Quarterback Casanova (Kansas City Griffins #1)

by Lisa Rayne

  They ordered their meals and received their beverages without incident. No one other than assigned restaurant staff approached their table. Naomi settled into her chair and let her worries slide away.

  Halfway through their meals, things changed. A young man, looking approximately ten years in age, approached their table. He stopped beside Dash. “Excuse me, Mr. Dash.”

  Dash looked into the little boy’s worried face and smiled. “What can I do for you, young man?”

  The boy squeezed the Griffins ball cap he held in his hand. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I was wondering … I was wondering … if you would please—”

  Before the boy could finish his request, a lady came rushing to the table and grabbed him by the shoulders. “Connor, what are you doing? You shouldn’t be bothering Mr. Janssen while he’s at dinner.”

  “It’s okay, ma’am.” Dash turned his attention back to the little boy. “What can I do for you, Connor?”

  “Well, today’s my birthday. I was wondering if you’d mind signing my ball cap.”

  “Your birthday, huh? That’s really exciting. Is that your family over there?” Dash nodded towards the table the boy had recently abandoned.

  “Yeah. That’s my big sister and little brother with my dad.”

  “Cool. Tell me, Connor, who’s your favorite Griffins player?”

  “That’s easy. You are, Mr. Dash.”

  Dash laughed. “Good answer.”

  “No really,” Connor said. “All my Griffins jerseys have your number on them.”

  His mother nodded over his head.

  “Is that a fact?” Dash asked.

  “Yeah, but my doofus sister likes Trey Coffey, the wide receiver. She says he’s her favorite player.”

  “Your sister has great taste, Connor. Trey Coffey happens to be my favorite player as well.”

  The boy’s eyes flew wide. “Really?”

  “Really.” Dash reached into his jacket pocket. “Connor, I admire a man who goes after what he wants. But, your mother’s right. If I give you an autograph, then I’ll have to write autographs for anyone else who wants one, which wouldn’t be fair to my dinner guests.” He motioned towards Naomi and Taliana. “So, I’ll make you a deal.” He pulled out a business card. He signed it and scribbled a number on the back. “If you present this to the ticket office, it’s good for five tickets to any regular season home game of your choice.”

  He handed the little boy the card.

  “Wow! This is so cool! Thanks, Mr. Dash.” He showed the card to his mom.

  Her expression blanched. She opened her mouth to say something, but Dash put a hand on her arm to stop her.

  The boy ran off to show his dad.

  “Let him have this moment,” Dash said to the boy’s mother.

  “That was really nice of you, but it’s too much.”

  “Ma’am, he said ‘excuse me,’ ‘please,’ and ‘thanks.’ It’s rare for me to hear one of those pleasantries from a person seeking an autograph, let alone all three. It’s my pleasure, really.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at her bubbling son, wringing her hands as she did. When she looked back at Dash, she smiled hesitantly. “Well, then. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. And ma’am?”

  She stopped her retreat.

  “My agent’s number is on the front of that card. If you give him a call and let him know what game you all have chosen, he’ll make sure to set you up with a parking pass and concession vouchers.”

  The mom’s smile relaxed and widened slowly. “Thank you.” Her foot and hands moved like she wanted to hug him. She thought better of it. Settling for another, “Thank you so much,” before heading back to her table.

  “How did you know?” Naomi asked Dash once the mother was out of hearing range.

  “How did I know what?”

  “That she was concerned about the additional expense of attending a game? I’ve never seen you offer a parking pass or concession vouchers before.”

  He shrugged. “Just a lucky guess. She looked worried about something. She had a haunted face that suggested her son might be disappointed regardless of my gesture. I sort of put two and two together. It’s the boy’s tenth birthday. Family of five celebrates here without additional guests. I’m thinking large amounts of discretionary income aren’t included in their family budget.” He adjusted his napkin in his lap. “It does me no good to give the kid tickets he can’t use. What kind of birthday present would that be? You and I both know parking and concessions can run as much as, if not more than, the actual game tickets sometimes, especially for a family of that size.”

