by Desiree Holt
“You could have told me about it before you ran out of here like your pants were on fire,” she reminded him. “Or given me a call and told me a friend had an emergency.”
He nodded. “I could have done a lot of things but I didn’t. I made some bad decisions, errors in judgment, and you’ll never know how sorry I am. I was stupid.”
He’d fucked up royally, and now he realized how badly.
“Tell me something.” She tilted her head to look up at him. “I’m curious. Why, when I was ragging on you those first couple of days, didn’t you tell me about the fundraiser coming up? Or the other activities you’re involved in? Why not tell me about the Coaches Conference? I mean, those things are huge. The old Joe Reilly would never commit his efforts to stuff like that.”
He rubbed his forehead, a rueful look on his face. “You know, I’d like to think he would have. I mean, I did get involved in a lot of philanthropic activities when I was with the NFL.”
“But those were league activities or team projects. This is stuff you do on your own.”
He shrugged. “I guess I wanted you to believe in me first. I didn’t want you to think I was doing stuff just to create an image for myself.”
“I’m ashamed to say I might have.” She smiled at him and the tightness in his chest eased slightly. “But not anymore. Now I do see the real Joe Reilly and he’s someone I’m very proud of.”
He stopped in front of her. “Proud enough so there’s a chance you can forgive me? A chance we can start over?”
When she shook her head, a sharp pain pierced his body. Damn. They weren’t leaving this deck until he convinced her they could start over. He loved her and he had no intention of losing her.
“No?” He stared at her. “Are you saying no, we can’t start over?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
He crouched down in front of her and took her hands in his. “But I love you, Shay. And you said you loved me. I didn’t imagine it. What we had—have—is real. We can’t just throw that away.”
“And we’re not going to.” She touched his cheek, sliding her palm over the scruff on his skin. “But we’re not going to start over. We’re going to pick up where we left off and go forward. Doesn’t that sound like a better idea?”
Relief surged through him. “It sounds like a damn good idea. Damn good. Starting right now.”
The kiss he gave her made the earlier one seem like little more than a tiny spark. He explored her mouth with his tongue, dueling with her own tongue, tasting every inner surface. God, he’d never get enough of tasting her. With his mouth still fused to hers he lifted her, turned, and sat in the chair with her in his lap. His cock immediately thickened and tried to stand at attention, his body so hungry for her he wanted to rip her clothes off.
When she unbuttoned his shirt and slid one hand inside to the hard wall of his chest, his breath caught. But that was nothing compared to the light scrape of her fingernails over his nipples. A deep groan tumbled up from deep inside him. He had just tugged up her T-shirt when someone cleared their throat close by. Shay jerked in his grasp and he turned enough to see her brother standing by the sliding door, watching them, a shit-eating grin on his face.
“You guys might want to take things someplace a little more private,” he pointed out.
His face heated. Damn, was he blushing? Yeah, probably. Poor taste to let Hank see him pawing his baby sister, even if he did intend to marry her. He pulled his hand back from her T-shirt as if he’d caught it on fire and began rebuttoning his buttons.
“Uh, yeah, good idea.”
Shay planted a small kiss on his cheek.
“Maybe you need to spend some time with Scott before we do anything else. I’m sure he has a lot of things to go over with you.”
“We can talk on the way over to Marge’s. She’s waiting for us.” He looked at Shay. “You good to go with us?”
Shay looked up at Joe and smiled. “I am. You just have to fill me in on everything.”
“Not a problem.” Joe grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Whatever Scott says, that’s what we’ll do. I know he spent most of the day in meetings straightening out my life and I’m sure he’s got a laundry list of to-do items for me. After I get down on my knees and kiss his feet.”
“Although that’s an appealing image, I think we can make better use of your time.”
He looked past Hank and saw Scott walk out onto the deck.
“Ready, guys? I called Marge and gave her a heads-up. After that I think a little celebration is in order, so how about I take everyone out to dinner? Joe and I will probably need to discuss some business while we eat, if you all don’t mind. And Joe? Since you aren’t keeping secrets from your lady anymore we ought to let her in on everything.”
What he really wanted was to drag Shay off to his hotel room.
“That’s very nice of you,” she answered for both of them. “Thank you. We accept your invitation. Don’t we, Joe?”
The other two men laughed at the look of pain he knew was on his face.
“Yeah, thanks,” he managed. “Sure.”
Shay put her lips close to his ear. “Later on I’ll let you take me back to your expensive hotel room and we’ll put the bed to good use.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” he told her.
She grinned. “Yes, you will.”
* * * *
Shay sat at the table in the ballroom and watched people milling around. Joe was busy, as he had been throughout the evening, talking to people, working the crowd, doing what the committee people expected of him. Even Scott, who’d accompanied them, was involved in his fair share of glad-handing. She was happy Hank stuck by her side, her anchor as the evening swirled around them and Joe continued to bring people over to introduce to her.
