The Tough Love Groom

by Taylor Hart

  Abruptly, he turned and left. She and Mr. DaVinci watched him make his way through the lobby and down the hall to the elevator.

  Once Kade was out of earshot, Mr. DaVinci turned to her, wearing a stern look that said he knew he had the upper hand. “Well, Felicity, I believe in accountability. I believe people should have a chance to clean up their messes. So here’s the deal. Make the man happy, and you keep your job. But if he’s upset even for a second, if I hear one tiny whiff that he might pull his business after tomorrow night, you’re gone.”

  Felicity didn’t flinch. “Sounds great,” she said, her jaw aching from holding a fake smile.

  “Great.” Mr. DaVinci rushed out of her office.

  Putting a gentle hand over her racing heart, Felicity felt the beats slow as calm determination filled her. Mr. DaVinci had thrown down the gauntlet, and she had no problem picking it up. She worked well under pressure. The times people gave her the worst odds were the times when she rose up and left them gaping after her.

  She would make Kade Kincaid happy, because that was her job. But as she bent and picked up the precious glass, she couldn’t banish the thought that he was the biggest jerk she’d ever met.

  Chapter 2

  Rock-and-roll music blasted into Kade’s ears and he pushed out another ten reps with the dumbbells before dropping them on the floor of his home gym. Dang, he felt good. Turning, he looked out over his backyard. His weight room had floor-to-ceiling windows, and he loved his privacy. Last year, he and Ace and X moved to the Reserves, a swanky part of Dallas. They all had their homes custom-designed and built next to each other.

  Truth be told, he liked living by his peeps. They kept each other entertained.

  He took a swig of his protein shake and turned back to the weights. Today was biceps, shoulders, and delts. Moving to some lighter free weights, he picked them up and started some shoulder raises. It felt good to push hard. He’d always liked it, even as a kid.

  Not that he’d had any choice. His father demanded it of him and his brother, often citing the fact that they were the best quarterbacks in the league because of the work ethic he’d taught them. That’s just how it had been in the Kincaid home.

  The doorbell rang, piercing through the music blaring through his earbuds.

  Kade stopped mid-raise. He didn’t have anyone in the house to answer the door at six-thirty in the morning. The girl who cooked and cleaned for him didn’t come until nine.

  The bell rang again. He cursed and strode out of the weight room, passed the indoor pool, and rushed up the stairs to the front entryway.

  He needed some solace this morning before the stupid bachelor auction, and he didn’t like interruptions in his workout. With a yank, he flung the door open, then froze. He definitely wasn’t expecting to see his brother.

  Anthony stood on the step, decked out for the day in nice clothes, his Porsche behind him on the driveway. He licked his lips, looking bored. “Bro, what’s up?”

  Kade thought of the last fight they’d had, right after the championship game a few months ago. The game where his team, the Titans, had beaten Anthony’s Houston Sentinels. Anthony had ended their tentative peace agreement by planting a fist in his face at his father’s house at the next Sunday dinner.

  “What do you want?” Kade clenched his fists, ready for a fight.

  His brother shrugged. “You won’t return my calls. You won’t return my texts. Your PR team is stalking my PR team to find out what I’m doing in Dallas this week. I just thought we could sync our schedules so we don’t have to worry about all the shenanigans.”

  Kade narrowed his eyes, trying to read the offense. “Go away.” He would have slammed the door in his face if he didn’t feel like that would be running from him. Somehow, he would appear to be the lesser man for doing it.

  “Bro.” His brother rolled his eyes and took a step back, putting his hands up in surrender mode. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull with Sheena, but she’s mine, okay?” When Kade only blinked at that, Anthony pursed his lips together. “She told me how you wanted her to bid on you at the auction tonight. Don’t put her between us, bro.”

  Kade sucked in a long breath. “She’s lying to you. I don’t even want her there.”

  “You put her on the invitation list,” he said in a very stilted, controlled way. “We haven’t come out publically yet, but we’re a couple. She tells me how you text her.” He pointed at him menacingly. “This is your warning to back off.”

