Playing to Win

by Jaci Burton

Page 25

  Author: Jaci Burton

  It worked, too. And looked amazing with the team working together to raise the frame of the house alongside the other volunteers. The media took pictures, which Savannah knew would make the local papers.

  Good for the team. She grinned, put down her own hammer, and brought sandwiches and drinks to everyone as they stopped for lunch. She stayed out of Cole’s way because he was hanging out with Grant, Kenny, Jamarcus, and Lon as well as several members of the Traders’ offensive line. She wanted him to have that bonding time, so she ate her lunch with a few of the players’ wives who’d come along to help.

  She was deeply engaged in conversation with Missy Sandell, one of the linebackers’ wives, when she saw a couple reporters bearing down on Cole.

  “Excuse me, Missy,” she said, pushing back her chair to move closer to where the players were being interviewed as they ate lunch.

  “We never saw you doing any charity work while you were with Green Bay,” one of the reporters asked.

  “Maybe that’s because you’re a St. Louis reporter,” Cole answered.

  Savannah winced.

  “It would have made the national wire,” the reporter shot back. “You’re in the news a lot. ”

  “Only the negative stuff. ”

  One of the reporters laughed. “Well, face it, Riley. You do give us plenty to report on. ”

  Cole took a long swallow of water, then caught Savannah’s sharp frown. “But I’m here now, and happy to be working on this house today. The Traders are an amazing organization who put a lot of time, effort, and money into charitable efforts. I’m honored to be a part of this one. ”

  She exhaled. Good answer.

  “Does this mean you’re turning over a new leaf?” one of the national news outlets asked.

  Cole stood, wadded up his trash, and tossed it into the nearby bin. “Watch me and find out. In the meantime, we’re all headed back to work. Why don’t all of you drop those microphones, cameras, and recorders and put a little muscle into helping out this family?”

  He walked away with the rest of the players. Savannah grinned. The interview started out shaky, but it ended perfectly.

  There might be hope for Cole after all.

  COLE LOVED WORKING WITH HIS HANDS.

  Even in this brutal heat and humidity, sweat pouring down his back and getting in his eyes, he was focused on seeing this house take shape.

  Besides hanging out with his teammates off the field today, which made him realize they were all pretty nice guys, he got to spend time with Thomas and Selena Rogers, the soon-to-be owners of this house they were building. They were great people. Enthusiastic, dedicated, and willing to give back to their own community.

  They were also huge football fans, so they were ecstatic the Traders had showed up today to help work on their house. When the guys signed a football for them, gave them all jerseys and tickets to one of the games, Selena was touched and Thomas was as excited as their two boys.

  It made him realize Savannah was right. He hadn’t spent a lot of—okay, any—time in the communities he’d been a part of all the years he’d been playing. Other than writing checks to a few charities here and there, he hadn’t taken the time to get to know any of the people who were his fans.

  That sucked. And needed to change.

  He was beginning to see a lot of things needed to change.

  “Feel good?”

  He turned toward Savannah, who’d come up to stand next to him. She’d worn jeans and a Traders T-shirt today and had pulled her hair up in a ponytail. With her tennis shoes on and very little makeup, she looked fresh and sexy and gorgeous. And she had dirt on her nose. He used his thumb to swipe it away.

  “I feel great, though I’m hot and sweaty and I probably stink. ”

  “I hadn’t noticed. Everyone probably stinks. ”

  She still smelled like peaches. He had no idea how she managed that.

  “I need a shower and a beer. Want to come over for burgers?” he asked.

  “Sure. But I need to take a shower, too. I’ll do that and meet you at your place in an hour. ”

  “Sounds good. ”

  He stopped at the store, then went home and jumped in the shower, scrubbing off the sweat of the day. He felt a lot better after he changed clothes and downed a couple bottles of water.

  Savannah arrived about thirty minutes later. She’d changed into a tank top and very sexy shorts, her hair down and loose around her shoulders. That peach smell made him hard. He wanted to bury his face in her neck and lick the scent from her skin. All her skin.

  He took a step back. “How about a beer?”

  “Sure. ”

  He pulled two beers from the fridge and popped the tops off, handed her one and took a couple long swallows from the other. The icy cold brew tasted like heaven after the hellish day. “Now that’s good. ”

  “I thought you didn’t drink once the season started. ”

  He set the beer on the counter. “It’s beer. It doesn’t count, and I’m only going to have one or two. ” He frowned. “Are you going to monitor my drinking now?”

  She laughed. “Not in the least. I was just curious. ”

  “Good. I’ll go grill the burgers. ”

  “What would you like me to do?”

  “Uh…nothing. ”

  She frowned and pursed her lips. “I can’t do nothing. How about a salad?”

  “Sure. I think there’re salad fixings. See what you can scrounge up out of the fridge. ”

  He took the burgers out and tossed them on the grill, taking a long swallow of his beer after he’d flipped the meat. He could see Savannah working in his kitchen, mixing up the salad and slicing tomatoes.