The past few days ran together in a blur. Following Gina’s television appearance the video of her with Joe virtually disappeared from the Internet. As soon as the link for that sound bite was posted on the station’s Web site it immediately hit YouTube and had already surpassed two million hits. For his part, Scott worked miracles with Joe’s endorsement sponsors and with Fox Sports, who then put out reams of favorable publicity about what a good guy Joe Reilly was. People called and texted him with messages of support, and Scott made sure he got the details of the arrangements for Gina’s rehab.
“I know I’m going to be on probation for a long time,” he told Shay. “Scott was very clear about that. Perception is everything. From now on whatever I do is going to be under a microscope, including my reasons for my philanthropic work.”
She knew that bothered him more than anything. He’d deliberately avoided the publicity circus about it so people wouldn’t think he did it just to create a better image and now all that was down the drain. He was exactly where he didn’t want to be.
But Shay would help him with that. The two of them had spent hours talking—about everything—and working out their problems. There would certainly be more to come, but now they’d face them together until people believed in him again. If she could do it, so could they.
He’d turned down Hank’s insistent invitation he move back into the house. He was still at the hotel but for a different reason now.
“What I plan to do with your sister isn’t going to take place under your roof,” he’d joked.
Shay had blushed but emphatically agreed with him. Having sex with Joe knowing her brother was two rooms away could put a real damper on things. After a twenty-four-hour marathon when it seemed they’d never get enough of each other, they’d finally emerged for air. Joe had business to take care of, and she had work to do. She’d spent her days at the house and Joe, usually with Scott, did whatever was on his schedule. But the nights belonged to them at the hotel.
They did, however, at Joe’s insistence, make time to visit a jewelry store.
“We’re getting married,” he told her the moment they could take a breath. “Period.”
“That’s some roma
ntic proposal,” she teased.
“Okay, okay. I guess you deserve the real deal.” He took both of her hands in his and looked hard into her eyes, putting everything he felt into his. “Shay Beckham, will you do me the very great honor of becoming my wife?” He grinned. “Better?”
She laughed and threw her arms around his neck. “Much better. Most definitely.”
He sobered. “You know how much I love you, Slick. Right? I mean, the real deal?”
“Yes, I do.” She only had to look into his eyes to see the truth. “And I love you the same.”
Hank teased her when she took down the picture of Joe Montana on her desk and put it in a drawer.
“All done with Big Joe?”
She winked at him. “I’ve got the real Big Joe now. And he’s a lot better.”
And he was, in more ways than she could count.
Besides the fundraiser, the Coaches Conference meeting and a few more cleanup details from the disastrous video, they had a to-do list that could choke a horse. Joe had to be back in Houston in a few days and he was determined they be married before then. Her mother nearly had a stroke when Shay called to tell her there would be a wedding that quickly.
“You’re not pregnant, are you?” her mom had asked. “I thought I taught you better about birth control.”
Shay giggled. “No, Mom, not pregnant. Just anxious.”
Then the Beckhams had jumped on a plane to San Antonio and her wonderful mother began putting a plan of action together.
Shay had agreed they would live in Houston. She was good with that. She could work from anywhere under her new contract terms and as she told Joe, it wasn’t as if she had a house to sell or anything. Her mother had been handling the wedding details, which freed her up to pack her stuff at Hank’s and get it ready to ship.
Now here they were at Joe’s big event. The ballroom was jammed, people milling around talking, drinking, checking out the silent auction items one more time. Joe was off in a corner now with Marge Faraday, who’d greeted Shay with a warm smile.
“Huge crowd tonight,” Shay commented. “Is it always this big when Joe does one of these?”
“Mostly,” Hank told her. “They’ll probably draw even more after this now that Joe’s going to let them publicize his involvement. He was always so adamant he not look like he was trying to cover himself with glory. But he personally raises a lot of money, not including what he contributes himself, and it’s time for people to know what a good heart he has.”
“Now he’s got more of the Coyotes involved, too. Joe said the ones he contacted came through with cash as well as auction items. He’s been busy.”
Hank lifted her left hand. “Not too busy to do a little jewelry shopping, I see. That’s some rock, kiddo.”
Shay laughed. “I tried to talk him into something smaller, but he said he wanted everyone to be able to spot from a mile away that I was taken.”
“I always knew you guys would end up together. You both just had to do some growing up first.”
She punched his arm lightly. “I don’t know whether to thank you or be insulted.”
“I’d say thanks would be the proper response.” He laughed. Then his face sobered. “Seriously. I had the feeling with the right circumstances you guys would figure out you belong together. We suffered a few glitches, but in the end it worked out.”
“Glitches? Is that what you call them? I’d like to know what you think a real catastrophe would be.”
“Let’s hope we never find out.” He sat up straighter in his chair. “I think something’s about to happen.” He pointed to the front of the room where Marge Faraday stood with Joe on a raised platform in front of a microphone.
“Good evening,” she greeted them. “If I could ask everyone to take their seats, please?” She waited until people found their tables and everyone was settled down. “Welcome to the Annual High School Athletes Scholarship Fundraiser for high school athletes. This is our third year and it continues to grow.”
