To Win Her Heart (Players)

by Mackenzie Crowne

  He stood and, pulling off the sweatshirt he’d donned before stepping outside to call Ryan, went to his suitcase.

  “Are we going somewhere?”

  “Out to the gym. I thought we’d run through a few simple self-defense techniques.”

  With his self-imposed restrictions on getting too close to her lifted, there was no longer a reason to deny her request. In fact, a few lessons would be smart. Whether she liked it or not, her celebrity would always require enhanced safety precautions, even after the stalker was caught. In the event the formal security around her ever broke down, having a few defensive skills she could employ was a good idea.

  “Really?” Excitement gleamed in her eyes.

  “You said you wanted some lessons.”

  “I do.”

  He bent over the case to select a clean pair of shorts and a T-shirt. “Then get a move on. It snowed again last night. If we have time later, I’d like to get in a few runs at Gunstock. You ski, right?”

  “It’s been a while, but yeah.”

  She threw back the covers and scrambled from the bed. Max looked up and almost swallowed his tongue. Apparently, Jessi Tucker didn’t have a shy bone in her body. Petite and perfect in all her naked glory, she hurried by him and hit the hall running. “I’ll be ready in five.”

  * * * *

  “Keep your arm close to your side. Don’t swing wide.” Max demonstrated, snapping his elbow back in a sharp jab.

  True to her word, Jessi had skipped down the stairs into the kitchen with thirty seconds to spare. The naked siren had been replaced by a sexy cheerleader, complete with swinging ponytail. Sleek black leggings covered her long legs while a cropped midriff left her belly bare. What he’d meant as an added safety precaution for when he was no longer around had turned into an exercise in self-control.

  The close contact instruction left him sweating, and not from exertion. No wonder she’d suggested he teach her self-defense. If he hadn’t already caved to her charms, he would have been hard pressed to resist her after having his hands all over her body as he adjusted her stance, and the smug smile on her lips for the last twenty minutes said she knew it.

  “I thought you were going to teach me some secret ninja moves.” Nose wrinkled in concentration, Jessi copied his movement.

  He chuckled and tucked her arm closer to her ribs. “Ninjas study for years. We don’t have that long.”

  She repeated the move, this time correctly. “What about that high swing kick thing I saw you do the other day? If someone grabs me from behind, wouldn’t it better to clobber him in the head with my foot than poke him in the belly?”

  “Again, months to learn and years to perfect.” He scratched at his jaw and studied her petite frame. “You’re sexy as hell, but you’re a tiny thing, and you don’t have the time to become an expert. That leaves fighting dirty.”

  Her eyes lit with interest. “I like the sound of that.”

  He shook his head and fought a smile, but the topic of her safety was too serious a subject to fuck around. “Pay attention, Squirt. Remaining alert is your best defense. If something feels wrong, assume it is. A predator counts on his victims being unprepared or too shocked to fight back. An elbow jab may not seem like much, but it changes the dynamics. Suddenly, you’re not the typical victim, and that split moment of surprise may mean the difference between escape and disaster.

  “Keep that pepper spray we talked about where you can access it at all times, and don’t hesitate to use it. If the guy has a weapon, your best bet is to scream bloody murder while you have the chance and hope someone comes running to help. Otherwise, there are defensive tools everywhere if you think outside the box.”

  “Like?”

  “Like these.” He gathered her hand in his and aimed her fingernails at his face. “Go for the eyes and think gouge. A blind assailant is easier to escape. Be aware of anything at your disposal that will inflict pain. A high heel to the instep or a kick to the front of the knee may not take the bad guy out, but it’ll knock him off his game and it hurts like a bitch. A pencil or pen piercing the cheek does, too.”

  “Ouch.” Her face twisted in a pained grimace.

  He turned her so that he stood at her back and locked an arm across her chest. “A predator can have you immobilized before you’re even aware you’re under attack. With enough force, the back of the skull can do a hell of a lot of damage. Snap your head back and aim for the bridge of his nose. Like this.” He pressed a palm to her forehead and helped her simulate a head butt. Releasing her, he grabbed her left wrist and pulled her arm down to settle her hand in front of his crotch. “If all else fails, any man will find it hard to keep to his plan when his ball sack is being crushed.”

