MVP

by Rhonda Laurel

  Chapter Four

  Seth felt much better after leaving Patton’s house. There were some things that couldn’t be helped, and he felt certain he’d made the right decision with Vivian. There were enough external factors in their lives that they couldn’t control, he wasn’t going to have someone on his payroll making negative remarks about Morgan.

  The ride home gave him time to think about how his public image had been perceived the last five years. The women in his life had known he wasn’t serious about them. He would meet one of them after a game or at an event, and it was clear what they both saw in each other and how long it would last. He and Melanie had stayed together so long because they had a crazy relationship. Melanie went from hot, to cold, to lukewarm constantly, and he found her erratic behavior exciting. They broke up just to have great marathon makeup sex. It was fun and he liked that her modeling jobs and his schedule kept them apart a lot. When they were together for too long they ran out of things to talk about.

  Was it possible that maybe people didn’t believe he could be with someone as sweet and down to earth as Morgan? She didn’t like to party, and he almost had to beg her to go out to dinner. Many a night they fell asleep on the couch, her in his arms, while watching television. But soon he’d be on the road and those quiet evenings at home were going to become scarce. Tonight he looked forward to shrimp scampi and hearing about her meeting.

  Hmmm…sex or food? The elevator couldn’t ascend fast enough to the penthouse.

  Seth opened the door and walked inside. “Hey baby! I told you I’d be home on time! I have an idea for some predinner entertainment.” Seth unbuttoned his shirt as he walked through the house.

  Seth opened the terrace door to find Morgan sitting in a lounger, looking out at the city.

  She turned to him and smiled. “How was your commercial shoot? And why are you half naked?”

  “Commercial went well. Was on my way to seduce you.” Seth took a seat on the lounger and laid back into her arms. “How was your interview?”

  Morgan sighed. “Dana wanted me to dangle you like a publicity carrot. I declined. I have a feeling her interest in returning my calls began when she found out we were married.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “You’re doing it right now.” She wrapped her arms around him.

  “What’s your action plan?”

  “I keep going until I achieve my goal. Failure is just an opportunity to exceed your limitations to succeed.”

  “Wow, you did read my book. But seriously I would love to help.” What was the harm in a little push?

  “You want to help, then you can boil the linguine and maybe give me a nice back rub after dinner.”

  * * *

  The Main Street Clinic’s main number illuminated the display on Seth’s cell phone. Penny had called him three times in the past month. Each time he saw her personal number he’d sent it to voicemail. There was a time when he would have been elated to see her face pop up on the display screen. But he had long since deleted her picture. He wondered if it was the happiness she had sensed when she’d seen him that motivated her to call. She had never bothered to call when he was dating Melanie or the two women that preceded her. They had crossed paths at the banquet fundraiser last year, and she’d made a snide comment about his latest dish de jour. He had taken pleasure in her obvious jealousy, but she always had the upper hand, knowing someone like Melanie became his type after the fame took over his personal life. Her place, in what was left of his trampled heart, had always been secure. When he saw her that night at the Bright Star, that confident expression she usually wore was absent. Morgan was not some model or actress. She was a natural beauty and utterly real. That was what he loved about her.

  He ignored Penny’s call once again. And he did a pretty good job of avoiding talk of Penny and the clinic. Until the invitation to the annual Main Street Clinic banquet in Texas arrived via messenger.

  He had been certain, after the Cinnamon Festival, he wasn’t going this year. But Morgan would surely see the invitation, and he didn’t want to hide it from her.

  “Did you get the package the messenger dropped off?” Morgan said as he walked into the kitchen.

  “I did.” Seth casually placed the invitation on the table.

  “Fancy.” She examined the invitation.

  He fidgeted and crossed his arms. “The clinic has a fundraiser banquet every year.”

  “Do you want to go?”

  “No. I can just send a check.” He reached out and touched her hand.

  “It says here you will be there and that you will be part of the bachelor auction.” Morgan showed him the bottom of the invitation.

  “Damnit, I forgot all about that.”

  “What services were you offering at this auction?” She smiled sly and winked at him.

  He laughed and pulled her close to him. “Usually a date with the winner.”

  “I’ve been to one of these. It’s usually a candlelit dinner or something romantic.”

  “I’ve been to a few of these too and one year a guy named Reynard outbid all the women at the event.”

  “Oh my.” She laughed. “What did you do? Take him out for a beer?”

  “No, he still wanted to go out for the romantic candlelit dinner.”

  She giggled. “Well, it was in the name of charity.”

  Seth shook his head. “I can’t participate this year. I am no longer a bachelor. I am happily married.” He waved his wedding band at her.

  Morgan clasped his hand within hers and held it to her chest. “It’s to raise money for the clinic. I wouldn’t mind a lunch in the middle of a crowded restaurant. And if the winner is eighty-nine, even better.”

  He couldn’t help the start of a smile. “I’m sure Momma would love to have us visit again. And you get to see Reed’s Fire.”

  Morgan glanced back down at the invitation. “And Tate. Looks like he’s on the menu too.”

  “Tate loves these events. Last time we did an event together, a group of his fans pooled their money. He went missing for two weeks.” He laughed.