  He was getting used to having her around, seeing her in his kitchen. Kinda weird considering he usually didn’t like people at his house.

  And okay, he wanted to get in her pants again, so there was that objective. One night wasn’t enough with Savannah. But he liked what she had to say, and she didn’t take any of his bullshit. He pushed, she pushed back. He didn’t always agree with her or her methods, but that didn’t really matter. She wasn’t one of those pleaser people who kissed his ass. Mostly she kicked his ass. He liked that about her, too.

  He finished the burgers and brought them inside. Savannah had the table set and was leaning against the counter, staring off into his living room.

  He set the burgers on the counter. “What are you doing?”

  “You have such a nice, open place here. You should have a party. ”

  “Huh?”

  She turned to him. “You should invite your offense over. Have a party. ”

  He frowned. “I don’t do parties. ”

  “You should. You’re the new guy. It would be a chance for you to bond with the players. ”

  He took the burgers into the dining room. “I don’t think so. ”

  They fixed their burgers and he piled salad on his plate. She’d poured iced tea for them, too, so he pushed his near-empty beer bottle to the side and took a swallow of tea.

  Savannah ate without saying much, until she was halfway through her burger.

  “Why don’t you like to have people over here?”

  He knew she wouldn’t drop the subject. “This is my private getaway. No media, no team players, no girlfriends. ”

  “So it’s your man cave. ”

  “I didn’t say that. I just don’t do parties over here. ”

  “It would be great for your image. Show your guys you really want to be part of the team. ”

  “No. ” He finished off his meal and pushed his plate to the side, following up by emptying his glass of tea.

  “I’ll do all the heavy lifting. We can even hire a caterer. No cooking, they do all the cleanup, too. All you have to do is be here to hang out with the guys. ”

  She was like a dog with a meaty bone. She ref
used to leave it alone. “Why is this necessary?”

  “Team building is necessary for your image rehab. Not once have you been actually part of a team you’ve played for. ”

  “Sure I have. ”

  “Did you ever do things with your team members? Go out with them? Do activities with them off the football field? Charitable or personal?”

  She had him there. “No. ”

  “It’s time we change that. If you don’t want to do the party here, we can do it at my place. I don’t mind. ”

  “That kind of defeats the purpose of it being all about me, doesn’t it?”

  He saw the corners of her mouth lift. “Kind of. ”

  He looked around at his place, imagined it filled with a bunch of linebackers and receivers. The thought both excited him and filled him with dread. “I don’t know, Peaches. I’m not much for entertaining people. ”

  “Look. You don’t have to strip naked and dance on top of your coffee table. Just some food and drinks, music, and you already have the fun video games. A little conversation and you invite wives and girlfriends. Trust me, this will go a long way to cementing your position within the team. ”

  He leaned back in his chair. “You think so. ”

  “I know it. ”

  He already knew he was going to cave, so he might as well get it over with. Savannah wasn’t going to let this go. “All right. When?”

  “How about Wednesday night after practice? That’ll give me several days to put everything together. ”

  “You don’t have to do all the work. ”

  “I told you I would. I’m a Southern girl. This is what we do. ”

  He shrugged. “Fine. ”

  “Great. You won’t regret this. ”

  “Uh-huh. ” He grabbed their plates and went into the kitchen, Savannah right behind him. She was talking details about the party, from who to invite to what kind of food they’d have. He mostly tuned out the details and focused on how excited she was. Her enthusiasm was cute. After loading the dishwasher, he turned to her.

  “You like entertaining. ”

  She stopped mid-sentence. “What? No. This is to help you. ”

  He grabbed her hands and pulled her toward him, wrapping his arms around her. “You see yourself married with three kids and throwing big parties, inviting all the other kids’ parents over and having those big bouncy houses in your backyard. ”

  She tried to pull away, but he held her tight in his arms. “I do not. And how did you get married with kids out of me planning a party for you?”

  “You’re practically glowing all over doing your party-planning thing. Your eyes are bright, your skin is flushed, and you can’t stop talking. ”

  She laid her arms on top of his. “Hey, there’s a lot to do to plan a party in a few days. I’m just running some ideas by you. ”

  “And now you’re embarrassed. ”

  “No, I’m not. ” She shoved at him. “Let me go. ”

  “You are embarrassed. It’s sweet, Peaches. ”

  “You’re being an ass. ”

  “I know. I can’t help myself. You should probably kiss me to shut me up. ”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh, no. We already discussed this. ”

  “No, we didn’t discuss this. You ran like hell out of here after that night and we never talked about it. ” He swept his hand over her back. Just holding her against him made his cock surge to life. He liked being close to her, feeling her heart beating against him.

  “I think it was obvious that what happened between us was a mistake. ”

  She said the words, but her nipples were hard points against her shirt, her eyes dark and filled with desire. He didn’t understand why she wouldn’t give her body what it wanted—what she wanted.

  “It wasn’t obvious to me. I like you. I want to spend more time with you. ”

  She laughed. “We spend almost every day together, Cole. ”