“Mom. Mama. Five minutes of your time.”
She let out a sigh.
“Come and sit with me at the table,” Drew coaxed.
“Don’t you want to eat too? I know you want breakfast.”
“It can wait.” He led her to his kitchen table, pulled out a chair for her, and sat down kitty-corner from her. “Do you feel like you’ve worked out most of the issues with Dad while you’ve been here?”
“I don’t know how to answer that question—”
“Try.”
“Last night was a good start,” and she blushed a little more. He pretended like he didn’t notice it. “We need to do a lot more talking about what he expects and what I need. We’ve been married a long time, honey, but we’re in a rut. I wish he understood that I’m enjoying my new job and I’d like to keep working, instead of thinking he’s competing for my time and attention.” She looked down at the table. “I don’t want to spend every day for the rest of my life just waiting for him to get home from work.”
Drew squeezed his mom’s hand. “Do you want me to try talking with him about it?”
“Your dad is pretty old-fashioned. It was one of the reasons why I fell in love with him. I knew he wanted a wife that stayed home. That worked out well when you kids were little and he was building his client list, but the house is empty most of the time now. He wants to be the provider. Just because I make a little money at what I do doesn’t mean he’s not doing an excellent job.” She looked into his eyes. “I want something that’s mine.”
Drew squeezed her hand again. “Mom, I’ve been thinking about what you’ve told me and what Dad’s told me. I understand that you’d like to shake things up and try something new, but I want you to consider something as well.”
“What’s that? Honey, I have to get that stuff out of the oven—”
He got to his feet, crossed to the oven, grabbed a hot mat, and removed the pan of breakfast sandwiches, setting it on another hot mat to cool. He switched off the oven.
“How’s that?”
“Thank you,” she said. He sat back down at the table.
“I want you to do something for me, Mom. As I told you the other night, I’m willing to pay for a chef a few nights a week, send you some restaurant gift cards or whatever you and Dad might like so you can spend a little time together talking this out. I’m also willing to pay for some sessions with a counselor.”
“We don’t need therapy—”
“Okay, then.” He looked into her cornflower-blue eyes. “I want you to tell your boss you can’t work on Sundays. I’d prefer you didn’t work on the weekends at all, but that’s between you and Dad.”
“Everyone works on the weekends there.”
“It won’t hurt to ask. Mom, when you made the deal with Dad that you wouldn’t work, he thinks you changed the rules on him. I think it’s great that you have a job that you enjoy, and I will keep telling Dad that he needs to join the twenty-first century.” His mom let out a soft laugh. “I know things at home are not the same as they were when we were all little and you had your hands full, but he wants the same girl sitting next to him on the couch while he watches the game.”
“I suppose so.”
“Of course he does. Someday, my kids will be sitting on that couch with you.”
She gave him a somewhat misty smile. “Yes, honey, they will.”
He took her hand again. He still remembered holding her hand when he was little and learning to cross the street, ride a bike, or when his parents were chaperones at his senior prom and he asked his mom to dance. Someday, he’d walk her up the aisle to her seat when he married the woman of his dreams.
He hoped that woman was Kendall.
KENDALL HEARD THE front door of Drew’s house slam and heavy footsteps on the staircase landing outside of his bedroom. She’d awoken when Drew’s dad called out to his wife while he was looking for a clean pair of shorts, and she got into the shower as quickly as she could. If she was going to encounter Drew’s parents, she’d prefer to be fully dressed at the time.
Drew opened the bedroom door and hurried across the room, wrapping his arms around her.
“My parents are on their way to the airport. I love them, but it was time for them to go home for a while.” She grinned as she rubbed her face into his chest. “Did you get some sleep?”
“I did. Did you?”
“I smelled your perfume all night. I hated wasting a minute with you.” They held each other while minutes passed.
“I wish I didn’t have to leave.”
“I wish you didn’t, either.” He let out a long breath. “So, we’re meeting in Portland next Monday afternoon?”
She had personal days. It wasn’t a great thing to take a day off at the height of football season, but she was going to do it if it meant meeting up with Drew and spending some more time with him. “Maybe I should come back here,” she said. “You can show me around Seattle.”
“It’s a date, if we make it out of my house.”
She let out a laugh. “That might be a challenge.”
AN HOUR LATER, Drew pulled up in the departures lane at Sea-Tac Airport. He maneuvered his Subaru Outback into one of the parking places closest to the curb. The departure lane at Sea-Tac was crowded. Passenger cars and taxis wove in and out of the vehicles slowing and stopping to disgorge those flying to destinations all over the globe on an overcast October Monday morning. The announcement that all parked cars would be impounded and towed droned on the overhead speaker in the background.
There were hundreds of people on the sidewalk feet away from Drew’s car, but nobody seemed to notice the tall guy with the long blond ponytail and the curvy dark-haired woman who’d wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I don’t want to say goodbye to you,” she said. Her voice broke as her vision blurred with hot tears.
“We’ll see each other next week,” he murmured into her ear. “I promise.”
“I’ll miss you.”
“And I will miss you. So much.”
