One More Night

by Brenda Jackson

  They’d left the room in an awkward silence. Jacobe had promised to call. She hadn’t believed him. The next day he’d flown to New York for the draft, and she’d never heard from him again. Through the grapevine, she’d learned he’d reconnected with Christy.

  She didn’t regret their time together. Over time she’d gotten over him never calling. She’d gone over there to discover if he’d felt the same attraction she’d spent the year trying to ignore, and she’d gotten her answer.

  The buzzer for the end of the second quarter sounded. Danielle jerked out of the past. Debra was too busy cheering to notice Danielle was distracted. The crowd clapped as the Gators ran off the court. Danielle joined in. Jacobe walked over to the chair right in front of where Danielle stood, snatched up a towel and wiped his face.

  He looked up into the crowd, spread his arms wide and waved them up and down. “This is our house!” he yelled, getting the crowd hyped even more. His intensity burned off him in waves.

  A tiny shiver ran through her. His gaze lowered from the upper stands and landed right on hers. Most of the air evacuated her lungs. He held her gaze barely a second before looking away.

  He took a step, paused, frowned and then turned to stare directly at her again.

  Danielle’s heart thudded, and the remaining air in her lungs dissolved like cheap tissue paper. Her stomach clenched right before a thousand feathers tickled her inside. His eyes lightened, maybe with recognition—she couldn’t tell—but the smile that spread his lips sent a bolt of lightning straight to her core.

  Then he turned and walked with the rest of the team into the locker room. Danielle stood there, stupefied. Had the moment happened, or had she just imagined that? He couldn’t possibly remember her, could he? No, not after all these years.

  “Danielle, what was that?” Debra’s excited voice zipped Danielle to the present.

  “What was what?”

  “He looked at you, and he looked happy to see you.”

  Danielle pushed her glasses farther up her nose and shook her head. “No, he looked into the crowd. He wasn’t looking at me.”

  “I saw the look.”

  “Forget the look. The look means nothing.” She was going to make it mean nothing anyway. “Let’s go to the concession stand. I want some popcorn.”

  The lines were so long that the trek for popcorn and sodas took most of halftime. By the time they made their way back to the seats, the teams were running onto the court to warm up. Danielle staunchly avoided watching Jacobe. She may have enjoyed that second of eye contact, but that didn’t mean she had to visually stalk him for the rest of the night.

  Debra chocked on her popcorn and grabbed Danielle’s arm. “He’s coming over.”

  No need to pretend she didn’t know who she was talking about. “His chair is right in front of us.”

  “No, he’s looking at you and coming this way.”

  “Will you stop it, Jacobe Jenkins isn’t—”

  “Danielle?” A male voice that didn’t sound quite sure if he was getting her name right interrupted.

  Danielle’s hands became slick. Her heart fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings against her ribs. Oh, wow. It was him.

  She slowly pivoted in her chair to look into a pair of sexy brown eyes. He smiled at her with a hint of unsureness in his gaze.

  “Oh...hi, Jacobe.”

  “Danielle Stewart...right?”

  She nodded. “That’s me.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Enjoying the game.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. What have you been up to?”

  Danielle glanced around. Some of the courtside reporters were looking their way. A few even snapped some pictures. Danielle squirmed self-consciously in her seat. “I work for the St. Johns River Watchers.”

  “You live around here?” Sweat ran down his face, to his neck and into the jersey covering his wide, muscled torso.

  Why in the world was a sweaty man so damn sexy? “Yep.”

  He ran the towel over his face, thankfully removing the distracting sweat. Unfortunately, the movement brought attention to his fantastically sculpted arms. “This your first game?”

  “No. My first courtside seat, though.”

  He nodded. “Cool. What are you doing after the game?”

  She blinked, thrown off by the question. “Going home.”

  He shook his head, dismissing her statement. “The guys from the team usually meet up at a pool bar downtown called The Hall. Meet me there after the game.”

