Line of Scrimmage (14 page)

“Someone named Mandy called five times and left messages. Apparently it’s very important that you call.” She grinned. “She stressed the word ‘very.’ I’m surprised she didn’t call the landline.”

“She doesn’t have the number.” Bubbly Mandy, with the big breasts and the little brain. Why the hell had he ever given her his cell number? Oh, wait, he hadn’t. “I hung out with her a few times but that’s all.”

“Hung out?” She cocked her head. “Define hung out.”

He shrugged. “You know. Hung out. Some joker probably thought it would be a cute idea to give her my number.” He shook his head. “Assholes.”

“That seems to be your latest favorite word.” Erin chuckled. “Shall I call her back for you?”

“Hell, no.” The answer popped out automatically but then he thought better of it. “Yes. Call her. Tell her I’m out of commission, you’re my personal assistant, and I won’t be seeing her again.”

He wasn’t looking at her, but he could feel her eyes boring into him.

“Are you for real? You want
me
to break up with your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” He shoved a forkful of rice in his mouth, hoping to deter further discussion.

“Well, she’s something. She has your cell number, and she apparently thinks it’s okay to keep calling.”

“Mandy was a mistake. She—”

“See?” she broke in. “That’s what I mean about all you guys. You want to know why I didn’t want to pursue anything with you after that night? This is a very good example.”

Jake took a slow drink of his iced tea. “What we had that night is so far above anything I had with Mandy they aren’t even on the same planet. I would have made you see that if you’d given me an opportunity.”

“Easy for you to say now.” She picked up her iPad and made a note. “Call Mandy. All right. Some of your teammates want to come by and see you. The team is on the road for the next two weeks, but they’d like to stop by after that. Would you like them to come at the same time or separately?”

“What makes you think I want to see them at all?” Just what he needed. Guys still active delivering a dose of sympathy. Or worse yet, obviously relieved that it hadn’t happened to them.

She looked as if she wanted to say something, then changed her mind and made another note. “I’ll let them know I’ll get back to them when the team is back in town. Maybe your pleasant personality will return by then.”

Jake glared at her. “You know, I can do without the snarky remarks, Miss Bass.”

“And I can do without the temper tantrums, Mr. Russell.” She spoke in a cool, even tone, gave him a phony smile, and delicately took another bite of her food.

They ate in silence for a very long moment. Obviously she was prepared to outwait him for as long as it took. He forced himself to swallow another bite of food, then another. Finally, he put his fork down.

“Okay, I’m sorry that I’m an ass. I apologize. Can we get on with this? Please?”

Was that a teeny smile crooking one corner of her mouth? If it was, it disappeared almost at once. She picked up her iPad and turned to the Notes section again.

“Coach Raymond called while I was in the kitchen. He wanted to know if you had lost your cell phone.”

“What did you tell him?”

This time she actually grinned. “I said no, only your mind.”

“Ha ha ha. So what did he want?”

“You have an appointment with Dr. Moline next week.” She looked at her notes again. “They want to take x-rays to make sure your leg is healing properly. Also, he is hoping to remove the soft cast from your left wrist. You might be graduating to crutches.”

“Stop the presses.” He took another swallow of his tea. “I can hardly wait for that three ring circus.”

“I appreciate your enthusiasm.”

“Tell me something.” He waited until she looked at him. “Exactly how am I going to get to the doctor’s office when it takes all we’ve both got just to get me to the bathroom? Did your boyfriend Coach Raymond tell you that, by any chance?”

“As a matter of fact, he did. He’s sending one of the trainers to take you. I’m sure he’ll be able to handle you a lot better than I do.” She took another bite of food. “The appointment is next Tuesday at eleven o’clock. Coach is going to schedule your home care for your shower and shave earlier than usual that day.”

“Good. I’d hate to show up at the doctor’s dirty and smelling.”

Again a smile teased her lips. He wondered how hard he’d have to push her to get her riled up again. Did he even want to? She wasn’t any happier with this situation than he was, so maybe he should cut her some slack. Except she wasn’t in this fucking cast, and she obviously wasn’t half as horny as he was. Damn it.