  “What happened?”

  “Listen to his third CD. There’s a track on there called ‘I Lost My Soul at the Candlewood Hotel in Houston.’ He was being literal.”

  Morgan gasped. “That sweet, handsome, blond-haired angel?”

  “Hey, I forbid you to call another man handsome. Especially if he’s my best friend. I could tell you some stories about Tate and that guitar.”

  “It sounds like the two of you are neck and neck with the infamy. Wild parties, hot women. How you two managed to have successful careers is incomprehensible.”

  “My dad always said it was OK to play hard as long as I worked even harder.”

  Morgan looked down at her hand meshed with his. “You didn’t always play hard. You had Penny.”

  He pulled her closer. “Believe me, being with Penny was harder than sowing my wild oats with Tate.”

  “I thought the hard relationships were the most passionate.” She looked up and searched his face.

  “No, the hard relationships are just exhausting and lead nowhere.”

  She held his gaze. “I’m OK with going to the banquet. I know Penny’s going to be there. And I also know that you love me.”

  “And I always will, Morgan.”

  Seth knew, after that statement, his plan to tell her about Penny’s phone calls was shot to hell.

  Chapter Five

  Morgan’s cell phone rang as she was shelving inventory in the stockroom. She hit the call button so fast on her phone she neglected to look at the caller ID.

  “Morgan!” a shrill voice yelled her name like it was a disease.

  Shit. “What do you want Charisma?”

  “I want you to stop telling the family I sold my story to a tabloid to make money off you.”

  Morgan climbed down the ladder in the stockroom. “I did no such thing. And it wasn’t a big stretch the family figured it o
ut. Everyone knows how money hungry you are.”

  “That’s not true!”

  “Sure it is. Didn’t you brag not too long ago about having a ball player in your pocket and you were planning to get knocked up with his baby so he’d marry you?”

  “I don’t know what the hell you are talking about.”

  “Sure you don’t. I think grandma even threw out her turkey baster because of you. Everybody knew you’d do whatever it took.”

  “I’m tired of hearing about the legend of the great Morgan. I can only imagine what you did on that island to trick Seth Blake into marrying you.”

  Morgan scoffed. “So that’s what’s bothering you. That must sting. Your bookworm cousin usurped your ass and you can’t stand it.”

  “You’re trying to ruin Jason’s reputation. People are calling him a chump for losing you to Seth Blake. Rob’s cop buddies keep giving him traffic tickets for no reason.”

  Morgan wanted to laugh at that but her blood pulsed hot fury through her veins. “Were we not at the same party? Jason dumped me, in front of our whole family with you, my cousin, happily in tow. What I’m hearing is that the humiliation you thought you were going to inflict on me didn’t quite pan out. We’ve been doing this all our lives, Charisma. You were always somewhere trying to steal a boy or sabotage me in some way. Now you’re mad because everybody knows how nasty you’ve always been to me.”

  “You little bitch, you need to stop spreading lies about me or you may find some more unflattering information about you in the media again.”

  Morgan exhaled. “Luckily for me I’ve led a relatively boring life. Seth’s been living his life on the front page for years. There is nothing you can say that’s going to change what you did or how you did it. But I do have some advice for both of you. If you ever want to have kids with Jason, keep him away from me.”

  Morgan jabbed at her phone and ended the call.

  “Charisma?” Michelle leaned in from the doorway. “You don’t really think she knows what the word ‘usurp’ means, do you?”

  Morgan and Michelle both erupted in a fit of giggles.

  Morgan shook her head. “What was I thinking? I wasted a good word on that bitch.”

  Michelle shrugged. “She may have stolen Jason, but you stole her moment and in a very public fashion. For somebody as self-centered as her, it’s gotta sting.”

  “She’s tried crap like this all our lives.”

  Michelle sighed. “Family.”

  “Yeah, family.”

  Michelle motioned to the front of the store. “By the way, boss, there’s someone here to see you.”

  “Who is it?”

  “I don’t know but whoever she is I feel like a rich billionaire is going to come through the door looking for her with a marriage proposal.”

  Morgan raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Looks that good?”

  “Fresh off the page of a fashion magazine.”

  Morgan located her mystery guest in the health section. “Hello, I’m Morgan. And you are?”

  “Hi, I’m Nina Hawkes, Patton’s wife.”

  Morgan agreed with Michelle, Nina Hawkes did look like she’d just stepped off the pages of a haute couture magazine. Her long, curly brown hair lay perfectly over her shoulders. She wore a chic black form fitting dress that showed every curve she had. Her skin was a smooth creamy caramel color and her makeup was flawless. She stood at least five seven with her three inch heels and had the posture of a supermodel. Nina was the kind of woman Seth had been seen with often. Sometimes, when Morgan was alone in the store room she would do an internet search on him. Partly to see if any pictures of the two of them had surfaced yet. There weren’t any of them but there were plenty of former girlfriends and most of them looked like Nina.

  Morgan managed to smile. “Pleasure to meet you, Nina. Seth speaks very highly of you. We’re going to have you and Patton over for dinner soon.”

  “I’m looking forward to that.”