  Debra’s leg bounced like a supercharged Chihuahua in Danielle’s periphery. “The Hall?” Had her voice really just squeaked? She cleared her throat.

  “Yeah. You know where it is? They’re usually selective about letting people in after a home game because the team hangs out there afterward, but I’ll call ahead and tell them you’re cool. Come by. Let’s catch up.”

  One of his teammates called. Jacobe looked over his shoulder to acknowledge him, then looked back at her. “I’ll see you there later.” Not a question.

  She was too stunned to get angry at his direction or think of an excuse to say no. “Um...yeah. Sure, we’ll stop by.”

  He grinned. “Cool.” He spun and rejoined the team.

  Debra leaned in. Danielle lifted her hand to stop her from saying anything. “Stop. The reporters are still watching. Save the gushing for after the game.”

  “Fine, but there will be tons of gushing in the car.”

  Danielle nodded and took a sip from her soda. She had to keep her composure for the reporters still looking her way. She knew they had to be wondering who she was.

  For the entire third quarter, she replayed the conversation and wondered what it meant. He’d seemed almost happy to see her. Happy? Had he thought of her over the years? Maybe she’d jumped the gun in assuming he could so easily forget her and move on. Maybe Jacobe wasn’t as self-centered as she remembered. Maybe the whole bad-boy persona that the media portrayed was just that—a persona.

  All those maybes floated away when, halfway through the fourth quarter, Jacobe pushed a referee aside so he could deliver a right hook to an opposing player and left the guy knocked out cold on the floor. He smirked, then stepped over the downed opponent. Danielle sighed and shook her head. Apparently, Jacobe was still the arrogant, cocky jock she’d taken him for.

  Chapter 2

  Typically, when Jacobe entered The Hall after a game and heard the drum of old-school hip-hop and smelled the Buffalo wings the place was known for, he was instantly ready to party. Tonight, the tension that had taken over his neck and shoulders since he’d knocked out Rob Jackson wouldn’t go away. He shouldn’t have done that. The league would probably suspend him for that. Not what he needed right before the play-offs. Taking the Gators to the play-offs would secure his place as one of the best players in the league, which was something he knew, but the trouble in his past kept others from admitting it. It would also make the final argument for him to be signed by Phoenix next year. They were building a superteam, and Jacobe was aiming to be on that team.

  He could see the years of winning the finals in his future if that happened. The chance was now a big if. His agent had already called and told him not to talk to any reporters while he tried to smooth things out with managers of both teams.

  He shouldn’t have hit Rob, but he damn sure didn’t regret it. How’s your son? Oh, wait, you don’t have a son.

  Rob had tossed out the low blow right before Jacobe knocked him out. Jacobe kept his private life private, but Rob had been his teammate four years ago when Jacobe had learned that the woman he’d dated since high school had played him for a fool.

  Tossing aside thoughts of Rob, suspension and the worst mistake of his life—Christy—Jacobe scanned the crowded room. After home games The Hall was typically brimming with peopl
e. The team came there to play pool and celebrate after a win and the locals had figured that out. The high-top tables were filled with people, along with the chrome stools around the bar. There were people at the pool tables that lined the room, as well, except for the empty table at the end. That’s where the Gators played.

  His search wasn’t just to check out the crowd. He looked for one person in particular. It wasn’t long before his gaze landed on Danielle Stewart and the friend she’d been with at the game, sitting at the end of the bar sipping on fruity-looking drinks. His tension eased.

  Danielle Stewart. Just thinking of her brought a smile to his lips. His prim-and-proper tutor who had lectured him about the importance of recycling and saving the planet while simultaneously giving him a raging hard-on. If it weren’t for that one night in college, he never would have believed she’d felt any of the attraction that always bubbled up in him like molten lava when she was around.

  “That’s the girl from the game, right?” His teammate Kevin Kouky asked from his right. At six foot seven, Kevin was taller than Jacobe’s six-four. His golden-brown skin was hidden behind a myriad of tattoos and one-inch plugs filled his ears.