He slogged through a few other messages with her, and then they attacked the mail. He gave mostly one or two word answers until they came to a letter from Lynne Corday at The Good Shepherd House. No, he wasn’t discussing this with Erin. He could just imagine her comments. Instead he held his hand out for it.

“I’ll handle this one myself.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? Must be pretty special if it trumps the coach, your agent, your teammates and—oh, yeah—Mandy.”

“This has nothing to do with anything.” He tried to grab the letter from her, but she held it just out of his reach. “Give it to me.”

Her eyes widened at the rough tone of his voice. “What on earth is this? Are you doing something you’re ashamed of? When I talked to Ms. Corday she spoke very highly of you.”

“You called her?” He stared at her, unbelieving.

“I returned her call. She left a message on your cell, saying it was important. You didn’t seem in a telephone mood, and no, I did not put her on the same list with Eye Candy Mandy.”

Jake actually had to laugh. “Eye Candy Mandy. I’ll have to remember that one. I will say, you certainly nailed it.”

“Let me guess. Double D breasts, Botox lips, and clothes two sizes too small.”

He chuckled, the tension broken slightly. “You’ve been peeking.”

“I didn’t have to. I know the type. So what’s with Lynne Corday? Come on, ’fess up. How bad can it be?”

“It might ruin my asshole image,” he pointed out.

“It would have to be pretty drastic. Come on, my curiosity is really ramped up now.”

He sat back in the chair. He really tried to keep this part of his life out of the limelight. He wasn’t one of those guys who hogged the media or did things for attention. He had a reason for the things he committed to, a very personal reason he had hardly ever discussed with anyone. His agent, Scott, knew. Coach Raymond. A couple of his close friends. That was all. He had moved way beyond that, a lot of it with the help of the Granite Falls Coyotes. He didn’t think he was ready to share it with a woman who pushed all his buttons from behind an invisible wall.

“Well?” she prompted. “I didn’t think this was such a hard question. I can look them up on the Internet, you know.”

“No.” He nearly shouted the word. “No, I’ll tell you.” He held out his glass. “Can I have some more iced tea first?” He waited while she filled his glass and took two healthy swallows. “The Good Shepard House is a shelter for abused women and children. We give them a safe place to stay and provide support until we can relocate them.”

Erin lifted her gaze from her plate, a stunned look on her face. “But that’s fabulous. Why wouldn’t you want to let people know about it? Why don’t you let everyone know what you’re doing?”

“I have my reasons.”

“Like what?” she pushed.

Controlled anger rolled off him in waves. “Like reasons that are my own. Okay? Can you just tell me what she wants, and we can move along here?”

She raked her fingers through her hair. “I don’t understand, but okay. I guess it’s not my business. She wants to know if she can come by and meet with you for a little while. Any time in the next couple of weeks, she said. At your convenience.”

“Oh, great. She’ll see me all wrecked up like this.”

“Jake, I’m sure she’s seen people with broken legs before. It doesn’t diminish you.” He could feel her stare. “She said she had some key things to go over with you.”

Damn. There was no getting away from it. He knew what Lynne Corday wanted. He had created a special fund for some renovations and expansion of The Good Shepard House. There were details that needed approval. He also wanted to beef up security and add to the clothing and other items they provided for the women and kids who showed up most times with literally nothing.

“Make it for after I come back from the doctor’s,” he told Erin. “And I’d appreciate it if you just did not mention any of this to anyone.”

“Not that it’s any of my business,” she said, “but are you planning a fundraiser for them?”

He shook his head. “We don’t do public fundraisers.”

“Why not?” Curiosity was stamped all over her face.

“A few of us fund it privately. No one wants publicity for it. Can you please leave it at that? Please?”

He’d very quietly managed to gather a small group who provided the financing for the place, since keeping it under the radar was essential. No one, not even Erin, who made every nerve in his body twitch, was going to pry it out of him.

When she didn’t answer, he threw his napkin on the table. “I think that’s it for today. Can you bother yourself to help me back to the bed?”