  The heart Naomi had been trying to keep shielded from Dash struggled against the shackles she’d placed on it. His generous spirit had always touched her, but now it threatened to expand the love she didn’t want to feel.

  His fork landed without sound on his plate. “I always felt invisible as a foster kid. No one saw me. I felt the glazed eyes of adults glance right through me. I wasn’t important. I was just a burden that had to be tolerated until I no longer became the guardian-of-the-moment’s responsibility. No one thought about me. Not who I was or what I needed beyond the basics of food, shelter and a public education. I moved like a ghost on the fringes of society biding my time until I turned eighteen. I’m not invisible anymore, and it feels good to know that for a brief moment I can make a kid feel that someone sees him.”

  Dash had always been attentive to his fans. It was something she’d found admirable about him when she’d first gotten to know him on a personal level. He tended not to tolerate rude fans or obnoxious groupies with a sense of entitlement to his time, his signature or his picture. When it came to the kids, however, Dash never failed to go above and beyond.

  She’d never connected how much of that had to do with his upbringing. A man who took the time to make sure the children of strangers felt significant around him would do nothing less for his own flesh and blood. How could she have ever doubted that he’d make Tallie a priority?

  She’d been fooling herself. He’d rejected her not Tallie. Her mother’s words haunted her: How could he be a father to a child he didn’t know he had? … Who are you really afraid he’ll hurt, Tallie or you?

  She hadn’t answered her mother. She could answer to herself now though. She had been a coward. She’d been acting on her own fears, using Tallie as a shield and a scapegoat for why she herself couldn’t face Dash. As long as he was a pariah, she’d felt justified in keeping her distance and keeping their child a secret. That way, she didn’t have to face permanent rejection.

  Dash wiped Tallie’s messy face and hands. They looked so perfect together, father and daughter. She saw the adoration flowing openly between them and felt oddly left out, suddenly insignificant and invisible herself. She wanted some of that adoration from Dash, wanted that bond of love to flow between the three of them and not just two ways.

  This idea of letting Dash play the family man so he could reveal his shortcomings had backfired on her. This wasn’t a charade to him. It was real. Unfortunately, in his mind, his new family didn’t include the three of them together. It only included a towheaded little girl with her daddy’s eyes.

  How could she live on the fringes of this unconditional love day after day for the rest of her life? It was going to tear her in two. She could feel the rend starting already.

  *

  When they arrived back at Naomi’s place, Dash insisted on staying to put Tallie to bed.

  Naomi left him alone with Tallie to do whatever bedtime ritual they wanted to create. She didn’t have the stomach, or the heart, anymore tonight to observe on the fringes of their growing bond.

  She busied herself in her office space checking emails, hoping Daily business would keep her mind off her growing misery. When that didn’t work, she turned to the draft of her article.

  Tatum had given her a great interview with moving comments about what it felt like to be a child of adoption and learn afte
r all these years that he had a biological brother. She wanted to contrast Tatum’s insights with commentary from Dash about his experience as a foster kid and overlay that with the thoughts on his familial discovery. Those personal touches would make her piece so much more meaningful. A reunion story laced with the story of his triumph into a successful adult and professional athlete.

  She wouldn’t get to make this piece what she wanted though. Dash had been adamant about his opposition to her writing the story. Since he’d learned about Tallie, she hadn’t had the guts to raise the issue again. She saved her work and rubbed her eyes.

  “Working hard?”

  She glanced up to find Dash poised against the door frame. “More like hardly working. I think the brain is done for the night.”

  He pushed off the door and sauntered towards her. “How about I make us some coffee?”

  He offered her his hand, which she took without thought. Pulling her from the chair, he led her from the extra bedroom she’d turned into an office. He seated her at the kitchen table.

  “How’d it go with Tallie?” Naomi asked him.