  He sucked in a breath as her fingers brushed against the bulge beneath his shorts and he tightened the grip on her wrist. “If you ever decide to employ this move, don’t hesitate. Grab hold and squeeze tight, then twist your hand like there’s no tomorrow. When he drops to the ground, get the hell out of there fast.”

  He released her and stepped back. She turned to face him.

  “Just remember, none of these moves are by any means meant to replace good, common sense. A good offense is the best defense. Be aware of your surroundings at all times, and don’t put yourself in a dangerous situation unnecessarily.”

  “Got it. When I head to the mall, I’ll keep my eyes open and pens and pepper spray at ready.” A dimple winked with her grin.

  He dropped his chin and narrowed his gaze. “The mall? If I ever hear of you running around on your own like some kind of honky tonk Ninja Girl, I’ll paddle your ass so hard you won’t sit down for a week.”

  “Yes, sir.” She bumped her fingers to her forehead in a smart salute.

  He sighed. “I’m serious, Jess. You may not like it, but facts are facts. I get your need for a little bit of privacy when you’re alone in your home, but when you’re out in public, some type of physical security personnel is not only smart, it’s necessary.”

  A frown marred her brow. “Now you sound like my father.”

  “Yeah, well, when it comes to your safety, I happen to agree with him.”

  The instant hurt in her eyes sliced at him like a physical pain. He cupped her cheek and held her gaze. “Hire yourself a good bodyguard. One you can trust. One who works for you and understands your concerns. Ryan’s not an unreasonable man. If he knows you’re safe, he’ll back off.”

  She stepped back, out of his reach, and his hand dropped to his side.

  “Why do I suddenly get the feeling you’re preparing me for your imminent departure?”

  He scrubbed a palm along the back of his neck. “Not imminent, but I meant what I said yesterday. Sometime in the not too distant future, I will depart, and I need to know you’ll be safe when I do.”

  The corners of her mouth turned down in an angry frown. “You just had to bring that up, didn’t you?”

  His shoulders slumped in frustration. “I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding between us. What we shared last night was damned good, but it’s only temporary.”

  She stared at him, a crushing disappointment darkening her eyes. “You’ve made your point quite clear.”

  “Good.”

  Her chest expanded on a deep breath, and she nodded curtly. “Okay, what’s next?” The chill of her smile dropped the temperature in the room by ten degrees. “Please tell me I get to practice stabbing you with a pen.”

  * * * *

  “I’m sorry, Kris. My phone was turned off.” Jessi perched on the long bathroom counter with her feet in the sink and her phone on speaker.

  “I know. I left several messages. I finally called your idiot cousin.” A soft scoff came through the phone. “I swear, that man has an evil streak.”

  Jessi rolled her eyes. The snarky barbs flew like missiles whenever Tim and Kris were in the same room, followed by the suggestion of dinner or a weekend in Barbados by Tim while Kr
is turned up her nose and called him names. Their relationship was like a never-ending game of full-contact foreplay.

  “The two of you should just do it and get it over with.”

  “Ha! Like I’d ever share the goodies with such a dork.”

  Jessi laughed. “What did he do this time?”

  “It’s what he didn’t do. He refused to tell me where you’d gone.”

  “How could he when he doesn’t know?”

  “Oh, please. He’s your manager and a Tucker. You can’t break a nail without him and the entire family knowing about it.”

  Jessi swished the razor beneath the stream of running water. “True, but that was before. Things have changed, remember? I told you hooking up with Max would work.”

  “Wait. You’re serious? Tim really doesn’t know where you are?”

  She caught the reflection of her smug smile in the wall-length mirror beside her. “None of them do.”

  “That son of a bitch!”

  Jessi’s laugh echoed slightly off the tiled walls. “Uh-oh. What?”