Drew’s mouth covered hers. He angled his head to slide his tongue into her mouth, and she tasted the water he’d been drinking a few minutes ago. His kiss was tender and gentle. He didn’t need to eat her face off for her to realize how much he wanted her. She fisted one hand into his ponytail. He leaned his forehead against hers to catch his breath. Her heart was pounding, her knees had turned to water, and she didn’t want to go.
They heard a knock on the driver’s side window and an unfamiliar male voice.
“Is this your car, sir?”
“Excuse me?” Drew said. He hit the button to lower the driver’s side window.
“Is this your car?” A cop nodded toward Drew’s Subaru. “You have thirty seconds to move it or I’m giving you a ticket.”
“How much is the ticket?” Drew asked.
“A hundred and fifty dollars.”
“Go ahead. I’ll pay it.”
Drew’s mouth touched Kendall’s again. He pulled her closer. She let out a little moan. She couldn’t get enough of him, he couldn’t get enough of her, and the cop spoke one more time.
“Okay. Here’s your ticket. Move your car in the next thirty seconds, or I’ll have it towed, Mr. McCoy. And, oh yeah: Go Sharks.”
Three hours later, Kendall hurried through San Francisco International Airport to the baggage claim area. She needed a cab to get to the office. She grabbed her phone out of her bag and hit Sydney’s number.
“Hi there. How’s it going?” she said when Sydney answered.
“Your lunch meeting cancelled, so if you’re here by one PM, things are cool. You got another phone call from Sherman Washington’s agent.”
“That guy’s aggressive, isn’t he?”
“His client wants to leave the Sharks. Does Drew know anything about him? You might want to ask before you talk with the guy.”
“That’s a thought. How are you doing? How was your weekend?”
“It was great. I went out
, I had fun. I got away from the studying for at least a couple of hours. I loved it.” Sydney paused for a moment as Kendall stepped out onto the sidewalk where the cabs were lined up. “There’s one more thing. Cell phone pictures of Drew McCoy kissing a dark-haired woman in his car at the Seattle airport have been trending on Twitter for an hour or so now.”
“Oh God. Oh, no.”
“You’re ‘unidentified’ so far, but the hunt is on to figure out who the woman is.”
“That ought to make the afternoon meeting fun and interesting, don’t you think?”
Sydney let out a snort.
DREW STROLLED INTO the practice facility after making his way through surprisingly hellacious traffic. He was still on time to get checked out by the trainer and the team doctor, so he hurried to his locker to pull on some warm-ups and a team logo T-shirt. He could lift afterward.
If he didn’t know Kendall’s schedule was more insane than his (and there would be serious consequences if he blew off today’s health check) he would have followed her onto the plane this morning. He’d be fine lounging in her backyard with a book until she came home from the office. He wanted to spend more time with her. The memory of last night on his couch was enough to make him turn his back and face his locker until his dick settled down a bit. Getting laid was a great thing, but he wanted to spend more time talking about almost anything with her first.
He hung up his street clothes and grabbed some cross trainers out of the drawer beneath the bench. He heard Derrick’s voice before he saw him.
“Well, look who’s here, Taylor.” Derrick let out a belly laugh and sang out, “Drew and Kendall Tracy sittin’ in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” He swiveled his hips and made a thrusting motion to accompany his words, which caused Seth to hoot with laughter. “I told you I’d find out who you were staring at, dawg. No wonder you didn’t want to go to Element with us last night. You’re all over Twitter now.” He waved his smart phone in Drew’s direction and nudged Seth with an elbow. “Does Coach know you’re sleeping with the enemy?”
Drew’s stomach dropped out. He knew there was a pretty damn good chance that somebody else was going to put two and two together when he’d kissed Kendall in the drop-off area at a busy international airport, but he was hoping against hope the people at the airport this morning were too fixated on getting where they needed to go to care. He couldn’t regret kissing her, but he regretted the fact she was probably going to pay for it with her colleagues. His teammates would give him shit until someone else started dating someone even higher profile. Luckily, this happened on the regular.
“You’re kidding me. Kendall of the Miners? The MINERS? You couldn’t find yourself a nice Sharks fan to spend some time with, McCoy?” Seth plunked himself down in the locker next to Drew’s. “How long has this been going on?”
Zach Anderson strode into the area. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Our boy Drew was in a lip lock this morning at Sea-Tac with the lovely Kendall, interim GM of the Miners.”
Zach rolled his eyes a little. “That’s all you’ve got, Collins? From the way you were carrying on, I thought he did the horizontal mambo with your ex.”
“Don’t mention her,” Derrick warned. “Just stop now.”
“Too soon?” Zach shot back. Drew had to laugh, and Zach gave him a hard stare. “Oh, laugh it up, buddy, but your ass is in a sling. Is this true?”
“No comment,” Drew said.
Derrick tapped the screen on his phone a couple of times. “Such a lovely picture, and so classy. Wait until your mama sees your hand on her breast in front of God and everybody.”
“You think you have problems now?” Seth said to Drew. “Forget about the coaching staff. Wait until the fans find out. All those women who’ve tried to pick you up . . .”