  “It went fine.” He reached into her cupboard and got out her coffee grinder. Naomi liked fresh ground beans for her brew. Opening the fridge, he filled the coffee carafe with filtered water from the water purifying jug she kept inside.

  “Then why do you look so troubled?”

  He stared into the carafe for a few minutes then sat it aside. When he finally looked at her, he said, “It’s time, Naomi.”

  Unease slid down her spine. “Time for what?”

  “Time to tell Tallie I’m her father.”

  She whirled up from her seat and left the kitchen.

  He followed. “Talk to me, Naomi. Why put it off any longer? I want Tallie to know I’m her father, and I want my name added to her birth certificate.”

  “Just her birth certificate? I’m surprised you didn’t ask me to change her last name.”

  “Yeah. I want that, too. But I thought I’d start small and work my way up to that request.”

  “Small? You think this is a small matter? Why the rush, Dash? You’re not ready for this.”

  “Rush? I think I’ve been very patient. And what’s there to be ready for? I’m her father, and I want her to know. I think you’re the one who isn’t ready. I want Tallie to call me Daddy not by my first name or Mr. Dash or to think of me as some friendly uncle. Can’t you understand that? How would you feel if she called you Naomi all the time?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. She felt lost and on the verge of being alone. It was an inexplicable feeling. Tallie wasn’t going away once she knew Dash was her father. Yet, somehow it felt as if she were about to lose her.

  Dash stepped forward and pulled her gently into his arms. “I’m not going anywhere, Mimi. If that’s what you’re worried about. I won’t do Tallie the way your father did you. You have to trust me on that. I would never do anything to hurt my little girl.”

  His words came quietly with a heartfelt fervor. She understood his request. What he asked was fair. What an awful thing for your child to call you by your first name. It was how she thought of her father—by his first name—not that she ever saw him or talked to him. They had no parenting relationship and the nomenclature she associated with him evidenced the lack thereof.

  Naomi closed her eyes. Dash hadn’t called her Mimi in forever. The pet name had sprang from his lips spontaneously one night while they made love. He’d been the only lover to give her a pet name; no one but him had ever called her Mimi. Her fragile heart split open and wailed for the closeness they once had.

  Her hands slid around his waist and she sank into his embrace. His arms tightened around her. He held her. Allowing her the silence she needed as much as his touch at the moment.

  After a few minutes, he threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her head up to kiss her forehead. “I’ve waited long enough. Please. First thing tomorrow, we need to tell her.”

  Naomi lay her head against his chest. A weariness settled over her that came from more than fatigue. “Okay, Dash. We’ll tell her in the morning.”

  Chapter 18

  Taking his victory to heart, Dash decided to push for a little more. “I want to stay here tonight so we can tell Tallie over breakfast when she first wakes up.”

  Naomi pulled away from him. “I’m not sleeping with you.”

  “That’s not what I meant.” He grinned at her. “Of course, I wouldn’t turn you down if you changed your mind. Otherwise, I can just sleep on the couch.”

  Coffee forgotten, he moved out of the kitchen towards the couch and began to unbuttoned his shirt.

  “You’re way too big for my couch.”

  “I’ll manage.” He opened his last two shirt buttons and turned back to her.

  Naomi swallowed, trying desperately to keep her eyes off the bare chest peeking through the open halves of his shirt, but failing miserably. “Dash, don’t be silly. You’ll be in worse shape after a night on that couch than if you’d never slept at all. You’ve got practice tomorrow and an important game in a few days. I won’t be responsible for you playing crappy because you tried to sleep on my couch.”

  His muscles flexed as he strolled over to her. He pulled his shirt from his shoulders and tossed it over the arm of an oversized chair. “I’ll be just fine. I’ve managed practiced after a night much more challenging than sleeping on a small couch.”

  He pulled strands of her hair through his fingers. “I find your concern touching, but are you sure that’s all you’re worried about?”

  Naomi swallowed loudly then bucked up and said in a haughty voice. “Whatever do you mean?”