  “He said he’d only tell me where you were if I agreed to have dinner with him.”

  The razor stilled in her hand. “Did you?”

  “Of course, I did. A girl has to eat, and he was paying. I ordered the lamb chops, forty-seven fifty, and left when it became obvious he was jerking me around. I cleaned my plate first, of course, and should have dumped that expensive wine in his lap before I left.” A derisive sniff blew through the speaker. “So, are you going to tell me where you are or not?”

  “We’re in New Hampshire and that’s all I’m saying.”

  “Keeping the hunky cage fighter all to yourself, huh?”

  Her friend’s sly laugh made Jessi smile. “That’s the ultimate plan.”

  “Is it working?”

  Heat flooded her as she recalled the pleasurable hours they’d shared in his bed last night, and chilled at the memory of her self-defense lesson. She shut off the water and dried her legs. “The jury’s still out, but I’m working on a plea deal. In the meantime, don’t tell anyone where we are, including Tim. I don’t have a lot of time left before we have to leave for Tampa, and I’ll need every minute I can get if my plan’s going to work.”

  “My lips are sealed, babe, but you can bet your ass the moment I hang up, I’ll be calling your cousin to gloat. You know how he hates to be left out of the loop. Maybe I’ll let him treat me to a lobster dinner before I tell him to piss in his favorite wing tips.”

  Jessi laughed and hopped down from the counter, cramming the razor into her makeup bag. “You’re playing with fire, girlfriend. Just remember, he’s a Tucker. We don’t fight fair.”

  “I can handle your cousin. You concentrate on Max and, speaking of him, I saw a short clip from your press conference. Is that stuff about Max and the Krandalls true?”

  “Unfortunately, yes.” Shit. Other than the ball game yesterday, she hadn’t bothered turning on the TV. Busy seducing Max, she hadn’t once thought to check and see if there had been any fallout from the press conference. “Why? What are they saying?”

  “Not much. I saw it on yesterday’s Country Round-Up. The networks haven’t picked it up that I’ve seen.”

  Kris didn’t add “yet,” but then, she didn’t have to. The Krandalls had too big a footprint in the world of sports for the story to remain quiet for long, especially with the playoffs underway. Jessi squeezed her eyes shut on a groan.

  “Apparently, the Krandalls had no comment when asked about it.”

  Her eyes popped open and anger on Max’s behalf surged through her veins. “Of course they wouldn’t.”

  “What about Max? He didn’t look very happy in the clip I saw. Do you know why he never mentioned coming from one of the wealthiest families in America?”

  Jessi hesitated. Max’s surprising family ties would be splashed all over the airwaves eventually, but the rest of what he’d told her wasn’t hers to share. Still, Elizabeth Krandall’s shabby treatment of her grandson was something Kris would understand. After her mother was killed in a car accident and she went to live with CC and her father, Kris had been swept up in her famous rock ‘n’ roller uncle’s single-minded determination to jumpstart his flagging career by capitalizing on CC’s kidnapping. As a result, both CC and Kris knew first-hand the cruelty a child experienced at the hands of a selfish parent whose image was all that mattered.

  “Max has his reasons. The Krandalls treated him like shit when he was just a little boy, Kris. I don’t blame him for not claiming a connection to that family.”

  “Bastards.”

  The quiet understanding in Kris’s voice warmed Jessi’s heart.

  “Is there anything I can do? There’s a good chance the Marauders will meet the Hurricanes in the Super Bowl. If that happens, with Max’s connection to you and Tuck, you know the topic is going to come up. The sports networks will be scrambling to get their hands on some tape. Max really should have a press package ready. I’m slammed at the moment, but I’ll rearrange some things and put something together for him if he wants.”

  Jessi’s heart thumped at the further evidence of the fierce loyalty Max inspired in those who called him a friend. I don’t stick. Geez, the man was blind.

  “I appreciate that, and I’ll let him know. Tim and I are supposed to work on a statement before the Memphis show. Why don’t the two of you get together and…talk strategies over lobster?” She grinned and disconnected the call before Kris could reply.

