Guarding His Heart

by Synithia Williams

  “Real estate? Why real estate?” She rubbed her hands along his thighs. A major part of his anatomy noticed the proximity of her touch.

  “Because of what I was able to do here in Silver Springs. A few smart investments helped save the town. Maybe I can keep doing that. Take places people think are old and obsolete and show that they’re still viable. Once the mill left, other businesses began to write off our town. But I knew the potential—I’d always seen what Silver Springs could be. There have to be other places like this that just need a little boost.”

  “Have you invested in real estate elsewhere?” Her hand creeped farther up his thigh.

  “A few other locations. Most of my business investments have been in new products related to sports, but I have invested in a few start-up companies. I haven’t had a bad investment yet. So far, I’ve been able to increase my net worth without only relying on playing and endorsements.”

  He tried to sound excited about his future. Sure, he’d made money and had no problems with making more. But investing had been a fun side hustle. His love was basketball. No amount of money would make up for the hole left when he wasn’t a part of the league anymore.

  Her hands stopped. Her eyes lit up with surprise. “I remember you saying you’ve invested. Obviously, you’re good at choosing what to support.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve just been lucky. I go with my instincts and I listen to the pitch. When the idea doesn’t feel right, I don’t invest. I skipped college to play professionally. After my divorce, I went back and got a business degree. Learned a few things.”

  “Smart and sexy.” She leaned in and pressed her full lips against his. “That’s really damn hot.”

  He slid his hand beneath her shirt. Caressed her silky-smooth skin. Her body was long and lush. Plenty of curves to cushion a man and make him want to hold her close all night long. If anyone was sexy, it was her. “If you think that’s sexy, I’ll be happy to show you my degree. How hot will that make me?”

  Her arms wrapped around his neck. “There isn’t much you could do to be hotter.”

  “Oh really?” He lifted her by the waist onto the truck bed next to him. The sudden movement made her shriek, then laugh.

  “What are you doing?”

  He’d spread out a blanket in the truck bed while she took pictures. He gently pushed her backward and covered her body with his. “Kissing you.”

  He covered her mouth with his. She opened and welcomed him without hesitation. Her kisses were addictive. One was never enough, and after one touch of her lips, he couldn’t stop himself from kissing her again and again. Getting her out of his system seemed impossible, but he didn’t want to lose the high she put him on.

  He didn’t want to think about his future. Didn’t want to think about the disappointment of walking away from the only career he’d known. When he was with Jasmine, he didn’t think of that and that was what he wanted at this moment. To forget everything but the bliss he found in her arms.

  She twisted and moved beneath him as if trying to get closer. Her hands pushed under his shirt. The slight hurt of her nails as she gripped along his back made his heart punch against his rib cage. She pulled on his shirt. He didn’t hesitate to rise up and toss it over his head. Her eyes were warm and dark with growing desire.

  “You ever had sex in the back of a truck?” he asked.

  Jasmine pulled off her tank top and unhooked her bra. “I’m about to.”

  The husky confidence in her voice sent a surge to his dick. Kevin kissed her with all the need coursing through him. He jerked off her pants. His movements were uncoordinated tugs made clumsy by his anxiousness, and, dammit, his stiff hands. Then finally, finally, her curves and skin were unhindered against his.

  Paradise and luxury. That’s what the softness of her body was to him. The lushness of her curves and the scent that was all her. She was a work of art to enjoy. A delicacy to savor, and savor her was what he planned to do.

  Taking his time, he kissed every inch of her body, spending extra time with her awesome breasts. He’d seen nipple rings before. Jasmine didn’t put hers on display with flimsy see-through tops and no bra. The fact that they were hidden, a delight for him to unwrap, drove him even crazier with want.

  By the time he’d slipped on the condom and positioned himself at her entrance, her hands clawed at his arms and shoulders. The whimpers and noises she made... God, he could listen to her every day. Could do whatever he needed to get her to make them and delight in knowing she was as into this as he was.

  He slid in deep and something in his chest sang.

  “Mmm, Kevin, yes,” Jasmine moaned. Her nails dug into his back.

  He wanted to see her. Bracing himself on one arm, he watched her face as they made love. Captivated by the absolute, uninhibited pleasure that crossed her features. He took his time. Focused, taking in every nuance of this moment, how beautiful she looked, how good she felt! Anything to prolong this moment. When her back arched and her body clenched around his, he finally let go and succumbed to the pleasure.

  He lay over her, still keeping most of his weight off her. A breeze blew over them. He shivered as the air rushed over his sweat-slickened back. Unable to stop himself, he kissed her forehead, cheek and lips.

  “Meet me in Jacksonville week after next,” he said against her lips.

  Her body stiffened. He raised his head and met her eyes. They were full of questions. “You want to keep seeing me after you leave?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because the idea of this being the last time I see you is something I can’t accept.” He kissed her soft lips. Slid over to her ear. “Can you?”

  His tongue darted out and tasted the sweat of their lovemaking still on her skin. His hips shifted, pushing deeper, because he hadn’t been able to make himself draw away.

  Her soft gasp caressed his cheek. “I can’t.”