  This was rich. Glaring at his brother, Kade was unable to believe Sheena had stooped this low. Well, okay, he could believe she would do it. What he couldn’t believe was that his brother was falling for her crap. “I did not put her on the invitation list. Dude, she was married to Roman Young. She was caught naked in Sam Dumont’s dressing room before a game. Remember that whole fiasco? She’s crazy. Do yourself a favor and stay away from her.”

  Anthony put up a hand to end the discussion. “Don’t even. She was set up for all of that.”

  A million things flitted through Kade’s mind from the past week, including tweets from Sheena about the Houston Sentinels. Texts she’d sent him about the auction and what kind of a date she would give him once she won. She was more than a bit sick in the head. “I don’t want her. You have to know that. I—”

  “Then stay away from her.” His brother held his gaze. “I don’t want to have to talk about this again.”

  Kade softened. There was so much between him and Anthony. He’d been thinking about it a lot lately. “Anthony, can we just end this? Can we just talk?”

  A sad laugh dropped from Anthony’s lips. “Don’t even start with me, bro. This started so long ago I don’t even remember when there was a time we weren’t fighting.”

  “When Mom died,” Kade said. It probably wasn’t the right time, but with his brother, there was never a right time.

  Anthony looked stunned. “Why are you bringing up that crap now?”

  “Because it’s been on my mind. We used to get along. I would like to—”

  “It’s too late, Zeus.” Anthony spat the word out obnoxiously and turned back to his car. “Way too late.”

  Kade knew better than to keep discussing this with Anthony. The truth was both of them could be hotheads, and he knew the look on his brother’s face. It was a fighting kind of look.

  Angrily, Kade turned back to the house and walked inside, slamming the door behind him. That woman, Sheena. She was crazy, and he felt like this was another play she was making. Using his brother. Not that it was hard to pit him and his brother against each other.

  They tried to keep the Kincaid family issues out of the press. His father had been ardent about protecting images. Every Saturday at the end of Kade’s high school career and into college, he would pull Kade and Anthony into a room and go over all the footage in the media that week. He would start in on his Kincaid Men Lectures about how they had been given talent and money, and they owed it to themselves and to others to be successful. The wrong image could ruin them quicker than any football game.

  The competition between him and his brother had been out of control in the media when the two teams were pitted against each other in the championship game last February. Still, he and Anthony had always remained civil in public. Shaking off this encounter with his brother, he decided to go back and finish his workout. He needed it now more than ever.

  Kade sat at the head table, waiting for his two best friends, Ace Sanchez and Xavier Newton, to join him. The guests were doing their best to get a good look at him. He was doing his best to ignore their gawking.

  “Kincaid, Kincaid, Kincaid.” Ace slugged him in the shoulder as he approached.

  Jolting from his thoughts, Kade glowered at him. He was still smarting from the encounter with his brother that morning.

  “Chill out, man. Tonight isn’t as bad as we thought.” Ace sat next to him at the auctionees’ table. “I already have a tentative date with an old high school flame.”<
br />
  Of course Ace already had a date. He was the type of guy who made lemons out of lemonade. “All I’m saying is, slug me again and your face might end up in that pretty punch bowl over there.” Kade gestured to the table covered with assorted food and drinks.

  “What’s your problem?” Ace asked as he looked around the room.

  Kade didn’t want to talk about it. “I don’t have a problem,” he said, more annoyed then he wanted to sound.

  “Clearly.” Ace kept his eyes on the crowd. “You have to smile and look pretty tonight, Kincaid.”

  “Don’t remind me.” He grunted, looking around the Rosecrest Mansion. It was old, but renovated nicely. He’d been to a lot of fancy parties held here. He was tired of parties, bored with fancy. He’d spent too many nights in “fancy” at his father’s parties. Taking advantage of the waiters carrying drinks on trays nearby, he reached out and grabbed one, only to push it back when he realized it was alcohol. “Could I get some water, please?” Kade said gruffly.

  X appeared and took in the scene. “So angry so early, Kincaid?”