  The door downstairs thumped shut, and Jessi picked up her things. Disappointed over his reasoning behind her self-defense lesson, she’d been too disheartened to go skiing. She’d spent the afternoon working while Max had found something to occupy him in the boathouse.

  Fine, so she hadn’t had a lot of success at changing his mind about leaving, but she’d be damned if she’d give up. With his workout done for the evening, it was time they got a few things straight.

  Padding into the bedroom, she tossed her makeup bag into her suitcase and zipped it shut. She dragged the case behind her, the caster wheels clunking over the hardwood. Hefting it in one hand, she descended the stairs and stalked to Max’s room.

  His head popped clear of his T-shirt as he pulled it off. He glanced at her bag, then at her. “Going somewhere?”

  She settled the bag on its wheels. “Right here, unless you’d rather move your things to the master bedroom. If this is only temporary, I don’t want to waste another moment of our time, and I refuse to sneak into your bed like I’m forcing you to sleep with me.” She crossed her arms. “So, big guy. What’s it gonna be?”

  He lifted his eyes to the ceiling. “There’s a king bed up there, right?”

  She nodded and her heart thumped.

  Lips curved in a crooked smile, he crossed to his bag. Tossing his shirt inside, he tucked the duffle under one arm without bothering to zip it, and grabbed the handle of hers. “Lead the way.”

  Huh. That was easy. Buoyed by the small success, she spun around and left him to follow. “You know the way. Make it fast and, when you’re done, I’ll be in here.” She stepped through the doorway into the guest bathroom, tugged off her sweater, and grinned over her shoulder. “I’m dying to check out that tub.”

  Chapter 18

  Jessi curled against Max’s side in the master bedroom’s large bed. He ran his rough palm over the curve of her hip, and a pleasant shiver pebbled her skin. She tucked her leg higher, her thigh riding his and her lower leg burrowed between his calves. The last forty-eight hours had passed far too quickly for her liking, but she couldn’t find fault with a single moment.

  For years, she’d watched Max charm her family members, but though she’d yearned to be allowed inside his circle of interest, he’d kept her at arm’s length. Consequently, she’d never experienced the full force of his typically carefree personality. Since he’d joined her in the master suite, he’d relaxed and let down his guard. Quick
with a laugh or a teasing smile, he cast aside the wall of distance he’d always kept between them and filled her days with laughter and her nights with passion.

  This was the Max she’d longed to know, the man she’d loved for so long. Surely, he saw how good it was between them. Tomorrow morning, they would leave their secluded escape behind for the craziness of her career, but with Max at her side, the missing pieces of her life had been found. She had to find a way to change his mind.

  A sigh whispered through her lips. “I had fun today.”

  He traced his fingertips over her rib cage to cup a breast. “Me too. I need to invest in one of those tubs.”

  She grinned and pressed a kiss to his neck. “I was talking about the skiing, although the tub part afterward wasn’t bad either.”

  He lifted his head, and she craned her neck to meet his gaze. He arched a brow, and she laughed. “Okay, that part was fun, too.” An understatement if she’d ever made one. She was still throbbing from their sensual water adventures.

  He grunted and dropped his head back to the pillow as if it were too heavy to hold up, and she resettled her cheek against his shoulder. “When Mom was alive, we used to go skiing several times every winter.”

  “Why did you stop?” His jaw cracked with a wide yawn.

  A subtle sadness poked at her heart. She cuddled closer. “Dad sort of lost interest after she was killed.”

  A long moment of silence passed. “You didn’t go on your own once you were old enough?”

  She brushed her palm over the thin trail of hair bisecting his lower abs and smiled at the contracting muscles of his stomach. “By that time, my career was in full swing. It’s rare when my schedule allows for several free days in a row.”

  “When was the last time you went?”

  “Kris and I spent a long weekend in Vale the winter after Tuck and CC married.”

  “Four years ago.” He tightened the arm around her back. “That’s a long time to go without doing something you enjoy.”