretty young things and I craned my head, searching to see if Will was with them. I felt an arm slide around my waist before his voice washed over me. “You trying to kill me in that dress, Bambi?”

  Turning, laughter filled me.

  He cocked a brow, amused. “Is the idea of me dead funny to you?”

  I laughed again. “No, it’s just that you’re not the first to say it tonight.”

  “So you’re saying I have some competition?” He was still smiling, but his eyes narrowed.

  “No! I mean…never mind, it was just funny.” I held his gaze, waiting for what, I wasn’t sure, but he made no move to speak again and for reasons still unknown to me, my arms were suddenly around his neck pulling him close.

  “God you were good today, so good it was unbelievable.” And he smelled good too. I had forgotten how much so. His arms slowly came around my waist and he laughed into my neck.

  “I’m glad you think so. I’ll play like that every time if this is the reaction I get.” I pulled away just enough to see his face. “Seriously, you were amazing. I had no idea NFL could be so exciting. I was beside myself with nerves but you just stayed so calm. It was…well, it was amazing.” I felt my cheeks redden and tried to pull away as I realized what a rambling idiot I sounded like. He didn’t loosen his hold on me though, so I ended up awkwardly staring down at the space between us…or lack there-of, as it turned out.

  “Hey, don’t go all shy on me now.” He squeezed my waist gently, making me look back up.

  “Sorry, I kinda said you were amazing twice.”

  He grinned, and it was the type that did funny things to my insides. “You did, and I kinda liked it.”

  Carrie cleared her throat and I turned to her, mortified that my outburst had been heard by others. She gave Will a smile. “Great game today.” Then beaming at me she said, “Amazing actually.”

  She was a dead woman.

  Will’s deep laugh reverberated through my bones. God it was a good sound, even if it was at my expense. “Thanks Carrie.”

  “Here’s your margarita.” She smiled sweetly at me while I silently threw daggers at her. At least she gave me alcohol, a somewhat redeeming act. I took a long drink, squinting as the strong liquid made its way into my system.

  “Whoa, easy there little one. You trying to get drunk or something?” Will looked at me curiously.

  I nodded at Carrie. “Not specifically, but we are planning on having some fun.”

  “I’ll drink to that!” She raised her glass bef
ore taking a sip, somewhat smaller than mine had been. “I’ll be right back, just going to the ladies room.” I watched her leave, knowing full well she was heading back to James.

  “So you liked the game, huh?”

  I nodded eagerly. “I did. Your quarterbacking skills know no bounds.”

  “I’m glad you think so.”

  “Were you happy with how you played?” I watched him over the rim of my glass.

  “Yeah, for the most part, but there’s plenty we need to work on before the season starts.” He nodded to my empty drink. “Not sure I should be encouraging this, but do you want another?”

  I nodded. “Are you having one?”

  He shook his head. “I’ve had my one beer for the night. I’m on the wagon from now on.”

  “Disciplined, I’m impressed.”

  “No big deal…some things are worth the sacrifice.” His eyes bore into mine as if he was issuing some kind of challenge, but then the bar tender leaned over to take his order.

  He handed me my drink and motioned to a half-empty booth. “Sit with me?”

  A very small part of me hesitated, but there was too much of me that wanted to be near him to truly consider saying no. At that point I think I would have followed him to Antarctica if he asked me. I slid into the booth after Will, being careful to keep some sort of respectable distance between us despite my earlier behaviour.

  We sat in silence for a while, both taking in the party. Every so often I’d feel a set of eyes on him, sometimes on both of us, more often than not a female’s wandering glance trying to figure out if Will was taken for the night. Even with the alcohol giving me a false sense of confidence, it made me uncomfortable, like I was playing a dangerous game that was out of my league.

  “You never told me how your date went the other night.”

  I took another large gulp of my drink before turning to look at him, already wanting the conversation to be over. His features were smooth. He could have been talking about the weather.

  Unsure of how to respond, I shrugged. “It was fine, nice.”

  He leaned in close, so close to me that if I moved in a fraction, our lips would have met. “You had a nice date? I don’t think I’d be too pleased if I took a girl out and she said it was nice.” He raised an eyebrow in challenge, so cocky I wanted to smack the smug look off his face. No, scrap that, what I really wanted to do was climb into his lap and lick it off.