  Ace let out a soft laugh. “Yeah, and he’s already threatened to dump my face in the punch bowl. It’s that agitated vibe he gets when his bro’s in town.”

  Kade wondered how Ace knew that, but he wasn’t surprised. They were called the Triple Threat for a reason—they were good at reading each other on the field and off. Kade thought about making good on his punch bowl promise. The thought cheered him up.

  “Your brother’s coming tonight?” X looked doubtful.

  Kade shrugged. “I don’t know. He showed up on my porch this morning and threatened me to stay away from Sheena.”

  “What?” Ace demanded.

  “Come again?” X gave him his full attention. “That man-eater?”

  “I don’t know what’s going on, but Sheena’s playing him.”

  “Ouch.” X gripped his napkin tightly and let it go on the table in one puff. “That woman is no good.”

  Ace nodded, giving him a sullen look before shaking his head. “Don’t worry about her. Let’s think about something else.”

  X flashed them a grin. “I double dare you to put Ace’s face in the punch bowl.” Whipping out his billfold, he slipped out a couple of hundreds. “I’ll even put a couple hundred in it for you.”

  Kade grunted. “Hey, you don’t gotta pay me to level Ace’s face here.” Playfully, he punched Ace’s shoulder.

  Ace went into boxer mode, hands up, letting out some fake jabs. “Gotta catch me before you can throw me, Kincaid.”

  Letting out a laugh, Kade felt himself loosen up a bit. He’d been so annoyed by his brother and the barrage from the press. None of his Titans bros wanted to be at this swanky bachelor auction either, but they were trying to cheer him up. He was grateful for them.

  “Think you’ll find your dream woman tonight?” Ace asked, eyeing the crowd.

  Kade had to admit that there were some beautiful women here tonight. Problem was, he wasn’t looking. He shrugged. “Never know.”

  “Wow, check out the legs on the redhead.” X nodded.

  Kade followed his friend’s gaze, and so did Ace. It was the woman from DaVinci PR. The woman assigned to “babysit” him. The woman who had failed at her job. He scowled.

  Unlike before, when she’d worn glasses and kept her red hair in a bun at the nape of her neck, now her hair was down in soft curls. She wore a sequined aqua dress that dipped a bit low, but not too low. Her legs looked like they were a mile long, and Kade’s breath caught. She was like a beacon of light in the midst of a black-and-white movie. She was gorgeous. Felicity something? Was that her name? He tried to remember.

  “Man.” Ace let out a laugh. “I wonder which one of us she’s bidding on.”

  The moment came to a screeching halt when their eyes met. She glared at him, her bright green eyes alive and quick, and stalked away with a flip of her hair.

  Adrenaline spiked through him. He realized he’d been in such a bad mood when he’d gone into DaVinci PR that he hadn’t really given this woman a second thought. Was that a defeated look in her eye? It reminded him of the way he felt after a training session with his dad.

  “So is Sheena still doing her stalking thing?” X asked, staring with shameless admiration at Izzy Knight. She was a beautiful dark-skinned brunette.

  “Not the best idea to date the owner’s daughter when you’re in contract negotiations with two teams,” Kade muttered so only his Ace and X would hear.

  X rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

  Kade and Ace both laughed.

  “That means he likes her.” Ace wiggled his eyebrows, then slapped Kade on the shoulder. “Don’t look now. The man-eater is here.”

  Jerked from his thoughts, he followed Ace’s gaze straight to the face of Sheena. He swore beneath his breath.

  X managed a sardonic laugh. “Man, if I drank the devil’s brew, I would chug back a glass for ya. That woman isn’t content if she’s not taking down a major player, is she?”

  “Quarterback,” Ace said, letting out a light huff. “She prefers quarterbacks.” He grunted. “Not that I mind, no way. That woman has fangs.”

  Things were already bad with Anthony, but this woman could cause something akin to Hiroshima in his family. He could feel it. He slammed a fist into the table.

  “Dude, chill,” said X. “We got your back.”

  “Yeah,” Ace agreed. “We got ya.”