This was greeted with uproarious laughter and more shit from his teammates, who were drifting in to start their day.
“Works for me,” Clay, the rookie, shouted from across the room. “I’ll take his leftovers. I’m not proud.”
“Some woman told me McCoy turned her down because he’s ‘sensitive.’ ”
“It’s too bad he couldn’t find someone who isn’t with a piece of shit team . . .”
“You’d want her too,” Terrell, the safety, chimed in. “Who gives a fuck who she works for?”
One of the assistant coaches waded into the scrum. “Go see the trainers. McCoy, you come with me.”
Chapter Fourteen
* * *
THE SHARKS’ DEFENSIVE coordinator, LeRoy Bradley, pulled Drew into a corridor outside of the team’s locker room. Drew had always had a good rapport with the guy. He was conscientious, thorough, prepared the defense each week for what they might face from their opponents, and didn’t get involved in the squabbles that happened between highly competitive teammates. Right now, LeRoy folded his arms and narrowed his eyes.
“Is it true that you are seeing Kendall Tracy of the Miners?”
Drew wasn’t going to bother asking him where he got his information. “Yes.”
“How long has this relationship been going on?”
“A couple of weeks.”
LeRoy shook his head. “Will you be asking for a trade to San Francisco?”
“No. I’m not interested in playing for the Miners.”
“Have you been discussing team business with her?”
“Hell, no.”
He’d given Kendall advice. He hadn’t divulged team strategy or anything else the coaching staff would consider confidential.
“McCoy, I’m not joking. If we find out she’s seen your playbook or you’ve been discussing our game planning with her, you’re not going to like the consequences.”
“With all due respect, LeRoy, do you discuss that stuff with your wife?”
“She hates it.”
“I have other things to talk about with Kendall besides football, too.”
Drew knew he was going to get grilled, but that fact didn’t make his current situation any more enjoyable.
“It’s hard to believe you couldn’t find another woman to date in the Puget Sound area. You also have to wonder what she’s thinking too. Wait until their front office finds out.”
Drew’s stomach churned. He knew there would be consequences for Kendall when and if their budding relationship came to light. These guys considered it a betrayal, but her team would consider it an act of treason.
LeRoy nodded down the corridor. “Coach wants to see you. You’re going to be asked the same questions. There’s also a good chance you might get benched on Sunday.”
Drew expected as much, but he’d make his arguments to the head coach instead of discussing it in an open area where any of his teammates could overhear the conversation. He followed the DC to the head coach’s office. He stepped inside to see most of the coaching staff and a few of the front office boys.
“McCoy,” Coach Stewart said. “Have a seat.”
SYDNEY STROLLED INTO Kendall’s office as Kendall was attempting to enter data on a spreadsheet and eat half a turkey sandwich at the same time.
“Your secret is out,” she said. She sat down in one of the chairs in front of Kendall’s desk.
“What’s happening?”
“They’re meeting to discuss how they’re going to handle it.”
Kendall’s heart skipped a beat and she felt the cold fist of dread forming in her stomach, but remaining calm and taking some deep breaths was the best thing she could do for herself right now. She’d had plenty of time to think on the flight back to San Francisco and while she’d been working at her desk most of the afternoon.
Her private life was her own. She and Drew were consenting adults. It was really nobody else’s business who she was romantically involved with.
“It might be nice if I were included in that meeting,” she said.
She took another big bite of her sandwich. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make anything this good at home. Maybe t
he guys at the deli would share their secrets with her. Concentrating on the sandwich was a hell of a lot more fun than dwelling on what was about to happen to her at the hands of the Miners’ owner and her co-workers.
“Maybe you should attend the meeting anyway,” Sydney said. “They’re in the main conference room.” She grabbed Kendall’s iPad and handed it to her. “The rest of your sandwich will be here when you get back.”
“Would you like to attend as well?” Kendall knew she’d need a witness to what was said.
“I’m right behind you,” Sydney said. She wrapped up Kendall’s sandwich to stow it in the mini-fridge in one corner of the office, grabbed her own tablet, and followed Kendall down the hall.
Kendall grabbed her suit jacket, pulled it on, and strode down the hallway to the conference room. She pushed the door open hard enough for the doorknob to bounce off of the wall behind it. The seven men surrounding the table fell silent as she walked into the room.
“Thanks for inviting me to the meeting, guys. What are we discussing?” She put her iPad down on the table in front of the only empty chair, pulled it out, and sat down. They’d called out the big guns for this meeting; both the team’s owner and the CEO of the Miners, George Simmons, were there.
George glared at her. “We understand you’re involved in a romantic relationship with Drew McCoy of the Sharks. You’ve put us in a very unpleasant position as a result, Ms. Tracy.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “You’ve been calling me Kendall since I was sixteen years old, George.”
“Part of the expectations for your job, interim or not, is to sign McCoy on the offseason. It’ll be difficult to obtain his services when we’re getting sued for sexual harassment.” George steepled his fingers. “How did you think this was going to end?”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“You can’t work for the team and sleep with a player from another team,” the Miners’ owner said.
“My personal life really isn’t anyone in this room’s business,” Kendall said.
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