  “That’s the girl,” Isaiah Reynolds, another teammate, said from his left. Where Kevin’s appearance made old ladies cross the street when they saw him coming, Isaiah made them smile and want to pinch his cheeks. He and Jacobe were the same height, but the similarity ended there. Isaiah had “boy you could take home to mama” down pat with his prim-and-proper attire, right down to his signature bow ties.

  Will Hampton nodded and grinned. “That’s the girl alright.” The mischief in Will’s eyes sparkled brighter than the diamonds in his ears. The shortest of the group at six one, Will was also the jokester of the team.

  Jacobe hadn’t called any man a friend in years. Outside of accepting the mentorship of movie star Irvin Freeman and singer Dante Wilson, Jacobe kept most people at arm’s length. History had taught him that. Away from the stadium, the only people he preferred hanging with were Kevin, Isaiah, and Will. They were cool, though he still wasn’t sure if he could trust them.

  “Her name is Danielle,” he said. “We knew each other in college. I haven’t seen her since the night before the draft.”

  Kevin bumped him with his elbow. “You seemed pretty happy to see her.”

  Jacobe shrugged. He had been surprised to see her. Pleasantly surprised. After Christy’s betrayal he’d often wondered what would have happened if he’d called Danielle again. “I wouldn’t mind reconnecting.”

  Especially in the bedroom. He didn’t know what bit of fate had put Danielle in the courtside seats behind the bench tonight, but he had no intention of squandering the good fortune. He’d love nothing more than a repeat of their night together.

  Danielle and her friend stopped their conversation to look their way. Her eyes widened behind those cute black-and-gold glasses she wore before she turned toward her friend. The dark-haired woman elbowed Danielle and said something. Danielle looked back his way and gave him a shy smile.

  Ah, yeah, he was going to thoroughly enjoy reconnecting with Danielle Stewart. She’d driven him crazy back then, pestering him to use his popularity for good. The only person who’d seemed to think he could be good at something other than playing ball.

  Her lectures had always fallen on deaf ears. Mainly because he couldn’t stop himself from thinking of peeling off those cute little cardigan sweaters she seemed to always wear and kissing her until the passion in her warm dark eyes was because of him instead of whatever cause she was championing. He’d always wondered what she would do if she’d known that while she droned on about ecosystems or some other nonsense, he’d wanted nothing more than to plop her on top of the nearest desk and make her glasses fog up.

  He lifted his head in acknowledgment, then crossed the room her way. Isaiah, Kevin and Will followed. People stopped and congratulated him and the guys on the win. He spoke, but kept his attention on Danielle. She wore a fitted gold-colored Jacksonville Gators T-shirt that made her luscious breasts look like twin works of art, ankle-length jeans that hugged her ass perfectly and flats. Her thick, dark, shoulder-length hair was parted on the side to sweetly frame her heart-shaped face.

  “You came,” he said when he got to her side. He opened his arms and leaned in for a hug. He had to hug her. She was too cute and curvy to not hug.

  Her eyes widened, but she leaned in from the waist and patted his back. Jacobe fought the urge to pull her in for a real hug instead of one that left enough space for two small kids to run through.

  “Well, you invited me.” Her eyes met his and she sucked in a breath, then looked away. “This is my coworker, Debra.” She straightened her glasses and gave another shy smile.

  She was still attracted to him. Good, because if she’d shown up with any intentions of reliving their night together he was game. He needed a distraction. They’d won, but the price he’d have to pay for hitting Rob hovered over him like a cloud.

  He reached out a hand to the pretty woman next to Danielle. “Nice to meet you, Debra. I’m Jacobe. These guys here are my teammates, Kevin, Isaiah and Will. Fellas, this is Danielle Stewart.”