  “I don’t think you’re allowed to bid on me tonight.” Kade glowered. “And that woman has a lot of money from the divorces she’s accumulated.” A million ways to play this went through his mind. Then he settled on one and stood. He had to find the redhead with the killer legs assigned to him. “Boys, if you’ll excuse me.”

  The voice of the MC, America Starr, came over a microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to start the bidding.”

  “Dude, the auction is about to start,” X called to him.

  “Yeah, you can’t leave us to face this crowd alone,” Ace said.

  “I’ll be back. Just gotta make sure I have some insurance first.” Pulling out his wallet, he pushed through the crowd of people. He had to find her.

  America made a joke directed at James Knight, owner of the Titans, and the crowd roared with laughter. Kade was barely listening. Where was she? The least she could do was redeem herself now, since she had failed again—she should have warned him about his brother this morning.

  A gleam of a green dress whisked through some doors, and Kade’s irritation mounted. She was leaving? When he needed his people, he needed his people, and this was definitely one of those times. He pushed the door back, but stopped short. The scene in front of him was not what he expected.

  Chapter 3

  Felicity could not believe this was happening. When she’d locked eyes with Mr. Bossy, Arrogant, Conceited Zeus, she had felt too discombobulated to function.

  Her plan had been to find him, pull him aside, and make a game plan for the night. Did he want an interview? Did he not want to be bothered? Should she make a statement for him? He wasn’t really a “make a statement for him” kind of guy. If you didn’t know him as she did, you liked him. He seemed affable in interviews. He was positive, forward-thinking, and always talking up his team. He would be a good politician.

  When she’d seen he was surrounded by his Triple Threat boys, she’d been intimidated. Well, what did anyone expect when she turned to look at them and they were all staring at her? And he was the most daunting. All dressed to impress in his suit. His messy, gelled blond hair looked like it was straight out of a magazine. She wondered if he had a personal image consultant.

  She’d been thrown off her game and, to add insult to injury, she’d gotten a text from an unknown number. Crazy guy, identified as your father, is at the front door. Please come immediately.

  So what had she done? Like a fool, she had left Mr. Kincaid and frantically rushed off to get rid of her father. Felicity was annoyed
at herself for not thinking that her father would find a way to her tonight. It had been his shtick for the last year since she’d graduated from college and worked at different places.

  Of course he would bank on the fact that DaVinci PR would be at this event. The Rosecrest Mansion didn’t have the kind of protections in place a conference center would have. There weren’t layers of doors before getting to the main event at this large, very old mansion. She spotted her father, looking unkempt and shouting like a madman, making a huge spectacle: “The end is near! The end is near!”

  There hadn’t been time to figure out how to keep him away. No, he’d caught her at the worst possible time—she could hear America Starr through the double doors, calling someone to the stage. Worry pulsed through her. She really didn’t have time for this.

  Two security guys at the door rushed at him and put a hand under each shoulder. Her father kicked and flailed. “Help!” he yelled, but he stopped flailing when he saw her.

  She should have ordered them out, but the guilt hit her. “Wait.”

  The security guards put him back on the ground. “Keep it down, old man.”

  Her father glared at the guard and turned to her. “Felicity, you look beautiful.”

  “Dad, why are you doing this?” she asked quietly but sternly.

  A slow smile filled his face. Before he turned into an alcoholic drug user, before he’d divorced her mother, he’d been an attorney. A good one, too. “Can’t a father just come see how pretty his daughter is all dressed up?”

  Wishing he were really still that kind of father, she snorted. “How much?”

  “Five hundred,” he demanded sullenly.

  There were only two other guests out in the living room, handing their coats to a guy behind a makeshift coatroom. She caught the man’s eyes and felt ashamed at being made a spectacle, knowing couldn’t play into her father’s game. Giving him money would be like handing him booze. “I don’t have five hundred dollars. You know that. I’m trying to help Mom get caught up on the mortgage.” She was so angry with her father, and even more angry at herself for causing all the problems. “I can order a pizza at Marco’s, and you can go pick it up there.” Marco’s would be on his way back to the homeless shelter. At least she could make sure he ate something.