  “Then say you’ll see me again.”

  “I thought you just wanted fun.”

  “I just want you.” He did. He wasn’t ready for a relationship. Wasn’t ready to face failing at another relationship. But he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Jasmine either. They didn’t have to put a name on what they were doing. As long as they both wanted to keep seeing each other, then that was all that mattered.

  The smile that brightened her face vacuum-sealed his resolve to make her smile every day he was with her.

  “Then I’ll come see you in Jacksonville.”

  Chapter 13

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’ve got at least two more good seasons in you.”

  Kevin looked up from the cup of coffee he wasn’t drinking into the incredulous eyes of his agent, Clive Green. Kevin started working with Clive ten years ago, after realizing his first agent, who’d snatched Kevin up the second he showed potential in high school, didn’t have his best interests at heart. Clive had done wonders for his career. Gotten him better endorsement deals and sparked his interest in using his money in other areas to help spread his wealth.

  “This isn’t a joke,” Kevin said. He looked around the restaurant, but no one had overheard. He and Clive met here often when they needed to discuss business. Many Gators players attended the place and the owner always put them at tables near the back where they could discuss business without being in the direct line of sight of the other patrons.

  “I’ve thought things over and my mind is made up. I’m not going to renew my contract with the Gators,” Kevin told him.

  Clive shifted in his seat and drew his brows together. “Do you mind telling me why? You’re at a good place with the Gators. Your championship run has made you the hottest team out there and you are a major reason why they’ve done well. The owners are ready to offer you a lot of money to renew with them.”

  Kevin tamped back the need to immediately agree.
He wanted to play. He was going to miss the team, the guys who’d become friends, the rush of going out onto the court before a game, the joy of winning and even the crush of defeat.

  “I don’t want to retire,” Kevin began. He held up a hand when Clive’s eyes lit up. “But I can’t play anymore. The aches and pains in my hands and knees aren’t just soreness. I’ve got rheumatoid arthritis. What I want doesn’t matter. My body is telling me to stop.”

  Clive shook his head. He tugged on the neck of his white button-up shirt as if it were choking him. “That’s ridiculous. You’re young.”

  “I know. It’s not the typical diagnosis for someone my age. That’s why my doctor didn’t test me for years. But he did after I dropped the ball in the playoffs. I knew then that something was off.”

  “This doesn’t mean you have to quit playing. There has to be a way around this. Drugs, exercises, something you can do?” Clive ticked off each idea on his fingers.

  As if Kevin hadn’t gone through each of these scenarios. “We’re working on a treatment, but that doesn’t mean I can keep playing. I need to take care of myself. I’ve played ball since I was eighteen. It’s time for me to consider other things.”

  He tried to infuse his voice with confidence. If Clive got a hint of Kevin’s inner turmoil and bitterness over the breakdown of his body, then he’d try to talk Kevin into staying. Kevin hated leaving, but he didn’t want to make his body break down faster because of his pride. He’d find a way to spend the next thirty to forty years of his life. He swallowed coffee to stop the scowl.

  Clive tilted his head to the side. “Arthritis? Really?”

  The coffee was bitter and cold. Kevin pushed his cup to the side and leaned back in his chair. “I wish it was a joke.”

  “Have you told anyone else?”

  “No. I wanted to tell you before I broke the news to the team.”

  “I appreciate that.” Clive sat forward and met Kevin’s eyes, his expression the one of determination he got when talking to Kevin about his career. “Look, I don’t like that you’re quitting, but I guess I understand. We’ll manage your exit. Play up the fact that you’re stepping back for your health. Get the team to pay tribute to you. They owe you for your work on the team. I may even be able to work out some new endorsements for you. Drug companies are always looking for celebrities for endorsements. We can also find ways to keep you in the game. I heard Sports Reporter is looking for another host for their basketball show.”

  Kevin slowly sat up. “Wait a minute, you still want to represent me?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” Clive sounded almost offended.

  “Because my basketball career is over. I thought you’d want to move on.”

  “Kevin, when I signed on with you, it wasn’t just to work with you until you quit playing ball. Many players go on to have successful careers after they leave. You can, too. The arthritis thing is a hitch in your plans, but it doesn’t mean your career is over. Unless you don’t want to work with me anymore.”

  “No—I do.” A weight lifted off his shoulders. He’d assumed once he announced he was leaving that everything in his life related to basketball would fade away. The team wouldn’t care anymore, his agent, his teammates. Sure, everyone was cool, but at the end of the day, the sport was also a business. When he’d planned to start over, he had thought he would have to start all the way over. Clive’s willingness to stick by his side gave Kevin hope that others in this part of his life would, too.

  “I couldn’t imagine working with anyone else.” Kevin held out his hand.

  Clive shook it and smiled. “Good. Now let’s get our game plan together before we meet with the team. If you’ve got to leave the league, at least you’re going to leave in style.”

  * * *

  “Are you coming home soon?”

  Jasmine rolled her eyes before narrowing them at her cell phone lying on the bed next to her suitcase. Her sister’s whine had lost its ability to sway her decisions years ago. That didn’t stop Jada from trying.