  Morgan escorted Nina to the café and gave her a coffee. Visions of Seth and Patton conspiring to find her a friend danced around in her head. She loved Seth and thought Patton was the sweetest man she’d ever met, but she knew men thought women becoming friends was as simple as how they did it.

  The conversation started a bit awkward at first but once they got going, Morgan relaxed and Nina’s shoulders lost their tension. She listened to Nina talk about Seth, and she could feel Nina’s genuine, friendly interest in him. It was obvious they spent a lot of time together, but she had already known that from when Seth had come to the African American festival with Patton and two of the other players from the team.

  “So did Seth and Patton lay it on thick to get you to come here?” Morgan laughed.

  Nina smiled and sipped her coffee. “Not really. I would have done it anyway. But those two think the world is a football field. They create a play then yell out for someone to execute it.”

  Morgan shook her head. “I thought it was just me. Seth isn’t good with letting the pot simmer.” A customer walked up to the counter and Morgan stood. “Excuse me for one second.”

  “Sure. Go ahead.” Nina waved her off with a smile.

  She left a moment to help the customer, then returned. When she sat back in her seat, she caught Nina staring at her. “Something wrong, Nina?”

  “Forgive me for being blunt, but you were not what I imagined.”

  “Oh. What were you expecting?”

  “Some uptight, middle class, bourgeois, social climbing, prissy bitch.”

  Morgan smirked. “You must be thinking of Seth’s ex-girlfriend.”

  Nina laughed. “Well, since I’ve narrowly escaped insulting you, how about lunch sometime this week?”

  Morgan gave her a genuine smile. “I’d like that.”

  * * *

  Morgan opted to skip the run with Seth before going to the library. Well, he ran and she walked. He asked if he could go with her to the library again, and she happily said yes. They’d spent the day before in a shopper’s warehouse, getting supplies for the bookstore and snacks for the kids for the reading hour. She had a feeling it was his first time shopping in a bulk warehouse because every time she turned around he’d put something in the cart he had absolutely no use for. The staff did the shopping and she’d never seen them run out of anything. Finally she had to tell Seth to pick one thing he wanted to buy. It took him fifteen minutes to decide between a fifty pack of tooth brushes or a case of ink cartridges.

  She turned on the television in the walk-in closet while she searched for something to wear. She thought she heard his name, so she turned up the volume. The one morning she decided it was OK to watch the news, Seth’s face jumped off the screen.

  A reporter spoke while the camera focused on pictures of Seth. “Sources report that this is another surprising turn of events for the Super Bowl champion. Vivian Carbone has been Blake’s publicist for more than five years now. Sources say they split after Vivian made some disparaging remarks about his new bride in public. Blake fired her. He then issued a warning to his employees: talk about Morgan and you’ll get the axe.”

  She stood there for a moment, almost not believing what she’d just heard. Seth hadn’t mentioned it to her.

  “Just give me a half hour and then we’re off to the library.” Seth peeled off his clothes as he headed for the bathroom.

  “Did you fire your publicist?”

  He stopped. “How did you hear about that?”

  She shook the remote in her hand. “Made the mistake of turning on the television.”

  He sighed. “Yes, I did.”

  “The news report said she made disparaging remarks about me so you fired her.”

  Seth’s jaw clenched. “Disparaging is a polite word but yes, she did. I didn’t need her approval to marry you, and she forgot which one of us was the client. I’m not doing business with anybody who thinks they can say whatever they want about my wife and there not be consequences.”

  “What
did she say?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  Unfortunately, for some reason it mattered to her. “Vivian has been with you for a while right?”

  “There is no choice between you and a misguided employee.” Seth reached out and rubbed her cheek.

  “Do you ever wonder—”

  “No.”

  Morgan’s next question was smothered with a tender kiss. Seth’s attempts to quell her questions worked. By the time Morgan had run out, she was enjoying a shower with him.

  * * *

  Morgan normally made her way into the children’s section of the library without a fuss but today a crowd blocked her path.

  Seth followed her, carrying her bags. “Looks like you have a big turn out today.”

  “No, there must be another event.” But there was indeed a line forming at the children’s room door. Confused, Morgan waved over one of the librarians. “Hey, Harriet, what’s going on?”

  “These people are here for story time. There’s a photographer and a reporter from the Philadelphia Style and I think a news crew has set up. Isn’t this exciting?”

  Morgan looked at Seth, who took her by the hand and led her around the corner.

  “Breathe.”

  She took a big gulp of air then exhaled. “I think the reporter that came to the bookstore that day is in there.”

  Seth nodded. “I told my new publicist, Daniel, about you being accosted at the bookstore. After he called and ripped Philadelphia Style a new asshole, he made a deal with them. He told them you’re a passionate community advocate who reads at the story hour at the library and that’s where their story is.”

  “Daniel, huh?” She smiled.

  “He has an outstanding reputation. Vivian was jealous of him.”

  Morgan wrapped her arms around her middle. “I hate being in the spotlight.”

  “I know you do. From time to time we will be in front of cameras, part of my life dictates that. But the good news is it sounds like you won’t want to do a reality show. The wife of one the guys on the team is on that NFL Wives show.”