  The guys nodded and shook the ladies’ hands. Jacobe watched both of them for any signs that they were interested in Danielle. Interest did light up their eyes, but mainly in the way they darted glances between Jacobe and Danielle. He hoped his instincts were right. He didn’t need another teammate sleeping with the same chick as him. He had definite plans to eventually sleep with Danielle again.

  Debra grinned and shook his head. “I know who all of you are. We’re both big fans.”

  Jacobe looked back at Danielle. “You’re a fan?”

  She nodded and met his eye without glancing away like she had before. “I am.”

  “How long have you been in Jacksonville?”

  “Since right after college.”

  Jacobe frowned, upset by the idea that she’d been so close without him even knowing. Though he had thought of her over the years, he hadn’t gone so far as to track her down. “I didn’t know that.”

  “We don’t exactly hang out in the same circles.” She glanced at his teammates.

  “I guess not.”

  Debra leaned forward. “So, Jacobe, how do you know Danielle?”

  Jacobe met Debra’s eyes and searched for any indication she already knew about his one night with Danielle. He couldn’t fault Danielle for telling people about that night—a few of the women he’d had one-night stands with over the years had loved to brag about it afterward. He would be slightly disappointed if Danielle had done the same. That night had been spontaneous and wonderful, awkward but somehow special. A secret between them. He’d never expected her to brag.

  “What did Danielle say?”

  “That she helped you study, but that’s about it.”

  Relief eased more of the tension. She hadn’t bragged to her friend. “Danielle tried helping me out in biology. I was a little hardheaded then.”

  Danielle raised a brow. “Just a little.”

  Debra leaned forward and looked expectantly between him and Danielle. “Was she just as driven back then as she is now?”

  “When it came to biology and giving back she was. I remember her always trying to get me to volunteer for various causes or skip parties to study.”

  Danielle smirked and leaned against the bar. “Tried but was unsuccessful. You never wanted to volunteer, and there was always some party to attend.”

  “I gave back in my own way. You always liked to judge.”

  Her shoulders straightened. “I didn’t judge.”

  “Yes, you did.” He looked back at Debra. “When she rolled up the sleeves of those cute little sweaters she wore I knew she was pissed and that someone was about to get chewed out.”

  Debra laughed. “She still does that. In th
e office we say she’s ready for battle.”

  Danielle held up her hands. “I’m going up against politicians and businessmen. I have to be ready for battle.” The familiar fight-for-what’s-right tone came to her voice.

  Isaiah watched her with growing interest. “Politicians and business men? What do you do?”

  “I’m the executive director for the St. Johns River Watchers.”

  Jacobe exchanged glances with the fellas to see if they recognized the organization’s name. Isaiah nodded. Of course he would know. Kevin and Will shrugged.

  “Impressive,” Isaiah said.

  “The River Watchers?” Jacobe asked. “What’s that?”

  Her look said she was disappointed but not surprised by his ignorance. “We’re a watchdog organization that makes sure businesses, governments and citizens aren’t doing anything to harm the river. Our goal is to protect the river and, ultimately, the beach.”

  Jacobe wasn’t surprised by her career path. “You’re still trying to save the world, huh.”

  Her shoulders stiffened. “And you’re still turning your nose up at saving the world.”

  Kevin cleared his throat. “Oh, look, I think I see the sign to get out of the cross fire.” He looked at Isaiah, Will, and Debra. “Pool, anyone?”

  The others agreed quickly and scuttled away. “Wow,” Danielle said, watching the four leave. “We still know how to clear a room.” She took a sip from the straw in her fruity drink.

  Jacobe chuckled. “We didn’t even have to raise our voices this time. Remember when they kicked us out of the library?”

  She smiled. “Yes, the study session before our first test of the semester. You were so distracted and you kept pulling out your cell phone to do other things.”

  “The test right before a rivalry game,” he replied. “I was trying to watch videos of the other team’s footage.”

  “You couldn’t wait until we’d finished? One hour, that’s all we had.”

  “I couldn’t help it. We met right after practice. I had basketball on the brain.”