  “Why are you suddenly in a rush for me to come home?” Jasmine asked. “You know I’m not planning on heading back until the end of the summer.”

  “Where are you going? You just said you were packing. You can come here.”

  Jasmine folded another shirt and slipped it into her bag. “What’s going on, Jada? Is something wrong with Dad?”

  “No.”

  “Is something wrong with you?”

  “No.” Her sister’s reply was petulant.

  “Okay, then, there’s no reason for me to come home ahead of schedule.”

  Jada’s heavy sigh echoed in Jasmine’s hotel room. “Kathy is coming to town next week,” Jada said in a rush. “Remember I said she wants to see us.”

  Jasmine shook her head and pointed at the phone. “Oh no. Remember I said I didn’t want to see her?”

  “Jasmine, don’t be like that. She’s our mom.”

  Jasmine snatched up her cell phone and brought the speaker closer to her face. “No. She is not our mom. She was our stepmom.”

  “She raised us, Jasmine. In my book, that makes her our mom.”

  Jasmine closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Jada didn’t remember their mom. Kathy was her only memory of a maternal figure. She’d been just as hurt as Jasmine when Kathy divorced their dad and moved away.

  But instead of being smart and channeling her hurt into anger, like Jasmine had done, Jada had turned her hurt into an obsession with knowing what Kathy was up to. Jada was the reason Jasmine knew as much as she did about her former stepmother. Jada cyber-stalked Kathy on social media and insisted on sending Christmas and birthday cards in an effort to let Kathy know they still cared. Kathy had never returned the gesture.

  “Our mom died. Kathy stepped in for a while, then she moved on. We don’t owe her anything. Obviously, she didn’t feel as if she owed us anything when she left without keeping in touch.”

  “She wants to see us. Can you please come home and see her?”

  “No.”

  “Fine, but I’m going to meet with her and I don’t want you to give me any crap about it.”

  Jasmine rolled her eyes and held up a hand. She looked skyward and prayed for patience. “If you want to waste your time listening to her justify why she didn’t bother to talk to us for years, go ahead,” she said slowly.

  “She and Dad divorced. She was hurt. I don’t see you calling up Julio and talking to his kids.” Jada’s high, sharp words pierced Jasmine’s pride.

  Jasmine sucked in a breath. “Because Julio is back with his wife. His kids have a mother.”

  “But if Julio wasn’t with her, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t want to talk to his kids. That you wouldn’t be curious about what they’re up to. I know you loved his kids. Maybe Kathy feels the same. How can you not understand why she wouldn’t want to reconnect with us?”

  “My situation is different,” she snapped, but Jada’s argument struck a chord.

  Jasmine had loved Julio’s kids. Not being around them anymore had been another hard part of the breakup. She’d had no place in their life after he went back to his ex-wife. How would that look? The rebound girlfriend still coming around while he and his wife reconciled. Talk about uncomfortable family dinners.

  So, yes, she could get why Kathy would step back, but her dad hadn’t had anyone else. There was no mother or ex-wife that Kathy would have had to deal with. Kathy had been their mother for nearly ten years and she’d walked away from them without a backward glance to replace them with another, better family.

  “Fine, be stubborn,” Jada said, exasperated. “But you want to talk to her as much as I do. You just want to be stubborn.”

  Stubborn or not, Jasmine wasn’t putting herself in another situation that would only disappoint and hurt her. If Jada wanted to do this, fine. Jasmine only h
oped her sister didn’t get hurt in the process.

  “Just promise me you won’t get your hopes up if you meet her. Don’t expect things to be all honey and lemonade. You may not like what you hear.”

  “I won’t.” Jada let out a breath. A few seconds later, when her sister spoke, her voice was more upbeat. “Now, are you going to tell me where you’re going? You’ve only been in Greenville for a week and you were in that Silver Springs place for two.”

  She’d spent the past week with Mr. Tatum, photographing a home that had belonged to the county’s first black doctor. The family had moved away but still owned the place. Jasmine had plans to call the doctor’s great-grandson to find out more about the family.

  “I’ve got to make a quick weekend trip. I’ll be back in the area next week.”

  “Uh-huh...you’re going to see him again.” Her sister’s reply was smug.

  “You don’t have to say it like that.”

  “Yes, I do,” Jada said in a singsong voice. “Are you two dating now?”

  “Kevin and I are just having fun. There’s no need to define what we’re doing.”

  Except that in the two weeks since he’d left to go back to Jacksonville, they’d talked on the phone nearly every day, texted constantly and sexted almost as much. He’d surprised her by meeting her in Greenville when she’d gotten there last Friday. They’d spent most of the weekend in bed. A smile crept on her lips.

  “But you’re talking a lot and taking weekends together. Are you sure you’re not together?”

  “Look, it was one weekend, not weekends.”

  “Nah, sorry, sister. This weekend makes it plural.”

  Jasmine cursed to herself. “We’re not dating. Not really.”

  They talked about her project. He mentioned meetings with the team and making plans for retirement, but not what those plans were or why he was retiring when he clearly didn’t want to. He didn’t bring up his kids. She didn’t talk about her family. They were doing what they said they would do.