Her face instantly sobered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push. It’s just I was so surprised that—I mean—”

“That a jackass like me could do something so serious? So worthwhile?”

“You’re right.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “It was thoughtless and rude of me. Let’s just finish the rest of this pile.”

“I’m done for today. I need to get back to my bed.” When she didn’t move, he added, “Now.”

“I’m sorry. Of course.”

He cursed silently until he was settled back in his room again. He clenched his fists while Erin fussed with the pillows supporting his cast, brought him a fresh glass of iced tea and set it on his nightstand, turned on his big screen television, and handed him the remote.

“I’m fine. Just clear off the patio table and leave me be.” He was exhausted from the effort of moving around and irritated that he found himself in a situation where someone had to answer his phone, read his mail, and pester him with unwanted questions.

She paused on her way out to the patio and turned back to him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I was just surprised…I mean…never mind. I disrespected your boundaries and I’m sorry.”

He watched from beneath lowered lids while she cleared everything off the patio table and carried it back to the kitchen. When she came back to close his door, she looked as if she wanted to say something again, but he closed his eyes in a deliberate signal to leave him alone. He heard the soft click of the lock and let out the breath he’d been holding.

He had no intention of publicizing anything about The Good Shepard House now or ever, nor did he plan to unload on Erin about it. Erin. What the hell was he going to do about her? He wanted her with a fierce hunger. At least the little set-to over lunch had effectively defused his cock so it rested limply against his body.

His only question was, for how long?

He was waiting for her in the same position and the same state of undress—naked—as he usually was. Heat burned in his eyes as he watched her adjust the pillows beneath his cast. When her bare breasts brushed against his good leg, he let out a soft groan that brought a smile to Erin’s lips.

“Easy, stud,” she murmured.

He was always so primed, his fingers wrapped around his thick, swollen cock as if holding it in check. And maybe he was, because it never took long for that first orgasm.

They had to be very careful because of his injuries, but it amazed her how inventive they’d become. Their lust, or whatever they might call it, was always on a hair trigger. It seemed no matter how often they were together, how many orgasms they gave each other, it was never enough.

She still carried the image of the scene when she’d walked into his room after he had what was obviously a major wet dream. Copious semen spread over his fingers and hand and even dripped down to his balls. When she’d cleaned him up that day, she’d had to call on all her willpower not to use her tongue to do it, to lick every drop from his skin.

Looking at him now, she licked her lips at the memory of her first taste of him. Pleasantly salty and tart, like a great bedtime snack. It had become one of her favorite things to do with him. And it was the first thing on her agenda tonight.

“Straddle me backwards,” he told her in a rasping voice.

Usually she knelt between his thighs to give her access to every area of his groin.

She frowned. “Why?”

“Because I want my hands all over that gorgeous ass of yours. One of these days when I’m back in one piece again, I’m going to take you back here and give you the best orgasm of your life.”

Shivers skated over her spine at his words, and the walls of her pussy fluttered with need. That was one thing she’d never done with anyone, always believing it was too personal to share except with someone very special. But Jake was steadily becoming that “someone special” to her, despite her initial resistance to him. Now the image of that act ramped up the desire surging through her.

“I’ll have to sit on your chest,” she warned him.

“Exactly what I had in mind.” He moved his hands to give her room. “Come on. Bring that sweet ass up here to me.”

With very precise movements, she arranged herself so she sat squarely on his very hard, very firm chest, legs on either side of his hips. Licking her lips in anticipation, she curled the fingers of one hand around his very hard shaft and leaned forward to lap the soft velvet of the head. Teasingly she dipped the tip of her tongue into the slit, bringing a gasp of pleasure from Jake.

“Like that, do you?” she asked.

“You know it, babe. That tongue of yours is a magic wand.”

“Oh,” she teased, “I think you’re the one with the magic wand.”

She bent to her task again, a most pleasant one, sliding her fingers from root to tip and back in a steady rhythm, punctuating the strokes with swirls of her tongue around the head. With her other hand she cupped his balls, loving the feel of the soft skin that contained them. She worked his cock, and she manipulated his balls, humming against him in satisfaction.