  The curve of his lips wound up almost in slow motion. Those dimples she loved winked at her, and she knew she hadn’t fooled him with her bravado.

  His voice dropped to a husky whisper. “Don’t worry, Mimi. I’ll be a good boy. I won’t try to seduce you unless you ask me to. Kinda like you’re doing right now with your eyes.”

  “Ignore my eyes. Wait for me to say the words.” The order came out breathy instead of authoritative.

  The chemistry between them smoldered beneath a bevy of unspoken words neither dared say. This is where things tended to go when they were alone together and within touching distance. Dash wanted her … like always. She wanted him. She wouldn’t say the words, but her body spoke to him loud and clear.

  His eyes darted to her chest. Her sprouting nipples, ragged breathing, and meadow-tinged eyes were speaking a language he knew well. Her arousal called to him. The front of his pants displayed how much he wanted to answer that call. She needed only look down if she had any doubts.

  She stepped back from the heat emanating from him. She didn’t have any doubts.

  He followed her. “Then, do us both a favor and say the words.”

  Interrupted by the edge of the couch, the back of her knee caved and she lost her balance.

  Dash braced her with an arm around her waist. He simultaneously steadied her and sent her reeling off balance again by pulling her in for a kiss.

  The simple kiss turned hungry. The gluttony ramped initially by Dash, but Naomi’s attempt to devour him soon followed. Her hands went into his hair. She grabbed on while she eased her tongue along the seam of his lips. Her eager exploration continued inside his mouth and their tongues frolicked.

  Dash’s hand slunk down to her bottom and pressed her firmly against his swollen manhood. His other hand found one of her budded peaks and rubbed a thumb across it.

  Naomi moaned. The sound of her own voice shattered her aroused haze. Jerking back from him, she crossed her arms over her chest. “You should go home, Dash. We’ll be here when you get back.”

  “Naomi, don’t be like that. I meant what I said. I’ll keep my hands—”

  “It’s not just your hands I’m worried about.” She gave a meaningful glance at the bulge in the front of his pants.

  His head tilted towards his one-shoulder s
hrug. “And other body parts—to myself. Until you ask me to do otherwise.”

  “Until?”

  He took a step towards her. She put a hand up to stop his motion even as she stepped back out of self-preservation.

  “Yes, Naomi. Until. This heat between us isn’t going anywhere. You know it as well as I do. But, I’ll mind my manners tonight if you let me stay. It’s late. It’ll take me almost forty-five minutes from here to get home. It doesn’t make sense for me to drive all the way home tonight and turn around in a few hours to come back here for breakfast.”

  From Naomi’s Northland home it would be quite a drive to Dash’s home in the suburbs, even with the lesser traffic of the late hour. He could see her process the logistics. Her sympathetic nature fighting her well-placed fears of seduction.

  He decided to increase his odds on the sympathy side. “I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll even cook breakfast. You wouldn’t happen to have the ingredients for a coffee cake would you?”

  Her eyes lit up before she hid the sparkle. “Oooh. Now you’re not playing fair. Bribery is beneath you.”

  He slid his hands into his pockets, the grin spreading wider across his face. “Nope. Actually it’s not.”

  Naomi had a sweet tooth. He’d learned that early in his courting of her. Dash didn’t indulge much in sweets. They threw off his training regimen. He did, however, occasionally throw in a breakfast treat. He could add an extra workout in to burn off the empty calories.

  His foster sister made a mean coffee cake from scratch. He’d loved it so much that Peyton had taught him how to make it. That way he wasn’t limited to the treat only the few times a year they could get together.

  He’d made it for Naomi the morning after they’d made love for the first time. Her orgasmic reaction to the cake had almost sent him over the edge at the kitchen table. In fact, he’d cleared the table of breakfast leftovers and replaced it with her shortly after she’d finished her meal then proceeded to make a meal of her.

  Her mouth twisted and she bit her lower lip. “You’re really going to get up and make me a coffee cake in the morning?”