She waited as the crowd applauded.
“A major reason for our success is due to Joe Reilly,” she continued and looked at Joe. “Former NFL star, Fox Sports sportscaster, and star of the Granite Falls Coyotes championship team. Despite dealing with a little unpleasantness this week”—she paused to clear her throat—“Joe came through for us again in grand style.”
“A little unpleasantness?” Shay whispered. “Talk about the understatement of the year.”
“Hush. She’s still talking.”
“The committee and I met this afternoon. Because of the efforts Joe has put into this, because we agree as a unit we would never raise what we do without him, we would like to announce from now on this will be known as the Joe Reilly Athletic Scholarship Fund.”
“Wow.” Hank let out a low whistle. “That ought to go a long way to helping restore his reputation.
“I hope so,” Shay told him. “He needs to know people will still believe in him. And you know he’ll work his ass off to prove he deserves this.”
“He learned a valuable lesson these past days, and he learned it the hard way. I don’t have to tell you Joe’s one of the really good guys now.”
Shay grinned and flashed her ring at him. “Would I be wearing this if I didn’t think so?”
Hank dipped his head toward the stage. “Your guy looks shell-shocked. I’m sure he didn’t expect this after what happened.”
Joe did indeed look stunned, blindsided by the announcement as everyone in the room rose to give him a standing ovation.
“Joe?” Marge turned to him. “I think a few words from you before we begin the live auction would be appropriate.”
“Thank goodness he’s pulling himself together,” Shay told Hank in a low voice.
“Comes from all those years being in the public eye.”
They watched Joe step up to the microphone and look around the room.
“I have to say I’m stunned. And completely honored by this. Thank you, Marge, and everyone on the committee. I assure you, this is an honor I won’t take lightly.”
More loud applause filled the room.
“I want to thank the football players,” he continued, “from the Granite Falls Coyotes to those in the NFL, people who helped make this successful. I owe you big-time for this.” He looked across the room. “There’s someone else who needs to share this with me, too. Shay Beckham needs to be here with me for another important announcement.”
Shay tried to back away as Hank pulled her up from her chair.
“What is he doing?” she demanded. “What’s going on?”
“Go up there with him, kiddo. This is his big night, and he wants to share it with you.”
Smiling even as she cursed under her breath, Shay made her way to the microphone where Joe pulled her into his side.
“I don’t want to do this anymore without you,” he told her in a quiet voice. Then he looked at the audience. “I want you to meet this very special woman in my life. This week she agreed to marry me, even with my many flaws, and I’m never giving her a chance to change her mind.”
Despite the formality of the occasion, the crowd clapped and whistled and hooted.
“I’ll kill you,” she told him in a low voice. “I hate being the center of attention.”
“Get used to it, Slick.” He grinned at her. “Wherever I go for the rest of my life you’ll be right there with me. Always, right?”
How could she not smile at him when he said things like that?
“Always, Joe. It’s your game plan now, quarterback, and I’m ready for whatever you can throw at me. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Slick. Now and forever.”
“Forever,” she agreed.
As the crowd whistled and cheered even more loudly, he wrapped her in his arms and gave her a kiss that sizzled all the way to her toes. Forever was definitely good for her.
Meet the Author
Referred to by USA Today as the Nora Roberts of erotic ro
mance, Desiree Holt is the world’s oldest living published erotic romance author. A graduate of the University of Michigan with double majors in English and HIstory, her earlier careers include agent and manager in the music industry, public television, associate vice president of university advancement, public relations, and economic development.
She is three times a finalist for an EPIC E-Book Award (and a winner in 2014), a nominee for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, winner of the first 5 Heart Sweetheart of the Year Award at The Romance Studio as well as twice a CAPA Award winner for best BDSM book of the year, and winner of the Holt Medallion for Excellence in Romance Literature.
She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The (London) Daily Mail, The New Delhi Times, The Huffington Post and numerous other national and international publications. She is also the Authors After Dark 2014 Author of the Year.
Turn the page for a special excerpt of Desiree Holt
Finding Julia
Can a moment of passion outlast years of secrets and misery?
For Julia Patterson, meeting Luke Buchanan awakens within her a passion she’s never dared dream possible. He claims her body and and helps her remember what it means to be a woman. But Fate has a twisted sense of humor. Just when Julia is ready to step over the threshold into a wonderful new life, her almost-ex-husband is diagnosed with a heart condition that puts her divorce on hold. Turning her back on Luke is the most difficult thing she’s ever done. But Julia has a secret, one that Charles discovers and uses against her.
Years later, when Luke walks back into Julia’s life, the passion between them is just as explosive. But Charles is still controlling her from the grave, and the secret Julia has hidden for fourteen years could destroy their dreams forever.
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Chapter 1
Julia Patterson put her suitcases in a precise alignment in the front hall and, through the narrow window, eyed the trickles of rain dripping down the pane of glass. San Antonio, Texas might suffer droughts but when it rained it most definitely poured.